As Americans Struggle With Historic Inflation, Democrats Plan Tax Hikes

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Washington Democrats' one-party government has actually performed an amazing feat. In 18 months, they have taken an economy that was ready to soar and completely derailed it with $2 trillion in unnecessary borrowing, printing, and spending. Now, 9.1 percent inflation is pinching hard-working Americans every time they visit the gas pump or the grocery store.

The Biden administration has tried their hardest to find a silver lining amid the economic storm clouds they helped create. They have touted the strength of consumer spending to conclude our economy is strong. That is what they said. Well, of course, consumer spending has only gone up because the price of nearly everything has increased. A recent economic analysis shows the American people do spend more on gas, groceries, furniture, and clothes than we used to, but--listen to this--adjusted for inflation, they are actually consuming less--paying more, getting less.

Parents of school-age kids are some of the hardest hit. Four in ten say they won't go back-to-school shopping before the upcoming school year. One young mother in Nevada says she will ``pick out one or two shirts'' for her daughter ``and that's it.'' Inflation has made everything else too expensive.

Over in Arizona, inflation forces the average household to spend over $9,600 more a year compared to when President Biden took office. Many families simply don't have that much wiggle room in their budgets and are resorting to desperate measures simply to stay afloat.

One Phoenix area food bank has seen a 78-percent increase in visitors compared with just last year--78 percent more families who simply can't afford to live in this Democrat-run economy. A woman in line at the food bank said she had never needed to visit one before but ``the prices are way too high'' right now to support four children on her husband's salary.

Colorado families are facing the highest inflation costs in the Nation, in the whole country: nearly $10,900 in extra spending per year compared to the beginning of the Biden administration. Not surprisingly, Coloradans are falling behind on paying for daily necessities. One pawn shop owner in the State has noticed a marked increase in loan seekers at his business. For most of them, they just need ``30 bucks, 40 bucks'' to ``pay small bills, get gas, put groceries on the table.''

This is all happening in my home State of Kentucky as well. People are taking out loans, cutting back spending, and relying on charity just to cope with ever-increasing prices. But that hasn't stopped Washington Democrats from proposing new ways to wreck our economy. As we speak, they are batting around a new suite of tax hikes aimed squarely at the middle class. If Democrat-driven inflation hasn't pushed struggling families off the edge quite yet, the Democrat-driven recession certainly will finish the job.

So what is on the menu? New taxes on small businesses already struggling with inflation, new fees and regulations on American energy producers that will send prices even higher at the pump, new socialist price control schemes to stifle healthcare innovation.

Apparently, record inflation isn't enough to make Democrats realize their reckless economic agenda is a failure, an abject failure. Maybe tax-hike-induced stagflation will set them straight. Ukraine

Madam President, now on another matter, I had the honor, along with others, of greeting the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who greeted us here in the Capitol. Like my colleagues in the room, I was moved by her blunt, plaintive remarks to Congress. As her country endures the fifth month of a brutal Russian siege, Ms. Zelenska was candid about the pain and suffering Russia's unprovoked war of aggression was causing her homeland. She said: ``Russia is destroying our people.''

The First Lady conveyed the incredible determination of the Ukrainian people and echoed their simple request for the tools to fight their own fight--``Weapons,'' she said, ``to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home.''

I hope the First Lady's visit helped steel our colleagues' resolve as friends of Ukraine. Russia's invasion has already reminded the West that revisionist aggressors cannot be appeased. And Ukraine's brave resistance, equipped with the arsenal of the free world, is a further reminder that this is a fight they intend to win.

The Senate should be proud of our work over the past several months to get more lethal capabilities into Ukrainian hands. But at every step of the way, the Biden administration has been a bit slow to green light the game-changing weapons Ukraine's frontline defenders actually need.

I urged the President for more than a year to take specific actions to deter Russian aggression against Ukraine--actually, before it escalated. Last June, I urged him to deliver lethal capabilities to Ukraine and other states in Vladimir Putin's crosshairs. Instead, the administration slow-walked security assistance for months.

In December, I called for U.S. military reinforcements along NATO's eastern flank, but the President waited until February to deploy forces--too late to deter Putin's aggression. And even after Russia had launched its unlawful invasion, the President has repeatedly deterred himself from providing Ukraine the capabilities it needs.

With nearly every weapons system requested by Ukraine, the cycle in Washington plays out like this: first, hesitation and concern; then, excuses that Ukraine couldn't effectively use the proposed weapons or objections that providing them would escalate the conflict; then-- then--grudging willingness to transfer the weapons; and finally, with weapons in Ukrainian hands, self-congratulations from the Biden administration that they are having a positive impact on the battlefield. It is exhausting to watch this decision-making cycle repeat itself from Kentucky. It must be exacerbating to watch it from Kyiv.

The need for advanced, longer-range weapons to turn back Russia's aggression is painfully obvious. Air defense capabilities to combat Russia's continuing long-range strikes against civilian populations across Ukraine, anti-ship weapons to combat the Russia Black Sea blockade and the humanitarian food crisis it is causing worldwide, and more capable, longer-range artillery to pound Russian positions in occupied Ukraine from relative safety--this will help offset any numerical advantage Russia has achieved by pumping so much more combat power into its invasion force.

So here it is. Putin cannot be allowed to believe he can just wait for the West to become complacent. It would do a moral disservice to the brave Ukrainians fighting every single day for their country. But this is not just about Ukraine's security. If Russia achieves its objective in Ukraine, it will imperil our own security. And if we waiver--if we waiver--on Ukraine, it would certainly send an unmistakable signal of weakness to Beijing, which is watching the conflict in Ukraine very closely.

For their part, so are our friends and allies in China's backyard. As Japan's Prime Minister put it back in May: ``Ukraine might be East Asia tomorrow.''

Russia's brutal war has cost the people of Ukraine their homes, their safety, and their lives. But it has also reawakened the West to the reality of long-term deterrence and competition.

It has led modern partners like Sweden and Finland to cast their lot with the greatest military alliance in the history of the world. And it has prompted current treaty allies to shake off years of neglect for their own defense capabilities. All of this will result in greater burden-sharing, interoperability, military capability, and collective security for the NATO alliance.

The United States cannot afford to neglect this lesson ourselves. As the leader of the free world and the No. 1 target of revisionist adversaries like China and Russia, we have to take seriously our obligation to maintain America's military superiority.

We need to act quickly and pass a defense authorization bill that restores our readiness, grows our stockpiles of critical munitions, reinforces our position along NATO's eastern flank, and lays the foundations for a new era of credible deterrence in Asia by modernizing and equipping our military for real competition with China.

I hope the Democratic leader will let the Senate take action on this critical legislation without further delay.

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