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REAL STATE OF THE UNION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, President Biden's address to the Nation last night was a missed opportunity. Our country is mired in a historic number of crises of the President and his party's own making at home, at our border, and abroad.
The rhetoric in the President's speech simply did not match his failing record. No amount of spin can change what every single American can see plainly and feel so personally.
Madam Speaker, in simple summary, our Union is in a state of crisis. Hardworking American families are being threatened by skyrocketing prices and empty store shelves; by alarming increases in crime; by our wide-open borders and illegal immigration; by record overdose deaths; by delayed tax returns and government services; and, of course, not the least of which is the projection of weakness on America's part on the world stage.
Since the magnitude of these problems obviously has not convinced the President and his Democrat allies in Congress to reverse course, I am not sure anything will.
But the State of the Union address is supposed to be an annual opportunity for the American President to take stock, to level with the American people, to acknowledge what has worked and what has not.
Republicans urged President Biden to take advantage of that opportunity last night to chart a new direction, to speak honestly, to accept responsibility for the declining state of our country and pledge to do better.
President Biden certainly would not have been the first American President to seek a reset--far from it. Presidential resets are common, and they are necessary. But this President didn't do that.
What did we get instead? Another typical Biden speech. We got another series of warmed-over Democrat talking points taped together and presented to the American people as if it weren't those same policies that got us into the messes that we are in.
Madam Speaker, this evening, my Republican colleagues and I will provide a further response to the State of the Union that was delivered here just last night.
But first, Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington
(Mrs. Rodgers), my friend and colleague, for her remarks and for a prayer that is being shared tonight around the world.
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
We are all inspired by the people of Ukraine and the leadership of President Zelensky and Mayor Klitschko.
Today, Christian Ukrainians asked for Christians around the world to join in praying, specifically, Psalm 31. So please join me.
O Lord, we come to You for protection. Don't let us be disgraced. Save us, for You do what is right.
Turn Your ear to listen to us. Rescue us. Be our rock, our protection, our fortress, where we will be safe.
For the honor of Your name, lead us out of this danger. Pull us from the traps of our enemies, for we find protection in You alone.
We entrust our spirit into Your hand. Rescue us, Lord, for You are a faithful God.
We will be glad and rejoice in Your unfailing love. You have seen our troubles and You care about the anguish of our souls.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we are in distress. Tears blur our eyes. Our body and soul are withering away. We are dying from grief.
We are scorned by our enemies, despised by their neighbors. Even our friends are afraid to come near. When they see us in the streets, they will run the other way.
We are being ignored as if we were dead, as if we were a broken pot.
We have heard the many rumors, and they are surrounded by terror. Their enemies conspire, plotting to take our lives.
But we are trusting You, O Lord, saying You are our God. Our future is in Your hands. Rescue us from those who hunt us down relentlessly.
Let Your favor shine on Your servants. In Your unfailing love, rescue. Don't let us be disgraced, O Lord, for we call out to You for help. Let the wicked be disgraced. Let them lie in silence in the grave.
Silence their lying lips, those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.
How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear You. You lavish it on those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
You hide us in the shelter of Your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter us in Your presence, far from accusing tongues.
Praise the Lord, for He has shown us the wonders of His unfailing love. He has kept us safe when my city was under attack. In panic, we cried out, ``We are cut off from the Lord,'' but You heard our cry for mercy and answered our call for help.
Love the Lord, all you godly ones, for the Lord protects those who are loyal to Him, but He harshly punishes the arrogant.
So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. The words of the psalmist resonate today as much as they did when they were written so many years ago, and our God is faithful. I thank the gentlewoman for putting that in perspective tonight.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).
Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise during this Special Order to offer thoughts on the real State of the Union.
Last night, the President addressed the Nation and attempted to rewrite the history of his first 14 months in office. The speech was short on solutions to our everyday challenges: record inflation, skyrocketing price of gas, and supply chain disruptions that are affecting everything from food to consumer goods.
