1. My Trip to the Southern Border with the House Oversight Committee.
2. Democrats' Plan to Pack the Supreme Court.
3. Protecting Life.
4. Weekly Roundup.
5. My Contact Information.

This week, I joined the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on a trip to El Paso, Texas and along the Southern border in New Mexico to examine President Biden’s border crisis. This crisis continues to escalate, encouraging human smugglers to profit from the administration’s open borders policies and placing migrant families and unaccompanied children at risk as they seek to come to the United States illegally.

While on the trip, we toured the Border Patrol Station 1, the El Paso Processing Center, and the Santa Teresa Port of Entry; heard the trying stories of local officials and ranchers in New Mexico; toured the border wall, including the location where construction has ceased because of President Biden’s executive order; and participated in a night ride with the National Border Patrol Council.

Over the course of President Trump’s time in office, he signed several executive orders to deter, slow, and in some cases stop the flow of illegal migrants into the United States, much of which President Biden has since rescinded or revoked. The rescinded orders include commonsense policies like declaring the crisis at our Southern border a national emergency; the Migrant Protection Protocols, which allowed migrants to remain in Mexico to await hearings rather than be released into the interior of the United States; allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize the removal of all illegal immigrants, especially those who committed crimes, posed a national security risk, engaged in fraud or willful representation before the government, or abused welfare programs; and construction of the border wall.

As a result, the crisis is on track to be the worst in 20 years, according to DHS. In March of 2021:

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered over 172,000 illegal immigrants at the southwest border, the highest monthly total in 15 years and an increase of 400% compared to March 2020.
• CBP encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied alien children (UACs), an increase of 486% compared to March 2020.
• CBP encountered more than 53,000 family units at the southwest border, an increase of 1056% compared to March 2020.

To date, neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris have visited the border to witness conditions first-hand. I and my Republican colleagues on the House Oversight Committee have repeatedly called on the Biden Administration to provide a plan to address the issue at the border, but they have not provided one. Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has also ignored calls from several Republicans, including myself, calling for a hearing about the crisis.

It is hard to understand the full breadth of the crisis along our Southern border unless you are there seeing the children in custody, talking to CBP agents, and witnessing just how easy it is to walk across the border illegally. I have visited the border several times and this is, by a mile, the most concerning trip. Seeing row after row of young children alone without their parents waiting for processing was truly heartbreaking. Hearing about the tens of thousands of people crossing the border unimpeded while border patrol dealt with paperwork made me wonder if our country will ever be the same. We can return to a more orderly immigration system, but that starts with securing the border with a wall and accompanying technology such as cameras and drones. President Trump did an outstanding job restoring order to the border. President Biden has exacerbated the crisis. So much so, that even some Democrats are breaking ranks and admitting that these policies worked.

"I have heard that there are some people on the Democratic side who would like to increase the number of judges. I think that was a bad idea when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the court...If anything would make the court appear partisan it would be that. One side saying when we’re in power we’re going to enlarge the number of judges so we’ll have more people who will vote the way we want them to...Nine seems to be a good number, and it’s been that way for a long time." -Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg from a 2019 interview with NPR

Last week, President Joe Biden announced that he would be launching a commission to study the merits of expanding the number of justices sitting on the Supreme Court.

This week, House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) led a group of fellow Democrats in a press conference outside of the Supreme Court to announce their support for expanding the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices.

During the fledgling years of the United States, the Supreme Court has had as few as five and as many as 10 justices. In 1869, the Circuit Court Judges act was signed into law, codifying the number of justices at 9.

The Supreme Court should not be a partisan issue and it is not a toy for the majority to use to push their political agenda. That is true on both sides of the aisle. The Judicial Branch is an equal branch of government that exists as a check on the Legislative and Executive branches. While in the Senate, even Joe Biden said that packing the Supreme Court would be a "bonehead idea"

I joined my colleagues who feel the same way on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to show support for maintaining the integrity of the Court by keeping the number of Justices at nine, where it belongs.

I am proud to let you know that I have signed on as a cosponsor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, H.R. 619. I have always been an ardent defender of pro-life policies and I believe it is imperative that this bill be brought to the House Floor for a vote immediately to protect babies who survive attempted abortions.

That is why, this week, I have joined a coalition of my colleagues in signing a discharge petition, initiated by Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL), to have the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act brought up for a vote. Normally, The Speaker of the House decides which bills will be brought to a vote. A discharge petition is a document that, if 218 members of Congress sign on, will force a vote on the bill. Our current Speaker, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, refuses to adequately protect babies who are born alive after an attempted abortion, so a discharge petition is the only way I and my pro-life colleagues have a chance to give these children the protection they deserve. 

It is disgraceful that sitting Members of Congress so easily and openly turn their backs on our country’s most vulnerable. The American people deserve to know where their representatives stand on this important issue. As of writing this, 202 Member of Congress have signed this discharge petition, so we only need 16 more!

REMINDER: Both the federal and Wisconsin state tax filing deadlines have been moved to May 17.

Last Friday, I visited both campuses of Neenah Lutheran School to speak with K-8th graders about what I do in Congress and how representative government works.

Tax hikes and Green New Deal policies. That is what’s inside President Biden's Trojan Horse “infrastructure” bill. The effects of reckless spending — growing the national debt and inflation — will hurt working Americans.

I joined the Wisconsin chapter of 4H to discuss the issues affecting Wisconsin's youth and steps I can take to further support these future leaders.

It was great to see the students and parents of Ozaukee Christian School at the Lincoln Memorial in our nation's capital. I can help schedule certain tours in Washington, DC, so please don’t hesitate to call my office to let me know if you are visiting.