John,

Good evening and welcome to our Weekend Update.

Earlier this week, I joined Rob Finnerty on Newsmax to discuss the rail strike, the protests in China, and the incoming Republican majority. Click here or below to watch my interview.

Come January, the House Republican majority will be unified and focused on delivering on our Commitment to America, strengthening our economy and national security.

On Saturday morning, I joined Newsmax for an in-studio interview. While in the studio, I ran into my good friend and colleague, Congressman Pat Fallon (R-TX). 

During the interview, I discussed the Biden administration's hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents. This measure is designed to attack small businesses and consumers. The bill worsens inflation, especially in the first two years, as revenue raisers take time to ramp up and the deficit increases. Biden's wrongly worded, Inflation Reduction Act, will increase budget deficits from 2023 to 2025, potentially worsening inflation. On balance, the long-run impact on inflation is particularly uncertain but likely close to zero. Click here to watch my full interview.

Also, Saturday morning, I attended a breakfast hosted by PNC Bank, where I ran into the great John Catsimatidis. I complimented John on his helping make Fed chair Jerome Powell blink regarding raising interest rates. Unleashing American energy production will have a far larger impact on Bide-inflation then interest rate increases.

While in D.C., I had an opportunity to visit with Kellyanne Conway, former Senior Counselor to President Trump, at her book signing. Her new book, Here's the deal, was recently released and I encourage you to pick one up. Kellyanne is an impressive political mind and I always enjoy catching up with her.

This week, I introduced legislation to benefit rural hospitals and physician teaching programs. Rural hospitals should be fairly funded to serve their communities. Teaching hospitals should receive appropriate reimbursements to train the next generation of physicians and health care workers. My bill, the Fairness for Rural Teaching Hospitals Act, addresses these issues. Click here to read more.

IN NEWS YOU WON’T HEAR IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: The situation at our border is an unmitigated disaster. That is entirely due to the Biden administration's policies. Under Biden’s administration, we have witnessed record-breaking statistics on illegal immigrants and deadly drugs, like fentanyl, crossing our southern border.  

Instead of correcting the issues that have created this self-inflicted crisis, the Biden administration has continued its failed policy agenda. They removed immigration policies implemented by President Trump that worked. For example, in August of this year, Biden formally ended Trump’s successful 'Remain in Mexico' program. Following that decision, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reported that a minimum of 64,000 illegal immigrants evaded capture crossing into the United States in October. 

Since Biden took office:

• 4 million illegal crossings.
  
  
• Over 1 million "got aways".
  
  
• Over 14,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl were seized, which has contributed to the deaths of 107,000 Americans.
  
  
• 98 apprehensions of individuals on the terror watch list. And those are just the ones that we know of. No one knows how many terrorists have easily entered our country due to open border policies.

Biden’s policies and rhetoric have encouraged people to make the dangerous and treacherous journey to our southern border, leading to the deaths of over 800 migrants. This journey can be especially dangerous for females as it is reported 1 in 3 women are sexually assaulted on the journey. The crisis at the southern border has also had a major toll on our CBP agents, with 14 agents sadly committing suicide.

In May, the Biden administration had the horrific idea of attempting to end Title 42. Courts blocked their attempt; due to the irrevocable harm, it would cause to our country. The same day the administration appealed that decision, resulting in another court, with little concern for our national security, ordering Title 42 to end on December 21. U.S. Border Patrol agents are now warning officials that due to the court order to end Title 42, they could see a surge and encounter an overwhelming 18,000 illegal crossings a day at the southern border. This would be triple the current daily average of illegal immigrant encounters under the Biden administration.

It is clear that President Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, have no plan, or worse, no desire, to address the root causes of the border crisis once Title 42 ends on December 21. According to court documents, the Biden Administration has allowed over 1 million illegal immigrants to settle in the U.S. 

Thankfully, my Republican colleagues and I have a plan. Under a Republican majority, we will pass legislation to secure our border by providing the necessary resources to the CBP, conducting crucial oversight on our border decisions, and ending liberal immigration policies that incentivize migrants to cross our border illegally.

I want to extend my best wishes as everyone prepares and enjoys Christmas and the holiday season. In spite of the difficulties we face as a nation, we are still blessed to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. That is because we have a great government; it's because we have great people. 

God bless, and see you soon,

Dan Meuser
http://www.meuserforcongress.com/