Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 493.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 460.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Bacon (Hartzler)

Beatty (Cicilline)

Bilirakis (Fleischmann)

Brooks (Fleischmann)

Buchanan (Bucshon)

Carter (TX) (Weber (TX))

Cherfilus-McCormick (Neguse)

Chu (Beyer)

Cleaver (Adams)

Conway (LaMalfa)

DeFazio (Pallone)

Demings (Dean)

Diaz-Balart

(Reschenthaler)

Dunn (Cammack)

Evans (Beyer)

Garcia (TX) (Escobar)

Gimenez (Malliotakis)

Gonzalez, Vicente (Correa)

Gosar (Weber (TX))

Green (TX) (Cuellar)

Herrera Beutler (Meijer)

Horsford (Garamendi)

Jackson Lee (Cicilline)

Jacobs (NY) (Sempolinski)

Jayapal (Cicilline)

Johnson (TX) (Stevens)

Kelly (IL) (Cicilline)

Kinzinger (Meijer)

Kirkpatrick (Pallone)

Lawson (FL) (Stevens)

Lynch (Trahan)

Mace (Nehls)

Mast (Waltz)

McEachin (Beyer)

Meng (Escobar)

Murphy (FL) (Peters)

Newman (Beyer)

Ocasio-Cortez (Neguse)

Palazzo (Fleischmann)

Payne (Pallone)

Pfluger (Ellzey)

Porter (Neguse)

Rice (NY) (Morelle)

Rice (SC) (Meijer)

Rush (Beyer)

Ryan (OH) (Correa)

Salazar (Waltz)

Sewell (Cicilline)

Sherman (Garamendi)

Simpson (Fulcher)

Soto (Escobar)

Speier (Garamendi)

Steel (Obernolte)

Steube

(Reschenthaler)

Torres (NY) (Correa)

Vargas (Garamendi)

Wasserman Schultz (Schneider)

Waters (Takano)

Wilson (SC) (Norman)

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Arrington for leading this discussion tonight and for his kind comments.

It is interesting, my friend talks about Pennsylvania's budget, and I was proud to serve there and be part of the process.

I thought it was a difficult and a broken process there. We would pass a budget weeks beyond the deadline or sometimes months. There would be vigorous discussions with the Governor on what that budget should look like, but at the end of the day, we did it. My friend is exactly right. We passed a

budget where expected revenues matched the appropriations that we put forward.

So it was a little unbelievable to come here and see that we haven't done that in about, at least, 20 years here. We certainly haven't balanced the budget in almost our lifetime here. And so as broken as I thought the process was at the State level, at least at the end of the process we had a product that balanced the budget.

So I want to just express my appreciation and thanks to Mr. Arrington for leading this discussion. I share--as he knows, we have had discussions about this--the deep concerns for the current state of our Nation's finances. We talk about this. We serve on the Ways and Means Committee together, and I think Ways and Means Committee members understand the problems we are faced with if we don't address this.

I also serve on the Budget Committee, and there we talk about the problems that we are faced with. But this has to extend beyond just those two committees. It has to extend to our conference and also to this entire body and entire system of government.

We need to be talking about how this impacts our constituents, how it impacts people at home, and why they should care about this. Some people maybe don't even understand that issues of Federal debt and deficits even matter.

Sometimes I like to put it in simple terms. Think of our national debt, say, like a balance on a credit card. We all do budgets in our homes and in our businesses. But think about the national debt. We can't even imagine the $30 trillion number which, by the way, is about $245,000 per American. But let's just talk about it as a credit card. Every one of us will have to shoulder this debt at some point, and we are going to have to make sacrifices.

If you have credit card debt in your home, then you have to make sacrifices to pay it down. The higher the balance, the higher the minimum payment, meaning less money at the end of each month for things that you would rather spend on than paying down and making that credit card payment, like healthcare or saving for retirement, whatever it may be.

If you don't pay down the balance--we haven't done that in a long time here--it will affect your credit rating. You will become uncreditworthy. That will result in higher interest rates, and you will face more payments. It is a snowball effect. That credit rating will plummet. Not only will you pay more, but then no one will trust you with a new loan. As you know, Mr. Speaker, the longer you wait to pay down that credit card debt, the more it grows and grows and grows.

We should all care that every dollar the government spends should be spent responsibly. It is the taxpayers' money. The taxpayers earned it. We should be responsible with their dollars. But we certainly haven't seen the Biden administration doing that. Biden's government has accrued $4.8 trillion in new debt since taking office. We now owe over $30 trillion in debt. That is $245,000 per taxpayer. The American Rescue Plan, the inflation act, the student loan forgiveness, and many other misguided policies each drastically increase the role of government in everyday American lives.

Biden's policies over the past year have incentivized people not to work, rewarded those who have accrued college student loan debt on the backs of those who have worked hard to pay off their own debt or totally avoided debt and have weakened America's goal to be a symbol of freedom in the world.

If we are going to defend the American Dream, then we must fix this problem. We must fix actually the broken budget process here in Congress as well, which the gentleman has talked about.

This week we are, once again, going to fund the government on a massive, short-term, continuing resolution loaded with irresponsible spending. Over the past 4 years of Speaker Pelosi's leadership in the House, House Democrats didn't pass a budget resolution by regular order except to push partisan reconciliation bills that have spent trillions of dollars.

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, as Republicans, we have made a commitment to Americans, our Commitment to America. And certainly all of us in this conference--certainly those of us in the Budget Committee--will ensure that we do the work, we pass a budget on time and through regular order, and we stick to it. Republicans will commit to reducing our spending in order to preserve that American Dream that we think is so important for future generations.

I thank Mr. Arrington for leading this, and I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of it.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Kentucky, who truly is an expert on fiscal policy and truly understands the situation that we are in, in our country.

We just simply cannot afford to continue down this path and expect that there will not be consequences: consequences for us and, if not for us, certainly for future generations. At the least, we are mortgaging the future of our kids and our grandkids, and it is completely irresponsible.

We just came back, all of us, to our districts. I can tell you, I spent most of the weekend out talking to people across the district, and they are very

concerned about the impact of this President's policies and the policies of this Congress on their daily lives. I have constituents who are choosing each week whether they can buy groceries or whether they can buy gas for the car.

