Hello, Friends —
This week in Congress, I fought back against the Biden Administration's “woke” indoctrination agenda for the military, known as Critical Race Theory. I also joined forces with my colleagues to break up Big Tech and cosponsored several pieces of conservative legislation on behalf of Florida’s First District. Here’s our week in review:
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LIES DURING HASC HEARING
Click Here to Watch!
On Wednesday, I held Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accountable for his politicized role in leading the Department of Defense. In this House Armed Services Committee hearing, Secretary Austin denied that the Department of Defense teaches or embraces Critical Race Theory (CRT). So, I reminded the SecDef that his hiring of Bishop Garrison, a Critical Race Theorist, is, in fact, an endorsement of this hateful ideology. As you will be able to view in the video, Austin admitted that he “did not personally review [Bishop Garrison’s] tweets,” before hiring him as a Senior Advisor. Click here to watch the full exchange!
Click Here to Watch!
REP. GAETZ FIGHTS FOR ANTITRUST LEGISLATION TO BREAK UP BIG TECH
The exponentially increasing power of Big Tech companies is a threat to freedom and democracy in the United States. Between just 6 companies: Google, Apple, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Twitter, there is a free-for-all over all citizens’ information and speech. This dominance goes against the freedom from surveillance that us Americans once enjoyed in our Free Country. This week has been a busy one for members on the House Judiciary Committee. We spent all day Wednesday marking up antitrust bills to break up Big Tech until the early hour of 5am on Thursday morning. Then, we resumed at 11am and continued throughout Thursday.
There are 6 bills targeted at Big Tech that I am proud to support on a bipartisan basis:
H.R. 3843, the “Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021”;
H.R. 3460, the “State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021”;
H.R. 3849, the “Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act of 2021”; H.R. 3826, the “Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021”; H.R. 3816, the “American Choice and Innovation Online Act”; and H.R. 3825, the “Ending Platform Monopolies Act
REP. GAETZ RENEWS CALL TO #FREEBRITNEY
Civil rights do not end where conservatorships begin. Britney Spears wants to tell her story to the world. She wants to use the experiences that have burdened her to effectuate broader change, and I think we ought to give her that opportunity in the United States Congress. I joined Stephanie Hamill on One America News to renew my call to #FreeBritney and allow her to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
Click Here to Watch!
CONGRESSMAN GAETZ COSPONSORED THE FOLLOWING BILLS:
DEFUND THE WUHAN INSTITUTE OF VIROLOGY ACT
Along with 29 members of Congress, I cosponsored Rep. Scott Perry’s bill to prohibit federal funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Interestingly enough, all 31 of us affiliated with this bill are Republicans. The gain-of-function research conducted at this Institute is not a partisan issue. The Democrat House members need to wake up and realize that mistakes, such as providing funds to a pandemic incubator, are a non-negotiable problem that needs to be prevented.
Click Here to Read the Bill!
VOTE OUTCOME TRANSPARENCY IN ELECTIONS (VOTE) ACT
In the 2020 presidential election, 75 million American voters were disenfranchised; leaving many to lose faith in our electoral system and in the strength of America’s democratic system. American voters received multiple ballots, dead Americans were recorded as voting, and ballot harvesting was conducted in a record amount. The VOTE Act would restore faith in our elections by imposing two simple requirements: 1) On the night of an election, states must make available to the public the number of ballots in their possession; and 2) Ballots delivered by USPS must be postmarked. This is a small, but momentous step in righteously reforming our elections! This bill resembles election reforms enacted in Florida.
Click Here to Read the Bill!
THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS ESSENTIAL ACT
I am proud to have cosponsored congressman Dan Newhouse’s bill, the Second Amendment is Essential Act of 2021. This bill would classify, by law, the firearms industry as a critical infrastructure sector and those it employs as essential workers by amending the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the USA Patriot Act of 2001.
Time and time again, the Left disregards our right to bear arms, which is a sacred one, enshrined by our Founding Fathers in the Bill of Rights. For too long, the federal government has steadily chipped away at this right, making responsible gun ownership a complicated process of paperwork and government intrusion. These burdensome rules have resulted in the unfair treatment of many citizens.
This legislation would ensure that Americans can freely enjoy their Second Amendment rights at all times; including when they need it the most.
