Dear Friend,
 
Telegram readers know that more than a year ago, I was among the very first Members of Congress to raise concerns regarding the weak, and in some cases, non-existent screening of Afghans brought to the United States in the chaotic aftermath of President Biden’s botched withdrawal from Kabul.
 
In the weeks and months that followed, Afghans with serious criminal records and prior felonies were identified only after arriving in our country.
 
But that’s not all.
 
Independent audits released by two separate government watchdogs have since revealed that a number of “unvetted, dangerous Afghans” who “pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities” were allowed in. Even worse, federal authorities now apparently have no idea where they are.
 
At the time, so-called “fact checkers” attacked me for sounding the alarm – despite the growing mountain of indisputable evidence that the Biden administration has never taken the need to vet Afghans seriously.
 
In fact, one Customs and Border Protection official bluntly described the White House approach as “get as many people on the plane as you can, and we’ll sort out the [immigration visa] stuff later,” adding that many Afghans “landed with no documents whatsoever.”
 
The White House itself effectively confirmed this week what I’ve said many times by requesting millions of dollars to investigate Afghan evacuees who are already in American communities.
 
Now, you may be thinking that it would make more sense to check the backgrounds of people from a terrorist hotbed like Afghanistan before – not after – they’ve already disappeared into American neighborhoods.
 
But that’s not what the Biden administration did.
 
Instead, they pursued a “ready-fire-aim” policy, letting tens of thousands of unvetted Afghans into our country first – and asking questions later.
 
I warned that this could happen, but President Biden ignored those warnings – and now the horses have left the barn.
 
We’ve got a lot more to tell you about in this week’s edition of the Tiffany Telegram and appreciate you starting off your weekend with us.

Sincerely,





Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress

When tragedy strikes, Wisconsinites step up to help, even if it is over a thousand miles away. Wisconsin linemen, like Jonny Hilbert with Rice Lake Utilities, are heading down to Florida to help with Hurricane Ian recovery efforts. I hope you will join me and Chris as we pray for everyone impacted by the storm as well as for a safe return back home for all the linemen and recovery workers.

Democrats play games with government funding
For over a year, Democrats have been so obsessed with spending over $3 trillion dollars as fast as they can, that they failed to make any bipartisan progress on Congress's most basic responsibility – funding the government. With today being the last day to fund the government, instead of bringing forward honest appropriations bills, Democrats passed something known as a continuing resolution, or a “CR,” that would continue this year’s government funding levels through December 16, 2022. I warned that this would happen last week when I signed onto a letter by my colleague Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) outlining our opposition to any CR that gives one more penny to the Democrats’ radical, inflationary agenda before the next Congress, but Democrats did just that. This means that after the November elections but before a new Congress arrives, Democrats will likely seek to pass a “lame-duck” omnibus spending bill that will do nothing to tame inflation, secure our southern border, or unleash American energy. And if previous spending bills are any indication, it will be filled with more of the same reckless spending that got us into this mess in the first place. This is truly a failure to govern, and Democrats must stop playing partisan games at a time when Americans are struggling to make ends meet, put food on their tables, and keep their lights on. It’s time for Congress to start balancing our budget just as Wisconsinites must do every single day.
 
“Political” Science at the CDC?
For nearly two and a half years now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been collecting data on COVID-19 and publishing guidance based on the findings. However, back in February of this year, it came to light that the CDC was withholding data from the American people and releasing only the cherry-picked data that supported their narrative. It became even more obvious after they released data on the effectiveness of booster shots but omitted the hospitalization data for people under the age of fifty. The data that they conveniently failed to include showed that booster shots were least likely to benefit younger adults. Biden’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also been fighting to prevent or delay releasing their COVID-19 vaccine information with the American public – despite having a legal obligation to do so under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). That’s why I signed on to a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf expressing my concerns with their refusal to comply with a recent FOIA request seeking the analyses of VAERS data with respect to the COVID-19 vaccine. VAERS is the early warning database that monitors the safety of vaccines after they are authorized for use by the FDA. This information is crucial because it helps researchers identify potential adverse effects associated with vaccines such as anaphylaxis, myocarditis, and Guillain-Barré Syndrome. It’s completely unacceptable that the Biden administration continues to put up roadblocks to what could potentially be lifesaving information. You can read that letter here.

