Fighting Against Socialism is A Fight Worth Having
Floor Speech
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Mr. GOSAR. Madam Speaker, as we watch the human tragedy that is Venezuela, it should be a stark reminder to everyone that socialism does nothing but destroy the lives of the people while enriching the elites. A recent report out of Venezuela reminded me of a Milton Friedman quote. The famed economist said, ``If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there'd be a shortage of sand.'' These are the words playing out in Venezuela right now. Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil, yet the socialists in charge cannot keep the lights on, nor supply the nation with gasoline for their vehicles. It gets worse for the people of Venezuela as there are now potable water shortages. Keep in mind, Venezuela has over 1,500 miles of coastline and part of the country is a rainforest. But the socialist rulers cannot seem to build desalination plants nor transport its vast water resources to the people that need it. Venezuela's current crisis reinforces my fight to make sure the United States has an all of the above energy grid. To function properly, a nation needs a variety of fuel sources, some renewables, some nuclear, some hydro, some carbon based. That is a reality for a mature economy and civilization. I fight against rabid environmentalists who want to shut down every coal plant, every gas plant, every nuclear plant and dismantle our dams and hydro power. They accuse of me of wanting to destroy the environment, which is a defamatory lie. What is apparent is the leftists in this country want to destroy our civilization, our affordable energy and our prosperity. They want to do to the United States what the same environmentalists and leftists have done to Venezuela--leave us without electricity, without food, without water, without communications. The emerging socialist movement in this country is an imminent risk of harm to everything that has made us the leader of the free world. The socialists in this country present a clear and present danger to our health and well-being and should be fought at every opportunity. Our fathers and grandfathers fought against socialists. They fought and died to make sure the United States remained free, capitalist and prosperous. Let the lessons of Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union and other socialist countries that have failed miserably, and inflict death and harm to millions, teach us to promptly reject U.S. socialists and their harmful ideology, their useful idiocy, and their malevolence.
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