{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0CD7AA85-5966-4A81-BD00-485BFD2546FD", "Thune: Democrat Policies Make Our Country Less Secure", "2022-09-28", "2022", "2022-09", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today discussed how the Democrats\u2019 government-knows-best, out-of-touch policies have helped create 40-year high inflation and numerous other crises that are hurting the American people. Thune noted that our country\u2019s national security, economic security, and energy security have significantly declined under Democrat governance.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, we\u2019re coming up on two years of Democrat governance here in Washington \u2013 two years in which Democrats have controlled Congress and the White House.\n\n\u201cAnd the result of their two years in power is not encouraging.\n\n\u201cEconomic insecurity is rampant.\n\n\u201cOur energy security situation has worsened.\n\n\u201cAnd on the national security front, we\u2019re facing a raging crisis at our southern border \u2013 plus a disturbing increase in violent crime around the country.\n\n\u201cMr. President, if there has been one defining feature of Democrat governance over the past 20 months, it\u2019s inflation.\n\n\u201cWhen President Biden took office, inflation was at 1.4 percent \u2013 well within the target inflation rate of 2 percent.\n\n\u201cBut then Democrats decided to pass a massive, $1.9 trillion spending spree \u2013 the so-called American Rescue Plan Act.\n\n\u201cThe legislation flooded the economy with unnecessary government money.\n\n\u201cAnd the economy overheated as a result.\n\n\u201cInflation quickly began climbing.\n\n\u201cAnd then climbing some more.\n\n\u201cAnd then some more after that.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve now spent six straight months with inflation above 8 percent.\n\n\u201cSix straight months.\n\n\u201cThe last time inflation was this bad, E.T. was about to hit theaters, and we still had more than a year to wait for Return of the Jedi.\n\n\u201c(For those that weren\u2019t around then, that was 40 years ago, in 1982.)\n\n\u201cMr. President, inflation, of course, has meant tremendous economic pain for the American people.\n\n\u201cHuge grocery store bills.\n\n\u201cBig utility bills.\n\n\u201cHigh prices at the pump.\n\n\u201cAmericans are dipping into their savings to make ends meet.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re cutting back on essentials, or putting basic living expenses on their credit cards.\n\n\u201cIn the month of August alone, inflation cost the average American household a staggering $715.\n\n\u201c$715.\n\n\u201cEven if prices stopped increasing tomorrow, the inflation that we\u2019ve already experienced will cost the average American household more than $8,500 over the next year.\n\n\u201c$8,500.\n\n\u201cMr. President, that is a lot of money.\n\n\u201cA lot.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a kid\u2019s braces.\n\n\u201cEssential car repairs.\n\n\u201cEssential home repairs.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the difference between putting something away for the kids\u2019 college, or leaving the education savings account empty.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the difference between putting money away for retirement or spending every penny on necessities.\n\n\u201cAnd for too many families, that\u2019s the difference between breaking even, or finding themselves in debt or worse.\n\n\u201cAmericans\u2019 economic security has taken a serious hit under Democrat control in Washington.\n\n\u201cAnd there\u2019s little evidence to suggest that things are going to get better any time soon.\n\n\u201cOur economy is weakening.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve posted negative economic growth for each of the past two quarters, and estimates for third-quarter growth are not promising.\n\n\u201cMajor companies have announced job cuts.\n\n\u201cAnd the nonpartisan Conference Board is projecting a recession in the coming months.\n\n\u201cAnd unfortunately the bad news is not confined to inflation or slowdowns in economic growth \u2013 neither of which, I should note, will be helped by Democrats\u2019 misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act, or by President Biden\u2019s massive student loan giveaway, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget notes will, quote, \u2018meaningfully boost inflation.\u2019\n\n\u201cOne major driver of inflation is high energy prices, and we\u2019re facing a concerning situation on the energy front.\n\n\u201cAs every American who has paid an electricity bill or filled up his or her car is well aware, energy has gotten much more expensive in Joe Biden\u2019s America.\n\n\u201cGas prices are up 57 percent since President Biden took office.\n\n\u201cAnd after a temporary decline, they\u2019re on the rise again.\n\n\u201cElectricity prices were up 15.8 percent in August \u2013 the biggest year-over-year increase since August of 1981.\n\n\u201cUtility gas service is up 33 percent.\n\n\u201cAnd Americans are facing high prices to heat their homes this winter.