This administration owns this energy crisis, which is a direct result of its crippling domestic production. When we don't produce our own energy, it makes us more vulnerable to global market fluctuations such as those caused by the Russian aggressions at Ukraine.
The Biden administration continues to ignore the national emergency at our southern border with unprecedented illegal immigration, millions of apprehensions, and limited deportations. It is a serious situation that continues to threaten our national security.
Let's focus for a moment here on U.S. energy. America's been feeling the ripple of skyrocketing energy prices. The average gallon of gas in my home State of California is up 70 percent from this time last year, and heating our homes is over 30 percent more expensive than winter last year.
Economic sanctions on Russia and the halting of the Nord Stream pipeline are sure to help increase the costs of energy, but they are necessary in order for to us to have independence. This reality will be a wake-up call for the Biden administration to reverse their current course and understand that American-produced energy is the best path forward.
After the President announced further sanctions on Russia due to the unprovoked attack on Ukraine, he promised to supply energy to our European allies that depend on Russian natural gas.
Since his first day in office, he has repeatedly stifled U.S. gas and oil production, increasing our dependence on all things Russian oil.
I am an adamant supporter of domestic oil and gas production, including building new pipelines. Right under our feet lies the largest untapped oil supply in the world, more than enough to drive down costs for American consumers and export liquefied natural gas to our European allies, removing our adversaries like Russia from their supply chain.
In last night's State of the Union, the President called to make Russia suffer economic consequences for their unprovoked attack. He glossed over that he has repeatedly stifled U.S. energy production, halting the Keystone pipeline and suffocating domestic oil and gas leases.
Unfortunately, he did the opposite. Just this week, he announced he is once again halting all new leases for drilling on our vast Federal lands, which we know how to do well and ecologically soundly. His solution? Import more gas from other adversaries such as China and the Middle East.
Our Nation imports 7 percent of our oil from Russia. Although that may seem like not much, if they shut it off when we are not ready for it, that will cause a big ripple.
We can't just flip a switch and turn on our domestic energy supply. It will take time to do it. We know what we need to do. We need to get at it, to start now.
The American people are being crushed under the weight of these economic consequences from failed policies. We know what we need to do. Let's get after it.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, energy policy is national security policy. Energy security is national security. We know that acutely now.
Madam Speaker, I am delighted to yield next to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain).
Mrs. McCLAIN. Madam Speaker, the state of our Union is atrocious. There are crises everywhere we look: record-high inflation; record-high illegal border crossings; a supply chain crisis that has stalled our economy; soaring energy prices; a devastating and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan; an emboldened Russia trying to overthrow a sovereign country and a democratic ally, Ukraine. This is what a full year of complete Democratic control and failure has brought the American people.
The President is completely backward. The policies he and his congressional Democrat allies have pushed us into haven't gotten us out of these crises. They have actually pushed us into these crises under his first, short 1-year term in office.
The speech we saw last night was completely detached from reality.
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What the American people are hearing from the Democrats is not what they are seeing, and it is not what they are experiencing. They can no longer afford to suffer these crises brought on by incompetent, arrogant, and out-of-touch leaders.
Sadly, the speech last night indicates that this administration plans to double down on their nonsense and spread lies and misinformation to the American people. All the American people want is truth, transparency, and consistency instead of manufacturing accomplishments to talk about at the State of the Union, like the convenient overnight change in the science, or shall I say, political science as a wind must have blown in from the Senate and, miraculously, COVID doesn't exist anymore.
President Biden needs to own up to all of the problems he has created and actually come up with some real solutions to get our country back on track. There is still time to do that.
If he is unable to do that, I implore him, please. Pick up the phone. Call me. I am happy to help.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. Very well said.
Madam Speaker, I am happy now to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller), who announced this week that he will not be seeking reelection, and he will be sorely missed because he is a gentleman and a great legislator.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana.
