[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 108 (Monday, June 29, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4267-H4268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          VOTING WITH OUR FEET

  (Mr. Haridopolos of Florida was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about something 
that maybe isn't the most exciting subject, but it is something I used 
to teach in the classroom. It is called federalism.
  The map to my left here shows exactly what is happening in America 
today, and it is a great thing. People have the power to vote with 
their feet and leave failed States. There is a reason States like Texas 
and Florida are attracting more and more people. It is because the 
system works.
  People are recognizing that when we have high taxes and high crime, 
it is time to leave that State. That is what is happening today: the 
idea where people are voting with their feet.
  Federalism is that opportunity, and it is the reason why I want to 
talk about what has happened in the last few years.
  One of the issues I want to talk about is what I would call amnesia 
or maybe memory loss.
  During the Biden years, food prices went up dramatically. You will 
see that what you used to spend $200 for at the grocery store, you now 
spend $250. If you spend $1,000 a month at the grocery store, you are 
now spending over $1,200, almost $1,300.
  That is a significant amount of money. It is fundamental. Especially 
as we move toward the MAHA movement, people are making better choices 
but with great challenges.
  With the idea of amnesia, what is the Democratic plan? Their plan has 
been: Let's go back to those failed policies.
  It wasn't just on groceries. In early 2021, the monthly rent was 
between $1,550 and $1,600. When we took over in early 2025, it had 
gotten as high as over $2,000. Again, that is a radical increase.
  Their plan is to go back to this plan. This is why I want to make 
sure people recognize where we are. The affordability issue is a 
challenge, no doubt, but to return to failure is not an option. That is 
why I am pleased to see that we are moving in a direction that should 
matter because not only are we reducing some of these costs, but, more 
importantly, we are putting more money back in people's pockets.
  The Democrats had the opportunity in 2021 and 2022 to pass all types 
of things to actually reduce taxes for the working class. They could 
have cut taxes on Social Security, overtime, and tips, yet they failed 
to do so. They could have reduced taxes on the middle class, who are so 
hard hit by the inflationary numbers I just talked about. They did 
nothing.
  We gave them a second chance. We said: We are actually going to 
reduce taxes on overtime, tips, and Social Security. Join us in that 
effort to help people hard hit by higher food costs and higher rent 
costs. To a Member, they said no.
  They wanted to actually let the tax rate regress back to the old 
Obama rates, which would have been, on average, a 23 percent increase. 
Is that giving relief to people? Absolutely not.
  That is why I think, as I have mentioned before in this map, that 
people have the power to vote with their feet. They know when they go 
to my home State of Florida that taxes are lower.
  I will give you one simple example. I am a former New Yorker. Do you 
know that Florida actually has more people than New York, and yet their 
State budget is twice as high? That means people are paying twice as 
much in taxes than you are in Florida.
  I will ask the other logical question: Would you feel safer today in 
New York City or in Florida?
  These are the choices that people get to make in America. It is a 
great thing. It is the reason why we don't think one

[[Page H4268]]

size fits all and the reason why we want to allow people to vote with 
their feet, whether it be on education issues, tax issues, or even 
public safety.
  The choices are clear. Stay on the positive path of putting more 
money in your pocket, giving you the flexibility to lives in States 
that actually believe in freedom or regress to 4 years of failure.
  It is not just, again, on money issues, but that issue of crime is so 
important today in understanding where we want to go.
  They even want to change the number of people on the Supreme Court, 
pack the Court in order to get their way in the end. That is not the 
way to solutions. That is why I think people need to make sure they do 
not have amnesia moving forward or memory loss.
  The best way to solve problems is to empower the individual, send 
less power to Washington and more power back home.

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