Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, for over a year, Democrats have dismissed the historic inflation crushing American households.

First, they said it was transitory. Then, they played it down as a high-class problem. Now, President Biden ridiculously and falsely refers to rising prices as Putin's price hike.

But the American people know that Democrats' failed policies created this inflation crisis. Their overspending created excess demand. Their war against domestic energy production constrained supply. And this supply-demand mismatch pushed prices to a four-decade high.

In March 2021, the Consumer Price Index was at 2.6 percent and gas prices were $2.70 per gallon. That month, President Biden's American inflation plan was signed into law. What happened as a result? We have 8.6 percent inflation on the CPI from last Friday, the highest in over 40 years. On top of that, we are seeing historic energy prices. Fuel oil is up 106 percent, the highest ever, and regular gasoline is up over 50 percent year over year. For the first time ever, gas prices reached $5 per gallon nationally last week.

Instead of addressing the cause of inflation, such as Big Government spending, radical energy policies, and politicization of access to capital, they continue to push partisan packages that will do absolutely nothing to correct historic inflation that is plaguing the middle class. Case in point is this bill, the Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act.

At a time of historic inflation, the central responsibility, the core job, of the Federal Reserve is to ensure price stability. But instead of responding to Democrats' fiscal policy errors, the Fed failed to tighten monetary policy fast enough to address this inflation crisis, especially at this time when they should be focused on price stability.

What does the Democrat majority do? They want to give the Fed more responsibilities. They want to give them responsibilities beyond their core competency or expertise.

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, instead of diverting the Fed's focus away from their responsibility of tackling inflation, the Federal Reserve should be focused on dealing with inflation.

If Democrats were truly interested in helping low- and moderate- income households, fixed-income households, and communities of color, who are suffering the most under Biden's inflation crisis, they need to keep the Fed's eye on the ball. Don't have them weigh into social policies and controversial policies that are in the responsibility and jurisdiction of Congress. The Fed needs to be focused on helping tame inflation. This bill gives the Fed responsibilities it doesn't need to have.

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