Senator Ted Budd discusses economy, inflation during visit to Port of Wilmington

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - North Carolina Ted Budd made his first trip to Wilmington since taking office Monday during a visit to the Port of Wilmington.

Amid rising inflation and supply chain struggles, Budd says he wants to strengthen America’s economy.

“If you think about America’s place on the world stage, this is really a part of America being strong, and making sure that we’re resilient and, you know, we’re not relying on China,” said Budd. “There’s a lot of imports [and] a lot of exports out of here, including agriculture, all things which are important to our state.”

Budd hopes President Biden will talk about these issues during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

The senator is also focused on national security and says he wants clarity on the Chinese spy balloon that made headlines over the Carolinas over the weekend.

“What are we going to do to be a strong nation not just economically, but militarily? Why would we let a balloon, which we saw coming, violate our sovereign airspace and again, what are we going to do to be strong rather than projecting weakness?” asked Budd.

He will have to wait until he is back in Washington to get those answers, but Budd says his goal, for now, is to address rising prices across the board.

“We need to make sure that everything we do is about America being strong,” Budd said. “That we lower the price of gas at the pump. That doesn’t just affect people at the pump, that affects people at the grocery store. Within a few months, or probably even a few weeks, prices would start coming down if we open up and do more energy exploration here in the United States.”

The State of the Union address is scheduled for 9 p.m. Tuesday.

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