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Amid another of his many telephone town hall events to interact with his constituents, U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, answered questions about inflation, American energy, illegal immigration and a number of other concerns.
"As we know, America is facing many challenges. One of those is inflation. We've seen a 9.1% increase in June from one year ago, which is the largest 12-month increase since 1981," Keller said.
"The inflation crisis has cost American workers over $3,000 in their annual income," he added. "We've seen the price of a gallon of gas, which in 2020 was $2.39 a gallon -- today, the national average is over $4.50 a gallon. It's a result of the Biden administration's assault on American energy."
Keller has urged the Biden
administration to take advantage of America's energy producers for energy independence.
"We in America produce energy more cleanly than anybody else on the face of this earth and we should be producing that energy here in America. In fact, in PA-12, we produce up to 4% of the nation's dry natural gas, which means good paying jobs for our families, our friends and our neighbors," Keller said.
"What we need to be doing is making sure that the federal government is encouraging domestic production by allowing for pipelines, expediting permits for LNG facilities, and cutting through the burdensome task of getting approval for permits for drilling, and other natural gas activities and energy activities."
Keller has also advocated for action from the Biden administration to secure the southern border.
"Over 3 million illegal border encounters have happened under the Biden administration. There's 12.7 million Pennsylvanians. When you look at 3 million in about a year and a half, that's a pretty significant impact on resources that Americans need right now."
Keller pointed to his proposed legislation, the Safe Sponsor Act, which was created to ensure proper care of immigrant children.
"There have been 15,000 unaccompanied minors encountered at our southern border in June," Keller said. "We found out, by doing research and visiting the border and so on, that when those unaccompanied minors are put with a sponsor family, that sponsor family doesn't even have to be in our country legally.
"Our Safe Sponsor Act would require the department to make sure that the people being sponsors are in the United States legally. I think that does a lot to make sure that children are not being trafficked," he said.