Chairman Burgess Opening Remarks on Agriculture, Energy and Water, Financial Services, and Interior Appropriations Bills
As prepared for delivery:
We are at the cusp of four years under the Biden Administration—four years since we sat here, some virtually, to gavel in the 117th Congress and a new Administration. Upon reflection on what has happened over the last four years, I can only think of one word: debt.
Under the Biden Administration’s philosophy of “tax and spend our way out of a global pandemic,” the federal government has undergone a drastic transformation and expansion that has impacted every American life and pocketbook.
As a result of Biden's policies, more than $7 trillion in new federal debt has been thrust on future generations, wages have been crushed under the effects of inflation, and the net interest expense on our federal debt is projected to double from what we were paying when Biden assumed office.
And what do the American people have to show for it? A massive expansion of government and regulatory burden, an all-out assault on domestic energy and resource production, especially in Texas, and an onslaught of rules, regulations, and woke requirements that have increased the cost of doing business by hundreds of billions of dollars.
That is why the American people chose House Republicans to provide an important check on the excesses of Congressional Democrats and this Administration.
And, today, we are carrying through on that responsibility. The appropriations bills before us recognize that what’s occurred before cannot continue. That the nice-to-haves do not square with the unsustainable debt burden Congress is placing on future generations.
The Fiscal Year 2025 Agriculture, Energy and Water, Financial Services, and Interior Appropriations bills represent a dramatic redirecting of resources towards where they’re most needed. These bills rightsize federal agencies to work within the American people’s means to resource them. In addition to knocking these agencies down to size, these bills also refocus federal bureaucrats on their core mission – abandoning woke idealism for focused service.
The American people have entrusted us with ensuring that the federal government buckles down, as they are expected to do in this economic environment. American families are making targeted reductions, eliminating waste, and prioritizing important expenses every day The four bills before us today mirror what is happening at dinner tables across the country since Biden entered the White House.
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