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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the collection of crises President Biden has created since taking office. Senator Fischer discussed the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the ongoing border crisis, and the Democrats' reckless economic agenda, among other topics. 

Click the image above to watch video of Sen. Fischer’s floor speech

Key Excerpts

On Afghanistan:

  • “Leaving even one American citizen who wants to come home at the mercy of the Taliban is a failure of leadership. It should never have been an option. But it has been two months, and there are still 196 Americans in Afghanistan who want out. That is unconscionable.”

On Border Crisis:

  • “If you want to know why we have this crisis at the border, ask the migrants themselves. Many have been very honest about why they risked their lives to travel thousands of miles to the United States. If you ask them why they’re here, their answer is simple: The president promised to let us in. We are a nation of immigrants – but we cannot have an effective legal immigration system if illegal immigration is spiraling out of control.”

On Economic Concerns & Inflation:

  • “Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the other day that our supply chain issues are nothing more than ‘the tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.’ What an out of touch thing to say. She must be talking about her friends and neighbors here in D.C., because I don’t know many Nebraskans who are spending thousands of dollars on in-home treadmills. Rising costs and shortages are hurting everyone, most of all the tens of millions of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck.”

A full copy of Sen. Fischer’s remarks as prepared for delivery is below. 

M. President, I rise to discuss where things stand after nine months under President Biden.

To start, American citizens are still left behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, even though the president said in August that he would get every single American home safe before pulling out our troops.

And the numbers are much worse than the administration had led us to believe.

As of this week, the State Department is in touch with more than 400 Americans who are still in Afghanistan.

About half of those – at least 196 American citizens – want to leave, but they have been unable to do so.

Leaving even one American citizen who wants to come home at the mercy of the Taliban is a failure of leadership.

It should never have been an option.

But it has been two months, and there are still 196 Americans in Afghanistan who want out.

That is unconscionable.

President Biden should have done what was needed to bring every last American home, like he promised he would in August.

That is his number one responsibility as president: to ensure the safety of the American people.

But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised, since he hasn’t been able to secure our own border.

In fact, he doesn’t even try to secure our southern border.

Customs and Border Protection reported recently that they apprehended more than 1.7 million migrants attempting to cross our southern border illegally over the span of just 12 months.

That is the highest total ever recorded in a single fiscal year.

And if border agents encountered 1.7 million illegal migrants, imagine how many were able to cross into our country undetected.

CBP encountered nearly 200,000 illegal migrants last month alone, meaning that apprehensions were up more than 230 percent in September 2021 compared to September 2020.

If you want to know why we have this crisis at the border, ask the migrants themselves.

Many have been very honest about why they risked their lives to travel thousands of miles to the United States.

If you ask them why they’re here, their answer is simple: The president promised to let us in.

We are a nation of immigrants – but we cannot have an effective legal immigration system if illegal immigration is spiraling out of control.

Illegal immigration means cutting in front of millions of people who have been waiting years to come to the United States the right way.

Our message as a nation needs to be that if you want to come here, you have to follow our laws – you can’t just walk across the border.

President Obama said it well a few weeks ago in an interview with ABC News.

He said, “We see tragedy and hardship and families that are desperately trying to get here so that their kids are safe, and they're in some cases fleeing violence or catastrophe. At the same time, we're a nation state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that ... as a practical matter, is unsustainable.”

ABC cut that portion of the interview out – I suppose they can’t allow a former President of the United States to disagree with the radical left wing of his party.

This is all taking place against the backdrop of the highest inflation rate in decades, and massive supply chain issues that threaten to cripple our recovering economy. 

The White House insists these problems are only going to affect the upper class.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the other day that our supply chain issues are nothing more than “the tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.”

What an out of touch thing to say.

She must be talking about her friends and neighbors here in D.C., because I don’t know many Nebraskans who are spending thousands of dollars on in-home treadmills.

Rising costs and shortages are hurting everyone, most of all the tens of millions of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck.

The president’s shameless “buy now, pay later” policies are forcing hardworking Americans to pay an extra dollar for a gallon for gas while they watch the real value of their retirement accounts slump.

They may not live in Washington or New York or San Francisco, but these are real people: They’re small business owners who are wondering if they’ll be able to get the supplies they need to meet historic demand this holiday season.

They’re the millions of hardworking Americans who rely on propane to heat their homes, who are worried about getting priced out of a warm house this winter.

They’re families who don’t know if they’ll be able to put food on the table for their kids.

Anyone who thinks most people’s first concern is whether the newest Peloton is going to arrive on time has no idea what working Americans do to get by every single day.

What has the response to these unprecedented problems been in the media?

The Washington Post said it’s “time for some new, more realistic expectations.”