I spoke just recently to one constituent who had been out of the workforce for about 10 years. This individual, by the way, had 13 kids, which I thought was amazing, but he had been out of the workforce for 13 years and just took a job because he can no longer make ends meet because of the policies of this President and the rising prices that have been created by the policies of this administration.

They are angry that the President had a White House party to celebrate the passage of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. This celebration, of course, just recently was broadcast amid a backdrop of the plummeting stock market and upon the news just that morning of another month of record-high inflation.

No matter how the President wants to talk about it, no matter how Democrats want to talk about it, Madam Speaker, he says that inflation has leveled off, but we are still at 8.5 percent above what prices were just 12 months ago. That is something we haven't seen in our country for about 40 years. This was after Democrats and the President were saying this would be transitory inflation.

You would think if we are in a hole, at some point, we would stop digging. Instead, the President and congressional Democrats, while they are patting themselves on the back, continue to spend taxpayer dollars.

Just last night, President Biden was on ``60 Minutes,'' arguing that he deserves some credit, again, for his fiscal policies while inflation is at another 40-year high.

The President speaks fiscal responsibility, yet every action that he takes only balloons our debt and balloons our deficits. It is far past time for his wasteful inflationary spending agenda to come to an end. The American people, the constituents in my district, can no longer afford the policies of this administration.

Tonight, for the next 45, 50 minutes or so, I am proud to welcome some of my Republican colleagues, including fellow members of the House Budget Committee and others who share the deep concerns that were just outlined by Congressman Barr. You will be hearing from others their concerns about the fiscal state of our Nation and the trajectory that we are on.

Over the next hour, we are going to take stock of this administration's reckless budget agenda and some of the drastic consequences that we are hearing about from our constituents.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), who is a great member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. We won't argue tonight about which committee is the best committee. I serve on the Ways and Means Committee. But John is a dear friend of mine, a wonderful Member of Congress, and I am very, very proud to serve with him. I am proud to count him as a friend. He is doing a fabulous job as a member of that committee and Member of Congress.

I look forward to his insights on how the Biden administration's policies have resulted in this record-high inflation. I would like to hear what his constituents are facing in the 13th District of Pennsylvania, which is directly adjacent to mine. I thank Dr. Joyce for joining us this evening.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words. It is clear that he is in touch regularly with his constituents and is hearing some of the same things that I have heard.

The gentleman mentioned the real wage drop about $3,500 per family due to the policies of this administration. It is as if someone is taking a month's worth of salary, and families have to do without that month of salary.

By the way, that comes on the heels of policies under the previous administration that led to--after decades of stagnation--a $6,000 average household increase in income. Which is more compassionate? The gentleman is exactly right. We know the impact of these policies. We must stop. We must implement policies that work for the American people. That is why I was so frustrated.

By the way, I have a news flash: Naming a bill something doesn't mean it is so. Just recently, the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Studies now are saying it will not impact inflation, it will most likely increase inflation.

Let's just dig in on some of the policies that are included. $745 billion in new spending, over half of which is for the Green New Deal agenda. That includes $3 billion for, ``environmental and climate justice warriors,'' and $245 billion in Department of Energy loans for other friends of the left.

As gas prices increased 50 percent over the course of last year, President Biden's solution was to raise taxes on American oil and gas producers. So we know that this will continue to affect constituents. They will continue to pay the higher price of gasoline at the pump.

At this time, President Biden and congressional Democrats thought it would be a good idea to combat inflation by offering tax credits for high-end electric vehicles.

Now, interestingly enough, and maybe unsurprisingly, a lot of those electric vehicle manufacturers that were set to benefit from those new tax credits, immediately turned around and raised the prices of their vehicles, essentially wiping out the value of the credit.

Another way they thought that apparently would help inflation was to raise taxes on the middle class, including $53 billion in new taxes on Main Street and $10 billion in taxes on those making less than $200,000 a year. Then, adding salt to the wound, the bill spends $80 billion for the IRS to hire 87,000 new agents.

By the way, any of us in our congressional districts know that the IRS has a problem? I have talked to constituents in my district, who are still waiting for refunds from 2019.

So, I get that the IRS may need some additional funding to help to serve the American people better, but do you know there is 14 times as much money in this bill spent on increasing audits on everyday Americans, rather than improving--than the money that is in it for improving customer service there at the IRS?

There is a CBO analysis. The Congressional Budget Office that we all rely upon confirmed that those new agents will focus on extracting as many dollars as possible doing audits on the middle class, and despite the President's claims, half of those audits will be on those making less than $400,000 a year.

We could go on about this bill, and if we have a little more time maybe we will, but I am very pleased to yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), who is a fellow member of the Budget Committee, passionate about fiscal issues here in our country. I always appreciate his fervor about these issues, and I am pleased to count him as a friend.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his comments. He has identified the problem and has some real solutions on how we can address this and how we can save the future for our kids and our grandkids. One of the saddest things about this is that the idea of the American Dream is that every generation can do better than their parents and their parents before them, and we have seen that for centuries here in the United States. That is at risk because of the fiscal policies that are in place here today.

I look forward to working with my friend, and we hope that the next Congress will be the Congress when we can begin to put this country on the right path.

Madam Speaker, I welcome our next speaker tonight, the next participant is my friend and fellow Pennsylvanian, Fred Keller, from the 12th District in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Keller plays an important role in oversight of the Biden administration as a member of the Education and Labor Committee as well as the Oversight and Reform Committee. I count him as a great friend and look forward to his thoughts tonight on what we are talking about, the administration's flawed understanding or lack of understanding of the impact of inflation on Pennsylvanians. We see it every day. He will discuss budget principles that can help us right our fiscal ship.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his wonderful comments.

One of the things that is most frustrating about this is not only, as the gentleman just mentioned, the administration doesn't seem to understand the impact of their policies that have led to these rising prices and the pain that he is causing for people in our districts.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being here.

