By Jason Smith, member of Congress
Happy New Year! With 2022 in the rearview mirror, it’s time for a new Congress to begin – one that can finally start addressing the multitude of crises our country faces. House Republicans will immediately get to work on reversing the damage caused by the Left. We’ll fight tooth and nail to get America back on the right track – regardless of the resistance we will face from the Chuck Schumer-led Senate and Biden-controlled White House.
That starts with stopping the out-of-control spending spree that destroyed our economy and drove the cost-of-living to a 40-year high. Washington Democrats added a record-breaking $10 trillion in new spending during their two years of total control of Congress and the White House. They threw trillions of taxpayer dollars down the drain to reward the wealthy and score political points with the radical Left, all at the expense of working-class Americans. The new Republican House majority must use every tool to get our fiscal house in order and put out the fires of inflation.
Unleashing American energy is a critical part of our plan to get America back on track. Since the first day he was in office, President Biden’s actions have increased America’s reliance on adversaries like China and Russia for our energy needs. Whether it’s stifling the creation of new refineries, killing the Keystone Pipeline, raising taxes on U.S. energy, or selling oil to China amid an energy crisis at home, Washington Democrats’ radical agenda has been a disaster for America. We saw gas and diesel prices climb to all-time highs. Missourians’ utility costs are expected to increase by 30% – 50% this winter. House Republicans will fight to lower energy costs by increasing domestic energy production, reforming our onerous permitting process, preventing new energy taxes, and creating new pipelines to move oil and natural gas throughout our nation.
Securing the border is another top priority for House Republicans. No matter how hard the Left tries to spin it, their radical policies are the reason why our border is in chaos. On the Friday before Christmas – when many Americans were traveling or catching up with family – the Biden administration announced that November 2022 was officially the WORST November on record, with over 200,000 illegal crossings of our southern border for the ninth consecutive month. That’s a 224% increase from November 2020 when President Trump was in office! House Republicans will fight to end this crisis by supporting our border patrol agents who have been unfairly targeted for political gain, forcing this administration to finish building the wall, and advocating for successful Trump administration policies – like reinstating the Remain in Mexico and keeping Title 42 in place.
Reining in big government is another part of our plan to get America back on track. Among the first things we’ll do is introduce legislation to block the Internal Revenue Service from hiring 87,000 new agents to harass working-class Americans. We’ll conduct vigorous oversight to hold the Biden administration accountable for weaponizing the federal government to go after members of the pro-life movement and parents who disagree with what their children are learning in school. We’ll work to stop funding far-Left prosecutors who recklessly release violent criminals back on the streets. And we’ll hold accountable bureaucrats at all levels who used COVID as an excuse to gain control over the lives of families, farmers, and small businesses.
The last two years have been a very difficult time for working-class families. But I’m optimistic that better days are ahead now that Republicans are in control of at least the House of Representatives. It’s a new era in Washington, and I’m eager to begin the process of getting our country back on the right track.