Sen. Cramer Delivers “12 Biden Blunders of Christmas” in Floor Speech

Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the 12 Biden Blunders of Christmas, highlighting twelve of the Biden Administration’s blunders in 2021.

“As we approach the Christmas break and advent of the New Year, I believe it’s instructive to take an inventory of the year that was. So in honor of the holiday season, let’s take stock of the first year of the reign of Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi. In fact, in the spirit of the season, I’m going to call this recitation the “12 Biden Blunders of Christmas,” began Senator Cramer.

In his remarks, Senator Cramer outlined 12 blunders by the Biden Administration in 2021, including:

Repeated claims of a “free” nearly $5 trillion big government socialist agenda.
Joe Biden hiding from the press and not taking questions.
The Biden Administration’s plan to give $450,000 settlements for illegal immigrants.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s saying the U.S doesn’t have the moral authority to call out China on energy production and emissions (and other gaffes).
The crisis at the southern border and a taxpayer built border wall around Biden’s Delaware beach mansion.
The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Consistent confusion and alarm in regards to Biden’s comments about Taiwan.

“I’m not sure I can sum this up as succinctly as two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear tree. But I can conclude that Joe Biden and his left-wing extremist allies deserve a lump of carbon intense coal in their White House stockings this Christmas,” said Senator Cramer.

The speech as delivered can be viewed here and below.

“Mr. President,

“The first blunder Joe Biden gave to us is a ‘free’ big government socialist agenda, otherwise known as the Democrats’ Build Back Better plan. Designed to pass with no support from – or, frankly, input from any of these pesky Republicans. Time and time again, Joe Biden and his democratic toymakers have parroted the claim that their big government socialist agenda costs zero. Can you imagine a piece of legislation designed to give away trillions of dollars but doesn’t cost anything? But perhaps they have some elf dust that makes it possible. Obviously this isn’t true. Analysis by a nongovernment, nonpartisan groups, including Penn Warton and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget did analysis and concluded that the cost was much, much higher, like just under $5 trillion. A recent thorough analysis based on the history and the traditions of Congress and spending by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office agrees. The Washington Post fact-checker even gave Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ‘two Pinocchio’s’ when she repeated the same bogus claim that this bill would cost nothing.

“The second blunder Joe Biden gave to us is hiding from media reporters and not taking questions. It’s kind of unbelievable to me. It’s hard to imagine that the leader of the freest country in the world, in fact the leader of the free world, is afraid to take questions from the Fourth Estate, or that his staff is afraid of what might come out of his mouth. Mr. President, freedom of the press is enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution on purpose. Yet on David Axelrod’s podcast, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki actually admitted out loud, “A lot of times we say don’t take questions.” The media in the United States is not supposed to be the mouthpiece of the government or its leaders. Transparency is essential, essential in our exceptional self-governed system. Now, I’m not the President of the United States, but reporters who work in the halls of this temple of liberty and, of course, reporters back home in North Dakota know I am always willing to engage. I don’t hide from my votes or explanations for them. I’m not scripted to the point of resigning my own thoughts or opinions or even mistakes and decisions. No, North Dakotans elected me, not my staff. And Americans elected Joe Biden, not his staff, not some buffer of bureaucracy. He has the responsibility to be accessible and the media has the responsibility to demand it of him.

“But the slippery slope doesn’t end here. The third blunder Joe Biden gave to us is the White House deciding what is “misinformation.” In a news conference Jen Psaki said ‘We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical experts who are popular with their audience with accurate information. So we’re helping get trusted content out there.’ That’s frightening language coming from a spokesperson for the President. It sounds an awful lot like the United States government colluding with the media to decide what counts as fact. In fact, reading between the lines on this one it seems the White House is playing the ultimate arbiter of truth. And if this seems Orwellian, well, it is. It is. And while it’s easy to see why Ms. Psaki might conclude and frankly the other Democrats that they in fact control a state media, the fact is they don’t. Give the American people some credit here. They’re smarter than being spoon fed information from the West Wing through their elf and folk at Facebook.

“The fourth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is raging inflation from pumping trillions of ‘free’ dollars into the economy. We all saw the writing on the wall when Democrats and the Biden Administration pushed for $2 trillion in ‘COVID relief’ in March – just three months removed from the bipartisan $900 billion relief bill. This was a total partisan reckless $2 trillion that came at a time when there was obvious economic recovery coming out of the pandemic. And now Democrats want to spend nearly $5 trillion on their Build Back Broke plan. To put these massive numbers in perspective, the sum of these two bills, just these two bills, is more than the United States government spent fighting World War II. In 2019 dollars, the United States $4.69 trillion over the course of just under four years to fight and defeat Nazi Germany and the Axis Power. Liberal and left of center economists including Larry Summers and Jason Furman sounded warning early bells this year. But Democrats forged ahead sending inflation to levels not seen in nearly 40 years. They continue to insist that inflation is transitory but Americans know better. Americans are paying more and more for everything with each passing month. No, this is more than transitory inflation.