Madam Speaker, President Biden had an opportunity during the State of the Union address to communicate to the American people what his administration has learned from its policy failures of the past year and lay out a plan to correct course. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
I was not surprised that the President used this address as a political tool to double down on his assault on American energy, mandates, and Big Government spending. These policy decisions have emboldened our adversaries and led to record high inflation, business losing workers, rising crime across the country, and a wide open southern border.
If President Biden really believed that doing the same thing will solve any of the crises his administration created, he is either totally out of touch or ignoring the facts. Either way, the President took the easy way out. What is easy is not always right.
Be assured, Republicans will not shy away from our duty to always put America first, to rebuild our economic engine, restore individual liberty, and renew the American Dream.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. I appreciate him very much.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), who has been a mentor to me and so many others in Congress.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Mike Johnson for his leadership and courage to present the truth tonight.
Madam Speaker, last Friday, I was grateful as the ranking member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to address the Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Austria. Our delegation was ably led by co-chair Steve Cohen.
The bipartisan United States delegation of Democrats and Republicans, being transatlantic with our valued European and Indo-Pacific allies have been unintentionally united about Putin's war of mass murder in Ukraine, violating the principles of the Helsinki Final Act.
This emphasizes the devastating human cost of Putin's war against the families of Ukraine, isolating Russia and Belarus from the modern world.
This is Putin's war, as correctly identified by Der Spiegel, the German news magazine. It is not a war in Ukraine. It is not Russia's war. This is clearly to be forever condemned as Putin's war. The responsibility of an insane czar who is trying to build his power based on oil, money, and power, betraying young Russians to death.
OSCE monitors have impartially relayed the tragic reality of this conflict every day under often difficult and dangerous conditions. The Putin government and its proxies must restore the monitors' ability to fulfill their mandate.
I am personally grateful to have visited Russia a number of times where I was so impressed by the talented citizens who today who are being betrayed by Putin in his obsession for oil, money, and power.
Two months ago, I visited Kyiv, and it is horrifying to know of the attacks.
The pictures that we see here--they have been sent worldwide--this is the road to the airport. I was so impressed when I was there in December to see the four, six, eight, now ten lanes of boulevards filled with cars, a very modern society with high rise buildings that could be anywhere in America, could be anywhere in the world, in the modern world.
Now, sadly, we see that the cars are congested there and blocked. You have families. They have their pets with them. They have all the property that they could possibly carry. They have children. They have infants. They have elderly and sick persons and are trying to flee the rocket attacks solely the responsibility of Putin.
Sadly, in Belarus, dictator Lukashenko has become a puppet of Putin to subject Belarusians to autocracy, facilitating Putin's illegal war on the people of Ukraine.
It is inspiring that the legal president of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, would have her first loyalty to the people of Belarus, not to the war criminal, Putin.
In conclusion, God bless Ukraine. God save Ukraine. Long live President Volodymyr Zelensky. God bless America.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for all you do, and your expertise in foreign affairs is a great blessing to all of us.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).
Mr. ROSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for yielding me time this evening.
Madam Speaker, today, I rise to remind President Biden that the State of the Union is in crisis, more so than at any time in my lifetime.
After sitting in the House Chamber last night listening to the President speak, I couldn't help but think about the people of Tennessee that are struggling to make ends meet.
They are struggling due to skyrocketing inflation that has been fueled by President Biden and congressional Democrats' insatiable desire to recklessly spend trillions of dollars by borrowing massive amounts of money from China and elsewhere, and highly mortgaging our children's and grandchildren's and their children that follow after them, the future for these generations. It is gutless, and it is wrong.
Madam Speaker, the State of the Union is not strong. In fact, under only 1 year of President Biden's leadership, migrant encounters at our southern border have increased 96 percent. More police officers were killed than in any year since 1995. The price of gasoline has increased 33 percent. The fentanyl that comes across our southern border has become the leading cause of death among people aged 18 to 45, with an American dying every 5 minutes and 15 seconds.
