A resolution expressing opposition to congressional spending on earmarks.

Madam President, since Joe Biden took office, inflation has exploded 17.9 percent. Prices on everything, especially groceries, are sky-high, and hard-working Americans are not able to keep up.

So think about what that means. If you haven't seen your pay rise by more than 17.9 percent since January 2021, you are behind because of Joe Biden's inflation.

We know that is the reality for millions of Americans because real average weekly earnings have fallen 4.3 percent since Joe Biden took office.

So when the press and Biden administration says: Good news, inflation is cooling, nobody in the real word is buying it because they see it is a lie each and every day.

Unless we see significant deflation, which will only happen if we cut spending, then there won't be relief from the massive damage that Biden's inflation has already caused.

One of the best ways to cut reckless spending is to take a serious look at earmarks. Now, I appreciate that Congress rightfully holds the purse strings under the Constitution. And my colleagues in the Senate know their States better than the Biden administration does. This is not about taking away authority from Congress. Neither Congress nor the President's Agencies should waste your money.

Earmarks are pet projects that only benefit a small number of people; they are not voted on separately by Members of Congress. American taxpayers should not be used as a political piggybank.

Earmarks have been so badly abused that we can't let it go on like this any longer. The time for forgiveness has passed.

In just the Senate, Members requested more than 6,000 earmarks to waste your tax dollars on projects like $3.5 million for Michigan's Thanksgiving Parade Foundation; $1 million for an environmental justice center in New York--New York City has a budget already of $106 billion; don't you think they can do this on their own--$1 million for a social justice organization in San Francisco to make building improvements; $5 million for a theater, opera house, and other renovations in Georgia and Pennsylvania and city hall renovations in Washington and Rhode Island.

Why does the Federal Government have to pay for this? The States and local governments should take the lead here.

Today, the U.S. national debt is nearly $35 trillion. That is about $6.5 trillion more than it was when Biden took office.

Here is an even more disturbing figure: Since January 20, 2023, about 14 months ago, the national debt has grown by more than $3 trillion. This explosion of America's national debt is a grave threat to the civility and security of our country, and it is not going to stop unless we force change.

As someone who grew up in public housing and watched my mom struggle to put food on the table and pay taxes all of her life, I am furious about just how much failure in Washington is hurting hard-working families like my mom all across--families in Florida and all across the country.

Again, we have seen inflation increase 17.9 percent since Joe Biden took office. In my home State of Florida, that means families have to spend $11,400 more to buy the same things. That is nearly $1,000 more a month each and every single month just to get by the same way they did the day before Biden took office.

The status quo is burying America alive. That is why I am hoping all of my colleagues will join me in supporting the resolution against earmarks I will be filing today.

My resolution condemns the use of congressionally directed spending and community project funding, known as earmarks, to direct and appropriate taxpayer dollars in any form; reaffirms the previous ban on the use of earmarks and affirms to restore the ban permanently and immediately; and affirms the need for Congress to rein in overspending to help curb the inflation crisis that is crippling the families of the United States.

Debt matters because it fuels inflation. Just remember that. Debt fuels inflation. It makes it harder for the Federal Government to do the things it promised to do, like build roads and fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and national defense.

Americans know that the debt and inflation crisis we find ourselves in today was 100 percent preventable.

I believe we ought to fund the things that matter in government, like national defense, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but that is not going to happen if we don't stop spending money on these worthless projects.

If we truly intend to protect and preserve these programs and the core services and responsibilities the Federal Government is charged with providing to American taxpayers, we have to cut the reckless spending. If nothing changes, the interest on our debt, which is already costing us $870 billion this year--more than we spend on defense--is going to keep going up. Soon, the government will not be able to keep its promise. That is not fair to each of you, and we should not let that happen.

We all need to work together to end earmarks and protect American taxpayer dollars.

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Alabama (Mrs. Britt) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall).

Further, if present and voting: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Marshall) would have voted ``nay.''

I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand) and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

I yield the floor.