We talked about what they have referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act. I think a better title for it is the Expensive Attempt to Distract Voters Act. We know the bill will not cut the deficit, and we know CBO has said that the bill will have a tiny effect on inflation. Penn Wharton Institute in my State estimates that the bill would increase inflation this year and next.

So how can you call a bill Inflation Reduction Act if it doesn't actually decrease inflation?

Then shortly after that, in fact, just 8 days later, you would think at some point, Madam Speaker, the President would stop the spending spree and that at some point there would be a connection made with all of the spending, the rising deficits and debt, and the rising prices.

But what did the President do just 8 days later?

He unilaterally--we think unconstitutionally--but unilaterally spent more than half a trillion dollars on blanket student loan forgiveness, much of which went to high-income earners. Madam Speaker, $500 billion, that is half a trillion dollars. One constituent in my district went out and talked to some workers in a foundry, and you should have heard what they said about this bill, Madam Speaker.

One of them said: Why should I or why should a plumber need to pay the tuition and the debt for a medical student, maybe a graduate medical student?

They are angry that they are being asked. They are working hard every day trying to deal with the rising prices, trying to make ends meet, going back to work out of retirement, and then the President comes along and says: We are going to ask you to pay for the 16 percent of Americans who have student debt.

It makes absolutely no sense to them and makes no sense when you are trying to implement fiscal policies that will tackle the rising prices and help the American people.

Madam Speaker, I welcome my next friend and colleague who is a fellow member of the House Budget Committee, Mr. Jay Obernolte of California. Mr. Obernolte also serves on the Natural Resources and Science, Space, and Technology Committees.

We spent some time earlier this year down at the border, which is another catastrophe I don't think we are going to be talking about tonight, but he has been a wonderful Member of Congress.

It has been great getting to know my friend, and I appreciate his being here this evening.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his wonderful comments outlining the problem that we are faced with here. It sounds like we are up here criticizing the administration--and certainly we are--but it is far beyond that. I think to address a problem, whether it seems like an abstract problem or something that will happen in the future--to address the problem we must first understand it and recognize that the problem exists. The policies of this administration do not seem to understand that there is a real crisis up ahead if we don't take steps now to change the trajectory.

Madam Speaker, I have a chart here beside me--and a few of the other speakers have mentioned this tonight--the amount of spending that this administration has incurred above the $4 to $5 trillion that we spend in the Federal Government every year--this is an outline of the major policies, starting with the American Rescue Plan and on and on. Student debt is the most recent. $4.8 trillion in less than 2 years in office-- $4.8 trillion.

It seems like the response of this administration to every problem is just to throw money at it, and it is money we don't have. The response is to print money and to take money to spend the money of our future generations. He did this with the American Rescue Plan--$1.9 trillion.

At that time, Democrat economist Larry Summers said that was the worst macroeconomic policy and a mistake that would end in double-digit inflation. He ended up being exactly right on that.

His response to helping veterans recovering from burn pits, which was once a strong bipartisan policy that I was proud to support--but his response was to throw $667 billion in new mandatory spending at the problem, ignoring bipartisan alternatives that were responsibly paid for and doubling the fiscal impact of the VA in the process--$4.8 trillion in less than 2 years in office.

So why are we talking about this tonight? Why are some--more and more--a growing number of Members in Congress concerned about this? Is there any hope? I would say that despite the current fiscal challenges that we face, hope is not lost. We can ensure that America's best days still lie ahead. I am optimistic that we can do that in Congress.

Is there any hope? I would say that, despite the current fiscal challenges that we face, hope is not lost. We can ensure that America's best days still lie ahead. I am optimistic that we can do that in Congress.

Wouldn't that be great if we look back 20 years from now and were able to say that that was the Congress that began to change America and that saved the future of America? We can do it if we decide that is what we will do.

We simply cannot afford the continued spending policies of this administration. We can't afford to continue on this destructive, wasteful path. We can't afford to delay and to kick the can down the road.

We need to begin to seriously recommit to fiscal responsibility by meaningfully reducing spending and reducing deficits while investing in policies that ensure growth. We need to reject any increases to mandatory spending.

Several other speakers mentioned this tonight, but we have budget rules in Congress that have simply been ignored for decades. We need to enforce our own budget rules that this body set for itself and set for the Federal Government and not simply look the other way as we routinely pass bills increasing spending, increasing mandatory spending, by billions of dollars.

There is a measure of our total debt that I think is worth looking at. Compare it to our total economic output as a Nation or the gross domestic product. Currently, we are at about 130 percent. Our debt is 130 percent of GDP.

That is projected to increase, as far as we can project at this point, about a trillion--we are 30 trillion now--increase over a trillion per year under the policies of this administration and previous administrations. That debt will eclipse 185 percent of GDP by 2052 on the current path.

We know how it ends. Every country in history that has spent more money than it had, that has overtaxed and overspent, has failed. It doesn't end well.

While we may think this is a problem far in the future that future generations can take care of, at some point, we will see the devastating impact if we don't change the trajectory.

If we don't reverse course, we risk the full faith and credit of the United States, which would put us under threat of a sovereign debt crisis and economic fallout that we have seen elsewhere in nations across the world.

It will take discipline. It will take reducing our spending. It will take investing in progrowth policies similar to those that we implemented just a few

years ago that created the booming economy that we had at that time.

I appreciate the comments of a number of my colleagues here. I appreciate the interest in this crisis. It truly is a crisis.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to put forward a sustainable, forward-thinking budget next Congress that reduces Federal spending, implements those progrowth policies, and puts our country back to a sustainable fiscal future.

We can do it, and we must do it for future generations.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, what a time to raise taxes and to spend nearly $1 trillion more. The economy is in a recession, food inflation is up 12.9 percent over the past year, gas is up 49 percent, and shelter costs rose by 5.7 percent.

What will families get instead of relief?

They will get $10.6 billion in tax increases, and 50 percent more may get audited by the IRS.

Now, the chairman on the other side has disputed these 87,000 new agents. I would ask him to read page 37 of the bill which provides for $45 billion in new funding to the IRS, specifically for enforcement activities, and ask if he will dispute that as well.

Where does he think $45 billion is going to go?

In fact, we all know the IRS needs a lot of help to provide constituent services. Fourteen times more dollars are going for enforcement than to helping them do their job.

