Congresswoman Lesko Weekly Update

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone had a great week, and I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween! This week, I had a wonderful time speaking with constituents at the Church on the Green in Sun City West, AZ. Every Thursday, Church on the Green brings members of the community together so that Sun City West residents can enjoy a good meal and good company.

Lesko Protects Taxpayer Dollars From Funding Abortions

I joined Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) in sending a letter to the Department of Defense urging the Pentagon to rescind its policy that utilizes taxpayer dollars to pay for travel expenses for troops seeking out-of-state abortions. The Biden Administration's decision to establish an abortion travel fund without any input from Congress disregards over 40 years of bipartisan consensus that protects the American people's hard-earned tax dollars from funding abortions.

GET THE FACTS: President Biden's Record-Breaking Border Crisis

The numbers are in and President Biden’s historic border crisis is only getting worse. In September 2022, there were 227,547 illegal crossings at our southern border, bringing the total to over 2.37 million illegal crossings in Fiscal Year 2022 alone. This is a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection record. There have now been over 3.8 million illegal immigrants apprehended at our southern border since President Biden took office in January 2021. To make matters worse, 98 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database were apprehended at the southern border in Fiscal Year 2022, more than the previous five years combined, and 20 of these encounters occurred in September 2022. These numbers do not account for the 599,000 known gotaways at the southern border in the past fiscal year. President Biden and House Democrats’ open border policies have unquestionably created an invasion at our southern border. I am pleased to be working with my House Republican colleagues to fight against these dangerous policies and secure our southern border.

Around the District

Austin from our office participated in Peoria Unified School District’s Fall Field Trip to allow parents and community members to get a look at what’s happening in the classroom and learn about the exciting events planned to celebrate Peoria High School’s 100^th anniversary!

Monica from our office attended a ribbon cutting for the grand opening of Pam Wall’s new Prime Lending office in Glendale, AZ. We are grateful to have more businesses coming to Arizona’s 8^th Congressional District!

Monica also presented a Congressional Recognition to the North Peoria Rotary Club for their dedication to serving the Peoria, AZ community. We are grateful for everything they do for Arizona’s 8^th Congressional District!

Casework Highlight

A constituent contacted our office after receiving an IRS bill notice she believed was an error. We contacted the IRS, and they determined the bill had been sent in error. The IRS corrected the issue, and the constituent did not owe any money to the IRS.

Encouraging Story

I want to share this story about a 16-year-old Student, Pia Sachdev who started a program called Sneakers for Smiles, which donates customized sneakers to children at the Phoenix Children's Hospital. It is so wonderful to see students using their creativity to help others.

Congressional App Challenge

Submissions for the Congressional App Challenge are now open to all middle and high school students! The Congressional App Challenge is a competition to encourage students to engage in coding and computer science. App submissions are due by November 1, 2022. Winning apps will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol! Register today and submit your app here.

We are Here to Help

As always, my office is here to help. My Surprise district office is open and serving constituents. To make an appointment with the office, please call 623-776-7911.

My Washington, D.C. office is open and answering your calls. Please feel free to contact us via phone at 202-225-4576 or via email by going to my website at https://lesko.house.gov/contact/.

I encourage you to visit the website and to also follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Parler, Gettr, and Truth Social, and like my Facebook page for up to date information on what I'm doing and how my office can help you.

May God continue to bless you and our great Nation.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Debbie Lesko