Notes from Mike's Desk

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DISASTER RELIEF

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of Hurricane Helene, which devastated communities throughout the Southeast last week. This week, I traveled to Florida to meet with first responders and families impacted, and I was inspired by how the communities banded together, undeterred and resolved to rebuild again - a way of life we know well in Louisiana.

I urge all of the families affected by this terrible storm to keep the faith. Last week, I led Congress to provide $20 billion extra dollars to be made available immediately so that FEMA would have operational funds to quickly respond to Hurricane Helene. These communities in the affected areas desperately need the full aid and support of the Biden Administration, and we will continue to demand they deliver it.

Once the affected states are able to fully calculate their damages, Congress is prepared to provide additional disaster funds as needed. Please join me in continuing to pray for these strong, resilient people.

We are thankful to the brave Louisiana firefighters and first responders who have selflessly answered the call to assist Hurricane Helene victims up and down the East Coast. Their willingness to lend a hand is a testament to the proud commitment to service that runs through the first responder community, and we cannot thank them enough for their efforts.

IN THE HOUSE

House Republicans spent the month of September passing effective, commonsense legislation that puts America first. We passed legislation to counter the Chinese Communist Party, fight the woke agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration, expand the scope of the investigation into the now-second assassination attempt on President Trump's life, and we avoided a costly shutdown and responsibly funded the government.

The Republican-led House took several important steps to protect the American people, our infrastructure, and our intellectual property from the Chinese Communist Party. The House passed a robust set of bills — 28 pieces of legislation that our committees have diligently worked on for months, including 15 bills with broad bipartisan support. These measures represent a strategic and coordinated approach that builds on successes throughout this year to hold China accountable for its abuses, enhance our national security, and safeguard American interests.

Following the second assassination attempt on President Trump’s life, the House voted unanimously to expand the investigative purview of the Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump to include the second assassination attempt.

The House also unanimously passed legislation to enhance secret service protection for Presidential candidates. There’s no leader in American history who has been attacked as aggressively as Donald Trump, yet he has remained so strong and resilient. The current situation is dangerous, and he needs and deserves increased Secret Service protection to ensure his safety amid the significant threats he faces. This legislation requires the Secret Service Director to apply equal standards when determining the number of Secret Service agents assigned to protect sitting presidents and major candidates for president and vice president.

Additionally, the Republican-led House took several important steps to expose and fight the woke agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration. The House passed three comprehensive anti-woke legislative packages, along with several key individual bills, to counter the woke, wasteful, and weaponized agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration. These key pieces of legislation expose the Democrats radical agenda that's hurting our students, our banks, and our country.

Below is a complete list of anti-woke legislative packages and individual bills passed:

Protecting Americans’ Investments from Woke Policies Act
- RETIRE Act
- No Discrimination in My Benefits Act
- Retirement Proxy Protection Act
- Providing Complete Information to Retirement Investors Act
End Woke Higher Education Act
- Accreditation for College Excellence Act
- Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act
Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act
- Guiding Uniform and Responsible Disclosure Requirements and Information Limits Act
- Businesses Over Activists Act
- Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act
- American FIRST Act
No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act
Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles"

After Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova organized a tour of an American manufacturing site in a political battleground state, led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and purposely excluded Republicans, I wrote to President Zelenskyy that Republicans have lost trust in the Ambassadors' ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country and demanded that Zelenskyy immediately remove her from her position.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH

For three years, House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans have carefully and methodically investigated the Biden-Harris Administration’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan that tragically claimed the lives of 13 American servicemembers and weakened America’s standing on the world stage. The investigation affirmed that the Biden-Harris Administration failed in its duty to protect our soldiers and State Department personnel, and deliberately lied to the American people about their mismanagement and failed strategy.

To honor the 13 brave American servicemembers killed in the Kabul airport terrorist attack on August 26, 2021, I hosted a bipartisan Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony at the U.S. Capitol where we presented the Gold Star Families with the Congressional Gold Medal - the highest honor Congress can bestow upon any American citizen. Watch that ceremony here.

In late September, I joined the Arkansas delegation, Gov. Sanders & the Cash family to unveil a statue of Johnny Cash in the Capitol. Standing tall with Bible in hand, the "Man in Black" reminds us that America isn’t just about law & politics, but about the American people & their stories. He is the first musician to have a statue in the U.S. Capitol.

Although he was an Arkansan, Johnny Cash also had a special connection to Shreveport, Louisiana. Cash was a regular performer at the Louisiana Hayride alongside the Tennessee Two. And on New Years Eve in 1955 he performed in one of the most famous shows in Hayride history - he took the stage alongside Elvis Presley, Johnny Horton, George Jones, and David Houston. The tickets were only 60 cents!

IN THE MEDIA

I sat for a number of television and radio interviews to discuss our work in the House recently and also delivered a speech about House Republicans 2025 economic agenda to the America First Policy Institute. See below for a collection of those conversations. Click the images to watch, and check our YouTube channel for more.

America First Policy Institute (AFPI) Speech

Fox News: Fox and Friends

LAGNIAPPE

We received sad news last week with the passing of Justice Jeffrey Victory. Justice Victory was a friend to all, a talented legal scholar, and someone who cared deeply about the people of Louisiana. I will always cherish his wisdom and mentorship. Our prayers are with Nancy and the entire Victory family. We lost a great man last week. Click here to read his full obituary.