In the two years following Joe Biden’s inauguration, nearly everything he touched under one-party Democrat rule turned into a crisis. His executive actions and the administration’s policies created an energy crisis; the massive spending he championed set off the worst inflation crisis in 40 years; and Washington Democrat’s embrace of soft-on-crime policies helped create a violent crime crisis. House Republicans promised the American people that we would fight to change the direction of our country, and in our first 100 days, we have done just that.
On Day 1 of his presidency, President Biden canceled the Keystone Pipeline and then made it harder to drill for oil on public lands. During his State of the Union speech, Biden shared his opinion that Americans would only need oil for 10 more years. What world is he living in? Nothing could show you are out of touch with the working class more than making it harder for them to put gasoline in their cars to get to work. That’s why I was proud to support H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which would increase domestic production, reduce regulatory burdens on oil and gas production, and reform energy permitting to make it easier to produce more energy in America. We are determined to fight for our nation’s energy security and make America energy independent like we were under President Trump.
When President Biden passed his nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan, even liberal economists were predicting it would spark the fire of inflation. And did it ever. Because of the $10 trillion of new spending under one-party Democrat rule, Americans lost the equivalent of 2 months of their paycheck, as inflation has now increased 14.9 percent since the president took the oath of office. I was proud to coauthor a bill, the REIN IN Inflation Act, which would force the administration to account for the inflationary impact of Biden’s executive actions before enacting them.
But the spending has done more than give us the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years – it has also sparked a debt crisis where we have seen our nation increase our debt $2.5 trillion in just over 13 months. If we continue at our current pace under his policies, just the annual interest payments alone will cost our country $1.4 trillion – more than we spend on our entire national defense. That’s why House Republicans have insisted on getting our spending under control rather than handing the president a blank check debt limit increase. We passed the Limit, Grow, Save Act, which will save $4.8 trillion while also avoiding default. The bill will help lift more Americans out of poverty and restore America’s workforce through commonsense work requirements. In addition, it will end an agenda of welfare for the wealthy and big corporations and take the target off the backs of low- and middle-income taxpayers under threat from an army of 87,000 new IRS agents.
In the midst of a nationwide crime crisis, President Biden initially supported the District of Columbia when it passed new legislation that would lessen the penalties for, among other crimes, carjackings. However, after House Republicans brought to the floor and passed a bill that would have overturned D.C.’s law, the president reversed course and agreed to support this legislation. Ultimately, the fact that House Republicans were willing to stand up and fight the president to make our nation’s capital safer forced the president’s hand.
So far, House Republicans have won some key victories on fights that southern Missourians have long needed a partner in. President Biden ended the public health emergency when House Republicans put a bill on the floor to end it legislatively. When House Republicans began highlighting that the president had never visited the border, the president announced he was going down to see first-hand the destruction his policies have created. President Biden scrapped the vaccine mandate on our servicemembers when House Republicans were empowered to be part of the negotiations over our defense policy.
Whether it’s stopping the 87,000 new IRS agents, preventing partial-birth abortion, or fighting back against woke corporations that are applying left-wing environmental and social values criteria to hardworking Americans’ retirement accounts, House Republicans have been fighting back on behalf of working-class Americans, families, farmers, and small businesses. I am proud to stand up for the commonsense Missouri values you sent me here to defend, and I am hopeful we will make just as much progress – or more – in our next 100 days on your behalf.
