Scalise and Stefanik Blast Biden’s First Year: “What a Difference a Year Makes” as Crises Mount on Every Front

On 1/20/2022, Republican Whip Steve Scalise and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik delivered a withering assessment of Biden’s first year during a GOP leadership press conference. Scalise traced a direct line from Biden’s day-one Keystone Pipeline cancellation to the energy crisis, from the Afghanistan withdrawal to Russian and Chinese aggression, and from the “minor incursion” remark to Ukrainian alarm. Stefanik highlighted that the worst inflation since 1981 occurred before she was even born, underscoring how far back Americans had to look for comparable economic pain.

”What a Difference a Year Makes”

Scalise opened with a stark contrast. “One year ago today, Joe Biden took the oath of office as President of the United States, and he walked into a White House — he had an economy that was poised for a strong rebound. We had border security. We had energy security. We had peace accords between Israel and Muslim nations,” Scalise said. “That was just one year ago today.”

“And what did President Biden say yesterday to give an accounting for this last year? He literally just doubled down on all of the failures that we’ve seen this last year,” Scalise said.

Day One: Keystone to Nord Stream

Scalise drew a direct connection between Biden’s energy policies and the broader crisis. “First day in office, Joe Biden kills the Keystone Pipeline, sends a message that he doesn’t want America to be energy secure,” Scalise said. “And it wasn’t because he was against pipelines or fossil fuels, because he green-lighted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline so that Putin could have more leverage over Europe.”

He noted Biden had “begged OPEC nations to produce more oil, which by the way emit more carbon than oil made here in the United States.” Scalise argued: “If you actually want to save the planet and lower carbon emissions, make the oil here, make products here in America.”

Just a year earlier, Scalise said, Americans were “paying less than $2 a gallon because we were making our own energy here in America and we were making enough to where we could ship it around the world and help our allies. We were undercutting Russia. We were undercutting OPEC nations.”

Afghanistan and the “Minor Incursion”

Scalise connected the Afghanistan withdrawal directly to Russian aggression toward Ukraine. “We saw that in Afghanistan. For the president to say that he would do it over again the same way — my God, what a frightening thought it is to us here in the United States, to our allies all around the world, but also to our adversaries,” Scalise said.

“We know Russia was watching what happened in Afghanistan. We know that China was watching. Iran, all of our adversaries around the world were watching, and they saw the weakness and they’re capitalizing on it right now,” Scalise added.

He then invoked Biden’s press conference remark from the day before. “Do you think the strong, wonderful people of Ukraine think it would be a minor incursion if Putin moved tanks into Ukraine, even a piece of Ukraine? Of course they don’t,” Scalise said.

”Before I Was Born”

Stefanik delivered one of the press conference’s most memorable lines about inflation. “2021 being the worst year for inflation since 1981 — before I was born, which makes my colleagues laugh and makes them feel older,” the 37-year-old Conference Chair said.

Scalise picked up the theme: “I’m not talking about decades ago when Elise was just a twinkle in her parents’ eyes. I’m talking about a year ago when people were paying less than $2 a gallon.”

A Year of Crisis

Stefanik cataloged the full scope of failures. “The American people are facing an economic crisis, an energy crisis, a border crisis, an education crisis, a crime crisis, a worsening COVID-19 crisis, and a national security crisis,” she said. “These crises are a direct result of the failed leadership and the far-left socialist agenda of Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.”

She cited specific numbers: wages had decreased in eight of 11 months since Biden took office, over 1.8 million illegal immigrants had been apprehended at the southern border, and gas prices had hit their highest level since 2014.

”Rolling Out a Bold Agenda”

Scalise announced House Republicans would roll out a comprehensive alternative agenda. “Americans are tired of paying the price for this president’s failures,” he said. “We’re going to be rolling out a bold agenda to confront the many crises that Joe Biden has created — how to restore freedom, how to restore opportunity, how to restore hope for people who have given up.”

Key Takeaways

Scalise traced Biden’s crises to day one, from killing Keystone while approving Nord Stream 2, to begging OPEC for oil while domestic production fell.
He connected the Afghanistan withdrawal to Russian and Chinese aggression, saying adversaries “saw the weakness and they’re capitalizing on it.”
Stefanik noted 2021’s inflation was the worst since 1981 — before she was born — while wages decreased in eight of 11 months under Biden.
Over 1.8 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the border in Biden’s first year.
Scalise asked whether Ukrainians would consider a Russian incursion “minor,” directly challenging Biden’s press conference remark.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

One year ago today, he walked into a White House with an economy poised for a strong rebound, border security, energy security, peace accords. And he literally just doubled down on all of the failures.
First day in office, Joe Biden kills the Keystone Pipeline. It wasn’t because he was against pipelines — he green-lighted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline so that Putin could have more leverage over Europe.
We know Russia was watching what happened in Afghanistan. We know that China was watching. They saw the weakness and they’re capitalizing on it.
Do you think the strong, wonderful people of Ukraine think it would be a minor incursion if Putin moved tanks into Ukraine?
2021 being the worst year for inflation since 1981 — before I was born, which makes my colleagues laugh and makes them feel older.
We’re going to be rolling out a bold agenda — how to restore freedom, how to restore opportunity, how to restore hope.

Full transcript: 1170 words transcribed via Whisper AI.