Our Democrat colleagues are also falsely insisting this bill will not raise taxes on small businesses or households with incomes below $400,000. Yet, during Rules Committee debate on the bill, a Ways and Means Democrat admitted that households making less than $400,000 per year will see a tax increase in this bill. He was citing the nonpartisan analysis from JCT.

Don't be fooled. This bill is not a plan to address inflation.

Madam Speaker, there are so many things wrong with the policies in this bill. It will certainly punish Americans' pocketbooks through record-high inflation, new taxes, and an army of IRS agents. It can get even worse.

This drug price setting regime in the bill, which I want to speak about briefly, may very well put American lives at risk. The CBO agreed. Fewer drugs will be developed as a result of the policies in this bill.

According to a study from the University of Chicago, government price controls in the bill will block 342 new cures from reaching market over the coming decades. That means that our constituents and family members who are battling diseases like cancer or Alzheimer's may well be left with no hope of finding a cure.

The university estimates that blocking these cures will collectively take 330 million years off of Americans' lives. That is 1 year per American, which, by the way, is a toll 31 times worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.

American innovation and ingenuity got this country out of the COVID- 19 pandemic. This bill abandons free enterprise in favor of socialism and will cost the taxpayer too many dollars and cancer patients too many years.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the young men of Warwick School District's baseball team.

The Warwick Warriors baseball beat Liberty High to close out a successful 23-2 season by winning the district's first PIAA 6A State Championship.

The game, held last month, was impacted by a prolonged weather delay, but the warriors held firm to the early lead to capture the championship.

Throughout their dominating season, the Warriors also clinched the District Three title, as well.

Madam Speaker, it is no surprise that the community is very proud of these students for their achievement on the baseball diamond. It was great to see the local law enforcement and volunteer firefighters join with the community by participating in a parade to honor their achievement.

Congratulations to the members and coaches of the Warwick Warrior State championship baseball team. The whole community is wishing them continued success. May they carry the lessons they learned playing as part of a successful team toward their future goals.

Madam Speaker, well, here we are. Reports this morning show that we have been in a recession here in this country. Unfortunately, since coming into office, the Biden administration has been in denial about the state of our economy.

And I think our Minority Leader, Mr. McCarthy, just outlined, showed on the floor a little bit ago how the administration has been talking about the threat of inflation.

They initially promised that it would be transitory. Then chief of staff insisted that inflation was only a high-class problem. And then President Biden, blaming everyone except himself for causing the record-high inflation that we see today.

With inflation at 9.1 percent; the Fed raising interest rates again; and now, two consecutive quarters of declining GDP, Americans are rightly concerned that our economy is now in a recession.

It will be interesting to see the White House's response because, up until now, instead of trying to solve the problem, the White House has, instead, in the previous few days, been trying to alter the definition of a recession.

George Orwell warned that the government will one day tell you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It is important that we identify the problem before we can solve it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate an exceptional student athlete from my congressional district.

Darren Cammauf, a recent graduate of Manheim Township School District, distinguished himself in track and field this past season, ultimately winning the 400-meter dash held at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championship earlier this year.

A leading member of the Blue Streak Track and Field team, Cammauf had a successful senior season as well.

He set a new school record for the best time in the 400-meter race. At the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships, Darren won the 400- and 200-meter dashes as well as led the 1,600-meter relay team to victory. He capped his senior season off with a third-place victory in the 400- meter dash at the PIAA Class 3A competition.

Darren will be attending St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia to continue

his competition in track and field and to pursue a degree in business.

Mr. Speaker, I would also be remiss if I did not recognize Darren's two biggest cheerleaders: his mother, Erica, and his father, Nicholas, who serves as a senior constituent advocate assisting residents of Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District.

I congratulate Darren on his success this year. We are all very proud of his accomplishments and look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.

Madam Speaker, on September 1 of 1980, inflation was at almost 13 percent. On that day, then Governor Ronald Reagan said: ``Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.'' Unfortunately, today is looking a lot like 1980, and the Carter and the Biden Presidencies share far too much in common.

President Biden has unnecessarily spent trillions of dollars, spiking inflation into a 40-year high of 8.6 percent. As a result of this inflation, American households will pay an additional $7,620 as they buy gas, food, and other things over the next 12 months--$7,620 annually.

Since Biden became President, real wages are down 4.2 percent while mortgage rates have doubled, have gone up 2.4 points. Our economy shrank 1.4 percent last quarter, and many economists now agree that these signs point to an imminent recession.

The President now points to the Federal Reserve to get him out of the inflation mess that he created. Today, I will point out what that may mean and talk about the challenge that the Fed faces to rein in inflation.

I have a chart here with me that compares the Federal funds rate, which is its benchmark interest rate, and inflation rates over the past 60 years. If you look at the chart, you will see two lines on the graph showing inflation and the Fed rate. Each time that the Fed looked to reduce inflation, they increased the interest rate, and they have increased the interest rate each time above the current inflation rate.

So, for example, in the early 1980s, which I mentioned earlier, following President Carter's era of stagflation, the Fed raised rates to a record high of over 16.5 percent to reverse what was 13 percent inflation at that time. So once again, this would suggest that for the Fed to do its job and rein in inflation, it will need to increase interest rates above our current rate of inflation.

So far this year, the Feds have raised the Federal fund rate three times, most recently with a .75--or \3/4\ percent--increase, which is the highest increase since 1994, but the Federal funds rate still only sits between 1.5 and 1\3/4\ percent.

Current rates are 1\3/4\ percent, and again, inflation is 8.6 percent and climbing. This suggests that the Fed has a long way to go in raising interest rates, and has a lot of work to do ahead. What isn't shown in this chart--and sometimes I am not sure if the Biden administration understands--are the consequences that come with raising rates.

Our economy will slow down, and it will be harder for Americans to start small businesses and to purchase homes. We are already seeing that happening. The cost of living will increase, and Americans will see hard times. This did not have to happen.

President Biden overinflated an already recovering economy by spending trillions on the American Rescue Plan, which included market- distorting policies that unnecessarily subsidized demand while restricting supplies by paying people to stay home.