\n\n\u201cAnd while there are multiple reasons for high oil and gas prices, Democrats\u2019 hostility to conventional energy production is contributing to this energy price crisis.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m a big supporter of alternative energy, and have been working for years here in Congress to advance renewable energy technology.\n\n\u201cBut the fact of the matter is, we are still a long way from being able to rely exclusively on alternative energy technologies.\n\n\u201cBut that isn\u2019t something Democrats seem able to accept.\n\n\u201cThey want their Green New Deal future, and they want it now.\n\n\u201cAnd so despite our continued need for oil and gas resources, President Biden has adopted an energy agenda that is hostile to conventional energy production:\n\n\u201cCanceling the Keystone XL pipeline \u2013 an environmentally responsible pipeline project that would have reinforced our energy infrastructure.\n\n\u201cDiscouraging investment in conventional energy.\n\n\u201cLimiting oil and gas leasing.\n\n\u201cThe list goes on.\n\n\u201cAnd I haven\u2019t even mentioned Democrats\u2019 latest measure \u2013 a round of tax hikes on oil and gas companies that will drive up Americans\u2019 energy bills and continue to discourage conventional energy production here at home.\n\n\u201cThe result of all this, Mr. President \u2013 the result of Democrats\u2019 attempt to force an alternative energy future before that future is fully ready \u2013 will be reducing our energy security and prolonging the high energy prices hitting families and businesses.\n\n\u201cMr. President, our nation\u2019s energy security has declined under the Biden administration.\n\n\u201cSo has our national security.\n\n\u201cI came to the floor last week to talk yet again about the raging crisis at our southern border \u2013 a crisis the president and Democrats are apparently content to continue to ignore.\n\n\u201cThe flow of illegal immigration across our southern border has reached record levels, the Border Patrol and border facilities are overwhelmed, and border communities are struggling \u2013 and the president and Democrats could not care less.\n\n\u201cMr. President, border security is an essential part of national security.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just individuals hoping for a better life who are attempting to make their way illegally across our southern border.\n\n\u201cAll sorts of dangerous individuals are attempting to make their way across, from gang members to human smugglers to possible terrorists.\n\n\u201cSo far this fiscal year, the Border Patrol has encountered 78 individuals on the terror watch list attempting to cross our southern border illegally.\n\n\u201c78.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s the number of individuals the Border Patrol has managed to apprehend.\n\n\u201cGiven the incredible strain Customs and Border Protection is under, it\u2019s entirely possible that other individuals on the watch list have entered the country without our knowledge.\n\n\u201cOne thing we do know is that illegal drugs are flowing across our southern border \u2013 and contributing to violent crime.\n\n\u201cMy state is almost as far from the southern border as it is possible to get, but the flow of illegal drugs across the southern border has a direct impact on crime in our communities.\n\n\u201cThe sheriff of my home county in South Dakota recently stated that there is a, quote, \u2018direct connection between a high percentage of our violent crimes [in Minnehaha County] to the use and distribution of illegal drugs, in particular the drugs that are poisoning our community.\u2019\n\n\u201cA substantial part of those drugs, he noted, are coming from Mexican cartels across the southern border.\n\n\u201cMr. President, there\u2019s a lot more to say about the way our nation\u2019s security has declined over the past two years.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s the increase in violent crime \u2013 an increase undoubtedly driven in part by \u201cwoke\u201d Democrat prosecutors\u2019 lax attitude toward serious crime and Democrats\u2019 willingness to accommodate the defund the police movement.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan \u2013 a national security debacle that weakened our standing internationally and emboldened terrorists and the Taliban.\n\n\u201cAnd there are the president\u2019s ill-conceived plans for a nuclear deal with Iran.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019ll stop here.\n\n\u201cSuffice it to say that it\u2019s been a rough couple of years under Democrat governance \u2013 on both the economic and security fronts.\n\n\u201cAnd if Democrats get a chance to continue with their policies, I expect the situation will continue to get worse.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "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.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0CD7AA85-5966-4A81-BD00-485BFD2546FD"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2084061745554209, "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"}