I think people will find that “lower your expectations” is not a very optimistic or inspiring slogan for the party in power.

And as dangerous as this wave of inflation is, it’s not like no one saw it coming. 

Larry Summers, the liberal economist who directed the National Economic Council under President Obama, has been sounding the alarm for months.

He’s not the only one – dozens of leading experts have warned against borrowing trillions of dollars to expand the reach of government when inflation is already running rampant.

But earlier this year, Democrats in Congress spent nearly $2 trillion on an entirely partisan basis anyway, under the pretense that it was necessary to fight the pandemic.

So, what’s their fix? How is President Biden going to pull America back from the brink of stagflation?

He wants to spend even more of the American people’s hard-earned money.

The president said in August that the massive, multitrillion-dollar spending spree he wants this chamber to approve “won’t increase inflation. It will take the pressure off of inflation.”

He leaves how that might work to our imagination.

In reality, trying to spend our way out of inflation is like trying to put a fire out with lighter fluid. 

It’s absolutely delusional.

We can’t just keep spending more and more – not when, as the senior senator from West Virginia said recently, “Millions of jobs are open, supply chains are strained and unavoidable inflation taxes are draining workers’ hard-earned wages as the price of gasoline and groceries continues to climb.”

Out-of-control spending is how we got here in the first place, and the longer we keep at it, the worse it’s going to get.

Some Democrats are fond of saying that this bill will cost zero dollars because well, it might be paid for through new taxes.

The truth is that their plan would create trillions of dollars in new entitlements, and even if they do find a way to pay for it – which is doubtful – that doesn’t mean it’s free.

That money has to come from somewhere, and the Joint Committee on Taxation has shown that two-thirds of Democrats’ proposed new tax burdens would fall on the lower and middle class.

I wish I could say the outrageous price tag is the only thing wrong with Democrats’ tax and spend boondoggle.

But what’s actually in their plan might be even more irresponsible.

It would allow the IRS to snoop on Americans’ bank accounts if their inflows and outflows exceed $10,000 per year.

Federal agents would get to see house and car payments, how much you spend on groceries and gas, heating bills, school costs for our kids, and everything else we spend just to get by. 

Spending over $10,000 per year on these essentials in our lives would let the IRS be in just about every American’s bank account.

Democrats’ plan would also expand “green energy” tax credits for wealthy Americans so they can buy expensive electric vehicles they can already afford.

A millionaire can buy the most expensive new Tesla for $150,000, and under what the senior senator from Oregon has proposed, they’ll be able to claim a tax credit worth $12,500.

Nebraska taxpayers don’t need to be subsidizing new electric cars for rich Americans.

And maybe worst of all, the House plan does not include the Hyde Amendment, which Republicans and Democrats have agreed on for decades.

If the radical left succeeds in taking it out, taxpayers will be required to pay for abortions for the first time in more than 40 years.

M. President, the American people have been watching this country bounce from crisis to crisis. 

After so many disasters in a row, one poll shows President Biden’s approval rating down to just 37 percent.

Barely a third of Americans approve of the job the president is doing, and a majority say this administration is not competent.

That should tell President Biden that his agenda isn’t as popular in the rest of America as it is in the beltway bubble.

But instead, the president is forging ahead with more federal government controls – there is now talk of a federal vaccine mandate.

The government is going to twist an obscure labor law beyond recognition to force Americans to take the vaccine.

I believe these vaccines are safe and effective, and we should be encouraging people to choose to get vaccinated.

But the government simply has no business requiring Americans to do it.

Under the president’s new executive order, businesses with more than 100 employees are being forced to comply with the vaccine mandate or submit employees to weekly testing.

Otherwise, they risk losing crucial employees.

I recently signed onto a letter, led by the junior senator from Alaska, that urges the president to reconsider.

There is absolutely no precedent in American history for a federal vaccine requirement, and President Biden will be on entirely new legal ground if he moves ahead on this.

One of the most unsettling things I’ve seen from this administration wasn’t something that they said or did – it was something they left unsaid.

When Jen Psaki broke the news that the federal government was going to try to force through this mandate – she smiled.

In response to a reporter who asked if the president had the power to enforce vaccination for private employers – not federal contractors – she said, “Yes. Stay tuned,” with a grin.

Without saying anything, she showed that the Biden administration is relishing this chance to push the limits of executive power.

When you take that together with the incompetence that’s been on display since January – from the Afghanistan debacle to the crisis at our southern border to the administration’s complete disregard for how inflation is going to devastate hardworking families and the poor in our country – I think you start to get a good idea of what the Biden administration is about.

They’re going to trample on the Constitution to advance a radical left-wing agenda that is truly unprecedented in American history – and they don’t care how many disasters they continue to create.

Thank you, M. President. I yield the floor.”

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