One Year…It’s Been a Bumpy Ride
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
January 21, 2022
This week marked one year since President Biden took office. I wish I could say happy anniversary, but it isn’t that happy. Let’s be honest, it’s been a bumpy ride.
I’m not somebody who just complains. I also focus on solutions, so I’m going to identify four areas where I think this administration has failed and how we can do a better job as a country.
For one, during his first few days in office, President Biden reinstated catch and release policies and ended the Remain in Mexico policy put in place by President Trump. I support this policy because it significantly decreased illegal border crossings and essentially ended the crisis at the border. In 2021 alone, there were over 1.7 million illegal border crossings. While a federal court recently blocked the administration’s action on this policy, I am hoping we will see illegal crossings come down as soon as possible.
Secondly, inflation is higher than it has been at any point in the last 40 years – that’s a long time. Because we have a federal government that continues to spend. I’ll continue to vote against trillion-dollar package after trillion-dollar package. We’re thirty trillion dollars in debt. President Biden should focus on needs as a country rather than on wants.
Rising prices due to inflation have only increased more due to shortages from the supply chain delays. I’m sure many of you have run into issues trying to buy lumber, your favorite items from the grocery store, or furniture for your home. While supply chain disruptions have mostly been caused by COVID-19, the President’s administration has not enough steps to reduce the backlogs at American ports.
Foreign flagged ocean carriers have been discriminating against American manufacturing and agriculture products. When I saw how this was affecting businesses in South Dakota, I teamed up with U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) to introduce the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA). OSRA holds these folks accountable and prevents discrimination against American exports. Our bill passed the House in December 2021 and I’m hopeful it will pass the Senate.
Due to the shortage of truck drivers, I’ve also requested the administration re-up stalled pilot programs put in place by previous administration to expand the number of eligible truck drivers who can drive across state lines.
Speaking of worker shortages, there are currently 10 million job openings in America. The workforce participation rate is the percentage of adult Americans that are working – it’s gone down and has not returned to what it was prior to the earliest days of COVID-19 – in fact, it’s as low as it has been in any point since women entered the workforce in large numbers. We are still paying people a lot of money not to work. We need a social safety net in this country – I believe in it, but it needs to be one that encourages work. We have a help wanted sign around every corner in every country. Let’s get Americans back to work.
There are a lot of strong solutions out there to fix the problems our nation is facing – I’ll continue to stay focused on those solutions.