Fellow Conservative,
Now that the House has a speaker, there has been a flurry of legislating on the Hill. Here’s what is happening in Washington:
Biden's Funding Request Fails Americans
On October 20th, the White House requested emergency funding to the tune of $105 billion. This funding would be “supplemental” meaning that it would be in addition to whatever deal Congress reaches to fund the government for fiscal year 2024, the deadline for which is November 17th.
Included in Biden’s request is:
- $61.4 billion for Ukraine
- $13.6 billion for open borders (via some funding of NGOs)
- $14.3 billion for Israel
- $10 billion for global humanitarian need (including Gaza)
This plan fails to respect the wishes of the American people for a public accounting of the $113 billion in aid given to Ukraine so far, a secure border, and a reduction in the kind of spending that has left our economy gasping for breath under the weight of inflation. <[link removed]>
Heritage Action’s newest toolkit explains where Biden’s plan fails and proposes a conservative path forward on these issues.
>>>Read the toolkit HERE<<< <[link removed]>
Speaker Johnson led House Republicans to pass a targeted $14.3 billion aid package focused solely on military aid for Israel.
Instead of tying Israel aid to Ukraine spending, Speaker Johnson tied in spending cuts to Biden’s IRS army.
12 House Democrats joined Republicans in passing aid to Israel, making it a bipartisan bill. However, most Democrats voted “NO,” and chose the IRS over Israel. For Democrats, it’s more important that they can use the federal government to go after YOU.
WATCH: 60-second explanation of Johnson’s bill for aid to Israel <[link removed]>
Biden has said he would veto Johnson’s aid package to Israel, and Schumer says he won’t even schedule a vote in the Senate. Democrats aren’t interested in helping Israel unless they can get the additional money for their real priorities:
- More unaccountable funding for Ukraine, which is being stolen at massive rates, according to one of Zelenskyy’s own aides. <[link removed]>
- Processing illegal immigrants through the southern border
Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East, and plays a strategic role in America’s strategy for stability in the region — the Trump Administration helped negotiate historic treaties between Israel and other regional powers, such as the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain and Sudan. Hamas’ attack on Israel is destabilizing the region at the very same time that Israel and Saudi Arabia were moving towards another historic peace deal.
Iran is the number one state-sponsor of terror and is intent on destabilizing the region for their own financial and political gain. Providing military aid to Israel is a sign of strength, a deterrence to Iran and terrorist groups, and promotes long-term peace and stability in the region.
Although Chuck Schumer has promised not to vote on Johnson’s bill, Republican Senators should be actively championing this legislation. If Republican Senators cut a swampy deal with Schumer, it would undermine conservative leadership in the House and be an affront to conservative voters.
Senate Republicans should reject any attempt to tie military aid for Israel to funding for Ukraine.
>>>Call your Senators <[link removed]> and tell them to support Speaker Johnson’s bill.
Spending Reform: The House Takes the Lead
As the House fights back against Biden’s agenda, it is also taking the lead in the appropriations process. Last week, the House had passed 5 of the 12 individual appropriations bills that fund the federal government. This week, the House passed two additional bills: Legislative Branch appropriations and Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations.
There is a path forward for these bills to achieve strong conservative wins by cutting the bloat of Covid-era spending. Passing these bills puts House conservatives in a strong negotiating position from which they can extract concessions from Senate Democrats.
While the House has passed 7 individual appropriations bills (which is the correct process as laid out by Congress in 1974) and continues to forge forward, the Senate has only passed 3 bills that were clumped into one “minibus,” a single piece of legislation that includes multiple appropriations bills in one. Heritage Action key voted against this “minibus” and this vote is now listed on our scorecard. <[link removed]>
Remember the Border
Indispensable to this year’s appropriations battle is the need for significant policy changes at the border. Money is not sufficient if the policies that the money funds remain broken. This September, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encountered over 341,000 illegal aliens, beating the August record of over 304,000.
In Fiscal Year 2023 <[link removed]>, which ended last month, over 3.2 million illegal aliens entered the country from over 160 countries, again surpassing the previous year’s record of 2.7 million. Since Biden’s inauguration, over 7.6 million illegal immigrants have entered the country which is more than the entire population of Arizona, and would be enough to create the second largest city in the nation, only behind New York City.
Additionally, over 600,000 known “gotaways” have entered the country likely including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists. Border security is national security.
>>>Read more HERE<<< <[link removed]>
House Republicans have already passed the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2). Now we must demand the Senate vote on and pass this bill.
>>>Call your Senators today and tell them to secure the border with H.R. 2 <[link removed]>
In Case You Missed It
Biden has nominated Monica Bertagnolli to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health and the Senate is expected to vote on her nomination this Tuesday. If she is confirmed, she will only continue to steer the NIH in the wrong direction.
Bertagnolli has been a vocal supporter of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s failed draconian policies to mandate institute masks, lockdowns, and vaccine mandates.
She also supports the inhumane use of aborted fetal tissue for research purposes, and favors experimental research on children who suffer from gender confusion via the removal of healthy body parts and objectionable hormone therapy drugs.
>>>Share HERE<<< <[link removed]>
This is the last person America needs to make the country's medical research decisions.
>>>Call your Senators <[link removed]> and tell them to oppose Monica Bertagnolli’s confirmation.
As always, none of these fights would be possible without you and your continued support. Thank you for all that you do.
Ryan and the Heritage Action team
Join the fight to advance the conservative agenda.
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