Rep. McBride Sounds Alarm on Rising Costs for Delaware Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Delaware’s Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-DE) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives highlighting the growing financial strain Delaware families are experiencing at the grocery store and urging Congress to take meaningful action to lower costs. Her remarks underscored both the immediate pressures on family budgets and the broader policy choices driving those costs higher.

“I rise today on behalf of Delaware families who are still catching their breath after Thanksgiving — a holiday that should bring joy, not undue anxiety over the cost of a single trip to the grocery store,” McBride said.

Citing new data, McBride noted that Delaware now ranks 16th in the nation for the share of household income spent on groceries. “Families [are] paying an average of eight thousand, seven hundred and forty five dollars a year, or 14 percent of their income just to put food on the table. That’s a higher burden than our neighbors in Maryland and New Jersey.”

She continued, outlining the specific items squeezing family budgets: “Across the First State, shoppers are seeing coffee up 21 percent, beef up 11 percent, and eggs 50 percent higher than before the pandemic. Flour, sugar, and canned fruits are each up more than 30 percent – costs that hit parents, seniors, and working people the hardest.”

McBride pointed to local organizations seeing this strain firsthand. “At Our Daily Bread, a food bank in Middletown, they’re now serving 240 meals a day, up from 200 just a few months ago — a clear indication of how my neighbors are being squeezed by rising prices.”

She also drew a direct line between rising costs and Trump Administration policies:

“Delaware families are being hit from every direction — by inflation, yes, but also by policies coming out of the Trump Administration that are pouring fuel on that fire. Tariffs driving grocery prices even higher and contributing to price uncertainty. The One Big Ugly Bill that imposed the largest food assistance cut in US history. Premium hikes that will cost Delawareans an average of $6,000 more a year in health care. Cuts to energy investments that are pushing electricity bills up. New limits on student loan repayment that hit working people hardest. And interest rates so high they put the dream of a first home further out of reach.”

McBride emphasized that Delawareans are unified in their basic needs: “Delawareans deserve better than a government that increases their costs while taking away the lifelines that keep them afloat. No matter our politics, we all want the same simple things: the ability to feed our families, a roof over our heads, to heat that home, and a job with dignity.”

She closed by urging Congress to pursue cost-lowering, common-sense policy solutions:

“That’s why I’m proud to be a sponsor of legislation that would restore some common sense: banning the President from imposing tariffs without Congressional approval, capping the cost of child care, expanding health care coverage, creating new pathways to home ownership, raising the minimum wage, and expanding tax deductions for working class people.”

And reflecting what she heard directly from families over Thanksgiving week, McBride said: “Because after a Thanksgiving season where so many families felt the strain, the message from Delaware is clear: we need solutions, not tariffs and cuts to health care, but policies that make life more affordable.”

The speech is available for use here. 

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