Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, our economy is still recovering from 2 years of a once-in-a-generation pandemic that basically shut down our economy. As Americans stopped going out and spending money, companies slowed production not only to meet this change in demand but also to allow for social distancing and COVID safety protocols for workers. Now, as Americans have started to resume their normal lives, companies are struggling to keep up with the increased demand for goods. These supply chain issues and a worker shortage has resulted in higher prices across the economy. These issues do not fully explain some of the skyrocketing prices that we are seeing. The pandemic, and the ensuing recovery, have laid bare systemic problems in our economy, including market consolidation and price gouging. As our economy works to recover from the pandemic and the shocks to our supply chain, and as the world responds to Putin's reckless invasion of Ukraine, food and energy costs have skyrocketed for people around the world, including here in America and including in my district in Rhode Island. While President Biden has taken a number of steps to tackle costs for Americans, including releasing millions of barrels of petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, expanding access to gasoline with 15 percent ethanol, and additional investments in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help those most in need, systemic imbalances in our economy are enabling companies to further drive up costs.…”