[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                     THE SCRIMMAGE LINE FOR LIBERTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, Ukraine is the scrimmage line for liberty 
on the continent of Europe today. We all have witnessed hundreds of 
thousands of war deaths at record levels in this 11-year, cruel war 
that Russia has perpetrated against the free nation of Ukraine.
  Russia had no provocation. For 30 years, Ukraine had tried to build 
her land forward.
  Importantly, this morning in Europe, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete 
Hegseth made an opening statement, along with many of our allied 
nations, seeking an end to the horrific 11-year killing field that is 
Ukraine after war criminal Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion, as I 
said, in 2014. It has been 11 long years of war.
  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated a negotiated peace 
will require an exchange of territory. Working with our closest and 
most-valued allies in NATO in the free world, the United States must do 
everything possible to bring full liberty to Ukraine and move Russia 
back into her own borders.
  The international community must safeguard those borders, and those 
negotiations are yet to come. We have some hope this morning if we are 
serious about making sure the dividing line between the free world and 
the suppressed world is clearly drawn and safeguarded.


                        Rising Costs for Ohioans

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise this morning on behalf of the 
people of northwest Ohio. We face an economic reality that many across 
our country are experiencing.
  Prices are on the rise. Trade war panic is causing more inflation. 
Uncertainty and the short supply of goods and services rise as 
inflation rises. It was announced this morning that prices are up 3 
percent across the board, more than expected over the past month of 
this new administration.
  Too many families are overwhelmed by the cost of living, and everyday 
people are having to face really hard choices between paying for 
groceries or rent, between medicine or a tank of gas. Do you just fill 
it halfway?
  The latest curse: rising property taxes. In Ohio, eggs cost between 
$6.66 a dozen and $8 a dozen. Gas is back up to over $3 a gallon. 
Unemployment is ticking up. Property taxes are skyrocketing, and 
working people are being squeezed from all sides. They don't have a lot 
of time to think about politics.
  With Democrats here in the House, President Biden was able to allow a 
few prescription drug prices to be lowered, but it is no secret that 
the majority of families struggle to pay for medicine when they need 
it.
  Meanwhile, major pharmacy chains, like Rite Aid, are shutting their 
doors, leaving entire communities with no pharmacy.
  Why are there no hearings on that here in Congress?
  Where are people supposed to go to fill their prescriptions?
  People aren't just feeling economic pressure. They are being crushed 
by it.
  Rents keep rising. This forces families and seniors to downsize or 
leave communities they have called home for decades.
  Consumer credit card fraud is on the rise, bilking people who are 
already stretched thin. When families have no room left in their 
budgets, far too many gamble on their futures, making desperate choices 
just to get by.
  My district is no stranger to gambling with lottery tickets, scratch 
offs, and casinos. The wheels just turn faster. People take chances. In 
the last election, that is exactly what they did. They gambled.
  Many didn't vote. They voted not because they support radical 
extremism but because they want to get ahead. They want this Congress 
and the new President to help them do that.
  I hear them. We all should, but the reality is that prices are going 
up. The Consumer Price Index just rose over the past month with 3 
percent unexpected inflation. Prices for eggs are up, as I have said, 
53 percent.
  Look at what is happening with the price of higher education, which 
is now unaffordable for the majority. If our young people can't afford 
to go to school and learn, what does that imply for the future of this 
country?

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