October 20, 2021 by Caitlin McFall
FIRST ON FOX:Top GOP House leaders and 160 lawmakers called on President Biden Wednesday to fix the U.S. “supply chain crisis” or face a doomed holiday season.
In a letter to the president first obtained by Fox News, the Republicans asked that Biden reverse his policies relating to the coronavirus they believe have disrupted U.S. infrastructure abilities and supply chains.
“We request that you stop the litany of harmful regulatory actions that are driving up energy costs and to stop attacking the American businesses with vaccine mandates, taxation and government handouts that are disincentivizing work,” Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., who led the letter to Biden, said.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., signed onto the letter along with 157 other Republican congressmen, over two-thirds of all House Republicans.
House Republicans pointed to not only worker shortages plaguing the U.S., but Biden’s multitrillion-dollar two-bill infrastructure package.
The bundle includes funding for infrastructure and clean energy, along with a social spending package dubbed “social infrastructure” – which will include funding for items like free childcare, a move the administration argues will get women back in the workforce.
But Republicans argued in their Wednesday letter that the administration’s “radical” policies are “exacerbating” the underlying supply chain crisis, making it more difficult for businesses to recover from the pandemic.
Biden called on the private sector last week to “step up” and work with his administration to fix the existing supply chain backlog prohibiting businesses from delivering goods and receiving raw materials.
Companies like Walmart and UPS have extended hours of operation to help address the supply crisis and ports in Los Angeles will operate on a 24/7 basis to clear a cargo backlog.
“Despite calls from the private sector for help addressing growing supply chain issues, like expanding capacity, your administration has only further fueled the crisis by increasing energy costs, triggering significant inflation through reckless unchecked spending, and attacking American businesses,” the letter states.
The GOP-led letter comes as reports surfaced this week that suggested the president has agreed to slash the initial $3.5 trillion price tag to somewhere between $1.75 trillion and $1.9 trillion.
“Multiple factors have contributed to the Nation’s supply chain crisis, but one factor that is being overlooked is how the collection of harmful policies being pushed by the president and his party is making matters worse,” Graves told Fox News.
“The president is telling the private sector to ‘step up’ and fix these issues, but the president needs to lead by example, step up himself, and reevaluate his agenda that is making this supply chain crisis worse.”
Democratic leadership is expected to make a deal and pass the legislation in the House by Oct. 31.
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