When President Biden ran for office, he promised to work in a bipartisan manner for the betterment of all Americans. In an attempt to build goodwill, several colleagues and I sent President Biden a letter on his first day in office letting him know we would like a seat at the table on specific issues such as infrastructure and COVID relief, but our requests have been entirely ignored. Last week marked President Biden’s first 100 days in office – during that time, he has failed to meet with Republican leadership and has chosen to govern in a partisan manner with his pen and paper.
President Biden’s failure to enforce our immigration laws has caused an unprecedented crisis at the border, but he refused to admit to his wrongdoing. Vice President Harris was appointed “border czar” weeks ago but has not made a single trip to the border and has not offered a single plan to address the crisis. It’s time to get serious about this crisis: let’s finish the wall, reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, implement Title 42 (which President Trump used to control the flow of migrants), require a negative COVID test before the release of all migrants, and send a clear message that absolutely nobody should come to the U.S. illegally.
President Biden has also failed to lead on a reasonable infrastructure plan. Whether it’s improved roads and bridges or increased access to rural broadband, virtually all Americans would agree our nation’s infrastructure needs improvement and expansion. Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed infrastructure plan would result in more than $2 trillion being borrowed from you and your children and would have almost nothing to do with infrastructure. The facts are clear – less than 6% of this “infrastructure” plan would go toward what you and I consider infrastructure. Most of this money would go toward radical Green New Deal provisions and unsustainable projects. Even worse, this plan would put more money into electric vehicle charging stations than roads and bridges. This is simply unacceptable.
The Biden administration has also gone on a crusade against our 2nd Amendment rights. President Biden, who was a leader behind the 1993 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, has made it clear he intends to take his anti-gun crusade even further. He is determined to strip law-abiding Americans of their 2nd Amendment rights, while doing nothing to address the real causes of gun violence. The 2nd Amendment is crystal clear, though: the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. I have already been working with my colleagues to make sure these gun-grabbing proposals are dead on arrival, and I will never stop fighting to protect our rights.
Whether it’s failing to address the border crisis, borrowing trillions of dollars from you to pay for his radical agenda, attempting to erode our 2nd Amendment rights, or killing thousands of jobs with harmful executive orders, President Biden has been a disappointing failure during his first days in office. Despite this, I remain committed to fighting for you and making sure your voice is heard in Washington. I will continue doing my part to hold this administration accountable and ensure our rights and our freedoms are never trampled.
Jerry Carl represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. He lives in Mobile with his wife Tina.
