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Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Last week's inflation report reinforced what working families across America already know: Washington Democrats' inflation is still packing a punch. Prices climbed 4.9 percent from this time last year. Just in the last month, they accelerated nearly half a percentage point. The Biden administration called the news ``welcome breathing room for families.''

Welcome breathing room for families? According to the latest data, families have paid thousands of dollars more just to put food on the table on his watch. In Colorado, your average family has paid over $2,000 in additional food costs since 2021. In Arizona, those same groceries have cost households $1,800; in Montana, over $1,700; in my home State of Kentucky, families have paid $1,600 more, on average, since President Biden took office. It doesn't sound like breathing room to me, especially at a time when workers' wages are failing to keep pace with out-of-control prices.

Meanwhile, confidence with President Biden to do the right thing with the economy is at its lowest point since the great recession. That is hardly surprising when his top economic advisers refuse to even admit there is a problem. The President's latest pick to lead his Council of Economic Advisers has repeatedly said this administration didn't miss a thing on inflation.

So, while the Biden administration pats itself on the back for a job well done, let's remember where we were just 2 years ago. Since the President took office, prices have climbed a staggering--listen to this--16 percent--16 percent since the President took office. Gasoline is up 54 percent, electricity is up 22 percent, groceries are up 20 percent, and higher interest rates are making it harder for working families to borrow and save for the future. Washington Democrats' reckless spending and green energy fantasies are sending our economy deep into the red.

For 2 straight years, Americans have had to tighten their belt just to get by. It is time for this administration to wake up and do more of the same. H.J. Res. 42

Mr. President, on another matter, as our Nation observes Police Week, cities across America continue to grapple with the rising tide of violent crime, and our Nation's Capital is certainly no exception. This year, Washington has already endured the deadliest first 4 months of any year in the last decade. Motor vehicle theft in the District is up 115 percent from this time last year. And now, the leftwing DC Council wants to make the tough job facing the brave men and women of the Metropolitan Police even tougher.

With violent crime spiraling out of control, the council proposed a new law that strips police officers of collective bargaining rights, makes more of their information available for public harassment, and adds new hurdles for the use of force in defending themselves and the public. Remember, Congress already had to step in when the council tried to go even softer on felony sentencing with another bill earlier this year. Even President Biden balked at such a radical measure.

The latest law, which is already in effect on an emergency basis, has had a devastating impact on local law enforcement. The local police union reports 1,200 officers have chosen to leave the force since it took effect--1,200 officers left the force since this took effect. In a city that is facing its worst bout of violent crime in at least a decade, the police chief estimates he has fewer officers to fight it than at any time since the 1970s.

To make matters worse, the Department is fighting a losing battle against the city's soft-on-crime prosecutions. Last year, Washington's U.S. Attorney's Office declined to press charges on--listen to this--on two-thirds of the arrests made by the police department. In other words, two of every three times an MPD officer risks their safety to take a suspect into custody, the suspect walks free.

No wonder, as Chief Contee reports, the average homicide suspect the department encounters already has a rap sheet of 11 previous arrests. Leftwing officials in our Nation's Capital are taking a cue from the Democrats' approach to border security: catch-and-release--catch-and- release. It is simply unacceptable.

This Police Week, the junior Senator from Ohio brought forward a resolution to say enough is enough. After a bipartisan vote in the House, our colleagues on both sides of the aisle voted yesterday to reject--to reject--the DC Council's new law. I am grateful to Senator Vance for his leadership, and I am proud to join colleagues in continuing to back the blue.

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