Now, as I said, the President is relying on the Fed to fix it but, unfortunately, it is the American people who will be paying the consequences.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss something that has been on my mind--discuss an issue that we have been talking about and we have been holding hearings in both the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, and that is the state of our economy, which I would characterize as the dire state of our economy, which I believe--I will demonstrate with some charts this evening--is due to the reckless budgetary policies of this administration.

What I am talking about is today we have inflation at 8.6 percent, which is the highest level in over 40 years. We also have a GDP, or gross domestic product, the total output of our economy that is shrinking in the first quarter. It shrank 1.4 percent. We may well be on the way to a recession if the second quarter shows that it is shrinking as well.

So there is no better time than right now to renew our Nation's commitment to fiscal responsibility, and to make a difference in the lives of the people that we represent.

Let's talk a little bit about inflation. Food prices are up 10.1 percent. Real wages--that is the difference between inflation and the rise of wages--are down 3.4 percent as of today, meaning that the average family is facing an effective pay cut of $1,500 just this year.

Everyone knows gas prices are at their highest ever with average prices in my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now exceeding $5 a gallon. Overall energy costs, home fuel oil, and others included, is up 34.6 percent.

Unfortunately, as I will point out tonight, the spending policies enacted and pushed by the Biden administration and by Democrats in Congress are really responsible for driving inflation and are certainly--even if you don't agree with that--they are certainly saddling future generations with debt. Someone will pay the price for the massive debt we have now, and unfortunately, that will be our kids and grandkids and future generations.

It has been said that Congress has a habit of only addressing problems when we reach a crisis--only addressing issues when we reach a crisis. That crisis may have already begun right now. We are in a pretty tough spot in our economy at the moment and people are feeling it every single day. We must step up to begin to address this.

Every Member of Congress, I am sure, has talked to their constituents and can share stories about how their constituents are impacted by rising prices. I can tell you myself, growing up as a child, I experienced what it was like to have it be difficult for my family to afford food.

I was one of 12 kids. My father was first a farmer and a roofer, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. I can tell you about a stressful time for my mother was going to the grocery store. The reason for that is because she knew she would not have quite enough money to buy everything that she thought she needed.

I remember walking with her up and down the aisles and she was calculating in her head how much she was putting in the cart. She was very concerned that she would get to the register and be embarrassed that she would have to put some things back. Today, people are feeling that.

I hear in my district, for instance, my constituent, Lamar, he put the impact of inflation in clear terms. He tells me that he spends more now but has less. He is doing with less. Paul says he is sadly giving up on his hopes of retirement at this time. Tim said he has to choose between gas and groceries every week. Lavern is 66 years old and had to go back to work to help out his children and his grandchildren now, though the impact of inflation on future debt will mean, as I mentioned earlier, that his grandchildren will be paying the cost of the reckless spending that we are seeing now. They will be paying for that for decades.

We have all heard from our constituents. We have heard their outcries. We have heard them talk to us about needing to rein in inflation. I think it is time that we take it as a wakeup call. Let's identify the causes of inflation and work to mitigate them.

That is one of the reasons that I wanted to get up and speak tonight because we have had debates in both of the committees that I mentioned about the causes of inflation--and that is not just a political debate--it is not just because. It is because the only way that we can begin to solve it is to understand the root cause of inflation, what led to where we are now, and then what we can do to change it.

It is going to take leadership at all levels of government to address not only inflation, but the $30 trillion now in debt, and trillions of dollars in deficits as far as we can see and as far as the Biden budget projects.

I am a businessowner, not an economist, so I can't even say that I have all the answers. What I can tell you is that I believe that capitalism, freedom, and free enterprise have made the United States the most powerful Nation in the history of the world and has provided more opportunity than ever before in the history of humankind. I think returning to those core values can help lead us--will help lead us--out of this mess.

First of all, there is a chart I will show you. Inflation does not arrive randomly. There are forces that cause inflation. Every time we have seen inflation in our history there are forces that cause it.

In this case, we have had things that are outside of our control, Democrats will argue, and the President blames inflation on COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the big bad oil and gas companies, and other things. I don't know what the next thing is that he will be blaming inflation on. I agree, they have certainly played a role in causing inflation.

However, those challenges are the same challenges that every other country across the world has faced and they do not explain why inflation in the United States spiked earlier and is much worse than what we are seeing in other countries.

This chart shows the annual core CPI inflation compared to OECD, which is sort of peer countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation in Development Countries. It shows how inflation spiked starting roughly the beginning of 2021 and far exceeded that of a comparable country. What caused that?

I have another chart that puts a little finer point on this. This shows that inflation started about the time that Biden took office and really accelerated after the passing of the American Rescue Plan, which put trillions of dollars in spending into our economy.

Now, I showed that chart today in a hearing in the Budget Committee to Mr. Stephen Moore of the Save America Coalition, and he agreed that the clear difference between what we saw in the past chart, the blue line, and the other countries, the clear difference was the stimulus that was provided, the increase in demand that was provided by inserting trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article I wrote, an op-ed that was published in The Hill on how President Biden's policies have caused and will further fuel inflation.

[From The Hill, Mar. 31, 2022]

Biden's Spending Plan Will Further Fuel Inflation

(By Rep. Lloyd Smucker)

Americans are concerned about the economy. A recent NBC

poll indicated that only 33 percent of Americans approve of

President Joe Biden's handling of the economy. Inflation is

now at a 40-year high and has families concerned about their

financial well-being as they gather to review their budgets

around the kitchen table.

Democrats try to dismiss inflation as a mere nuisance for

Americans who have to cut back on so-called ``luxuries.''

When my constituents point out that gas is too expensive,

Democrats shrug and tell them to buy a Tesla. The Penn

Wharton Budget Model concluded that inflation

disproportionately impacts lower income Americans who have to

pay an even higher percentage of their income on necessities

like food and transportation. The latest consumer price index

report shows prices for food are up 7.9 percent, gasoline

prices recently reached record highs. We need to help the

Americans who can't afford to put gas in their car, let alone

buy an expensive new electric car.

