This week, I led the House of Representatives in passing the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act to revive conservative tax reform and pro-growth policies.

The bill allows small businesses to grow, provides tax relief to Americans struggling with inflation, and ends wasteful COVID-era programs saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. 

It expands access to the child tax credit with a phased increase, and eliminates penalties for larger families with multiple children, while also ending the wasteful Employee Retention Tax Credit Program that will save over $70 billion in taxpayer funds.

I remain committed to supporting common-sense conservative policies that not only work for Americans but work to cut wasteful spending that leads to the ever-growing deficit.

I testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources in a hearing on my bill, H.R. 674, or the Root and Stem Project Authorization Act of 2023, to reduce environmental review costs for taxpayers and fund additional forest management on federal lands. 

Lengthy and costly environmental reviews, especially the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, consistently delay forest management projects from being completed in a timely manner.

Under this legislation, an entity could propose a forest management project developed through a collaborative process to the U.S. Forestry Service (USFS) or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and provide the upfront funding to complete the necessary NEPA analysis. USFS or BLM could use this funding to contract with approved third parties, maintained on a list updated regularly and provided to Congress, to complete this analysis.

USFS and BLM would retain responsibility for ensuring the sufficiency of the NEPA documentation and ultimate approval over the project. Once completed, USFS or BLM could solicit competitive bids or enter into a stewardship contract to carry out the project. Any timber receipts collected from the forest management project would then be used to repay the initial entity that provided the upfront funding. 

Visiting the Southern Border

Next week I will lead a Congressional delegation of Western Caucus Members to the southern border to see firsthand how this crisis is impacting border communities, ranchers, and public lands. We will also visit with United State Customs and Border Protection to discuss the ongoing challenges facing frontline law enforcement.

We will also participate in a House Natural Resources Committee field hearing to examine the environmental impacts of the border crisis.

Click the button below to learn more about my work on illegal immigration and the southern border.

Fighting for American Energy

On Wednesday I introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives denouncing President Joe Biden's war on American Energy.

From day one of his administration, President Biden has been at war with American energy production, increasing our reliance on foreign sources, and putting our energy security at risk.

Whether it’s cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline, halting future LNG export terminal permits, or revoking leases for oil, gas, and mining across the West, it is clear that President Biden’s policies have given Russia and OPEC a greater advantage than domestic producers. Central Washingtonians deserve affordable and reliable energy, a goal we cannot achieve until we unleash the full potential of American energy resources.