Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for the great work that he does for small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, when I speak to small businesses throughout my district, they tell me that they are fraught by skyrocketing inflation, rising energy costs, workforce shortages, burdensome regulations, just regular hassles coming from the type of regulations that have been imposed and the type of tax burdens and such.

The Biden administration continues, however, to push a policy agenda that is absolutely detrimental to small business--there is no question about it--creating additional headwinds such as inflation. Let's talk about inflation.

The excessive and unnecessary spending enacted by Democrats in the last 14 months, exceeding $2 trillion, well over $2 trillion just in the rescue plan, almost $9 trillion over the course of the last couple of years, has obviously contributed to the record levels of inflation; up nearly 8 percent since last year, just last year alone, the highest level since 1981.

We look back on that as the most historic inflation ever. Well, it is happening now, and yet, we are talking about exacerbating it with higher levels of spending.

Let's talk about energy prices. The Biden administration's blatant and deliberate detrimental policies on domestic energy production has caused prices at the pump to nearly double since last year, making it clearly more difficult for small businesses to get their goods to market; making it more difficult for customers to get to the small businesses.

We must support our domestic energy production and make energy affordable again. It is almost that simple.

Let's talk about the workforce shortages. Disincentives to work, extended by the American Rescue Plan, have made it very difficult for small businesses to recruit and retain workers. We should all know that. Go visit any small business and they will tell you just that.

Sure, it is starting to come back, as it would once those incentives not to work were minimized or eliminated. That is what we need to do, create incentives to work, not discourage work.

Let's talk about tax increases. The persistent threat of increased taxes from Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration send shivers down the spine of small businesses, creates enormous uncertainty, while it makes it difficult for them to plan and invest in their businesses.

Let's talk about regulations. Since taking office 14 months ago, the Biden administration has instituted hundreds of new regulations costing over $200 billion in real terms, and burdening businesses with what has been estimated as 130 million hours of additional paperwork.

Instead of saddling our small businesses with burdensome and costly regulations, we should be trying to actually create an environment that breeds growth and success and allows owners to invest in their business and employees.

The solution to the difficulties that America's small businesses are facing is not to pump $55 billion of new, unpaid spending into the economy. This will exacerbate much of what I just went through.

Mr. Speaker, there is no reason just to criticize legislation without a solution. We have a solution, the ENTREE Act, introduced by Ranking Member Luetkemeyer, is fully paid for and delivers $60 billion in aid to America's restaurants who were excluded by the previous Democrats' unconstitutional and discriminatory RRF rollout which was proven illegal.

Unlike the bill we are considering today, the ENTREE Act would replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund by repurposing unused American Rescue Plan dollars and would not further contribute to the hyperinflation that all American small businesses--and our deficit-- that all businesses are burdened by today and, again, the highest since nearly 50 years.

So, the real solution is a smart, responsible approach that provides targeted relief without exacerbating the many crises small business owners are facing today.

Every idea, Mr. Speaker, in this Congress cannot be solved by spending billions of dollars more of taxpayer money, as stated earlier, over $10 trillion in excess over the last 2 years. It has got to stop somewhere, sometime.

We need to stop this out-of-control spending, reduce inflation, stop the assault on domestic energy production, lower energy costs, and create a business environment that is friendly to growth, not friendly to a tax, spend, and over-regulatory Big Government.

The solution, again, is not difficult. But it must be definitely not adding another $55 billion of spending. American job creators need to be the most competitive in the world. We need to do what we can do to create an environment for that.

The policies of the Biden administration and far too many Democrats in this House have made life more difficult for small businesses. This must change.

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