“The fifth blunder Joe Biden’s Cabinet gave to us is Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ assessment of the southern border crisis. Remember the hordes of illegal immigrants camping out under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas? Don’t worry, Secretary Mayorkas said as he low balled the numbers citing approximately, ‘I think, it’s about 10,000 or so, 12,000. It could be even higher.’ Actually, conservative estimates have the tally upwards of 15,000 people.

“When we’re talking about the crisis at the southern border, it’s important to note Joe Biden has made multiple claims that he’s visited the border. But guess what? He hasn’t. The Washington Post Fact Checker, “we cannot find evidence that Biden at one point made a visit to the southern border” in his many decades of public office. It’s as though he thinks if he says it, somehow that makes it true. The problem is lying doesn’t make the lie true. I’ve been to the border. Most recently about six weeks ago. And I can tell you it’s bad. And I can tell you it’s a crisis. Our Customs and Border Patrol agents are completely overwhelmed. I went on a ride along and an aerial tour of the Rio Grande Valley and visited the Donna processing facility where families and unaccompanied minors are processed. If there’s any takeaway from seeing this firsthand, it’s this: There’s no way to adequately understand the magnitude of the problem or the severity of the crisis unless you see it with your own two eyes. And so I implore the President who has held elected office nearly uninterrupted since 1973, please visit the southern border and acknowledge what is obvious to everyone else. This is a national crisis.

“The sixth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is a new kind of border wall. Not the wall we need to secure the crisis on the southern border which has seen record numbers – as nearly two million people have attempted to enter the country illegally under Biden’s watch. And by the way, this is just the number of illegal immigrants that have been apprehended by our CBP heroes. Now that’s more than twice the population of my home state. But according to Secretary Mayorkas, a border wall is – get this – it’s an “affront to humanitarian relief.” Obviously the ranchers and the innocent American citizens living and working near the border don’t qualify for this humanitarian relief. Yet his Agency secured and awarded a contract for nearly half a million taxpayer dollars to build and install a fence around Joe Biden’s home in Delaware. What kind of humanitarian relief does Joe Biden’s beach mansion need, Mr. President?

“The seventh blunder Joe Biden gave to us are $450,000 settlements for illegal immigrants, just for being illegal. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report this absurd plan. While North Dakota families and businesses are struggling with inflation and skyrocketing costs on everything because of Joe Biden’s spending policies, his Administration wants to hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants. In comparison to the $450,000 proposed payout for illegal border crossers, the United States pays only $100,000 to the families of soldiers killed in service to our country. People who are wrongly accused and incarcerated in prison are eligible for just $50,000. That’s right $100,000 if you die defending our freedom, but $450,000 if you violate our freedom. Now when confronted about this, President Biden said this was not going to happen. But he was quickly corrected by his own White House and the Justice Department. The negotiations are ongoing so we don’t know what any final number will be. I’ve helped sponsor legislation and amendments to prevent this policy from ever being implemented. The last thing we need is another incentive for people to come to our country illegally.

“The eighth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is private jet-setting, climate apologist John Kerry’s comments on coal. Kerry stated, “By 2040 in the United States we won’t have coal… We will not have coal plants.” While a State Department spokesperson walked back Kerry’s statement, “noting the Administration’s plan would still allow coal.” It’s absurd on its face. Cutting off coal would shut down American innovation, kill all the progress we made on carbon-capture technology, eliminate good-paying U.S. jobs, scrap grid reliability, increase the cost of energy and everything that’s produced that’s dependent on the energy – like we need more inflation – and cede energy comes to foreign adversaries who have a total lack of environmental concern and standards. Canceling coal is merely a transfer of emissions guilt to other countries with dirtier energy production than we have.

