[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 21, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4173-S4174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Socialism

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, with recent political victories in 
Democrat primaries in Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere 
by socialists, I wanted to spend some time with my colleagues sharing 
the failed results that we have witnessed throughout history under 
socialism regimes. And if any of my colleagues consider themselves 
democratic socialists, I would like their attention.
  The expansion of candidates and people who want to institute 
socialism in the United States is very concerning. What they desire is 
going to destroy everything America has stood for.
  The recent trend toward socialism in the Democratic Party frankly 
surprises me. It ought to make every traditional Democrat worry about 
the trend of their party and be a warning for all of us.
  I am glad some Democrats share this concern, as Democrat pollster 
Mark Penn wrote in the Wall Street Journal. Democrats could take a 
playbook out of the 1947 effort by Eleanor Roosevelt and Hubert 
Humphrey, as recently reported in the Washington Post.
  Socialism is a failed ideology and experiment. It claims to focus on 
the good of society as a whole over the rights of individuals. This is 
in contrast to America's founding principles.
  Socialism, whether it is the revolutionary kind or the democratic 
kind, is aimed at government ownership of industry and the elimination 
of private property.
  Countries that have adopted socialism have found themselves less 
prosperous, even witnessing starvation and economic ruin followed by 
lawlessness and corruption. The only people that benefit from it are 
the people in the political system.
  Socialist countries have also seen private property confiscated and 
constitutional rights taken away from the people. Recently, there is a 
group of socialists called Democratic Socialists that have won Democrat 
Party primaries. Where I sit, socialism is still socialism. They may 
think that calling themselves democratic somehow would cancel out all 
of the negatives of socialism, but they want to bring about the same 
negative outcomes that will produce less prosperity and less freedom. 
Example after example in history backs up my point.
  In 2021, I spoke here on the Senate floor about Sweden's experiment 
with socialism. I encourage my colleagues to go back and read that 
speech. In case they don't have time, I will summarize it right now.
  In the 1950s, Sweden gained newfound wealth and economic freedom. 
Then it started to adopt socialist policies. During Sweden's experiment 
with socialism between the 1960s and the 1980s, it experienced short-
lived prosperity, massive government spending and taxation, and a 
highly regulated economy that eventually came crashing down. During 
that time, not a single net job was created in Sweden's private sector, 
and inflation took away almost all of the value of any wage increases. 
Sweden's socialist policies killed off its wealth creation that was 
needed to fund all of that government spending.
  By the 1990s, Sweden realized its mistake and reversed course, and 
its leftwing Swedish Social Democrats recognized their mistake as well.
  According to a White House Council of Economic Advisers report, if 
the United States had moved toward Nordic country-style policies in the 
1970s, by 2018, America's GDP would be at least 19 percent smaller, 
coming out to about 11,000 fewer dollars of wealth per person here in 
the United States.
  We can learn a lot from Sweden so we don't go down the dead-end road 
called socialism. We can also learn a lot from Cuba's experience moving 
from freedom to socialism. That happened in 1959. Cuba's standard of 
living over the past 50 years has been destroyed.
  In 1959, after Fidel Castro came to power, the Cuban Government took 
away private property and established price controls. This led to food 
shortages, and you can see that on our own televisions being a problem 
today in Cuba. Castro's regime even killed political opposition.
  Decades of socialism meant that by the 2000s, Cuba lacked basic 
infrastructure and reliable energy.
  A 2005 report found:

       Instead of blackouts, Cubans jokingly refer to periods when 
     electricity was available as ``lights-in.''

  That energy crisis continues today, and you see it reported on 
American television.
  Cuba's story under socialism can be summed up by Margaret Thatcher's 
words. When she was Prime Minister of Great Britain, she said:

       The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out 
     of other people's money.

  Not everyone in Cuba has suffered. Its dictators have taken care of 
themselves.
  If Sweden and Cuba aren't enough reasons why socialism has failed as 
an idea, let's take a look at Venezuela.
  In 1998, socialist Hugo Chavez became President of Venezuela. At the 
time, Venezuela was the richest country in South America, and now it is 
one of the poorest. One of Chavez's first actions was to nationalize 
the agriculture sector and rob landowners of their property.
  Food production fell 75 percent over two decades. Chavez went on to 
nationalize other parts of the economy, including electricity, water, 
oil, banks, supermarkets, construction, and other parts. He did this 
all while also expanding the welfare state with money that the country 
didn't have.
  Not only is the country poor, but it has also been ruled by brutal 
dictators, under Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, and riddled with 
corruption. One analysis about Venezuela's experience with socialism 
put it this way:

       So, what are the results of socialism in Venezuela? Well, 
     we have experienced hyperinflation. We have people eating 
     garbage, schools that do not teach, hospitals that do not 
     heal, long and humiliating lines to buy flour, bread, and 
     basic medicines.

  So history is very clear: Economic freedom is a ticket to broad 
prosperity. Today's American socialists espouse more than just economic 
ruin and fewer freedoms. They want less law and order by abolishing 
ICE, defunding the police, and emptying out our prisons.

[[Page S4174]]

  Don't take my word for it; just look at the agenda of some of the 
recent people who have won Democratic primaries in New York City. The 
Democratic socialist platform also wants to defund the Department of 
Defense, get rid of the U.S. Senate, and draft a new Constitution. 
Other countries that tried socialism have failed. Socialists' ideas and 
candidates offer failed ideas.
  We should not forget what history has taught us or, as George 
Santayana once said almost 100 years ago: If you don't learn from 
history, you are going to repeat the same mistakes.
  The United States was founded on principles of individual liberty and 
on unalienable natural rights, with the government's primary function 
being to preserve those rights and prevent fellow citizens or attacks 
by foreign powers from violating our constitutional rights.
  Americans have been reluctant to grant too much power to the 
government since the very beginning. Ultimately, free markets have 
helped America become the richest country in the world and have lifted 
more people from poverty than anything else in human history.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.