President Joe Biden has now been in office for a full year. It’s been a year of crisis.
From coronavirus to crime, there are serious challenges facing our country. The southern border is wide open, and our enemies around the world see weakness as the administration carelessly pulled out of Afghanistan. Most worrying to Americans, inflation is making it harder and harder to maintain quality of life.
Faced with these crises, President Biden has been asleep at the switch. His White House wasted months pushing for a reckless tax-and-spending spree in Congress. Their wish list would have burdened our economy with massive debt and massive tax hikes. When that failed, Democrats started pushing for a federal takeover of elections. This massive power grab rigs the rules for permanent one-party rule – Democrat rule.
The American people don’t want this. They want solutions. Recent polling shows the economy continues to be Americans’ number one concern. Democrats in Washington are so out of touch that their number one priority, federalizing elections, doesn’t even register one percentage point as a concern among Americans.
Our first job in Congress is to get this 40-year high inflation under control. Last March the Democrats put $2 trillion on the credit card, and ever since we’ve seen prices shoot up. We have to stop the unnecessary, big-government spending. That’s the first step back to the pre-pandemic economy, the best economy of my lifetime.
People are also worried about coronavirus cases, which have hit record highs. Despite trillions of dollars in government spending on coronavirus relief, people still can’t get tested, still can’t get treatments, and still don’t have clear public health guidance. It’s an embarrassment.
Republicans are demanding accountability for the money that was spent. Congress needs to ensure that funding prioritizes testing and treatments, not giveaways to left wing special interests and teachers’ union bosses.
The crisis on the southern border has never been worse. We’re talking two million illegal immigrants over the last twelve months. This is a national security crisis as well as a humanitarian and public health crisis. President Biden flung the border open on his first day in office, stopping all deportations for 100 days and ending the Remain in Mexico policy. He not just stopped building the wall; he started to take down the wall.
Many of the president’s actions have been overturned in court, but the administration seems determined to keep the border open. Some of those entering our country illegally are criminals, gang members, and drug smugglers. Fentanyl overdoses have become the top cause of death among adults ages 18-45.
This must stop. We have to stand with our Border Patrol, who told me clearly that the way to end this crisis is to finish the wall and enforce our laws, including the Remain in Mexico policy. It’s a simple prescription, if President Biden would take it.
Around the world, our enemies need to see strength, not statements. Our men and women in uniform were served poorly by the political decision the White House made to rashly pull out of Afghanistan. We lost more than a dozen service members as a result, including Wyoming’s own Rylee McCollum. The White House needs to start investing in our military and forget their woke agenda. Building back our armed forces is the only thing Russia, China, Iran and North Korea pay attention to.
The situation is no better in our inner cities, where crime is out of control. Last year 16 cities broke records for homicides, all of them run by Democrats. That includes major urban areas like Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. Democrats have been calling to “defund the police,” and the results are exactly as predicted. Democrats continue to demonize police officers. This stokes a hostility that has led to record-high retirements as well as record-high killings of police officers in the past 12 months. It’s time the White House started backing the blue. Republicans are committed to safe communities, and we’ll have our police officers’ backs, as they have ours.
The issues facing our country require immediate action. The American people are asking for solutions. Republicans in Congress are offering them. There are elections this November, and the American people will make their voice heard.
John Barrasso represents Wyoming in the United States Senate, and is a medical doctor.
