Providing for Consideration of H.R. Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting Our Kids Act; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, today's rule is an all-too- familiar pattern of the legislative laziness from my Democrat colleagues.

Once again, Washington Democrats are hiding their spending from the American people. They are smuggling their spending levels for the upcoming appropriations process into a rule for a totally unrelated bill so they don't have to debate or defend their out-of-control spending habits.

Last year, Democrats did the exact same thing. The chairman of the Budget Committee drafts a spending resolution; he skips over his committee; and then they toss it into a rule, hoping no one notices.

At no point in the last 4 years of the majority have House Democrats actually marked up a budget in the Budget Committee. Time and again, House Democrats have acted with as little sunlight as possible because they don't want to be held accountable for their record.

Americans know that Washington spending is driving inflation, and now Democrats are calling for even more. Last year alone, House Democrats voted for $7.5 trillion in new spending, including the $2 trillion so- called rescue plan that ignited the highest inflation in four decades.

Since President Biden took office and one-party Democrat control of Congress took over in Washington, inflation is up 11 percent. Gas prices are up 110 percent on their watch. President Biden's 2021 deficit was the second highest in history, $517 billion more than the CBO said it should have been.

Democrats don't want to debate budgets. They certainly don't want to debate the President's budget, which would spend $73 trillion over the next decade, a 66 percent increase over the past decade. It would add $16 trillion in new debt with well over $1 trillion annual deficits every year.

Democrats don't want to talk about budgets because they are spending like they simply don't exist. If Democrats won't show their cards, allow me. The resolution that is tucked away in this rule has over $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending next year, a $132 billion, or 9 percent, increase over the most recent fiscal year 2022 omnibus. It is $21 billion more in spending than even Biden's budget proposal.

Instead of hiding, I urge my colleagues to be crystal clear with the American people about exactly what they have in store for them: tax increases, high inflation, open borders, energy dependence, and an ever-growing mountain of debt.

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