One-party Democratic rule in Washington has led to several unprecedented crises in our country and around the globe. However, next week, lawmakers will return to Washington, D.C. where the U.S. House of Representatives will begin a new legislative session with Republicans in the majority. With this new majority, we can work on policies to address the real issues that are hurting our country and the American people.
First, Republicans plan to secure the southern border that President Joe Biden and Democrats have almost completely abandoned. When he assumed office, President Biden inherited a border that was secure and kept Americans and our nation safe. Because of his policies and executive actions, however, the president has created the most troubling humanitarian, security and health crisis at our southern border in our nation’s history. He also created a fentanyl crisis that has led to more than 14,000 pounds of poisonous and deadly fentanyl being seized at our southern border in the last year.
This coming year, House Republicans plan to enact policies to secure the southern border and combat the current enormous levels of illegal immigration. These policies include fully funding effective border enforcement strategies, infrastructure and advanced technology to prevent illegal crossings and trafficking by cartels, ending catch-and-release loopholes, requiring proof of legal status to get a job and reinstating the successful Remain in Mexico program. Until our border is secure, every community in America is a border city.
Next, throughout the two years since President Biden was elected as president, Americans have felt the inflationary burden caused by Democrats’ damaging economic policies and out-of-control spending levels. Democrats’ inflationary tax has caused families across the country to pay more for just about everything including food, energy and other necessities. In fact, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ November Real Earnings Report confirmed that inflation is still outpacing Americans’ wage growth. In the new Congress, we will curb Democrats’ wasteful spending that has put us in this position, work to reduce our national debt and work to enact policies that will allow Americans and American businesses to prosper.
Prices at the pump and utility costs are also included in the high prices Americans are currently enduring. According to the November Consumer Price Index report, energy costs are up 13 percent, and according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, households are expected to pay the highest energy costs in 10 years this winter. On day one of Joe Biden’s presidency, he launched his war on American energy when he killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which could have been supplying 830,000 thousand barrels of oil per day from Canada to U.S. refineries. Today, President Biden wrongly continues to beg dictators and foreign adversaries for oil instead of using the resources we have here at home.
When President Biden assumed office, he inherited a country that was energy independent and even an energy exporter. Today, the president is sitting on over 4,700 pending applications for permits to drill. In addition, President Biden and House Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act spends more than $350 billion on failed Green New Deal initiatives and includes an American energy tax. In the coming year, House Republicans will pursue an all-of-the-above American energy strategy to restore North American energy independence and reduce fuel and energy prices for the American people.
Finally, the new House Republican majority plans to bring accountability and oversight back to Congress. First, the president and his administration must answer questions on the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members, the resurgence of the Taliban in the region and the billions of dollars of military equipment that was left behind. House Republicans will also investigate the origins of COVID-19 and hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its part in covering up the initial outbreak, which led to its uncontrollable spread around the globe and then denying investigators full access to critical sites and facilities to determine how the virus first spread.
Members of Congress will certainly have much to work on this Congress. However, the new Republican House majority is ready to put the American people first and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the issues affecting every American.