Afghanistan has been surrendered back to the Taliban, leaving behind hundreds of Afghans who were aligned with us during that long struggle, along with billions of taxpayer dollars in modern American weaponry. Now, another American ally is under attack by out-of-control Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
It is time to wake up and recognize that Biden's administration and Congressional Democrats' policies are failing the American people. In fact, those policies have begun to do real damage to us at an ever-
increasing pace.
The people of my State, Tennessee, see right through this charade and implore the President to act now before it is too late and reverse his policies to match the rhetoric that we heard in the State of the Union address.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, that was so well said. We are going to stay in the State of Tennessee.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), who is from that same area.
Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Johnson for his leadership.
Madam Speaker, let me start off by offering my prayers to Ukraine, its people, and its leaders. I have asked my family to do that. Every night when we say our prayers, we pray for the people of Ukraine and their safety and the miracle of Biblical proportions that needs to occur in that country. It has happened before, and it can happen again. All of us hope that their country finds peace. We want to see this conflict end, Madam Speaker.
Innocent Ukrainians are caught in the middle of Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war against their country. These civilians are not at all responsible for the situation they find themselves in, yet they are the ones who are always paying the price.
Homes are destroyed. Food and water are scarce. Medical supplies are in short supply. Many institutions necessary for a stable society are under attack. On top of it all, the Ukrainians are living under the constant threat of Putin dropping a vacuum bomb or something worse. Some reports indicate that thermobaric bombs have been introduced to the theater, a whole new kind of hell that we are not used to in this country.
Discussions are now taking place about the United States supporting the Ukrainians with humanitarian aid. The question remains, how will we pay for this important matter? Congress could save a whole lot of money, Madam Speaker, if we would seize Russian-held assets and use them to pay for humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Using a creative funding mechanism like this ensures that we are responsible stewards of our constituents' tax dollars, especially given the challenges they face here at home.
Since 2015, American taxpayers have spent nearly $3 billion on humanitarian aid to Ukraine. What is wrong with having those responsible for the current humanitarian crisis pay for it, Madam Speaker? Vladimir Putin's invasion sparked this crisis. It makes sense that Russia should pay for the destruction and suffering it is causing these poor, innocent Ukrainians.
I appreciate Mr. Johnson's truculent use of this apparatus, and I do appreciate his lackluster approach.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).
Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Johnson's leadership in this Special Order.
Last night, President Biden had an opportunity to pivot his failing administration by using the State of the Union to present a new plan that would actually help the American people and address the multitude of crises that he created by his policies.
Instead, President Biden wasted his State of the Union speech by doubling down on his failed agenda and flat-out lying to the American people.
When I heard his tough talk on sanctioning Russia and his vow to buy American, I had hope that maybe this would include energy, American oil and gas. But no, his administration continues to double down on Green New Deal priorities and promote the purchase of oil and gas from other countries.
Why would he do that? Why would he encourage the United States to continue to buy over 635,000 barrels a day from Russia alone? Just look at the spot price of oil, $114 per barrel today, which means we are sending Vladimir Putin over $72.5 million every day to fund his war machine against Ukraine. Every dollar we spend on foreign energy weakens domestic energy production.
When he spoke about inflation, Biden's only so-called solution to combat 40-year high prices and hyperinflation was to tell businesses to lower costs. That was it.
Despite promising that he will secure the southern border, Biden's severely misguided immigration policies have led to over 2.1 million illegal encounters at our border in his first year alone, not to mention record high levels of dangerous drugs like fentanyl flooding into our communities.
Just today, his own acting assistant secretary of Border Security and Immigration Policy at DHS admitted in our Homeland Security Committee meeting that they are actively working to fight against and overturn the lower-court-mandated remain in Mexico policy at the Supreme Court level.
