{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://comer.house.gov/2021/10/column-partisan-spending-bill-will-damage-economy", "Column: Partisan Spending Bill Will Damage Economy", "2021-10-25", "2021", "2021-10", "Republican", "House", "KY", "James Comer", "C001108", "comer.house.gov", "comer", "https://comer.house.gov/media", "scraper", "In Washington, President Biden and congressional Democrats are pursuing a multi-trillion dollar spending bill which, if passed, would further derail an already struggling economy.\n\nI stand strongly in opposition to the spending bill under negotiation by President Biden and Speaker Pelosi. Instead of borrowing and spending money we don\u2019t have, Congress should focus on stimulating economic growth by reducing the burdensome regulations holding our workforce and critical industries back.\n\nTrillions more in government spending will only worsen our existing economic crises. Americans are facing soaring prices for everyday items needed to survive, a direct result of trillions in spending and the resulting high inflation.\n\nOn average, gas prices are up 42% over the past year. The price of beef is up 18%. And gas-based utilities have risen by 20% in the same time frame. These dramatic price increases are effectively a tax increase on American consumers, and a direct result of reckless government spending.\n\nWe also continue to see disappointing jobs reports, serving as proof that government policies have discouraged Americans from working. If trillions more are spent to further welfare programs, the sad reality of a labor shortage will only worsen.\n\nWe also have a supply-chain crisis leaving ships awaiting entry at ports, containers piling up at railyards, and trucks off the highway due to a lack of workers. The end result of this chaos is an inability for Americans to access the good they need \u2013 and when they finally do, they are forced to pay astronomical prices.\n\nThis supply-chain crisis has in part been caused by the significant number of Americans staying out of the workforce. But it also proof that overreaching regulations often do more harm than good. Whether its environmental provisions forcing diesel trucks off the highways, or heavy-handed vaccine mandates, burdensome regulatory policies have undercut the American workforce.\n\nBut the expensive price tag is far from the only problem with this proposal; the substance is even worse. Under the guise of \u201cbuilding back better,\u201d this far-left proposal would raise energy prices even higher by taxing Americans\u2019 home-heating bills, grant amnesty to 8 million illegal immigrants, and impose massive tax increases on small businesses and family farms.\n\nUnfortunately, these provisions are only the tip of the iceberg in a package that is more about implementing a far-left agenda than truly helping the American people.\n\nThe legislation under discussion would also weaponize the IRS to dig into the American people\u2019s bank accounts. I have spoken out strongly against this proposal to hire thousands of new IRS agents to monitor consumer bank transactions, and signed onto legislation seeking to block its implementation.\n\nEach of these provisions are reason enough to oppose a bill originally written by Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist. But all together, this proposal represents a significant threat to the finances and freedom of the American people. It will send inflation even higher, implement dangerous new policies, and throw even more roadblocks in the way of an economic recovery.\n\nIf and when it comes to the House floor in the coming weeks, I will vote no and strongly encourage my colleagues to do the same.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://comer.house.gov/2021/10/column-partisan-spending-bill-will-damage-economy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3934960588812828, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}