Inflation isn't just an economic term; it has real world

consequences for the constituents that I represent. In my

district, I think of Connie who at 70 years old is looking

for a part-time job to help make ends meet because of the

higher cost of everyday necessities. I think of Tim who told

me he must decide between buying gas or groceries. I think of

Lynne who told me that she and her husband are planning to

put off retiring because of higher prices.

These kinds of stories are commonplace as inflation strains

family budgets across the nation. The Biden administration

claimed inflation was ``temporary'' and now places blame on

everything except his reckless spending. We know that the

left's irresponsible spending has accelerated inflation past

harmful levels. A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San

Francisco concludes that Biden's spending led to higher

levels of inflation.

As the saying goes, an organization's budget is a statement

of its values. Now that President Biden released his Fiscal

Year 2023 budget, albeit seven weeks past the statutory

deadline, we can see clearly that this administration puts

wasteful, inflationary spending before all else. While the

president preaches fiscal restraint, this budget puts forth

policies reaffirming the president's tax-and-spend march

towards socialism.

Biden's proposed budget would spend $5.8 trillion next

fiscal year. His proposal would continue to pile on to the

national debt, which eclipsed $30 trillion earlier this year.

By their own estimates, his spending plan will add nearly $15

trillion in new debt over the next decade, with annual budget

deficits of at least $1 trillion per year.

The Biden administration continues to live in an alternate

reality when it comes to their inflation predictions. Their

budget report estimated the consumer price index (CPI) would

increase 4.7 percent for 2022. The most recent reading from

the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that CPI is up 7.9

percent over the last year. In last year's budget, they

predicted only a 2.1 percent change in CPI for 2022, far off

the mark from the high levels of inflation that we're

experiencing.

Buried deep within the administration's remarks in the

``analytical perspectives'' the Biden administration believes

that inflation will return to its long-term trend in 2023

despite ``considerable uncertainty'' and their efforts to

continue the White House's messaging blaming Russia for

increased inflation. They have spent nearly a year deflecting

that their policies contribute to inflation, but at least the

administration is no longer parroting that inflation is

temporary.

From what we've read in Biden's first two budget proposals,

Americans should remain concerned about his dangerous levels

of spending, what it means for the future financial health of

our nation, and what it means for the future of inflation

levels. Our $30 trillion national debt significantly impacts

the next generation of Americans. Continuing to run trillion-

dollar deficits and adding more to our mountainous debt

further endangers our future.

While President Biden and congressional Democrats have

tried to move on from their months-long public feud on

spending, House Republicans are united in our fundamental

principles of working to renew fiscal sanity in Washington

through a limited government, pro-growth tax policy, and

strengthening our free enterprise system to create

opportunities for Americans to live the American Dream. We

will exercise robust oversight of President Biden's spending

spree to hold this administration accountable. We will

continue to fight against wasteful spending ballooning our

debt and deficit. House Republicans will work to put

America's fiscal house in order.

Mr. Speaker, March 2021, the Biden administration and congressional Democrats rammed through $1.9 trillion in deficit spending, and only a small portion of that really went to solving problems and helping people that needed help through the pandemic--that helped to defeat the pandemic. Much of this was not needed and only served to fuel inflation.

By the way, they were warned by many economic experts. We warned them. Republicans on the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee warned Democrats at the time this was passed in early 2021 that we would see exactly this result. We were relying on the forecasts of many economists who were saying exactly that, who were warning the administration of that at the time. Not just Republican economists, by the way.

There is a name that many of you will know, he is a former Obama and Clinton economist, Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, warned that the American Rescue Plan would be the biggest macroeconomic mistake in 40 years, and it would cause inflationary pressures of a kind that we have not seen in a generation.

Again, Larry Summers, a very well-respected Democrat administration economist warning that we would be seeing the inflation that we are seeing now, over a year ago, when the American Rescue Plan was passed.

Just recently a study by the San Francisco Federal Reserve confirms that prediction, attributing the American Rescue Plan for at least three points of the current 8.6 percent. Mark Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, CRFB, described the American Rescue Plan as ``pouring gasoline on the fire,'' in terms of an already stimulated economy.

In my discussion with CBO director, Phillip Swagel, during a House Budget

Committee hearing last month, he also agreed--head of CBO--that the American Rescue Plan Act pumped trillions of dollars into the economy that artificially fueled demand and ultimately drove today's inflation crisis.

So what happened?

We had far too much cash in the economy and far too much demand.

I will show you, Mr. Speaker, something that my Governor in Pennsylvania said. Governor Wolf tweeted that he wanted to send more money to people all across Pennsylvania after jobs were open and people were back to work because he said, ``States are swimming with cash.''

They have an unusual problem in Pennsylvania right now today. This is the week they are finishing the Pennsylvania budget, and they have more money than they know what to do with. Much of that came as a result of the American Rescue Plan, and it was excess money that wasn't needed in the economy.

So those funds would have been far better used paying down the deficit, paying down the debt, and not fueling inflation by artificially boosting demand. So it really is unfortunate because this hurts my constituents, and it hurts people all across the country that the White House did not heed the call of experts sooner and did not take steps to reduce the impact of inflation.

For a while the White House instead said that inflation would be transitory, and now just recently Secretary of the Treasury Yellen and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell backed off that argument and agreed that they were wrong, and that inflation was not transitory. We have a real problem dealing with inflation at this point.

Secretary Yellen said in a Ways and Means hearing just last week: ``I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation could take.''

One of the sad things about inflation is that it impacts different people differently. The White House has claimed that inflation and the economy's challenges that we are seeing today are high-class woes reserved for the rich. But instead, it is the people on the lower end of the economic scale who are making less money who are impacted more than any others by inflation.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model concluded that inflation disproportionately impacts lower-income Americans who have to pay an even higher percentage of their income on necessities like food and transportation, the price increases for which outpace the general inflation rate.

As I mentioned earlier, the White House tries to blame multiple sources: corporate greed, gas companies, Russia, and whatever else may be as a source of inflation. But I think that only serves to deflect blame, obscure the truth, and prevent us from coming to an agreement where we can then begin to solve this.