Last night, the President conveniently claimed victory over COVID and urged Americans to stop looking at COVID as a partisan dividing line. But don't forget, Biden has routinely enforced medical tyranny and used the pandemic as a weapon to sow division. Throughout his Presidency, Biden has said that unvaccinated Americans are destroying our economy, killing our people, and are the root of our country's problems. No, Mr. President, that is simply not right.
But it was right to say last night that the answer is not to defund the police. So why the change in message? For years, Democrats have dangerously called for defunding our brave men and women in law enforcement. Even candidate Biden said funding should be redirected away from our police.
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Meanwhile, there was no mention of the Biden administration's abysmal failure in Afghanistan that resulted in 13 fallen heroes, handed billions of dollars worth of military equipment to the Taliban, and abandoned Americans behind enemy lines.
After a year of his failed leadership, the American people know good and well that Biden's speech was nothing but lip service. Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President. Americans are desperately waiting for--and deserve--a leader who will act on their behalf to fix the crises facing our Nation. We are still waiting.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you, my friend. Well said. Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Thompson), the Republican leader of our House Agriculture Committee.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman for his leadership in this Special Order hour and for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today during this Special Order to offer thoughts on the real state of our Union. Last night, President Biden addressed the Nation and attempted to rewrite the history of his first year in office.
His speech included a lot of Washington-speak and was short on solutions to our everyday challenges: Record-high inflation, the skyrocketing cost of gas, and supply chain disruptions affecting everything from food to consumer goods.
President Biden owns this energy crisis, which is the direct result of his administration crippling domestic production: Ending the issuing of permits, the production on Federal lands, the stopping of pipelines, the list goes on and on and on.
When we don't produce our own energy, it makes us more vulnerable to global market fluctuations such as those caused by Russian aggressions in Ukraine. You heard my good friend talk about how America under President Biden is buying over half a million barrels of oil a day. In some small part or large part, America is funding, through that, the Russian aggression into Ukraine.
President Biden continues to ignore the national emergency at our southern border. I was just there last week, and it was incredible. We have unprecedented illegal migration, we have millions of apprehensions and limited deportations. This is a serious situation that continues to threaten our national security.
Madam Speaker, actions speak louder than words, and no amount of grandstanding is going to change the fact that the American people have a starkly different view from the President on the direction of our country.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you, my friend, for your leadership. That was well said. As we say over and over and over, energy security is national security, and it is unconscionable that we are funding Putin's aggression in Ukraine.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Miller), my dear friend.
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Madam Speaker, House Democrats who attacked unmasked and unvaccinated Americans as super-spreaders and said they should be fired from their jobs suddenly decided to lift the mask mandate and crowd together last night, hugging and kissing each other in a packed room right before the State of the Union to benefit President Biden's political optics.
COVID restrictions weren't lifted because they were destroying children's lives or killing small businesses. The restrictions ended because a politician's poll numbers got too low, and he needed a political reset. The American people are disgusted by this political double standard. They are never going to forget it.
But we are not surprised. Every decision the Biden administration makes has gone against the needs and the will of the American people.
Americans want secure borders and police protection. What does the left do? Open our borders, facilitate an invasion, and defund and demoralize our police.
Americans want energy independence and affordable gas. What does the left do? They dismantle our domestic energy industry and are forcing Americans to buy Chinese solar panels and batteries.
The left may be woke, but Americans are awake. The state of the Union is ready for a change.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Well said. The hypocrisy was on display last night. It is just absurd.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, last night's speech should have been the shortest State of the Union Address in history. It is easy for everyone to see the state of the Union is much worse after one year under the Biden Presidency.
This President, in order to keep energy independence, which is a national security issue and an economic security issue, all he had to do was nothing. If he would have just stayed in his basement and we paid him to stay home, the country would be so much better off today with the prices we are paying at the pump, with the security of our Nation.
