John,

Good afternoon, and welcome to our Weekend Update.

I want to begin again by extending my thoughts and prayers to Israel, the victims and families who were senselessly attacked by Hamas and Iran-backed terrorists last week, as well as the brave Israeli soldiers defending their nation's right to exist. 

This week, Members of the House from both sides of the aisle came together on the steps of the Capitol for a vigil in support of Israel and to honor the lives lost in the brutal terror attack. The United States stands in unwavering solidarity with Israel.

The countless stories of the brutal killings, the beheading of infants, and the senseless murder of families huddling in safe rooms are sickening. I fully support Israel's mission to defend their nation against these horrific attacks. Defeating these extremists, Hamas and the Iran-backed terrorists must be a top priority. 

In September, the Biden Administration negotiated a prisoner swap with Iran that included the release of $6 billion. This week, I introduced the Freezing HAMAS Act, which would re-freeze the $6 billion that the Biden Administration released to Iran – the world’s number one state-sponsor of terrorism and largest backer of Hamas.

The Biden Administration has an inexplicable affection for Iran despite the country being the most significant funding source for proxy and direct terrorism worldwide. Iran hates America and Israel, and Biden’s willingness to continue working with them is unfathomable. Iran is wholly complicit in the atrocities committed by Hamas, and we cannot sit by and allow this Administration’s appeasement strategy to continue putting lives at risk. My legislation ensures Iran doesn’t have an additional $6 billion in their coffers to pursue terror and prohibits this Administration from lifting sanctions or providing further aid to Iran.

The United States must freeze the $6 billion headed to Iran. Iran provided the weapons to Hamas – they are a complicit terrorist state, yet this Administration seems to have an inexplicable affection for them. We must provide Israel with the resources to wipe out this scourge on humanity. I joined Newsmax’s “National Report” to discuss Israel; please check out my interview by clicking here or below.

After announcing my legislation and under intense pressure, the Biden Administration issued the following statement: "When this money arrives in these accounts in Qatar, it will be held there under strict oversight by the United States Treasury Department and the money can only be used for humanitarian purposes, and we will remain vigilant in watching the spending of those funds and have the ability to freeze them again if we need to."- MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON.

That is simply not good enough. It is in the world's best interests to freeze this funding now. Iran should not have access to these funds at all.

Additionally, I would note that the Trump-era sanctions on Iran oil exports must be reinstated. Since Trump left office, Iran's oil exports have increased from 400k barrels to 3 million per month. The Biden policy has enriched the terrorist state of Iran to lead and facilitate terrorist acts. Unacceptably foolish and dangerous policy!

The Biden Administration continues to state that Iran had no involvement in the Hamas attack and brutal terrorist savagery. Yet, they admitted that Iran provided the vast majority of weapons, and we now have records retrieved proving Iran assisted in planning the attack. The Hamas leaders were also in Tehran meeting with Iranian officials less than a month ago. Shameless posturing and false statements are being made regarding Iran by the Biden Administration.

Additionally, I joined Bob Cordaro on WILK-FM Newsradio to discuss this situation. Click here or below to listen to my interview.

In Washington, House Republicans continue to work on finding consensus for a new Speaker. It has been a messy process, but sometimes our system is messy. The House Republican Conference needs a great leadership team. I would like to see Jim Jordan elected as our next Speaker. I believe he will help unite our party and country and deliver a conservative agenda in the best interests of my constituents and the American people. I am pictured below addressing the media in the Capitol.

I joined Newsmax’s “Wake Up America” to discuss the Speaker’s race. Click here or below to watch.

As I wrote last weekend, the criteria for my support for a Speaker are as follows:

1. Passing a fiscally responsible, pro-growth budget.
2. Stopping the excessive, wasteful spending and rooting out waste, abuse, and fraud from federal spending.
3. Continue to advocate for H.R. 1 — responsible American Energy. Independence and dominance are crucial to our national security and economic strength.
4. Securing the border and implementing immigration reform policy. As a start, we should impeach Secretary Mayorkas, who is deliberately not enforcing our nation's illegal immigration laws.
5. Prosecute and weed out corruption, including the blatant and obvious Biden scandals.
6. We must, through policy, execution, and factual, honest messaging, earn the trust of the American voters so we can expand our majority in the House, gain the majority in the Senate, and win the all-important Presidential election.

We have an opportunity to elect the most conservative Speaker in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives – and that is Jim Jordan. Jim has my full support. We need to elect him ASAP, and we need to get back to work.

Bidenomics is a complete failure, crushing my constituents, consumers, families, and small businesses. This Administration’s economic policies pose a serious threat to both Main Street and the overall fiscal stability of our nation.

In the past twelve months, inflation has risen 3.7%, but that’s on top of an 8.2% increase in 2022 and a 5.4% increase in 2021 – meaning inflation has risen a staggering 17.3% since September 2021, the first year Biden was in office.

I joined "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business to discuss the failures of Bidenomics and how it impacts American families. Click here or below to watch my interview.

IN NEWS YOU WON’T HEAR IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: The Biden administration is lying to you about inflation – again. They have repeatedly insisted costs are lower in response to today’s inflation report. Here are two examples:

• Karine Jean-Pierre: “Bidenomics is in action, right? You’re talking about lowering costs, right? And that’s something that the president is certainly continuing to do.”
• Joe Biden: “Our plan is delivering, but the job’s not done. I’ll continue fighting to lower costs and grow our economy from the middle out and bottom up.”

The main problem with this argument? Costs are NOT lower. Here are the facts. Since Biden took office:

• Overall, prices are up by 17.7 percent.
• Real wages are down by 3.2 percent.
• Food prices are up 20.6 percent.
• Rent is up 17.3 percent.
• Electricity is up 26.6 percent.

Even liberal economists agree that Biden’s reckless agenda is to blame. 

Here’s the point: Joe Biden insists inflation shows “Bidenomics in action.” When it comes to paying more and getting less, we agree that is “Bidenomics in action.”

We celebrated National Farmer’s Day, and I invite you to join me in celebrating Pennsylvania’s growers and producers! I applaud your tireless efforts and dedication to ensuring food reaches tables across America. You are a cornerstone of this great nation.

We look forward to catching up with you next week. God Bless, and see you soon,

Dan Meuser
https://www.meuserforcongress.com/