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Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, 22 years ago, Apple released the first desktop version of its macOS operating system. The first Harry Potter movie and the first Lord of the Rings movie both came out. Alicia Keys and Destiny's Child were topping the charts, and Bill Clinton left office.

Twenty-two years ago was also the last time that mortgage rates were as high as they are now. Yes, they are higher now than they were during the 2008 financial crisis. Mortgage rates were the lowest in American history in January of 2021. Then Joe Biden became President. Over the past 2\1/2\ years, mortgage rates have almost tripled. In the meantime, inflation rates are still climbing higher.

This past month, as I traveled Nebraska during the Senate's State work period, I visited with dozens and dozens of middle-class Americans. It is truly the best part of my job--meeting with small business owners, ag producers, schoolteachers, nurses, students, and employees all across my home State, but this year it was so frustrating to hear about the economic struggles that Nebraskans are facing.

Middle-class Nebraskans are scraping by financially, and what is ironic is that they are doing it on the watch of a President who calls himself ``Middle-Class Joe.'' President Biden's line recently has been, ``When the middle class does well, everyone does well.''

You know, I agree with him. I would just add that, right now, everyone is not doing well. That is especially true for the middle class, and it is because this administration's ill-advised policies keep pumping air into an economy that is already bloated. The so-called Bidenomics agenda is poison, described as a ``cure-all'' for middle- class Americans. That is not an exaggeration. Last month, I saw Bidenomics up close in Nebraska so let me tell you how it is going.

One Saturday this August, I visited a small town in Western Nebraska. That afternoon, a small business owner told me that his electricity bills had shot up over the past couple of years both for his home and for his business. Electricity, groceries, gas--you name it--these essentials are tough to afford, if not impossible to afford, for the average middle-class American. That is Bidenomics in Nebraska.

Business owners and families alike shared that they can hardly pay increasingly high rents and mortgage rates. In fact, all year, an increasing number of middle-class Nebraskans has resorted to asking the Salvation Army for money so that they can pay their utilities. That is Bidenomics in Nebraska.

As I traveled the State, the issue of childcare affordability came up over and over and over again. Childcare costs have skyrocketed, and dads and moms are at a loss as to how to afford these rising rates. That is Bidenomics in Nebraska.

The Bidenomics agenda has made many promises, but I haven't seen the administration keep a single one. Remember the President's American Families Plan? Almost 2\1/2\ years ago, the President promised that low- and middle-income families would spend no more than 7 percent of their income on childcare.

In leading up to the fourth year of Biden's Presidency, here is what family life looks like: Nebraska's families are already struggling due to inflation. They have seen price increases on bills, groceries, and almost everything else. In many cases, both parents need to work so they can make enough so that they can pay off debt or afford those high mortgage rates. When childcare costs are through the roof, it is impossible for both parents to work. According to the Economic Policy Institute, childcare costs rose 24.4 percent more per year than the average rent and 53.5 percent more than instate college tuition--53.5 percent per year. That is Bidenomics in Nebraska.

From the American Families Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, this administration's efforts to grow our economy from the middle class out have totally failed.

My message to the President is this: When the middle class does badly, everyone does badly.

We need to undo the harmful, excessive regulations that are making middle-class Americans suffer. We need to put the priority on reducing costs for everyday Americans. We need to unleash American energy to lower our gas prices. We need to support an economic plan that will lower inflation, and we need to pull the plug on wasteful policies that don't help anyone.

So stop with the slogans, Mr. President, and spend more time listening to real Americans' concerns.

Bidenomics is not working in Nebraska, and let's be honest, it is not working in the other 49 States either. This administration needs to hear this. It is 2\1/2\ years past time to make a change.

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