“The ninth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is moral authority and other gaffes from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Most notably, Secretary Granholm while in North Dakota no less said, “We don’t have much moral authority to call out China when it comes to energy production and emissions.” This is not just wrong, it’s embarrassing. It’s not just an intellectual mistake, it is an embarrassing gaffe. The stringent environmental and I might add labor standards of the United States are far superior to the lack of any of them in China. I rest my case on the facts of the situation here. 1) According to the BBC, China emits 27% of global emissions and it’s a rising percent because it’s a rising number. While the United States is around 10% and a declining percent. 2) According to the EPA, total U.S. energy-related carbon emissions fell by 12% from 2005 to 2018 while the United States became the number one energy producer in the world. In contrast, global energy-related carbon emissions increased nearly 24%. So the United States reduces 12%. The globe increases 24%. This is significant by any standard and certainly qualifies us to be able to say we have moral authority over China when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. In North Dakota, in fact, we’re performing groundbreaking research in highly innovative demonstration projects. We’re in the process of adding carbon capture technologies to facility like the Milton R. Young and Coal Creek power generating stations. Furthermore, the United States has invested more in clean energy research, development, and deployment than the next two countries combined. We’re a global leader in climate mitigation measures for new energy sources, carbon management, and efficiency. The radical and backward energy policy of this Administration ignores American exceptionalism and the real progress that we’ve made as a nation. The Chinese Communist Party, Russia, and other polluters have shown no real interest in doing so. Yet Secretary Granholm and Joe Biden provide cover for them along, of course, with John Kerry. Even green lighting their fossil fuel energy projects while they kill America’s [projects].

“The tenth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. There’s a lot to unpack here and nothing about this topic is meant to be glib or sarcastic. This withdrawal was nothing short of a tragic disaster and an international embarrassment. We will continue searching for answers and accountability from the Administration, but let’s focus on the failed commitments from Joe Biden. He said his Administration would get all Americans and our allies out of the country ahead of his arbitrary August 31st withdrawal deadline. He also said the U.S. will stay in Afghanistan until all American who want to leave can do so. This is obviously not what happened. After the botched withdrawal, the Administration listed numbers ranging from 85 people to 200 or maybe 400 Americans left in Afghanistan. The State Department, however, believes as many as 14,000 legal permanent residents remain in Afghanistan according to a Foreign Policy press report. Whatever the number, the President went on national television and told the world this withdrawal was “an extraordinary success.” Mr. President, can you imagine being one of the people left behind and seeing your President on TV calling what he did an extraordinary success, saying that we got out successfully? It’s abundantly clear there are significant numbers of U.S. citizens, residents and important Afghan allies still stranded in the country, if in fact they’re still alive at all.

“The eleventh blunder Joe Biden gave to us is welcoming stiff competition with China. In October, Jen Psaki was asked about the Chinese Communist Party’s hypersonic missile tests successfully circumventing the whole globe, which from reports indicate they’re capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. Her response, “Oh, we welcome stiff competition.” Really? Why would the White House welcome military competition from our peer adversary communist China? As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, it has been a priority to ensure the U.S. military maintains a secure and effective deterrent, a nuclear deterrent. In order to do so, we need to modernize our nuclear triad. America’s nuclear triad of missiles, submarines, and aircraft are 60-plus years old in many cases and they’re not the same, strong deterrent to our adversaries that they once were. It is clear and concerning the Chinese Communist Party is prioritizing a nuclear buildup and the White House seems comfortable with all of this.

“The twelfth blunder Joe Biden gave to us is the consistent confusion and alarm in regards to his own comments about Taiwan. In October, Joe Biden told reporters, “I’ve spoken with Xi [Jinping] about Taiwan. We agree, we will abide by the Taiwan agreement.” Of course, immediately, alarm bells rang out causing a lot of confusion and head scratching. You have to remember, we have a backdrop of Beijing ramping up military pressure and Joe Biden can’t properly articulate our foreign policy posture. The lack of understanding on something as critical as China is dumbfounding. Taiwan is a strategic ally and important trading partner to the United States, especially given the increased risk China poses not only to the region, but to the world. If this was an isolated the incident, it would be one thing, but this isn’t the only time his comments on Taiwan had to be clarified. In a CNN town hall, Anderson Cooper interrupted the President to ask if Biden “saying the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked?” Joe Biden promptly responded with, “Yes, we have a commitment.” The White House resorted once again to walking back these comments in what seems to be a recurring occurrence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One Washington Post article wrote, “Most analysts believe simply that Biden misspoke.” Misspeaking is a kind way to dismiss the obvious lack of clear understanding of a critical foreign policy issue by our Commander in Chief. If there were to be an attack, I’m not even sure the President would know what to do if he can’t accurately express what our policy is.

“Mr. President, I’m not sure I can sum this up as succinctly as two turtledoves and a partridge in a pear tree. But I can conclude that Joe Biden and his left-wing extremist allies deserve a lump of carbon intense coal in their White House stockings this Christmas.

“I yield back.”