By Jason Smith, member of Congress
America has faced crisis after crisis ever since Washington Democrats took control of the White House and Congress. Families are struggling with the highest consumer prices in 40 years, our communities are plagued with violent crime and deadly illegal drugs, and our freedoms are under attack like never before. In other words, one-party Democrat rule of Washington has been a complete disaster for families. But although these are troubling times for America, a tremendous opportunity lies ahead for new leadership and a new vision for our country. We are making this our Commitment to America.
What Americans want more than anything else is an economy that’s strong. That’s why Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to bring an end to Washington Democrats’ reckless spending spree, which has cost taxpayers $10 trillion and driven consumer prices to the highest they’ve been in four decades. Republicans will fight to lower gas prices and utility costs by restoring America’s energy independence. And we’ll strengthen our food, energy, and medical security by fixing our broken supply chain and ending our reliance on China.
Republicans will fight to stop the violent crime that’s plaguing our communities. The Left’s reckless push to “defund the police” and their soft-on-crime agenda has led to deadly consequences: in 2021, both the murder rate and the number of intentional killings of law enforcement reached the highest levels in 20 years. To make our communities safer, we’ll support 200,000 new law enforcement officers through hiring bonuses, crack down on “woke” prosecutors who let violent criminals run free, and stem the flow of dangerous illicit drugs like fentanyl.
It’s no secret that the chaos on the border – created by the Left’s open border policies – is contributing to the violent crime wave. Republicans are committed to making sure border patrol agents and law enforcement agencies have the equipment and resources they need to do their jobs and regain control of our southern border. Washington Democrats’ doubling of the number of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents means the agency will have 8 times as many staff as there are border agents. That’s completely flipped from how our nation’s priorities should be.
Over the last two years, the Left has worked around the clock to expand government command and control over all aspects of society, including our children’s education. During the pandemic, millions of students were denied the education they need because power-hungry mayors, governors, and bureaucrats shut down schools for political purposes. In addition, liberal teachers and schoolboards are using classrooms as a tool to indoctrinate children with their “woke” agenda. Republicans will put parents and students first. We’ll work to provide real transparency and accountability, and help recover learning loss from school closures.
Americans are fed up with Washington Democrats using the power of the federal government to reward their liberal allies and punish those who hold different beliefs, especially rural Americans, gun owners, and even parents concerned with “wokeness” in schools. That’s why one of our top priorities will be ensuring we have a government that works for – not against – the American people.
A glaring failure of the Liberals running Congress is their willingness to let Washington bureaucracy run free from any oversight or interference. Republicans will use Congress’s subpoena power – the tool we need to conduct rigorous oversight of this administration. Whether it’s President Biden’s Department of Justice labeling parents as “domestic terrorists,” the IRS leaking highly-sensitive taxpayer information for political purposes, or Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings, we need to hold hearings to get Americans the answers they deserve.
Speaking of the IRS, the very first piece of legislation Republicans will send to the Senate will be a bill to block the agency from hiring 87,000 new agents to target and harass middle- and low-income Americans.
We cannot afford to waste any time undoing the significant damage caused by one-party Democrat rule of Washington. We’ll immediately get to work on delivering Americans an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future that’s built on freedom, and a government that’s accountable.