On the recordNovember 2, 2021
Madam Speaker, as we rapidly approach the upcoming holiday season, which is the busiest time of year for many American families and for many industries, I am, we all are, greatly concerned about the state of our country. Gas prices are the highest we have seen in nearly a decade, forcing families to contemplate if they can afford to travel for the holidays. Worse yet, those wishing to travel further are worried that their flights may be canceled at the last minute because there aren't even enough pilots to fly the planes. Those who have saved their hard-earned money for months to buy their loved ones something special for Christmas worry that their delivery will be stuck at our backed-up ports. Make no mistake, all of these crises happening at once are not a coincidence. They are the result of failed Biden administration policies and a rejection, a whole-out rejection of the longstanding values that always made our America great. Authoritarian vaccine mandates on many vital industries have led to labor shortages on a massive scale. Overtaxation on small businesses and their owners through an increase in the individual tax rate threaten more than 130,000 jobs in an already struggling job market. Overbearing red tape in this socialist reconciliation bill threatens to raise penalties on businesses by over 500 percent and will lead to more small businesses going bankrupt, something we have already seen far too much of over the last 2 years. This is not what America wants.…