There is nothing that impacts middle-income, lower-income, fixed-
income Americans than what we are paying at the pump. And now we are at risk of it going from $4 a gallon to $7 a gallon because of this President, and he has the travesty to not release American energy in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
This President needs to allow all the drilling to take place in the United States, for us to unleash our resources and bankrupt the Putin regime so he cannot finance the invasion into Ukraine. But, no, what is happening? We are buying some 75,000 gallons of Russian oil a day at the cost of $100 a barrel, enriching Putin's regime to the cost of $75 million per day.
But it is worse than that. What did this President have to do to keep a secure border? All he had to do was nothing. If he had stayed home after January 20, 2021, Americans would still be largely safe at the border because illegal immigration had been eradicated under the previous administration.
But what did he do? He forced the cessation of the border wall, and he does not permit the border agents, the Border Patrol to do their job. Meanwhile, 2.2 million illegal aliens came across our border last year, and have been distributed into the interior of our country, flown at taxpayer expense all over the country in the dark of night from 160 countries.
We don't know what they are doing while they are here, and this President has not just allowed it to happen; he has facilitated it to happen. As a matter of fact, last night he had the gall to say, hey, we want to secure the border, when his policies have done just the opposite and continue to do just the opposite.
Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution says it is the responsibility of the President to protect the States from invasion, and he is doing just the very opposite willfully, purposefully, intentionally. That is why so many of us have signed onto impeachment articles against this President, just because of what he has done on the border. Let's pretend he had done everything else well--use your imagination--in his first year in the White House. Just because of what he is doing to the American people at the border, and he has the gall in the speech last night to lie to the American people and say that he wants to secure the border. It should have been the shortest speech ever because to get up there and lie to the American people about the policies that he is implementing that are harming this country, it is a travesty. Thank you, Chairman Johnson.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Mr. Good said it so well, and that passion is felt all around this country. I hear it from my constituents. I know Mr. Good does as well. All of us do. People couldn't even tune in last night. Our constituents are writing to us saying they couldn't even watch it because it was nauseating how untrue it was. Here we are.
Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).
Mr. MANN. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Louisiana for his leadership and for hosting this here tonight.
Less than 24 hours ago, the President delivered the State of the Union Address in this very Chamber. I would like to respond on behalf of the Big First District of Kansas.
Last night, Americans hoped to hear our Commander in Chief address the many crises facing our country and explain his plans for fixing them; a reasonable request. Instead, we heard a monologue of half-
truths and empty promises. This administration has failed on the world stage, creating one foreign policy disaster after another, and the repercussions are posing threats to America's food supply, energy security, and our freedom.
On the home front, this administration has created record inflation, which is destroying livelihoods and killing small businesses across the country and in my district. Drugs and crime are destroying American communities and families, and we have an open southern border where drugs and human trafficking run rampant. The supply chain is still in disarray. Our country's debt is at an all-time high, almost $30 trillion, and the President has halted our march toward energy independence by killing the Keystone XL pipeline. The Biden administration has made a disaster in his handling of the issues at home.
Abroad, our country has an egregious trade deficit with China, a country that ripped off American farmers to the tune of $16 billion in the phase one trade deal, and this administration has done nothing to hold them accountable.
The President was getting lots of applause last night for talking a big game about supporting Ukraine, but we have done nothing meaningful so far as in response to the humanitarian crisis Vladimir Putin has created there. His financial sanctions won't prevent China from bailing out Russia financially, and President Biden won't stop buying half a million barrels of oil a day from Putin because, again, President Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline.
Furthermore, the President clearly isn't worried about the food implications of Russia taking over Ukraine, which is the breadbasket of Europe, by the way, and the third largest grain exporter in the world, because he still hasn't even appointed a USDA under secretary of foreign trade and agriculture. In 13\1/2\ months he hasn't even nominated one.
Americans are a resilient people. We have proven that over the past 2 years. I would argue that Kansans are among the most resilient of all. We have made it through worse times than these. But I am standing here today to say enough is enough. We need to get this country back on track, and to do that we need a President who actually leads.
