Biden’s Boom: Inflation

Today, it was announced that November’s inflation spike was the highest in a generation. The consequences abound – we see it at the grocery store, we feel it at the gas pump, and we worry about it as the holidays approach and we plan our time with our loved ones.

Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.8% last month, compared with a year earlier. Surging costs for food, energy, housing and other items have left all of us enduring the highest annual inflation rate since 1982.

Inflation is one of the many consequences of bad policies in Washington. Reckless spending by Democrats have disincentivized work, and failure to control the crisis in our supply chains is making it increasingly more expensive to provide for our families.

What is the Democrats’ plan to combat these unbearable price increases? More spending! Democrats have doubled down on reckless spending and voted to raise our debt limit even higher this week. Passage of a nearly-$5 trillion Build Back Bankrupt spending spree is next on the list.

American families simply cannot afford this out of control spending. I am hopeful that my Democrat colleagues will finally join with Republicans to stop the massive spending and protect your hard earned tax dollars.

Biden Must Not Block US Energy Exports

I have heard reports that the Biden Administration is considering a ban on crude oil exports. This would be disastrous for the Permian Basin and drive up prices on all Americans.

In response, Rep. Henry Cuellar and I led a group of our colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to President Biden explaining how an oil export ban would devastate domestic producers, embolden our foreign adversaries, and drive-up prices on Americans.

This administration should pursue policies that unleash affordable, reliable American energy. Energy security is national security, and nothing is more vital for our prosperity.

Our letter already got the attention of the White House when it was brought up in a press briefing on Thursday. I’m hopeful that President Biden will take our advice and put American producers first. Read our letter here or below.

Voting for a Clean NDAA

This week, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a critically important bill to fund our military.

Republicans fought hard to defeat liberal poison pill provisions and attempts to defund our military. I am proud to have voted for a clean defense bill that furthers President Trump’s commitment to fully fund our military and provide critical resources to adequately counter threats from China and Russia.

It provides our servicemembers and their families a well-earned pay raise, directs resources to secure our southern border, and holds President Biden accountable for abandoning American citizens and Afghan partners in his tragic Afghanistan evacuation.

The FY22 NDAA includes absolutely NO infringement on the Second Amendment or so-called “red flag” laws, does not draft our daughters, and blocks the Biden Administration from forcing our troops to take classes on extremism.

I am very proud that my bill to hold the Biden Administration accountable for their chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal was included in the NDAA. My bill, the Afghanistan Withdrawal Threat Assessment Act, requires DHS to conduct a full terror threat assessment on each prisoner to protect the safety and security of our homeland. It is one step in holding President Biden and his administration accountable for their failures in Afghanistan.

Fox News reported on the legislation—read the full article here or below.

Vaccine Mandate Update

We are continuing to make strides in pushing back against President Biden’s tyrannical vaccine mandates, with wins in federal courts across the Nation and here in Congress. Just this past week, a federal judge blocked President Biden’s vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors.

I also lead my Republican colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) that will overturn President Biden’s overreaching mandate for healthcare workers. A CRA is the formal tool congress uses to overturn rules issued by executive agencies, and I’ve introduced a similar resolution to nullify the President Biden’s mandate on employees of private companies. This measure passed in the U.S. Senate this week.

Here is the bottom line: President Biden’s vaccine mandate is clearly unconstitutional – and people are starting to catch on. No worker should lose their livelihood because they made a different medical decision then the powers that be in the Washington, D.C. I am committed to continuously fighting this egregious government overreach until the rights of the 11th District are secured.