I think the President became more interested in inflation after seeing his plummeting approval rate. He is now talking about inflation being a top priority of the administration. In fact, just recently he wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal titled: ``My Plan for Fighting Inflation.''

I will talk just briefly about that. He begins the op-ed by arguing that our economy is actually in great shape, which strikes me as being about as out of touch as you can get. He apparently isn't talking to the constituents whom I talk to on a regular basis.

He lays out three points for combating inflation.

One, well, it is the Fed's job; two, his energy policies and build back better agenda will fix it; and three, a supposed newfound commitment to fiscal discipline.

In the op-ed he said that he welcomes debate on his plan. And maybe tonight that is what we are doing. We are debating what really are the ways that we can combat inflation and whether his plan really will work.

So let's talk about the Fed because the President's first point was arguing that it is the Fed's responsibility to control inflation. And the President, again, has spent 1\1/2\ years pushing policies that fuel inflation and then points to the Fed to fix the problem.

Now, I do agree that the Fed has a role in controlling inflation, and essentially the tool they have will be to raise interest rates to try to slow down the economy. But we all know that raising rates will be required, which they are doing now. Tomorrow they are talking about a 0.75 percent increase in the Federal rate, which is a significant increase, and they are talking about doing that multiple times. So it has significant consequences on our economy both in the short and long term.

What do I mean by that?

It makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow money. It makes it more expensive for individuals to borrow money. We are seeing home mortgage rates go up significantly already that will continue to do that, and hundreds of thousands fewer people today are able to afford to buy a home when they could have done so when they were lower. So there will be a decrease for demand of goods and services which, again, is an attempt to tamp down the economy to decrease demand and decrease spending.

The other entity that is affected by rising interest rates is the Federal Government. We are $30 trillion in debt. This chart shows what will happen as interest rates are being raised. By just raising one- half of a percent--you see the first line--will increase interest costs over the next 10 years by $1.3 trillion. Going up 2 percent will increase interest costs by $5.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

Now, let's put that in perspective. That would be, under the President's plan, 1.5 times our current Medicare spending, 1.4 times our current defense spending, and 11 times our current veterans' healthcare spending. So every single dollar that we have to pay in additional interest costs will be taking dollars from programs that help people across the country and will be taking dollars out of our economy.

Increasing national debt is also a threat to our national security. Mr. Speaker, I also wrote an op-ed in May that was published in The Washington Times.

I include in the Record the article.

[From the Washington Times, May 17, 2022]

When the Balloon Pops: Inflating Our Debt and Undermining Our Security

(By Rep. Lloyd Smucker)

The article lays out how increased inflation ultimately undermines our national security.

China, perhaps our greatest adversary of the next decade, now owns $1.1 trillion of the national debt. That is the second highest total among foreign sovereign governments, and increased dependence on China is a clear threat to our national security.

If the current trends continue, China's portion of our national debt will increase to $1.7 trillion over the next decade. Interest payments as they rise will mean more income for China and will directly fuel China's growth making them a stronger economic and military adversary.

Twelve years ago, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen famously warned: ``The most significant threat to our national security is our debt.'' That was 12 years ago. The most significant threat to our national security is our national debt.

At that time, by the way, the Nation's Federal debt was roughly $13.5 trillion. Now it is at $30 trillion and growing.

What could be even worse is if our lenders lose faith in the ability of the United States to pay back and make good on those loans. If they essentially lose faith in the credit of the United States, that would be what we call a sovereign debt crisis which would have a major economic impact in the United States affecting every single American.

By the way, that is not merely a hypothetical. We have seen major nations face sovereign debt crises. In 2009 Greece's budget deficits totaled 12.7 percent of its GDP. By 2012, Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio was 160 percent. Under CRFB's analysis our debt held by the public will reach 126 percent of GDP by 2032 with the anticipated increased interest rates. If we don't change this trajectory, this will put us well on the way to a fiscal calamity like Greece has experienced not long ago, just a few years ago.

So it is long past time for the U.S. to get our fiscal house in order and abandon the reckless budgetary policies that sank the Greek economy at that time.

Let's talk just briefly about energy, Mr. Speaker, another big factor in the rising prices that we are seeing. This chart sort of blows me away. Average prices of gas in my hometown right now exceed $5 a gallon. Think about that, Mr. Speaker. Just a year and a half ago, 2 years ago, no one would have imagined that we would be spending $5 per gallon. You see the same kind of increases in home fuel, Mr. Speaker, heating costs, and so on. And the President blames oil and gas markets for that high inflation rate, and he focuses on the role of Russia in driving those.

But do you know what is amazing, Mr. Speaker?

Under President Trump when President Biden took office, our Nation was energy independent and becoming a net exporter of oil in 2019. Some of the very first actions that President Biden took were to halt drilling on Federal lands and to stop the Keystone pipeline. Even as prices went up, the administration doubled down on limiting the supply of our drilling. No new permits were approved. So it is a classic economic formula. They dramatically increased demand and reduced supply which led to the prices that we are seeing now.

The President just put out his new budget. He says that now--really the first time I think since he has been in office--it is important to reduce deficits. I welcome that. I think it is important that we reduce deficits. We have to reduce the debt long term. He claims credit for reducing the Federal deficit by $1.7 trillion this year due to the expiration of spending in the American Rescue Plan which, by the way, is all deficit spending. He says that this reduction demonstrates a newfound commitment to fiscal discipline.

Now, let's just look at that for a little bit.

If I eat 10,000 calories today--which is way more than I need--and tomorrow I eat 5,000, well, that won't make me a model. It doesn't mean that I am on any kind of a diet.

Look at this plan. This is the President's budget straight from his budget documents. I get it. There was an anomaly during COVID. It was a challenge for all of us, and the deficit went way up during COVID. But look at the deficit before COVID which is the second bar on the left side.

And then coming out of COVID what happens?

Do you see--if you take out the two COVID years which was an exception, an anomaly, do you see deficits declining at all?

No. In fact, they are going up every single year.

That is not fiscal responsibility. In fact, I call it swamp math, to say that we are reducing deficits when this is exactly what it looks like in their budget plan. It is swamp math.

