The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HIGH PRICES AND RISING INFLATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the in the House section section on page H7081 on July 26.
The Department includes the Census Bureau, which is used to determine many factors about American life. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department is involved in misguided foreign trade policies and is home to many unneeded programs.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HIGH PRICES AND RISING INFLATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for 5 minutes.
Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, this time last year, President Biden claimed that high prices and rising inflation were temporary; that if we continued down this administration's path and trusted their policies, then prices would go down again.
Well, last month's Consumer Price Index score came out and revealed that inflation has soared to 9.1 percent, the highest rate in 41 years. So obviously, his statement that inflation was transitory, temporary, what have you, is false. The numbers aren't bearing up.
Now, the Commerce Department is days away from releasing its first estimate of the economy's output in the April through June quarter. The economy already shrank 1.6 percent in the January through March quarter, and many economists are forecasting another negative output rate.
Two outputs in a row means that--the ``R'' word, the one that the Biden administration and his Cabinet don't want to say--it could mean the recession.
Now, that will validate the feelings of Americans across the country who are struggling to afford the basic necessities amid rising prices.
Despite record-high prices, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is trying to spin the definition of a recession, claiming that since our Nation's unemployment rate isn't that high, then our economy must be doing great. That is not being felt at home. That is obviously false.
The American people are feeling unprecedented financial pain in all aspects of their lives. Fuel, electricity, their healthcare, homes, everything is going up. It is becoming unaffordable for lower-income and middle-income Americans.
Wholesale prices have surged 11.3 percent. Small business confidence has dropped to a 48-year low with businesses struggling to hire new employees and fill open jobs.
These high-up bureaucrats in the Biden administration aren't suffering the financial consequences that their policies are causing average Americans. They don't feel them the same as regular people do.
This is the same administration who, when gas prices hit an all-time high, told people to go out and buy brand new electric vehicles. Sure, no problem; $50,000 $65,000.
Our Secretary of Transportation says it will require more pain to benefit electric car drivers and owners at $65,000 vehicles with Chinese-made replacement battery packs.
Our Nation is facing a recession, meaning that the sales of new homes, consumer confidence, spending, and real wages are dropping, and inflation is still rising.
President Biden has allowed the American people and Main Street businesses to suffer while his reckless spending policies continue to make things worse. I have heard this firsthand from my own constituents, real people out there that deal with this every day.
The price of everything at the cash register, at the supermarket, is all going up, and their wages, effectively, are going down.
In a telephone town hall I hosted recently, I asked participants, have rising costs impacted your spending habits? Ninety percent said yes. They can spend less; they can do less.
There are similar figures across the board. A new FOX News poll revealed that 75 percent of Americans reported experiencing hardship because of inflation.
We need to work to repair our economy through cutting wasteful spending, burdensome regulations, our dependence on foreign oil. Why are we going to Saudi Arabia and asking for their oil when we have so much in our own backyard, our own energy, that we could make ourselves completely self-sufficient, as we were a couple of years ago, and help our allies around the world with that as well.
Focus on things that help the American people, lower-income and middle-income families especially, instead of helping more illegal immigrants come to the country; instead of helping China become richer with more and more of our assets and more of our business.
I keep having to ask the question: President Biden, and your Cabinet, whose side are you on?
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