Congressman LaMalfa Comments on Biden’s State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) released the following statement in response to President Biden's State of the Union Address:

"Our nation faces real challenges: our adversaries are emboldened, illegal immigration is at record levels, inflation is at a 40-year high, our national debt has reached a historic $30 trillion, crime is skyrocketing, educational performances are down, and gas prices are through the roof.

Tonight, on the floor of our US House of Representatives the President and I talked about something more personal to the citizens of Northern California. The critical need to address California's water crisis. Cities, farmers and the environment are facing severe cut backs that will devastate the economy, our one of a kind agriculture, and damage our ecology. He committed to follow up on these concerns.

The speech failed to address a looming problem, regaining our nation's energy independence in an effort to limit inflation and provide global stability. By increasing domestic energy production we can lower prices for American citizens, support our European allies, and undercut Russia's main economic source; all while creating more good-paying American jobs. If we were serious about energy policy, we would be building abundant, carbon-free nuclear power, building more hydro-electric dams, and expanding domestic production of oil, including pipelines, to ensure America isn't reliant on our adversaries for energy. The same for our food source, agriculture.

America is an amazing country with unrivaled ingenuity and spirit. We need government to get out of the way of that spirt to prosper. For the last year there hasn't been a sector of the economy that this administration hasn't tried to micromanage to disastrous results. Now is the time to end all COVID mandates, return freedom to citizens, and end this attempt to push "woke" ideologies on everyone. Our current problems are government-made, and more government isn't going to be the answer.

There is an America that works, and an America that regulates. Farmers know how to grow food, our foresters know how to manage our forests to prevent wildfire while making needed lumber products, our contractors know how to make roads that work well, but bureaucracy is standing in the way of doing anything. The one thing that has changed so much in the last year is that government feels empowered to run everyone's lives and businesses. What I heard today is a continuation of the past year's ideology of ‘Washington knows best'. I can tell you, it doesn't."

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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