{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/inflation", "INFLATION", "2023-02-01", "2023", "2023-02", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "INFLATION\n\nCongressional Record Vol. 169, No. 21\n\n(Senate - February 1, 2023) PDF\n\nMrs. HYDE-SMITH. Madam President, in less than a week, President\n\nBiden will deliver his State of the Union Address to the Nation. In the\n\nbuildup to that speech, we are already seeing the President and his\n\nadministration spinning a tale about just how wonderful things are in\n\nthis country, particularly after they took power and racked up more\n\nthan $3 trillion more in spending. Unfortunately, those tall tales do\n\nnot reflect the reality for the people in my home State of Mississippi\n\nor across the Nation.\n\nIn the 2 years since President Biden took office, we have seen his\n\nadministration fail the American people time and time again. Inflation\n\nwas 1.4 percent in January of 2021, but the policies the President has\n\nforced on this Nation since then have made daily living unaffordable\n\nfor families. Today, a strong majority of Americans--more than 70\n\npercent--believe that the country is on the wrong track, and it is easy\n\nto understand why. Too many workers and families now live paycheck to\n\npaycheck, trying to keep the lights on, put food on the table, get gas\n\nin their cars, and stock up on everyday essentials that they have to\n\nhave.\n\nPresident Biden's inflationary runaway spending is a root cause of\n\nthe skyrocketed prices we are paying for all goods and services. Not a\n\nsingle industry is spared the cost of this inflation. Since Joe Biden\n\ntook office, higher prices have cost families an additional $10,000,\n\nand there seems to be no end in sight. Prices have gone up across the\n\nboard to 13.5 percent, and grocery costs have jumped 18.6 percent. Just\n\nlook at the price of essential staples: Chicken breast prices have gone\n\nup by 33 percent, and ground beef, whole milk, and bread have gone up\n\nby 21 percent.\n\nUnlike President Biden, I actually have to take a trip to the grocery\n\nstore to feed my family. I do all of my own shopping, and I see\n\nfirsthand how these price increases affect the people of Mississippi.\n\nIn the checkout line, I have watched a mother forced to put something\n\nback on the shelf after realizing that she can't afford everything in\n\nher cart. I have seen a retired husband grabbing only the barest\n\nnecessities for the week. Up and down the aisle, as I push my buggy,\n\nthe conversation is constant on ``Can you believe how much the price of\n\ngroceries has increased and how expensive it is?''\n\nIt breaks my heart to see the individuals in my community and the\n\nNation struggling to get by. It shouldn't be this way, but in Joe\n\nBiden's America, you are forced to weigh priorities on buying\n\ngroceries, prescription medicine, or putting gas in your car.\n\nWhen it comes to energy prices, the hardship continues for many\n\nAmericans. This pain is 100 percent self-inflicted by the Biden\n\nadministration's stubborn refusal to maximize American energy\n\nproduction. According to census data, about 22 percent of American\n\nhouseholds could not pay their energy bill last year. When families\n\nwere actually able to pay, they had to sacrifice other necessities,\n\nsuch as groceries, their medicine, or their gasoline.\n\nThis winter isn't bringing any relief either. Compared to last\n\nwinter, the average household will spend upwards of 28 percent more to\n\nheat their home with natural gas, according to the Energy Information\n\nAdministration. Electricity rates are also expected to continue to rise\n\ndue to lower domestic supply of liquefied natural gas as well as labor\n\nshortages and the cost of materials. But this should come as no\n\nsurprise since the attack on American energy began on day one of the\n\nBiden Presidency. In fact, this administration's regulatory overreach\n\nalso contributes to rising costs across our economy.\n\nDespite record-high prices, Joe Biden wants to further regulate the\n\nagriculture industry. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, for\n\ninstance, is studying line speeds of poultry plants with the ultimate\n\ngoal of just slowing them down, which will affect costs and supplies in\n\nthe grocery stores. In addition, the EPA recently unveiled its new\n\nwaters of the United States rule, which will further hamper the ability\n\nof farmers to grow food because the Federal Government will have the\n\nability to regulate ditches and low spots on private land.\n\nIt is a basic fact that it is expensive to comply with overly\n\nburdensome regulations. The Biden administration's desire to\n\noverregulate everything makes it seem as if the President wants\n\nAmericans to struggle to afford food.\n\nMadam President, the American people are smart, and they understand\n\nwhen things aren't going well.\n\nThe rosy stories the White House will barrage us with before the\n\nState of the Union Address won't change the fact that the American\n\ndream seems further from attainable for hard-working families because\n\nwe just cannot afford Joe Biden.\n\nMy colleagues and I want to get our economy back on track to relieve\n\nthe financial stress that families are experiencing. We must stop the\n\nirresponsible government spending, unleash American energy production,\n\ncut regulations, and embrace pro-growth commonsense policies. The\n\nAmerican people deserve that.\n\nI yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T17:47:45Z"]], "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://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/inflation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.058660913258791, "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"}