                          Committee Update

Natural Resources       
The DRILL Act
This week I introduced legislation with the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Bruce Westerman (AR-04). The bill is called the Directing Responsibility to Interior for Leases and Licenses Act, or the DRILL Act, for short, and it will help guarantee more responsible oversight to a government agency in desperate need of it. This legislation would require the Department of Interior (DOI) to publish information online and report to Congress regarding the processing of onshore and offshore drilling and exploration permits, the status of federal leases, and usage of applications for permits to drill (APD) fees. The DRILL Act would also require the DOI and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to submit a yearly report to Congress detailing staffing capacity and planning to ensure the timely processing of permits and planning for lease sales. The reason why this is so important is that soon after taking office, President Biden issued an Executive Order suspending new oil and gas lease sales on federal onshore lands and offshore waters. In May of this year, he also announced that his administration would no longer hold court-ordered offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and as of July, the DOI was sitting on over 4,300 pending applications for permits to drill – all while Americans are struggling with sky-high gas prices. My bill would help break the gridlock that is driving up fuel costs by speeding up access to the Made-In-America energy that families and employers rely on.

                          Recent Legislation

Defending the Second Amendment
It seems that with each passing week, we see another push in Washington to chip away at the rights of law-abiding Americans. Telegram readers may recall our recent update on Democrats’ efforts to pressure credit card networks into discriminating against gun retailers
through the use of what are known as merchant category codes (MCC) – and to use these codes to establish a backdoor gun registry. That’s why this week I signed on to the No SmartPay for Anti-2A Companies Act
introduced by my colleague Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ-05). This bill would bar the federal government’s Administrator of General Services Administration (GSA) from awarding a contract under the SmartPay Program for payment processors that have an MCC for gun retailers. I cosponsored this bill because I don’t believe schemes that target and
track legal gun owners – or seek to weaponize financial institutions
against firearm manufacturers and retailers – will help combat crime or make our communities any safer. Instead, we ought to focus on enforcing our laws, supporting our police, and making sure we put dangerous, career criminals where they belong: Behind bars.

                            District Update

Stops in Bayfield and Ashland
At the beginning of this week, I had three great district visits in Ashland and Bayfield. I started by visiting Erickson Orchards and Country Store in Bayfield – the Berry Capital of Wisconsin. Erickson’s Orchard is a third-generation, family-owned orchard that has been dedicated to preserving the culture of northern Wisconsin for over 100 years. From apples to berries and even peaches, everything is homegrown.

Thank you to Erickson Orchards and Country Store in Bayfield for preserving the culture of northern Wisconsin since the early 1900s.

I then followed that up by having an informative discussion at McCoy Construction and Forestry in Ashland. Here, I was able to see firsthand how the Biden administration's economic policies have caused major problems for the heavy equipment industry not only in Wisconsin, but all throughout America. We also discussed the positive impact that responsible mining in Wisconsin has on our economy. The construction and forestry industries are essential to creating rural jobs and boosting our local economies, and we must hold the current administration accountable for the strain they are placing on American businesses, like McCoy Construction and Forestry in Ashland.

Stopped by McCoy Construction and Forestry in Ashland for a great discussion on the supply chain crisis and the need for clean, domestic mining.

Lastly, I finished with a meeting with Mayor MacKenzie – the mayor of Ashland. We discussed everything from safe drinking water to potential grant programs for future infrastructure projects, like a deep-water boat launch and replacing the pipes that collect Ashland’s drinking water from Lake Superior. We also discussed the struggles that many small towns, like Ashland, are having when it comes to retaining police officers and providing emergency services for the area. While our current first responders are working around the clock to ensure the lives of our friends, neighbors, and fellow Wisconsinites are in good hands, we must ensure that our communities have the personnel needed to save lives. That’s why I want to make sure that those who are interested in becoming a volunteer EMT or firefighter have the resources available to them to do so. For more information on becoming an EMT, please click here. For more information on becoming a firefighter, please click here.

                             Upcoming Events

Service academy application deadline is 2 weeks away 
I wanted to remind parents and students that the deadline to apply for a service academy nomination is coming up in two weeks on Friday, October 14th. All high school students admitted into our nation’s military service academies must first receive a nomination from at least one member of their state’s Congressional Delegation, the Vice President, or the President of the United States. Interested students seeking my nomination should visit my website to access the application and learn more about the application process. Please note, that completed applications must be in my Wausau office no later than 5 PM on October 14th. That means if you are planning to mail it, you must get it in the mail a few days before the deadline. 

                                  Resources  

September is Passport Awareness Month which means that now is the time to apply for and renew your passport while demand is low. For more information, please visit the State Department website here. We recommend to apply at least six months before planned travel as routine service may take up to about 18 weeks.

The USDA continues to make resources and assistance available to agricultural producers and working families to ensure access, safety and stability for food markets and supplies. 

If a friend forwarded you this newsletter, and you would like to receive it in the future, you can subscribe here for weekly updates and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

As always, you are welcome to visit my website or to contact my offices in Washington, DC or Wisconsin, which remain open for service, if you have any questions or need assistance. 

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