[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H1063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
          ECONOMIC STATISTICS MISSING FROM STATE OF THE UNION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, last week, President Biden delivered hopefully 
his final State of the Union Address that included heavily selective 
statistics that painted a one-sided account of the state of our 
economy. I rise to add some important context that gives a better 
snapshot of the economic conditions facing working families I represent 
in Tennessee.
  For starters, American families now spend an average of $1,000 more 
per month than 3 years ago just to get by. This means they are paying 
20 percent more for necessities like food and rent and nearly 30 
percent more to power and heat their homes. It is a staggering $11,400 
more every year just on the basics, just to get by.
  The average monthly payment on a new home was $1,746 before this 
President. Now, the average mortgage on a new home is $3,322 every 
month. That is almost double. These rising mortgage payments are a 
direct result of higher interest rates, which are due to the reckless 
and runaway spending of this administration.
  I believe it wouldn't have been this way if President Biden had 
heeded the advice of economists from both parties and fiscal 
conservatives like myself. Had he not advocated for the disastrous 
spending bills, which passed on a mostly partisan basis, the economy 
would not have overheated to the extent that it has.
  The $1.9 trillion stimulus package that the President proposed and 
passed early in his administration directly links to the soaring 
inflation that immediately followed, and it was to be expected. In 
fact, former Democratic Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicted 
exactly this outcome.
  Making matters worse, this administration has hardly mentioned the 
ballooning national debt, which now approaches $34.5 trillion. In the 
first quarter of this fiscal year, the Federal Government spent half a 
trillion more than it collected. This is simply unsustainable.
  In his address last week, we also heard the President tout small 
business growth and low employment. The speech, however, did not 
include the barriers employers around the country endure because of his 
administration's policies. To date, the Biden administration has 
finalized 838 new regulations, which come with a projected negative 
economic impact of $470 billion annually and 291 million hours of 
additional paperwork for American workers.
  I will close with another statistic. A recent national poll shows 
that only 38 percent of voters approve of this administration's 
handling of the economy. More than half of those polled believe 
President Biden's policies will continue to increase prices. I agree.
  That is just one of the reasons I am committed to supporting policies 
that foster economic growth, unburden our job creators, and end the 
reckless and unnecessary deficit spending.
  Our children, my children, cannot afford the reckless spending 
policies of this administration, and I will do everything in my power 
to ensure that they do not have to foot the bill for this 
administration's mistakes and misguided policies.

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