Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
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BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Banking and Budget Committees, met with the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce EDC today, where he discussed inflation, interest rates, workforce challenges, and the disconnect between a far-Left environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) movement and reality.
“It was great to meet with and hear from leaders at the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce EDC. Now, more than ever, we need their local, commonsense solutions to deal with the very real impacts of Joe Biden’s inflationary spending and policies. Amidst this backdrop, we need not pander to woke, ESG-toting corporations, but deal with the reality at hand. North Dakota, not the swamp of Washington DC, will be the antidote, but we cannot let big government bureaucracy get in the way,” said Senator Cramer.
During President Biden’s tenure in office, inflation has soared to 40-year highs. When Biden took office, inflation was 1.4%. Since February, inflation has fluctuated between 7.9-8.5%. In response, the Federal Reserve has started to hike interest rates to combat Biden’s skyrocketing inflation.
At the meeting, participants thanked Senator Cramer for his leadership role in the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will work to confront inflation and supply chain problems facing North Dakota and American businesses.
Topics related to energy and environment included the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Haze program, which has been routinely weaponized under Democratic Administrations to shut down North Dakota energy producers, and the aspiration nature of ESG statements as opposed to the reality of today’s world.
Senator Cramer discussed his Fair Access to Banking Act, a bill backed by nearly one-third of the U.S. Senate and a wide array of stakeholders, to prevent financial service providers from discriminating against constitutionally-protected industries and law-abiding, creditworthy businesses.
Participants also described workforce challenges they are all experiencing from nursing staff to police officers. Senator Cramer outlined policies from the Biden Administration which incentivize people to stay out of the workforce and his support for a skills-based legal immigration system for health care workers.
The meeting concluded with a brief discussion on the large trade imbalance with China and the need to pursue trade deals with allies, which would advance labor standards, lower global greenhouse gas emissions, and diminish China’s economic stranglehold over the West.