Economic, Retirement, and National Security

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I want to discuss the issue of security with my colleagues--economic security, retirement security, and national security--three issues that probably right now in my conversations with constituents is what we hear the most about.

Let's look at the picture of economic security, or the lack thereof, that exists in our country and in our communities.

What I hear from my constituents is that the 5 percent unemployment rate is indeed misleading because over 90 million Americans have dropped out of the workforce. They are losing hope and are unemployed. The Obama malaise, as I have constituents who like to term it, has created a workforce participation rate of 62.8 percent. Now, I want you to think about that. Of the eligible adults who are ready for the workforce, 62.8 percent have a job and are able to work. That is the worst level since the Carter administration.

Our GDP is declining. Our economy grew at only half of a percent-- half of a percent in the first quarter of 2016. That is lower than a 1.4 percent expansion in the previous period, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. President Obama had a chance to create 40,000 jobs, and he took a pass on it. He vetoed the Keystone pipeline so that he could cement his legacy and stature as a liberal icon.

The American people are tired of being broke; they are tired of work permits that go to illegal aliens; and they are tired of $19.2 trillion in Federal debt. We need to get the government off the backs and out of the pocketbooks of the American people. It is time to loosen regulations and lower taxes.

The issue of retirement security comes up so often in the conversations I have, especially with women, and it is important to note what is happening with Social Security and Medicare. The Social Security retirement trust fund is set to run out of money by the year 2034. That is not that far away. According to the Tax Foundation, under the current wage indexing formula, benefits are projected to climb by more than 150 percent, in real terms, over the next 75 years.

I have introduced H.R. 603, the Savings for Seniors Act, which establishes within the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund a Social Security Surplus Protection Account to hold the Social Security surplus and prohibit it from being spent. Medicare has to be addressed as well. It is supposed to run out of money and be insolvent by 2030. We must make sure that seniors are secure, and we have to make certain that the money they have already paid into the system, they are able to receive.

On the national security front, President Obama's very, very timid foreign policy has emboldened our enemies from the rise of ISIS, to Russian aggression in Ukraine and in the Middle East, to the Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea. It has also left our allies asking: Where are you? You are not present as we try to address these issues.

What we have seen with President Obama, I think, is inexcusable. For example, when the evil blade of ISIS decapitated Steven Sotloff in 2014, President Obama was on the golf course minutes after telling the American people: We will be relentless, and we will be vigilant to see that justice is done. Or, as he also calls it, leading from behind.

Two other glaring issues we face are the Syrian refugee program and our southern border.

There is currently no way to vet Syrian refugees, and I think this President is delusional if he thinks there is. I have introduced H.R. 4218 to suspend refugee admissions until Congress passes a joint resolution approving the President's plan.

Meanwhile, our southern border is overrun again. Through the first 6 months of fiscal year 2016, which ended on March 31, border officials apprehended 27,754 unaccompanied children. That is just shy of the 28,579 number apprehended for all of 2014. Think about that comparison.

Mr. Speaker, we must provide economic, retirement, and national security for all Americans. We must rise to the occasion and make certain our Nation is secure.

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