Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it has been more than 2 years since COVID-19 shut down the world and forced businesses to close for months. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Congress has spent--we have already talked about it--$6.6 trillion to help American businesses get back on track to financial recovery after enduring months of forced government closures.

At that time, aid was critical for businesses to survive the pandemic, but we must now let the free market work and stop frivolously spending billions more in the name of COVID-19.

This attempt by Democrats to spend billions of taxpayer dollars is irresponsible and will only add fuel to the growing inflation crisis that we have. Americans are currently experiencing tough times right now trying to find out how to beat, frankly, the Federal Government.

Inflation and energy prices are the primary concerns for small businesses. And I am a small business owner for 51 years; I still employ hundreds of people. So those are the concerns they have. And more Federal spending is only going to strain businesses further.

It is simple: to lower costs for hardworking families and businessowners, we need to cut spending. We need to cut it, not spend more money that we don't have. When you spend money you print and you spend money you don't have, it is called inflation.

We should be focusing on getting control of the crisis at the southern border, lowering gas prices, managing supply chain disruptions--I am in the car business, so I can talk about that--that are leaving shelves empty and incentivizing people to get back to work, not not work.

In order to get back to the thriving economy we had prepandemic under the Trump administration, Democrats must end this emergency COVID spending charade. Hey, it is over. We are done with it. Let's move on.

And I always get a kick out of people that say they want to protect Main Street. Well, it is funny because a lot of those people wanting to protect Main Street are bureaucrats that never signed the front of a check. They never met a payroll. They have been up here all their lives. But they want to help Main Street. And the fact of the matter is we need to cut taxes. We need to cut regulations.

So if it is so important to help Main Street, why do Democrats and liberals want to raise taxes all the time? That doesn't help Main Street. I want to help Main Street, but I want to raise taxes. That is the wrong way to go about it.

So the bottom line is this: We have a better bill. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose H.R. 3807 and reject Democrats' false claims that this bill is fully paid for. It is fully paid for on the backs of Main Street America. In God we trust.

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