Devin Nunes

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Tulare High School's Agricultural Issues team for winning the prestigious 2021 National FFA Agricultural Issues Forum Leadership Development Event in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hosted by the National FFA Organization, the National FFA Agricultural Issues Forum Leadership Development Event is a competitive event that tests students' knowledge of agricultural issues and evaluates how well they can apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations. To compete in the national competition, teams must first design a presentation that addresses multiple viewpoints of a contemporary agricultural issue and present it to multiple audiences in their community. Teams must then incorporate the feedback received from their local community into their presentation to the judges at the Leadership Development Event.

Raised in California's San Joaquin Valley--the most productive and abundant agriculture region in the world--Tulare High School's Agricultural Issues team was uniquely placed to learn from the world's preeminent farmers in preparation for the Leadership Development Event, including the Tulare County Farm Bureau, the Board of Directors at Harris Ranch, and other local community service clubs. Their national championship victory is a reflection of the determined work ethic and love for farming that defines Tulare County and the greater San Joaquin Valley community.

Congratulations to team members Aidan Champagne, Duncan Champagne, Avery Coelho, Emma Coelho, and Madeline Lew, and their coaches, Jennifer Sousa, and Dave and Krim Caetano. The Central Valley is proud of their tremendous accomplishment.

Madam Speaker, the Democrats have summoned us to the House floor today to debate their unaffordable socialist spending bill. It is rather novel for Congress to debate a bill that does not yet have final legislative text, but. after suffering alarming electoral defeats earlier this month, the Democrats appear desperate to save President Biden's domestic agenda, regardless of the consequences. So, here we are.

While the bill's actual provisions remain unclear, what is clear is the Biden administration's zeal to permanently transform the American economy. In an October press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki went to great lengths to explain that the Democrats' reconciliation spending bill is seen by the President as a vehicle to remake the economy.

Biden seeks to ``do something historic that will fundamentally change the economy,'' she declared. He's seeking to make ``fundamental changes,'' she added. She later noted that the President seeks to ``make fundamental change in our economy,'' ``change fundamentally how we invest in our workforce,'' ``fundamentally change the economy,'' and ``fundamentally change people's lives.''

We should take Psaki at her word--President Biden believes he has found basic flaws in our economic system, and the solution is to inject trillions of dollars into government programs.

Earlier this year, the President made a down payment on this fundamental transformation when he signed into law the Democrats' $1.9 trillion so-called stimulus plan. The economic impact has been staggering: gas prices are reaching record highs, our supply chain is in crisis, small businesses are beset by a government-made labor shortage, and skyrocketing inflation is making everyday life unaffordable for working Americans.

The response from Democrats has been instructive. First, Democrats denied that inflation existed at all. Then, they claimed Republicans were exacerbating concerns over what they deemed ``transitory inflation'' for political gain. Next, they said inflation was both not transitory and, in fact, a good thing for the economy. Now, they accuse Republicans of opposing their plan to tackle the inflation they claimed was a good thing.

If inflation is indeed a good thing, then America is in luck--the Democrats' Build Back Better agenda promises much more of it. It's as if the Democrats are attempting to hyperinflate their way out of inflation.

This unaffordable bill won't solve the problems the Democrats have created. It won't lower energy prices, or tame inflation, or resolve the supply chain crisis, or help Americans get back to work. To the contrary, it's an ideological bill designed to implant socialism irreversibly in the federal government.

The whole bill is a slap in the face to the American people. Thankfully, however, this debate is just political theater, since we all know the bill, whenever it is finally passed by House Democrats, will die a quick death in the Senate.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today and oppose the Democrat's latest socialist spending spree.

Today, the Federal Government presides over nearly $30 trillion in debt and $100 trillion of unfunded liabilities in Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid.

These catastrophic debts are growing increasingly unsustainable. And now the Democrats are using the debt ceiling as a blackmail to enable passage of an unaffordable so-called human infrastructure bill. I still don't quite understand what that means, but maybe they will enlighten us during the debate.

The Democrats, themselves, can't honestly tell us how much this bill would cost. First, they said it was $3.5 trillion, then the amount was raised to over $4 trillion. And both figures, obviously, underestimate the true cost by trillions of dollars.

Then with an amazing message discipline, Democrats in the House, Senate, and White House, along with their media cheerleaders, suddenly began claiming, in unison, that the bill won't cost anything at all.

They previously argued that ``tax the rich'' would pay for everything. But now, they have apparently conjured a true economic miracle:

No one will have to pay for the astronomical cost of this bill. It is Congress' first self-financing, multi-trillion-dollar spending plan. It is amazing that no Member of Congress ever figured this out before.

Now that the Democrats are full of their new socialist colleagues, you have finally achieved the Marxist dream of abolishing money.

The bill itself is the mother of all socialist spending programs. It is as if the Democrats are rejecting all fiscal restraint and decided that they had one shot to turn America into a socialist welfare state.

Madam Speaker, I reject that transformation and the spending gimmicks needed to enact it. I urge all Members to vote against this scheme and vote down the increase in the debt limit.