The Week in Review 

Happy Friday!

I hope you had a wonderful week. I am grateful to serve you all in the 118th Congress. Read below to see what I’ve been working on this week.

TWO WEEKS AWAY: Drop Zone 2024

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, my office will host our 5th annual DROP ZONE event!

Drop Zone is a one-stop resource fair for veterans, seniors, and residents of Arizona’s 5th District. Participants will have access to many valuable resources in one location: VA benefit consultations, health screenings, Taxpayer Advocacy Services, community support organizations, employment assistance, and more!

Drop Zone will be held on June 1, 2024, from 10 am to 2 pm at the American Leadership Academy Applied Technologies Campus located at 7729 E. Pecos Road, Mesa, AZ 85212.

Stay tuned for more updates. Drop Zone 2023 was a major success and we hope this year’s will be too!

House Committees Vote to Hold US AG Merrick Garland in Contempt of Congress

The House Committee on Oversight & Accountability and the House Committee on the Judiciary voted favorably to hold United States Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.

AG Garland refused to comply with a lawfully issued subpoena to provide the Oversight and Judiciary Committees with the audio tapes of Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. As the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Garland is required to provide subpoenaed material for congressional investigation. Garland, however, has chosen repeatedly to act as Joe Biden’s personal attorney instead of the Attorney General for the United States.

Garland’s weaponized DOJ has protected the Biden Crime Family for years while unjustly targeting conservatives across the country. His refusal to turn over the subpoenaed audio tapes exposed his blatant disrespect for Congress. Garland has made a mockery of our Justice Department.

Merrick Garland believes he is above the law. I am grateful to the members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees for asserting otherwise.

President Biden invoked a bogus executive privilege claim early Thursday morning. But that claim holds little weight given that DOJ already released the written transcript of the interview. It begs the question of whether Biden’s DOJ is attempting to hide the truth - is the transcript inaccurate? Or will the audio show that Biden’s mental condition is much worse than we currently know? Click the image below to watch some of my remarks during the Oversight Committee’s markup:

The Committees’ resolutions to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress will now move to be voted on by the whole House.

Honoring Our Men and Women in Law Enforcement

This week is National Police Week. We honor the men and women who courageously protect our communities from harm.

House Republicans remain committed to supporting our law enforcement officers, while the Left embraces pro-crime and anti-police policies. I testified in front of the House Rules Committee in favor of six bills that will improve the safety of communities across the country. Click the image below to see watch some of my testimony:

This week and every week, we thank our police officers for their valor. May God bless them all.

Standing Against the WHO to Protect the Unborn

I, along with 25 of my colleagues, sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board urging it to oppose the Center for Reproductive Rights’ (CRR) application to enter into official relations with the WHO. The CRR is a radical international organization that manipulates countries into implementing outrageous abortion policies. The WHO is set to vote on the CRR’s application next month.

My letter threatens congressional action to defund the WHO should they choose to give special status to the CRR.

We cannot continue allowing international organizations to override American sovereignty in order to advance egregious social policies. Promoting unrestricted access to abortion worldwide is incredibly unpopular with the majority of Americans. Both the WHO and CRR have track records of undermining sovereignty to impose their globalist regime in nations around the world. Americans’ existing distrust in the WHO will only be amplified should it choose to partner with the radical CRR.

I am thankful for my colleagues’ support on this critical issue, and I urge the WHO Executive Board to vote against entering into official relations with the CRR. The world will be watching.

The full letter may be read here.

Washington Examiner covered the letter here.

Fighting for Our District's Veterans

I sent a letter to Bryan Matthews, Medical Center Director for the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System (PHX VAHCS) regarding widespread frustrations with the implementation of lifesaving legislation for veterans in crisis and those seeking community care. 

The VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018 (VA MISSION Act) and the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment Act of 2020 (COMPACT Act) provide guidelines for veterans seeking community care and emergency mental health care from providers outside of the VA. However, concerning reports have been brought forward regarding the PHX VAHCS’s refusal to follow these laws, only exacerbating problems for veterans who are seeking critical care. Congressman Biggs’s letter requires Director Matthews to answer six important questions regarding the difficulties veterans consistently encounter due to the PHX VAHCS’s failed implementation of the VA MISSION Act and the COMPACT Act.

Our nation’s veterans deserve to promptly receive the care they were promised. Veterans in my district and members of my Veterans Advisory Council have shared with me alarming reports of delayed or denied care by the PHX VAHCS. We cannot allow history to repeat itself at the PHX VAHCS and recreate a scenario where the health and well-being of our veterans is put at risk due to bureaucratic incompetence. 

The system must fulfill the requirements for care set by the VA MISSION Act and the COMPACT Act. It is Congress’s duty to oversee the implementation of these laws by federal agencies and I look forward to Director Matthews’s explanations for the allegations made.

