Ricketts Reflects on One Year in U.S. Senate, Three Years of Joe Biden
January 26, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) spoke on the Senate floor about his one-year anniversary in the Senate – and the three-year anniversary of Joe Biden as President.
“When I was Governor of the State of Nebraska, we spent eight years delivering excellence and making government work for the people,” Ricketts said. “We proved that government can work better and put taxpayers first. And we did it while respecting individual freedoms and limiting our spending, running government well and keeping people safe. Those are the things that I’m working on in the United States Senate.”
Ricketts spoke about the importance of fighting Biden’s overregulation and overspending. He also highlighted his work to make government work better with his Proven Nebraska Solutionsagenda. Ricketts closed by outlining how President Biden’s policies are making Americans less safe.
“I think we have to ask ourselves: ‘Are we better off today, versus three years ago?’ The answer is no,” Ricketts closed. “I will continue to push back on this Biden Administration and the way they’ve driven inflation, to bring our Proven Nebraska Solutions to Washington D.C. and to fight to keep Americans safe, both here and abroad.”
TRANSCRIPT:
Senator Ricketts: “Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of me joining the United States Senate.
“I wanted to take the opportunity to join this body because I believe America’s best days lie ahead of us. And that we needn’t look any further than states like mine to find the solutions to our nation’s problems.
“I often say that Nebraska is what America is supposed to be. When I was Governor of the State of Nebraska, we spent eight years delivering excellence and making government work for the people.
“We proved that government can work better and put taxpayers first. And we did it while respecting individual freedoms and limiting our spending, running government well, and keeping people safe. Those are the things that I’m working on in the United States Senate.
“This year, my team and I got to work for the people of Nebraska by fighting against the Biden administration’s overspending and overregulation. It is driving inflation and it’s costing Americans money. Since Joe Biden has been sworn in as president, inflation broadly is up 17.2%. Groceries are up 20%. Rent is up 19%. Electricity is up 24%. Gas is up 34%. Your average American home is spending $11,434 more today to have the same standard of living as they did when Joe Biden was sworn in as president. Americans are hurt by Joe Biden’s policies.
“We made government work better in Nebraska and I pledged to do the same thing here in D.C. My proven solutions from Nebraska work here in D.C. and they’re small steps to make things better here in Washington and put taxpayers first.
“The SNAP Next Step Act that I introduced here will help our families on SNAP get better jobs and get out of welfare. We’ve introduced bills to provide tax relief to our veterans and to our seniors, and we’re fighting to allow consumers choice. For example, with my Flex Fuel Fairness Act. It would push back against the Biden administration’s EV mandate and provide consumers choice with biofuels that we know will save them money at the pump, help clean up our environment, and help make us less energy dependent.
“I’m also going to keep fighting to help keep Americans safe. Joe Biden’s failed border policies have made every state a border state. Over the weekend, News Channel Nebraska reported on a man from Mexico who was sentenced to prison in Bellevue, Nebraska after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. This 43-year-old man was in the country illegally. He was arrested in a motel room with nearly $15,000 in cash and 11.5 pounds of methamphetamine.It turned out, he had been previously deported for drug charges.
“If drug trafficking doesn’t scare you, the national security threat should. In years past, we’d have single-digit numbers of people crossing our southern border on the terrorist watch list. Last year,it was 169 people [that] crossed our southern border on the terrorist watch list.
“Over 8.8 million encounters along our southern border since Joe Biden has become president.That number of encounters with individuals on the terrorist watch list that used to be in single digits pales in comparison with the number of people coming here illegally. And that’s why I’m working with my colleagues to pass legislation that would attack Biden’s failed border policies head on. We’re working to fix our broken asylum system, to build a wall, and to go after the drug cartels. We’re fighting to reform the parole system the administration is abusing.
“If you look back on the average number of people who were paroled in this country during the Obama and Trump administrations, it was about 5,600 people a year. Last year, Joe Biden paroled into this country 1.2 million people trying to come here illegally. Folks, that’s about two-thirds of the population of the state of Nebraska.
“We’ve also got to stop the human trafficking that’s going along on the southern border. Childrenare being recycled. They’re being brought across the border by adults who know it’s easier to get in if they’ve got a child with them. Yet the Biden Administration stopped the DNA testing that would prove that these children belong to the parents.
“Customs and Border Protection personnel tell me that sometimes 30 to 50% of the kids they used to test did not belong to those adults. Inexplicably, the Biden Administration has stopped that, putting these kids at risk.
“President Biden’s appeasement-first foreign policy has left us weakened in a dangerous world.Our disastrous pull out of Afghanistan emboldened dangerous dictators like Putin in Russia, Xi in China, and Khomeini in Iran. Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and yet this administration has given them over $50 billion in sanctions relief.
“As a result, Houthi rebels sponsored by Iran, funded by Iran, are shooting at our ships in the Red Sea, including our U.S. Navy. Hamas, also backed by Iran, has attacked one of our greatest allies, Israel.
“Biden’s weakness has encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine. And the Chinese Communist Party has increased their aggression toward Taiwan. All of this must stop. This world is less safe because of Joe Biden’s policy.
“I will continue to push back on Washington’s overregulation and overspending, to introduce measures to make government work well, and to keep people safe.
“I think we have to ask ourselves: ‘Are we better off today, versus three years ago?’ The answer is no.
“I will continue to push back on this Biden Administration and the way they’ve driven inflation, tobring our Proven Nebraska Solutions to Washington D.C. and to fight to keep Americans safe,both here and abroad.”
“Thank you Madam President, I yield the floor.”