WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), former chairman and current senior member of the Senate Finance
Committee, pressed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the administration’s
response to inflation, which has reached a four-decade high under President
Biden.
Yellen’s testimony today comes after she
recently
admitted that she was “wrong” to refer to inflation as transitory – a claim
that was often repeated last year by the Biden administration but drew frequent
criticism from Grassley. Additionally, Yellen recently
doubled down on her support for Biden’s reckless $2 trillion spending spree that
was signed into law early last year.
“Iowans are paying the price for
President Biden’s reckless policies, which have caused inflation to reach a
40-year high. It’s why concerns about soaring gas and grocery prices come up at
every single one of my 99 county meetings,” Grassley said. “I’m glad Secretary Yellen indicated she opposes
price controls and windfall profit taxes that far-left members of her party
have advocated for. Such policies failed to address inflation in the 1970s and
led to rampant shortages. However, I’m disappointed that the Biden
administration continues to ignore the role excessive government spending
played in fueling inflation. ”
Watch Grassley question Yellen by
clicking here or below:
Exactly one year ago today, Grassley
delivered a
speech
on the Senate floor criticizing over-spending for fueling inflation. “Once
inflation starts to run away, it’s difficult to stamp out,”
Grassley warned. “The Fed would have no
choice but to aggressively hike interest rates, which could then trigger a
recession.”
Today, Yellen told Grassley that “the Fed
has to play a critical role” in fighting inflation, referring to the Federal
Reserve’s plan to continue aggressively
raising
interest rates – a move that has sparked recession concerns.
To help bring down soaring gas prices,
Grassley is spearheading an effort to pass the bipartisan
No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Act, which would empower the Department of Justice
to sue oil-producing cartel members for antitrust violations. Grassley has also
been outspoken about the need to
restore U.S. energy independence, including by
increasing the use of ethanol and biodiesel, restarting construction of the
Keystone Pipeline and undoing Biden’s executive order that paused new oil and
gas leases.
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