Washington, D.C. – At today's House Ways and Means Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) pressed on President Biden's economic agenda, the impact of inflation on working families in Illinois, and the harm of proposed tax hikes by the Biden Administration on costs for consumers.
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Rep. LaHood's full remarks are below.
Secretary Yellen, welcome. Frankly, Secretary Yellen, I wish you would be here more with everything going on in the economy, as I think this is the second time you've come here in 18 months.
Madam Secretary, like so many of my colleagues, have talked about, I just spent the last two weeks in my district in central and west-central Illinois. The two biggest issues are gas and groceries. That is what everyone talks about, and it transcends everything. Inflation is a tax on Americans, and those making the least are the ones most affected.
Two weeks ago, I attended an event put on by Americans for Prosperity at Beachler’s Gas Station in Peoria, IL where AFP paid the difference between the cost of gasoline today and $2.30, the price per gallon the day President Biden took office. It's now over $5.00 in Peoria. We had people lined up for hours. Literally five-mile-long lines. I talked to a lot of those folks who are single moms, working families, and low-income folks filling up gas. There was immense anxiety and fear about the state of our economy.
As I listen to you here today and look at what has not been done by this Administration it's very perplexing whether the Administration is tone-deaf or just becoming aware of these issues. I look at what President Obama's Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said, alerting the Administration in February of 2021 about the fear of inflation, and nothing was done.
I want to pivot and talk about the budget of the Treasury Department, which is why we are here. As I look at Biden Administration’s FY2023 budget proposal, the budget proposal includes $4 trillion in tax hikes on U.S. companies, including targeted tax hikes on U.S. energy.
My question is, will hitting these U.S. businesses with $4 trillion in tax hikes help lower the costs of goods for consumers?
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