American veterans sacrificed much for the freedoms we enjoy today. I will do everything necessary to ensure they receive the benefits and support they earned.

The full letter may be read here.

Celebrating Mother's Day

On Sunday, we celebrated the moms in Arizona’s Fighting Fifth and across the nation. 

We are all incredibly grateful for everything our moms do for us. They make our worlds brighter.

I hope you all had a wonderful day!

House Oversight & Accountability Committee Activity

The Oversight Committee held a markup and passed the following bills out of committee:

• H.R. 8333, the BIOSECURE Act;
• H.R. 5255, the Federal Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act of 2023;
• H.R. 8334, the Grant Integrity and Border Security Act;
• H.R. 8276, the Reuse Excess Property Act;
• H.R. 8335, the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2024;
• H.R. 6462, the Resilient Employment and Authorization Determination to Increase the National Employment of Serving Spouses (READINESS) Act;
• Various Post Office naming measures.

Democrats blame House and Senate Republicans for Biden’s open borders. The Left now claims that Republicans do not want to close the border simply because we blocked the inflated foreign aid spending package disguised as a “border package” in February. Meanwhile, H.R. 2, the most significant border legislation in decades, has been sitting in the Senate for over a year. Click the image below to see some of my remarks on H.R. 8334:

Legislation and Letters

Bills Cosponsored:

• H.R. 5531 - End U.N. Censorship Act (Rep. Cline) 
• H.R. 8341 - Cost Estimates Improvement Act (Rep. Cloud) 
• H.R. 8410 - Let Trump Speak Act (Rep. Ogles) 
• H.R. 8421 - The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (Rep. Massie)  
• H.R. 8430 - Reshape ATD Act (Rep. Donalds) 
• H.J.Res. 144 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Department of Justice, relating to "Definition of 'Engaged in the Business' as a Dealer in Firearms" (Rep. Clyde) 
• H.J.Res. 146 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services relating to "Clarifying the Eligibility of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Recipients and Certain Other Noncitizens for a Qualified Health Plan through an Exchange, Advance Payments of the Premium Tax Credit, Cost-Sharing Reductions, and a Basic Health Program" (Rep. Mace) 
• H.J.Res. 147 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration relating to "Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process" (Rep. Miller) 

Letters Led:

• Letter to PHX VAHCS Medical Center Director Bryan Matthews re frustrations with the implementation of the MISSION Act and the COMPACT Act
• Letter to WHO Executive Board re Center for Reproductive Rights’ application to enter into official relations with the WHO

Letters Cosigned:

• Letter to Sec. Austin and Blinken re Halting Shipment of Weapons to Israel (Rep. Moore) 
• Letter to AF Sec. Kendall re KC-46 Aircraft relocating to 161st Air Refueling Wing AZ (Sen. Kelly) 
• Letter to U.S. Marshals Director Davis and BOP Director Peters on the lack of medical attention for two inmates convicted under the FACE Act for protesting outside of an abortion clinic (Rep. Chris Smith) 

Alien Invasion Border Documentary

Check out my border documentary titled Alien Invasion. The 30-minute documentary features footage from private ranches along the border, the Darien Gap in Panama, and interviews with members of Congress, Border Patrol, local and state law enforcement, and much more. It addresses how President Biden’s border crisis began, its consequences, and solutions to address the crisis.  

The border documentary may be watched here.

Top Media Appearances of the Week

I joined Fox Business with Jackie DeAngelis to discuss the importance of obtaining the audio tapes from Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur. Click the image below to watch some of the segment:

I joined The Absolute Truth with Emerald Robinson to discuss the House’s responsibility to fight for the American people. Click the image below to watch some of the segment:

I joined The Vince Coglianese Show to discuss Biden’s bogus assertion of executive privilege. Click the image below to listen to some of the segment:

Tweet of the Week 

Constituent Services 

Flags
Would you like to purchase a flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol? Flags flown over the Capitol include a certificate, which may be personalized for a particular person, event, or organization. Click here to learn more about purchasing a flag.

Internships
If you or someone you know is interested in completing an internship in either my Mesa or Washington, D.C. office, they can apply directly on my website. 

Help With a Federal Agency 
If you can’t get an answer from a federal agency in a timely fashion, or if you feel you have been treated unfairly, my office may be able to help resolve a problem or get you the information you need. For example, my office routinely helps constituents with issues involving the Veterans Administration, the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the State Department, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  You can learn more by visiting my website.

Click here to find out more information about my office’s services. 

Tours and Tickets

Interested in touring the White House or U.S. Capitol? As constituents of the Fifth Congressional District, you may request tickets and tours for various Washington D.C. destinations from my office. 

All tickets are provided to constituents on a first-come, first-served basis, so request tickets early.

Click here for more information.