Last night, I hoped that the President would tell us about how he plans to hold Russia accountable for its inhumane invasion of Ukraine, stop inflation, fix the supply chain, secure our southern border, and stand up for American farmers and ranchers who feed, fuel, and clothe the world. But he did not. Instead I heard an out-of-touch stump speech from a politician who wanted me to believe that everything is going to be just fine as long as he is in the White House.
I pray for the President, and I want him to be successful, but in order for that to happen, he must lead.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Very well said, my friend. Thank you for being here.
Madam Speaker, I yield to another colleague now, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I would like to comment a little bit on the speech last night and some of the issues that have been ignored and should be addressed and some of the issues that were given such short shrift it was almost comical.
The first issue I would like to address is inflation. Next time I should get my own billboard here. But if you look at M2, which is one measure of the monetary supply, in the 1970s--and I am old enough to remember the 1970s when inflation was really a horrible thing and something that we were never supposed to repeat--M2 was going up at a rate of about 7 percent year over year. We now are up about 37 percent year over year.
I mean, if you look at a graph, it is shocking the degree to which the Federal Reserve is just flooding money into our system. Of course, a major reason why they have had to do this is wildly excessive spending, because if you have excessive spending and foreign governments do not want to buy your debt, and who would want to buy your debt, you wind up with no alternative but to degrade the value of the dollar.
I thought it was particularly amazing that the President said or told businesses that you have to ``lower your costs,'' meaning that we shouldn't reduce wages, which is fine, but like it is an easy thing to lower your costs. I wonder, has President Biden ever actually talked to the businesses who are raising their prices?
The first thing I hear about is the metals, the aluminum, the different kinds of steel that are up 300, 400, 500 percent. When the market, the cost of these things go up to that degree, and you are a businessman, what in the world are you supposed to do?
The cost of transportation is going up, and the amount we pay truckers, which is a tremendously good occupation, has gone up. Sometimes you can't even get trucks. And what has President Biden done? He imposes a vaccine mandate on truckers, which further reduces the supply of an occupation that is already in demand, thereby guaranteeing the cost is going to continue to go up even more.
I strongly encourage President Biden to have some of his staff run around Washington, D.C., or maybe run around and talk to some of the factory owners in this country and ask them or advise them what they are supposed to do to ``lower their costs.'' Most of them, because we have a shortage of people working, are already probably exceeding last year's output in product. Despite the fact that they are doing that, and so, therefore, they are getting more per hour worked, but they can't find any new ways to reduce costs.
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But, again, I hope President Biden sends some of his cabinet members around the country and either advises them on how it is going to be easy to lower your costs or hears from them how impossible it is for them to lower their costs.
By the way, every single manufacturer I have talked to in the last 2 months--and I bet I have talked to 15, 20--every one of them thinks inflation is going to get worse. When I talk to farmers who use a variety of fertilizers, whatever, that goes into their product, they see the costs going through the roof. And every single farmer I talk to thinks inflation is going to get worse.
So I strongly encourage the Biden administration to have some people get out there among the hoi polloi and find out what is really going on with regard to inflation.
Next, President Biden talked about the police. And maybe President Biden doesn't realize what the problem he and his allies have created by going after the police. In Milwaukee, the city just to the south of my district, there was a dramatic increase to an all-time record high number of murders in 2020, something that you never thought you would see again, and it was exceeded again in 2021.
Why is that happening? It is because President Biden and his allies have adopted an antipolice rhetoric, in particular implying an amount of racism out there, and they are pushing a bill that has already been through this House, a bill that will make it much easier to hire a policeman.
Now, if a policeman wants to do his job, sometimes they have to arrest people, sometimes they have to wrestle with people. If you can wind up being sued, you are much less likely to want to do that. And when you have police that are less engaged, particularly in our busiest cities, what are you going to get? More crime. We cannot say we are serious about the spiraling number of people who are being shot to death or stabbed to death in this country until we allow the police to be police again. We have got to stop that police hatred that goes on.
