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Floor Speech

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Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, today, I join my colleagues in outlining more than 3\1/2\ years of policy failures under President Biden, which are impacting families and businesses across the country every single day. From our economy to our Nation's security, Americans can feel the weight of this administration's decisions, leading to a higher cost of living and less safe communities--things that impact people every single day.

I will begin where individuals most frequently feel those impacts: their pocketbook. Biden's inflation is hurting every American, particularly low-income Americans. For example, Americans are paying more for energy because President Biden has sought to block or restrict access to our Nation's vast energy reserves.

On day one of his administration, President Biden blocked the Keystone XL Pipeline and placed a moratorium on new oil and gas leases shortly thereafter.

Then, President Biden and congressional Democrats doubled down, passing a partisan tax-and-spend bill that included a new natural gas tax and higher fees and royalty rates on Federal energy production.

Just recently, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management finalized a new public lands rule, enabling radical environmental groups to lock away more of our energy reserves under a so-called conservation leasing plan. The BLM also finalized a new onshore oil and gas rule and a new venting and flaring rule.

In my State of North Dakota, BLM is proposing to close off leasing on 45 percent of Federal oil and gas acreage and 95 percent of Federal coal acreage. BLM's failed stewardship of our energy resources extends to other States as well, including the blocking of new oil and gas production in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

Each of these actions are specifically designed to drive up the cost of energy production on Federal lands, and these costs are ultimately passed along to consumers. Today, Americans are paying 46 percent more for gasoline at the pump. And, at the same time, utility bills are also rising and outpacing inflation.

The Environmental Protection Agency's latest onslaught of new power sector regulations will require utilities to spend billions of dollars to comply with burdensome regulations or, worse, force the premature retirement of reliable, coal-fired baseload powerplants that our Nation needs.

Independent grid operators from across the country are warning that EPA's regulations will threaten reliability and increase the risk of blackouts and brownouts.

Americans can no longer afford to pay more for less reliable energy following 3\1/2\ years of President Biden's failed Green New Deal.

That is why we need to take the handcuffs off our energy producers and empower them to increase supply and bring down prices for hard- working American families.

Now, in addition to discussing President Biden's failures on inflation, the economy, and energy production, I want to, again, bring the crisis taking place at the southern border to everyone's attention.

We are nearly through fiscal year 2024, and the consequences of President Biden's failed border policies are becoming clearer every single day. The American people are seeing beyond the administration's false claims that the border is secure. Every day, there are new reports of horrific crimes being committed by individuals illegally in the United States, and these violent crimes continue to be perpetuated in every State.

Local and Federal law enforcement officials have confirmed that the Tren de Aragua--I may not have said it just right, but this is a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison. I am going to repeat that. A transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison is now present and operating in the United States. Think about that. Their activities in the United States include human and drug trafficking as well as assaults and the murder of police officers.

In addition, there is now an increased threat from dangerous elements illegally entering the United States who have direct ties to international terrorist organizations like ISIS. Just last month, ICE arrested eight Tajikistan nationals with potential ties to ISIS, who illegally crossed the southern border and have been living in the United States. Now, let that sink in for a minute.

At our port of entry and all along the border, we continue to see high numbers of individuals on the Terror Watchlist who are attempting to enter the United States. So far, in fiscal year 2024, we have seen 316 individuals attempt to enter the country.

FBI Director Wray said it himself:

We are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border.

The cause of these threats to our homeland is clear: President Biden's failure to secure the southern border. President Biden's failure to secure the southern border.

The American people suffer the consequences because the Biden administration refuses to enforce policies that protect our southern border. These policies were put in place by the Trump administration. They are the Migrant Protection Protocols, or ``Remain in Mexico'' policy; enforcing third safe country agreements; and resuming construction of the border wall.

The Biden administration must address this border crisis, enforce the laws that kept monthly encounters to the lower numbers that we saw under the Trump administration, and take border security very seriously, deadly seriously, because border security is national security.

Altogether, all these issues--whether it is safety, whether it is inflation--all of these things affect Americans across this entire country every single day. After nearly 4 years of policy failures, our country needs to get back on the right track: bring down inflation, strengthen our economy, and address the border and national security and safety in our communities. That is exactly what my colleagues and I are working every day to accomplish.

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