https://stauber.house.gov/media/press-releases/stauber-statement-biden-s-state-union

Statement

Congressman Pete Stauber issued the following statement following President Biden's State of the Union address.

"The state of our union is one of crises: an energy crisis, an inflation crisis, a border crisis, a drug overdose crisis, and a crime crisis, to name a few.

"President Biden claims to want to build a better and stronger America. If he were serious, he would unleash our great American workforce to develop our abundant natural resources and restore American energy independence. Instead, he has attacked our miners and slowed our domestic energy output, making us more reliant on foreign sources such as Russia and China. Restoring American energy independence would lower burdensome energy prices for everyday Americans.

"As the top Republican on the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, I know that President Biden has done everything in his power to impair our domestic mining industry, not support it. In January, his Administration cancelled mining leases in northern Minnesota, setting our domestic mineral supply chains back and killing good paying union jobs. If Biden is serious about domestic production of energy and electric vehicle batteries, he should stop caving to the anti-mining activists and let us mine our minerals in Minnesota.

"Inflation is at a 40-year high and is getting worse. Instead of trying to implement a big-government socialist agenda, President Biden should find common sense solutions to providing relief from these high prices for Americans. The spending that President Biden called for during his address will only make this issue worse for Americans.

"Our porous southern border is fueling the devastating drug overdose epidemic. Cartels are exploiting our southern border to flood the U.S. with illicit drugs while for the first time ever last year overdose deaths topped 100,000 in a year. This is heartbreaking and securing the border would help end this crisis. It's time to finish building the border wall.

"There's a crime crisis in American cities, including Minneapolis, fueled by some on the left who support defunding the police and who vilify our law enforcement officers through their radical rhetoric. President Biden and the Democrats are starting to change their rhetoric, but unlike them, we Republicans don't need election year polling data to support the police and ensure the safety of our communities.

"It's time for President Biden to restore American energy independence, follow through on creating domestic mineral supply chains, sideline his big government proposals, and secure our southern border. This would be the way to move our country forward and improve the day to day lives of Americans."

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