In a Wednesday speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) blasted the Democratic Party’s ambitious spending agenda at a time when inflation has risen to a 40-year high.

Moore pointed to the recently-released Consumer Price Index (CPI) statistics, which showed that prices surged 7% in December.

“Today, the latest Consumer Price Index numbers were revealed, confirming what any American buying gas, groceries, or other necessities already know. Over the past year, the CPI increased an astonishing 7%,” noted Moore. “That’s the highest inflation rate in four decades.”

The South Alabama congressman took note that as inflation concerns grew, the Biden administration dismissed the price spike and insisted that it was only a short-term issue.

“The last time we saw inflation like this, the University of Georgia football program had already begun its historic 40-plus year championship drought that only ended this week. This catastrophe could have been avoided, could have been headed off,” Moore added. “But last July, despite economists insisting it was a fantasy, the Biden administration brushed off inflation concerns as just a transitory inconvenience.”

He continued, “Of course, Biden – or at least his string pullers – knew better, but he did not want the daunting economic realities facing American families to get in the way of his massive socialist tax-and-spend agenda. You don’t need an economics degree to know that trillions more in government spending will drive up inflation. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what we are seeing.”

President Joe Biden’s signature legislation, the so-called “Build Back Better Act,” in November passed the lower chamber of Congress. However, the social spending plan hit a roadblock in the Senate after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) declined to support the bill due to its $1.75 trillion price tag.

According to Moore, should the president’s priority legislation be enacted, it would serve to further exacerbate the nation’s inflation woes.

“But if the Biden administration and House Democrats get their way and pass their harmful Build Back Better scheme with trillions more in spending, inflation will soar like never before. Americans are suffering. We must defeat the Democratic agenda, restore fiscal sanity, and take meaningful steps to combat the record inflation crushing American families and businesses,” concluded Moore.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL