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Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. I come to the floor to join my colleague from Kansas, Senator Marshall, in talking about the economy. President Biden has spent the last 2 weeks trying to define and then redefine what has been come to be known as Bidenomics. The President now wants to talk about his economic record. Well, I would say, let us have that conversation.

Here is what Bidenomics means to working families in my home State of Wyoming. It means record inflation. It means hollowed out savings. And it means crushing interest rates.

Bidenomics is a radical recipe causing more and more Americans to fall further and further behind. It means families are faced with tough decisions every single day--decisions about how they are going to make ends meet; decisions about what they can afford at the grocery store, how much gas they could put in the vehicle; decisions as they are trying to pay their bills sitting at the kitchen table. Bidenomics is spelling a summer of suffering for every single American.

Before the President took office, inflation was practically nonexistent, 1.4 percent. But under the Biden-Harris administration, prices have risen 16.6 percent. American households are spending $900 more per month just to keep up. The average household has spent over $2,300 more on energy alone since Joe Biden came to the White House-- that is to fill a tank of gas, to keep the lights on, to heat the house in the winter and cool it in the summer.

Wyoming families are worried about our Nation and our Nation's future, and they believe this country is on the wrong track. It is what I heard all over the Fourth of July recess from families from Cody to Gillette, Casper to Pinedale. That is what they shared with me. They are so much in agreement with families all across this country because the high cost of everything is the top issue that people are talking about and thinking about nationally. That is the impact of Bidenomics. That is what Joe Biden has done to this country. The pain and suffering that the American families are feeling was nothing to celebrate over the Fourth of July, but that is what the White House is trying to do.

You wonder how we got here. Let me tell you. This agenda by the Democrats and Joe Biden and his colleagues in the House and in the Senate, the Democrats have an agenda of runaway spending, of government overreach, and of reckless tax hikes. We warned our Democratic colleagues that the Biden-Harris spending would send prices soaring. That is exactly what happened.

The spending also drove interest rates higher. Sky-high interest rates are sapping savings. They are putting an additional burden on working families. People are actually dipping into their savings account or taking on additional credit card debt just to pay current- day bills.

Credit card debt recently hit a record of nearly $1 trillion. That is roughly $10,000 per household in this country. These are drastic measures that people are being forced to take because inflation has outpaced wages for 26 months in a row.

Adding to the pain of record-high prices and more debt is the administration's excessive and continued government overreach. The Biden-Harris administration's regulatory agenda is the most expensive of any administration in modern history. The administration is surrendering America's energy and economic dominance and they are doing it to adversaries like China. And they are doing it right now as John Kerry prepares to go to China and continue this American surrender. The President wants all Americans driving electric cars no matter what it costs. Here is the catch. The electric cars are going to be slapped with ``Made in China'' stickers.

What happened last week? China choked off supply of critical minerals that are used for solar panels that Joe Biden wants us to make here.

China controls the supply chain for the minerals needed to build the electric cars and the batteries. But we are not allowed to mine for it here--no. His Department of Interior shut down mining in Minnesota for critical minerals. He is making China richer and America poorer.

Joe Biden is turning to China, not American workers, for the critical minerals needed for these cars. Bidenomics is selling out to communist China.

America isn't blind to the blunder of Bidenomics. Here is a quote from a recent CNN story. It says:

Most Americans are convinced the economy is in bad shape, and they blame the president.

A new poll from the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center found that 64 percent of Americans--almost two-thirds of Americans--disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling the economy. A Harvard-Harris poll said that 74 percent of Americans say their financial situation is not improving under this administration. Yet you see Joe Biden touring the country, and Democrats giving victory speeches. Bidenomics is ravaging our wallets, wrecking our savings, and ruining our economy, and the Democrats are saying: Great.

Senate Republicans have solutions to get America back on track, and it starts with spending less and reducing redtape and unleashing American energy.

As the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I will tell you that unleashing American energy is my top priority. To accomplish that, we need to pass true permitting reform. Our plan is going to make life more affordable by making it easier to produce every type of American energy.

We will need traditional, reliable forms of energy like oil, coal, and natural gas for years and years to come in spite of what the President may foolishly believe. We also need to produce more energy from resources like nuclear, wind, and solar. We need it all.

Unleashing American energy with permitting reform is the key that unlocks American dominance again. This is what we need to do to reverse the damage, the destruction, and the devastation of Joe Biden and Bidenomics.

Bidenomics is a grim reality for too many people in Wyoming and across the country. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Washington Democrats cannot keep ignoring the pain they are causing. Nobody can afford another bad day of bad Bidenomics.

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