Senator Ricketts’ Weekly Column: Kamala Harris’ Radical Record

August 23, 2024

Biden-Harris leadership has led to high prices and open borders. Vice President Kamala Harris can’t run from her radical record. As Vice President, she’s cast more tie-breaking votes than anyone else in Senate history. These votes allowed the Democrats’ most radical and expensive plans to pass. Harris supported trillions of reckless spending and tax hikes. This includes the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation “Reduction” Act. These bills created stubbornly high inflation and contributed to our $35 trillion national debt. That’s over $266,000 per household. It’s like a second home mortgage for Nebraska families.

As a result of this reckless spending, families have seen grocery prices go up 22%. Healthcare costs are through the roof. Gas prices are up 49%. Electricity prices are up 31%. Vice President Harris’ response? She’s proposed government price controls on food. When the Soviet Union tried that, the result was higher costs and bread lines. Nebraskans deserve more freedom, not another failed socialist policy.

But this is who Kamala Harris has always been. As Senator, Harris co-led radical “Green New Deal” legislation with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that would destroy Nebraska agriculture and cost $10 trillion. In 2019, she supported a ban on fracking. She co-led Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” legislation. This legislation is a government takeover of the healthcare system. It would bankrupt our economy and weaken care for families. Harris also voted to confirm far-left activist judges who enable sanctuary cities and support defunding the police. That’s why one study found she was the second-most liberal Democratic Senator of this century. Harris was even more liberal than Bernie Sanders!

On foreign policy, Kamala Harris will continue Biden’s appeasement-first policy toward our adversaries. Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East. But Vice President Harris turned her back on Israel. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress, she skipped town. She refused to do her constitutional duty of presiding over the Senate. Instead of supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, she called for a ceasefire. An appeasement-first foreign policy weakens our allies and emboldens our enemies. It makes Americans less safe.

Vice President Harris’ most significant failure is her role as the ‘Border Czar.’ As a presidential candidate, she disregarded the rule of law by declaring that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” In March of 2021, President Biden appointed Harris to solve the border crisis. Since then, the situation has gone from crisis to catastrophe. More than 10 million illegal immigrants have tried to cross the southern border on her watch. It’s a national security, drug, and humanitarian catastrophe. Dangerous criminals and deadly drugs like fentanyl have flooded our country. This failed open border policy has made every state a border state. Nebraskans have been directly harmed.

We must stand united against Kamala Harris’ radical policies. Her San Francisco values will destroy what makes Nebraska special. We need leaders who will secure the border, protect our communities, and put Americans first. My Republican colleagues and I are fighting every day to make sure that happens.

My team and I are here to serve you. Contact us anytime by phone at 202-224-4224. You can also view my website at www.ricketts.senate.gov/contact.