And I don't care whether we eventually send a few hundred million dollars around the country to hire more police or whatever President Biden has up his sleeve, what we have got to do is we have got to build respect for police again so that they are free to maintain the safety in this country.
The third thing I will look at that I thought, again, was misleading to the public, concerns election laws. Many States, including Wisconsin, have a photo ID law. President Biden and his acolytes imply that a photo ID law is motivated by racism. Again, this is unnecessarily divisive.
One of the reasons why I feel that Joe Biden is the most divisive President in my lifetime, I have praised him for his speech last night in which he didn't call this country racist after using the racial word or white supremacy so much in his inaugural speech; nevertheless, it is a little bit ridiculous when in order to have fair elections some of us want to have photo ID and then people stand around when photo ID is needed for things that probably have a much more dramatic impact on the average person's life, but it doesn't bother them.
We had a requirement here in town that you present proof of vaccine with which you had to produce a photo ID, if you wanted to go to a restaurant in this town. I would say it is a fairly significant thing. Did anybody say that the District of Columbia was being racist because they required a photo ID if I want to eat at a restaurant?
They want to look at my ID before I get in an airplane. If I had to fly somewhere to get some surgery, if I had to fly somewhere to see an ailing relative, that could be a real life-changing experience. Does anybody say, oh, it is racist to require a photo ID if I got on an airplane? We just put up with this routinely.
Nevertheless, President Biden fans the flames of division by claiming that those of us who want to make sure that we have fair elections are motivated by racism when photo IDs are needed so commonly.
The next thing I want to point out that I think he gave short shrift to with an insultingly small amount of time was the huge number of people who are dying of drug overdoses in this country.
I got this job only 7 years ago. At the time, 47,000 people a year died of drug overdoses. By comparison, in 12 years during the Vietnam war, 57,000 people died. And every politician was supposed to talk about it. Now we shoot up from 47,000 to 100,000 people, and President Biden can't even bring himself to talk about fentanyl, the drug responsible for most of those deaths.
I don't know why he wouldn't talk about fentanyl. My guess is because overwhelmingly it is coming across the southern border, and he doesn't want to do anything about the southern border. However, I would hope in the future, President Biden would meet with law enforcement around the country, find out what it is like to have to tell the parents or siblings or children of the people who have died that their relative has died. That is a horrible thing.
And I think to gloss over the 100,000 deaths we have every year in this country--twice the number of people who died in the 12 years in Vietnam--was I thought very callous. But, again, I would encourage President Biden to ask members of his administration to get out and about a little bit, talk to relatives of people who have died of drug overdoses, particularly fentanyl, and maybe it will cause him to devote a little bit more time on that in next year's State of the Union address when he realizes what a horrible situation we have.
There are many other things that I don't think were addressed accurately or in depth during the State of the Union address that should have been.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Grothman. That was well said. There is lot. We know you can go all night because there was a lot to complain about.
Madam Speaker, tonight you have heard the response of so many of my Republican colleagues to the lackluster State of the Union address that was held here last evening. Perhaps the most glaring problem with his speech is that the President tried to ignore the fact that it is his lack of leadership that is what has created this dangerous situation that we are all in right now. All the crises you have heard about, the American people know the facts.
I grew up in the seventies and eighties. I was a child of the Reagan era, and we remember in the Cold War he reminded us we maintain the peace through our strength. What he communicated to us so clearly is weakness invites aggression. We have projected weakness on the world stage, and it is inviting Russian aggression. We pray and hope that we do not get a similar aggression from our other adversaries like China, North Korea, Iran, and the rest.
The only thing holding back terrorists and tyrants and dictators and rogue operators around the globe is their perception of a strong America. That is what we stand for. We wish we could have heard that from the President in a more honest tone last night, but we didn't get it.
So we are here. We are going to continue to work on this side of the aisle to fix these problems, and we look forward to the election cycle this fall where we believe the fortunes around here are going to change pretty substantially.
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for being here tonight, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 38
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