Weekly Columns
Throughout Biden’s first term in office, we have seen slow responses and out of touch policies that have created numerous crises. Prices of fuel have hit all-time highs, inflation is at the highest it’s been in 40 years, and fentanyl is pouring across our open border. Now we are facing a new crisis: bare shelves, and an alarming shortage of infant formula.
As we experienced last week across the Fifth Congressional District, storm season has officially arrived. I have been thinking of and praying for the people of Seminole and Pottawatomie Counties and throughout Oklahoma as they work to recover and rebuild from the destructive tornadoes.
Free speech is the bedrock of our nation and essential to a functioning democracy. Under the First Amendment, free speech is guaranteed as an inalienable right of each and every American. We should take great pride in being the only country in the world which recognizes people’s right to express themselves freely and peacefully, even when others may disagree.
Our nation has finally returned to normalcy. Businesses have reopened, kids are back in school, restaurants are busy, and Americans are traveling again – yet the Biden administration is maintaining unnecessary and out-of-date COVID-19 policies.
Our nation is experiencing an unprecedented crisis at our southern border – a place that is supposed to be the bedrock of maintaining order, fairness, and security for the American people. Instead, President Biden opened the flood gates to illegal immigration on day one of his presidency by reversing the “Catch and Release” and “Remain in Mexico” policies.
President Biden has been desperately searching for ways to lower record-high gas prices, yet instead of addressing the root causes, he continues to slap a bandage on this self-inflicted crisis by tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This is the third time Biden has tapped into this emergency reserve since coming into office.
President Biden submitted his budget proposal for the Fiscal Year 2023 to Congress last week, which serves as a wish list of his funding priorities. Although presidential budgets are only requests, his legislative ideas, with a price tag of $5.8 trillion, are simply out-of-touch with the real needs of the American people.
The People’s House is back, but unfortunately, still under serious restrictions thanks to House Democrats. Speaker Pelosi recently announced the first phase of the reopening of the Capitol which includes resuming tours starting on March 28. Instead of returning to pre-COVID capacity, every House office will be limited to only one tour per week.
Vladimir Putin’s catastrophic assault against the independent country of Ukraine is a truly heinous act that jeopardizes the stability of Europe and peace across the globe. It has been heartbreaking to witness the humanitarian disaster that Russia’s unwarranted invasion has caused on innocent civilians in a sovereign, prosperous nation.
Before President Biden took office, our country was energy independent. In 2019, we became a net total energy exporter for the first time since 1952. The United States was not reliant on foreign adversaries for our energy needs. Instead, we were producing clean, affordable, and secure energy to fuel our nation.