One Year In, Biden Administration Owes Americans a Major Course Correction
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Sate of the Union:
“Tonight, President Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address.
“One year into his term, the American people have a lot of questions they’d like answered.
“Why Democrats plunged ahead with reckless spending that caused the worst inflation in 40 years.
“Why violent crime and illegal immigration are setting all-time records.
“Why the Administration haphazardly withdrew from Afghanistan and proposed to cut defense spending after inflation at a time when Russia is trying to redraw maps in human blood.
“When President Biden took office one year ago, he inherited major tailwinds and brimming optimism.
“Brilliant scientists and Operation Warp Speed had developed vaccines in record time and we were already putting doses in more than 1 million arms every day.
“Scientific data had already proven that after a devastating year for children and families, schools were safe to reopen in-person.
“Thanks to the historic CARES Act and another targeted, bipartisan stimulus that had just passed weeks earlier, our economic foundations had weathered the pandemic lockdowns and were primed for a roaring recovery back to normalcy and prosperity.
“Before the pandemic, Republican policies had America a net oil exporter for the first time since World War II.
“The same voters who gave President Biden the presidency gave him razor-thin margins in both chambers. His only mandate was to govern from the middle.
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“In his inaugural address, President Biden promised to do just that – to unite and heal.
“But for the past year, he and his administration have too often behaved like they’re trying to fail their own test.
“Remember, the President made stifling American energy independence a Day One priority, killing miles of pipeline and freezing new jobs and new exploration with the stroke of a pen.
“Then came the spending bill his Administration called ‘the most progressive domestic legislation in a generation’ and top liberal economists warned would ‘set off inflationary pressures… we have not seen in a generation.’ Inflation has surged so steeply, most Americans have seen their real wages cut.
“Then came the decision to cut-and-run from the international coalition we led in Afghanistan. President Biden’s top military advisers warned that retreat would embolden terrorists, endanger loyal partners, and leave our intelligence capabilities in the region badly handicapped.
“But the Biden Administration failed to heed these warnings and presided over a disastrous withdrawal. Our biggest adversaries took notes. And now, one of them is testing the limits of the West’s resolve to oppose his murderous conquests.
“And then there are the alarming trends this Administration has placed on the back burner, but which communities across America are facing every day.
“After spending the presidential campaign talking about potential amnesties, the Biden Administration wasted no time making our southern border more porous.
“CBP has reported its highest single-year total for Southern border encounters on record with no sign of a coherent Administration response in sight.
“Meanwhile, Democrats’ response to an historic surge in violent crime has been to double down on the hostility toward police and prosecution that has encouraged it.
“Across America, radical local prosecutors are simply declining to charge whole categories of crimes.
“But instead of condemning this extremism, the Biden Administration has endorsed it, staffing their Justice Department with some of the most outspoken critics of law-and-order.
“Meanwhile, this Justice Department goes out of its way to keep tabs on parents who dare to question teachers’ unions veto power over established medical science or exhibit skepticism toward woke propaganda in public schools.
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“Mr. President, that’s a heck of a rap sheet.
“But I’m afraid the most damaging legacy of President Biden’s first year is bigger than just unwise policies.
“Democrats have not just tried pushing bad ideas through our institutions.
“Even under the presidency of a self-styled institutionalist, the far left has tried to wreck our institutions altogether.
“Tonight, we’ll hear from a President who assigned a commission to study packing the Supreme Court because his party didn’t like its current ideological makeup.
“We’ll hear from a President who urged his former colleagues to tear up Senate rules in order to rewrite the rules of American elections, likened anyone who opposed these efforts to infamous racists, and continues to stoke racial animus with wild nonsense about a revival of segregation.
“We’ll hear from an Administration that has failed its own tests and which, candidly, has the public approval figures to match.
“On foreign affairs in particular, I am sincerely rooting for President Biden’s success. We need steady, serious, and smart leadership to help guide the West through this perilous time.
“But on most issues, what the American people deserve tonight is a commitment to drastically change course.
“If this Administration does not majorly correct its course, the American people may correct course for them this November.
“I’m glad the American people will also hear from Gov. Kim Reynolds this evening. She’s a strong and successful leader who delivers real solutions for the great people of Iowa.
“She fought COVID without declaring war on freedom or common sense. She’s backed the blue, stayed tough on crime, and kept Iowa’s economy open.
“I look forward to hearing her reaction to the President’s remarks and her thoughts on how Washington could better serve Middle America.”
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Related Issues: Health Care, Supreme Court, Inflation, Crime, House Democrats, Energy, Afghanistan, Campaigns & Elections, Senate Democrats, Russia, COVID-19, America's Military
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