Supporting Israel
With my support, the House passed two bipartisan resolutions stating and reaffirming the U.S. House’s strong allegiance with our ally Israel. One of the resolutions demanded Hamas immediately release all hostages and the second reaffirmed Israel's right to exist and defend herself. I will always stand with the great people of Israel.
Freezing Funds That Further Enable Iranian Backed Terrorism
In August, President Biden made an agreement with the Iranian government to release $6 billion of Iranian funds that had been frozen as well as release Iranian prisoners in exchange for the release of five Americans. While we have a responsibility to make every effort to safely return American hostages being held by our adversaries, allowing for the release of $6 billion to the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism was yet another dangerous foreign policy decision made by the Biden Administration.
Instead of releasing Iranian funds that would free up more money for their malign activities, the United States must work to stop Iran's financing of terrorism to proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as they attack our allies.
With my support, the House passed H.R. 5961, the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act. This bill would effectively prohibit the release of that $6 billion and ensures it remains off limits to the Iranian regime by mandating permanent sanctions. With our ally Israel facing its greatest threat to survival, Congress must prevent Iran from giving their terror proxies another dime. The legislation must now pass the Senate and be signed by the President for it to become law.
Preventing the Housing of Illegal Immigrants in National Parks
The Biden Administration continues to encourage a surge of illegal immigrants crossing our border. In this case it is providing housing for migrants in our national parks and on federal lands.
Instead of taking meaningful action to address the border crisis, such as supporting House Republicans’ H.R. 2, Secure the Border Act, the Biden Administration approved New York Governor Kathy Hochul's plan to house 2,500 migrants at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, a national park in New York City. (A much better solution would be to fly them back to their home countries and make it widely known all over the world.)
To block this misuse, House Republicans passed H.R. 5283, the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act. This legislation prohibits the use of federal funds to provide housing to illegal immigrants on federal land. But again, for this to become law, the Senate must also pass it and the President must sign it.
This administration should reverse course and re-implement the Trump policies that worked so well.
The Saga of Santos
I happen to believe the title conferred to each of us when elected, The Honorable, should mean something. We have an Ethics Committee in the House for a reason. It is comprised of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans for a purpose — so that it cannot become a committee of partisan witch hunts.
The Ethics Committee did a thorough investigation and found the following substantial evidence:
1) Santos knowingly filed false or incomplete reports to the Federal Elections Commission.
2) He engaged in fraudulent financial conduct in connection with a business.
3) He knowingly and willingly engaged in violations of the Ethics in Government Act.
Regardless of whether Santos is convicted (and he surely will be), he has no business serving in the U.S. House Of Representatives. Under the Constitution, the governor must hold a special election to determine his replacement, which will be sometime in the next few months.