Mr. Speaker, if you set one foot outside the beltway, I can tell you that every single American who looks at this does not believe that we are reducing deficits in any way.

I don't mean that as a knock on the administration. Well, I guess I do mean it as a knock on the administration.

But what I really mean to say is that we have to get serious about implementing policies that will drive growth and that will result in lower deficits over time, or we will be going down that path of fiscal calamity.

Besides this, the other thing that the President is calling for, still calling for, is what he calls the Build Back Better plan. This is outlined in his budget.

Now, I call it build back bankrupt because it continues to put us on a path of a potential sovereign debt crisis. It certainly continues to build debt for our kids, our grandkids, and future generations.

The build back bankrupt plan imposes new taxes, 36 new taxes, on Americans and dramatically increases spending beyond what you see here. This is what they want to do, while they are claiming to do this, which they are saying is reducing deficits. It makes no sense whatsoever.

One of the other things I want to mention--I am running out of time here.

It has just been recently that we have had this economy working on all cylinders, and we could be doing that again. This economy could be in a far different position if we implemented policies similar to what were done under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act under the previous administration.

Just before COVID hit, we were seeing the impact. Almost every measure you could possibly take showed that the economy was working for the American people. By the way, middle-income American, the average household income increased by $6,000 per year. That is a real impact. People were feeling it, compared to a $3,500 drop in real wages during this administration.

The TCJA boosted workers' paychecks. Income and wealth inequality fell. Real wages for the bottom 10 percent, by the way, grew nearly twice as fast as the top 10 percent. Real wealth of the bottom 50 percent of households rose three times faster than that of the top 1 percent.

Despite the challenges that we face now, I think hope is not lost. I am optimistic that if we implement the right policies, America can once again work for the American people. We need to be committed to that. We need to have a discussion about what policies will work.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate National Small Business Week, which is being held this year from May first to the seventh. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and provide so many Americans with the means to live their own American Dream.

In my district, Pennsylvania's Eleventh, over half of all workers are employed by small businesses. At the age of seventeen, I became a small business owner and built the company over twenty-five years to employ hundreds in family-sustaining jobs.

I know firsthand how important it is to support a pro-small business environment, allowing them to thrive. I support policies that create opportunities for our country's small business owners to take risks with the knowledge that their success means success for the entire community.

America's free enterprise system and entrepreneurial spirit have allowed so many to start their own small business and live their American Dream.

As we recognize National Small Business Week, we congratulate and show gratitude to all those entrepreneurs across our district and country. In addition, we thank the employees of the Small Business Administration who have helped business owners in Pennsylvania's Eleventh District access vital aid throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been a reliable resource to my staff, and we are thankful for their work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate APR Supply Company on the occasion of their company's 100th year in business, which is a milestone that not many companies achieve.

APR Supply Company is a third-generation-owned-and-operated full- service distributor of plumbing, HVAC, and hydronic supplies, supporting countless companies through their 38 locations in my district and in other areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

In America, the entrepreneurial spirit has led many to pursue founding a business. Over the years some may succeed, some may fail, but to celebrate 100 years is a milestone that few achieve, as I mentioned. This achievement signals that an organization is relentlessly pursuing their values and supporting their customers.

I recently enjoyed visiting one of their facilities with third- generation president and CEO Scott Weaver to learn about their innovative inventory management system and their operations.

Again, congratulations to the team at APR Supply and to Scott on celebrating 100 years in business. Best wishes on their continued success.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Chapter 1032 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, based in York, Pennsylvania. We are forever indebted to the veteran members of Chapter 1032 and the millions of other Vietnam Veterans who selflessly served our nation in the armed forces. We must also remember, honor, and give thanks for the service of those servicemembers who never returned home and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Recognizing the sacrifices of all those who served is critically important.

I would like to extend thanks to a resident of Pennsylvania's Eleventh District and Vietnam Veteran, Harold Redding, a member of Chapter 1032 whose citizen advocacy prompted Congress to pass legislation that made possible the creation of the National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which will be observed on March 29. Thanks to Harold's efforts and those who supported him, our nation has a dedicated day where we can come together to recognize the sacrifices that these brave men and women made so that we may live free.

On this day and every day, we can honor our Vietnam Veterans through providing them with the care, recognition, and gratitude that they deserve. I extend to Harold and all the veterans of Chapter 1032 my most sincere thanks and gratitude, and I stand ready to support them in any way that I can as a Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start my comments by saying that I really do believe that there is no daylight between our parties on our commitment to cripple Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine. We stand with the people of Ukraine, Democrats and Republicans alike.

I want to thank Chairman Neal and Ranking Member Brady for putting together a strong bill to stop financing Putin's aggression. This was a bill that was bipartisan and bicameral that would have stopped providing financial support to Russia and put an end to importing Russian oil. Unfortunately, that bill that they worked so hard on is not the bill that we are debating here tonight.

Now, I plan to vote in support of this bill because I believe it is important that we stand with Ukraine. But I want to make it clear to the White House and to Democratic leadership: You know that we could have done better, yet for some reason, the White House intervened, and I don't understand.

I would like someone to answer the question: Why are we running a product that replaced another product that would have put an end to favored-trade status for Russia and Belarus? Why are we voting on a product that will not be taken up by the Senate?

We had a better deal.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Michael Vogel, who recently retired after coaching volleyball for thirty-one years at Hempfield High School in Landisville, Pennsylvania. Mike's time as coach was nothing short of incredible, with a list of records and championship wins to prove it. Just to name a few, he led Hempfield's girls' volleyball team to win five District 3 Class 3A titles and two state championships while also leading the boys' volleyball team to take seven PIAA-3A state titles and fifteen District 3 Class 3A crowns. As coach of Hempfield's boys' volleyball team for twenty-four years, the team had a record of 1,106-94, an astounding feat. These accomplishments demonstrate the immense dedication that Mike showed to Hempfield High School and the many players he coached over the years. He taught them the value of sportsmanship and hard work, lessons that will last a lifetime. And for that, everyone across our community should be thankful for Mike.

I wish Mike a restful and well-deserved retirement and hope that the next volleyball coach at Hempfield High School will be able to meet the high bar that Mike set.