Relating to A National Emergency Declared By the President on March 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, while we gathered in the House Chamber for the State of the Union Address, the whole world was watching for President Biden's comments on Putin's rapidly escalating invasion of Ukraine. I thought the President did a good job expressing our steadfast support to Ukraine. That strong message was conveyed to the international community during his address, and the appreciation from both sides of the aisle was reflected in our collective response. It was a moment when we felt complete unity in the Chamber.

Unfortunately, it was the only moment of unity in the entire address. The overwhelming majority of the President's speech was geared toward a specific audience--his liberal base.

Over the course of an hour, the President boasted about spending billions on unnecessary wish list items, pushed his ``climate first'' agenda, and laid out his Big Government social justice platform.

It was a message tailored for residents of the Hamptons rather than those who live in Hampton, AR. The voters in Austin, TX, but not Austin, AR.

Arkansans are worried about paying their bills, putting food on the table, and the price of gasoline. The cost of almost everything is on the rise, and every American is feeling the pinch. And we are not talking about luxury items here; we are talking about necessities. A gallon of gas costs almost a dollar more than last year. Electricity bills are skyrocketing, and food inflation is at its highest rate since the Carter administration.

The main thing my constituents and, quite frankly, most Americans outside of the beltway needed to hear was a plan to bring down inflation, end the supply chain bottlenecks, and restore our workforce to full strength. President Biden barely touched on these issues. When he did, it was to cast blame for inflation on businesses and industries that are doing their very best to maintain operations in the face of historic supply chain and labor challenges.

The President claimed that businesses should simply lower costs to reduce inflation, as if lowering costs in the face of increasing government mandates, increasing input costs, labor shortages, and overregulation was possible. There is a major disconnect between the struggles Americans experience every day and the image the President and his team are desperately trying to project.

This is most apparent in rural America. The President and his team often boast about record high farm income but never acknowledge the fact that the financial gains family farmers, ranchers, and foresters will see will soon be reduced by record high production costs. Land, machinery, labor, fuel, seed, and livestock feed prices are all increasing dramatically. Fertilizer prices have spiked as much as 300 percent in some parts of the country, and at the same time the administration is levying tariffs on our fertilizer imports. Every portion of the food chain remains strained as labor shortages and supply chain issues continue to hinder our ability to get food from farms to tables.

For many, the increased costs of farming are deterring them from continuing in the industry. It is pushing the next generation of farmers down a different career path instead of carrying on the family business. The family farm operations that once populated my home State of Arkansas in large numbers will be eroded away if we don't make rural America and farming more economically stable.

This is bad news for rural America. In most of our rural communities, agriculture is all that is left. Agriculture is Arkansas' largest industry, adding around $21 billion to our economy every year and accounting for approximately one in six jobs.

But rural Arkansas is hurting. My home State has 75 counties, and 55 of them lost population in the last census. I suspect the same trend is likely happening in each of our colleagues' States. The exodus is fueled by the desire to leave rural America to pursue economic opportunities outside of farming. And that is so unfortunate, as the family farms that color the landscape of rural America are the true building block for a better future.

Reversing this trend should be at the top of our to-do list. Our agenda needs to benefit more than urban and suburban America. It needs to reach and help the 60 million Americans living in our rural communities. When people leave our small rural towns, we run the risk of losing schools, hospitals, and other vital infrastructure needed to sustain these communities. We must find solutions to rebuild economies and secure livelihoods in rural America.

President Biden only mentioned the word ``rural'' once in his entire State of the Union Address. He continued to push his Build Back Better agenda, which favors big city liberals at the expense of rural America and pledged to resurrect this doomed package.

My advice to President Biden: It is time to stop pushing that boulder up the hill. Instead, make good on your pledge to unite the fractured country. That starts by abandoning these misplaced priorities and focusing on the needs of all Americans.

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