Click Here to Read the Bill!
THE VETERANS IN PARKS (VIP) ACT
The VIP Act is a bipartisan bill led by Reps. Miller-Meeks and Gallego, which properly recognizes our military service members, veterans and Gold Star Families. This bill 1) provides free annual America the Beautiful Passes to current service members and 2) provides free lifetime America the Beautiful Passes to veterans and members of Gold Star Families, in order to ensure that they can always access our National parks and public lands at no cost. America the Beautiful Passes provide access to over 2,000 federal recreation areas, including National Parks, National Forests, and Wildlife Refuges. The key aspect of this bill is that it codifies the free America the Beautiful Pass so that this will not be undone in future years!
THE PEACE ACT
The Preventing Endless Armed Conflict and Engagement (PEACE) Act would provide for more Congressional input into military operations, as authorized in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 12 of the Constitution. This bill would place a 2-year sunset on all future military authorizations, require military authorizations to establish a geographic scope, create a clear objective, and specify the groups/countries against which our military force would be authorized. Additionally, the Departments of Defense and State must publish an annual, unclassified report that assesses military operations related to each Authorized Use of Military Force (AUMF) and brief Congress on this report every six months.
It is time for the Legislative Branch to reclaim its Constitutional mandate of having a seat at the table in America’s military decision. Our military engagements in the Middle East are based on Executive Branch AUMFs, which circumvent Congress’s role in important decision making.
Click Here to Read the Bill!
REP. GAETZ COSPONSORS A BILL AND RESOLUTION AGAINST CRITICAL RACE THEORY
As Critical Race Theory continues to infiltrate our American systems, Rep. Burgess Owens has taken the initiative to draft legislation to “restrict executive agencies from acting in contravention of Executive Order 13950 relating to combating race and sex stereotyping.” This bill, H.R. 3235, would rescind President Biden’s Executive Order that nullified the Trump Administration’s executive action to stop CRT from being taught to federal employers. The bill seeks to block the teaching of CRT to federal employees, as the Trump Administration sought to do. The bill also lays out a number of findings pointing out that CRT actually promotes racism and is anti-American.
Click Here to Read the Bill!
I also sponsored Rep. Burgess’s resolution, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Critical Race Theory serves as a prejudicial ideological tool, rather than an educational tool, and should not be taught in K–12 classrooms as a way to teach students to judge individuals based on sex, race, ethnicity, and national origin.” It is important that Congress continues to push back against this CRT infiltration, and I will continue to do so.
Click Here to Read the Resolution!
AROUND THE DISTRICT
2021 CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE
Starting today, June 25, students in Florida’s First district are eligible to register for the Congressional App Challenge! All interested students in the district are encouraged to participate by registering, designing, and submitting their apps before November 1st, 2021. For more information on this year’s Congressional App Challenge please visit the website or view this document. I wish everyone the best of luck and hope that our brightest minds decide to submit their apps!
WHAT WE'RE READING
Associated Press — June 24, 2021
Britney Spears tells judge: 'I want my life back'
The National Pulse — June 24, 2021
Fauci Book Author Kate Messner Has A History Of Targeting Kids With Anti-American Propaganda
The Hill — June 23, 2021
Florida Gov signs law requiring students, faculty be asked their political beliefs
The New York Times — June 22, 2021
Tech Giants, Fearful of Proposals to Curb Them, Blitz Washington With Lobbying
GAETZ IN THE NEWS
BizPac Review — June 24, 2021
Matt Gaetz gets kudos for grilling Secretary of Defense about his ‘woke’ new military
"During a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz exposed what appeared to be Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s shocking ignorance regarding the inner workings of the military."
The Federalist — June 23, 2021
Britney Spears Pleads Freedom From ‘Abusive’ Conservatorship: ‘I’m Traumatized’
"The grassroots movement has also sparked a push to reform the legal system in the area of conservatorships, with Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz on the House Judiciary Committee demanding New York Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler hold hearings on the issue."
The Floridian — June 22, 2021
Matt Gaetz Calls for Evidence of Twitter Collusion to be Released
"After years of pursuing big tech and the recent Twitter ban of former President Trump (R), Florida Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is calling for evidence of Twitter collusion with California politicians to be released."
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