WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Representative John Rose (TN-06) took to the House Floor Monday to highlight the ongoing impact of rising prices on consumer goods throughout the country.
The full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
Mister 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 give 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 a month than three years ago. This means they’re paying 20% more for necessities like food and rent and nearly 30% more to power their homes. It's a staggering $11,400 more every year, just on the basics.
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’s 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 it did. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package directly links to the soaring inflation that immediately followed.
Making matters worse, this administration has hardly mentioned the ballooning national debt, which now sits at $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 unemployment. The speech 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.
I’ll close with another statistic. A recent national poll shows that 38% of voters approve of this administration’s handling of the economy. More than half of those polled believe President Biden’s policies will increase prices.
I agree.
That’s just one of the reasons why I am committed to supporting policies that foster economic growth, unburden our job creators, and end the reckless and unnecessary deficit spending. Our children cannot afford the reckless spending policies of this administration, and I will do everything in my power to ensure they are not to foot the bill for this administration’s mistakes.
You can watch the speech here.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://johnrose.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-rose-highlights-ongoing-impact-inflation-working-families-house-floor