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Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, it has been over a year since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats took control of all the government here in DC. They like the fact that they have got their hands on the drivers, and they are enacting their policies. But what is so interesting, as my colleague from Iowa was pointing out, is they continue to try to blame Donald Trump and Republicans for the issues that are in front of us.

Just a few years ago, if you would have asked me how I would evaluate a government that spent their way into inflation--recordbreaking inflation--surrendered our border to the drug cartels, and abandoned two Embassies, I would tell you that that sounds like an administration that is in disarray. I think most people would believe that to be a fact.

But here is the problem: We have moved beyond disarray. Tennesseans feel like it is more like a catastrophe.

This is not mere incompetence at work. Joe Biden is earning his disapproval rating that he was joking about at the Correspondents' Dinner last week. He knows that it is, indeed, low--some of the lowest ever.

The fact is that President Biden and Vice President Harris have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, and they did this to themselves. And now their allies in Congress are ready to make things even worse. They are doubling down.

This is what happens when you try to force an agenda filled with pet projects that the American people are telling you they do not want and, as taxpayers are saying, ``You can't afford this.'' This is what happens when you really have no vision for the future of the country. It is all about power, all about control.

Last month, the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics released a poll showing that this distinction between agenda and vision actually matters to people. They found that 56 percent of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, disapprove of Joe Biden's job performance. That is correct; 56 percent disapprove. And just last spring, 59--that is right, 59-- percent of young persons were still in his corner.

Look at what is happening. Look at that flip that is taking place.

The measure of success or failure for this administration shouldn't come down to how many boxes they can check off their wish list but how many young Americans look at what they are doing, and they say: I can't support this. This does not give me hope. This does not look good for my future.

Indeed, 56 percent of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, disapprove of the Biden agenda.

Right now, this age group, they are losing hope. That same Harvard poll shows that their top concern isn't the environment; it isn't abortion or Roe v. Wade; it is the economy. And why wouldn't it be? The current inflation rate is 8.5 percent. Last year, it was 2.6 percent.

How can anyone be expected to plan for their future if they are struggling to plan for next week's grocery run? They are paying a premium just to live.

Meanwhile, the President is asking them to sacrifice even more so he can check some more boxes on his to-do list that is all about this leftist agenda. It is not about the people; it is about power; it is about control.

Young Americans--and I would say all Americans, Tennesseans--deserve better than this. They deserve leaders who have a vision for the future of this country, who have the God-given common sense to see it through.

Joe Biden and the Democrats have been in power for more than a year. The window for blame-shifting and excuses is closed. It is shut. It is time for the President to abandon this self-destructive agenda and give the American people a fighting chance at reclaiming their own vision for the future.

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