December 5, 2023: Weekly Newsletter

Congressman Cloud meets with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and tours southern border. 

The willingness of the Biden administration to disregard the rights and security of this nation’s citizens and work to disintegrate our border protection knows no limits. Instead of using its authority to secure our border, it uses every tool at its disposal to incentivize illegal activity across our border. The most recent example is using our nation’s parks as a place to locate the influx of illegal migrants.

Last week, I voted in favor of H.R. 5283, Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023, which prohibits the Biden administration from housing illegal immigrants on any land under the jurisdiction of the Federal Land Management agencies, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service.

This bill stops the Biden administration from turning our national parks into illegal immigrant encampments. It also revokes the lease signed by the Biden administration and New York City to place thousands of migrants in a community park in Brooklyn.

While the House works to strengthen our laws and close loopholes the administration is abusing, it is important to remember the administration already has every authority needed — and the available funds necessary — to secure the border, if they wanted to. We will continue to fight on this issue to ensure Texas is secure. 

Congressman Cloud visiting various small businesses during the August District Work Period.

Small business owners have been struggling the past several years, dealing with high inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions inflicted by the Biden administration’s policies. Every day, this administration continues to make life harder on workers and entrepreneurs. 

We should be working to eliminate costly regulations that hurt businesses, not creating more overreaching, regulatory burdens that increase costs, slow economic growth, and undermine small business's ability to thrive in our communities. 

That’s why last week, we passed S.J. Res 32, which rescinds the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) burdensome rule that aims to collect and publish extensive information on small businesses and their lenders, with the intent to name and shame lenders whose practices are deemed unfavorable by the Left. 

Small businesses are the backbone of our community and as we move forward, I will continue to support policies that foster an environment where small businesses can flourish and push back against the Biden administration’s overreach.

On Thursday, I voted in favor of H.R. 5961, No Funds For Iranian Terrorism Act, which passed in the House. This bill is a crucial step in preventing Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, from accessing $6 billion in funds that could have been used to finance their dangerous activities.

Remember, in September 2023, the Biden Administration waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korean banks to banks in Qatar in exchange for the release of five American hostages. This set an incredibly dangerous precedent that could incentivize more hostage-taking and embolden Iran’s bad actors.

It is also an incredibly ill-advised policy to grant Iran access to more funds during a time when terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, who have footholds in Iran, continue to attack Israel. This is wrong and dangerous. We need to be supporting Israel as they face attacks - not funding their attacker's proxies.

For these reasons, the bill imposes immediate, mandatory sanctions on any financial institution that engages in a transaction with the Qatari banks holding the $6 billion of Iranian funds. It is critical for our national security and the safety of Americans and our allies that we take a strong stance against funding terrorism.

My office stands ready to assist any constituents in the 27th Congressional District of Texas with casework related to agencies such as the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the State Department and Veterans Affairs.

Here are some of the examples of success we had this week working with constituents needing assistance:

• Constituent needed assistance with retrieving her late husband's disability payment. After submitting a Congressional inquiry, she received a check for $3,721.90.

• Constituent needed assistance regarding an issue with Medicare not covering her medical expenses. After it was resolved, Medicare took care of her medical bills.   

• Constituent needed assistance with their 2021 tax return, and their ongoing audit. The tax return was released in the amount of $13,256.80.

God Bless,

Rep. Michael Cloud

Member of Congress

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