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Dear Mr. xxxxxx,
As I begin another busy week in Texas after relaxing with my family over Christmas, I wanted to pass along my latest update on what I have been doing to fight for you, Texas’ 21st Congressional district, and our country as a whole:
Fighting Dems’ last-ditch omnibus spending spree
Last week, I spoke on the House floor twice in fervent opposition of lame duck Democrats' last-ditch $1.7 trillion, 4,100-page omnibus bill. This bill was unveiled at 1:30am two days before the final vote in the House, and will increase spending by $118 billion.
The omnibus bill includes 45 billion dollars for the country of Ukraine - 21 percent over President Biden's request. It also includes $15 billion for 7,234 earmarks - pet projects funneling money to all manner of worthless and often harmful projects (I compiled a list of some of the worst earmarks here) And it funds a whole alphabet soup of federal agencies that are demonstrably not doing their jobs and are instead targeting the American people.
Before the vote, I introduced several amendments to the omnibus bill that would have done the following:
- Defund the Department of Defense's abortion travel fund
- Prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from funding abortion or abortion related travel
- Cut Internal Revenue Service funding by $7.7 billion
- Defund the so-called Respect for Marriage Act
- Defund the World Health Organization
- Defund the UN Office of Population Affairs
- Defund the United Nations Population Fund
- Defund climate envoy John Kerry
- Defund the Department of Defense's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office
- Defund the Department of Energy's Office of Economic Impact and Diversity
- Defund the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Defund "environmental justice" activities at the Environmental Protection Agency
Unfortunately, the Rules committee rejected all of my amendments. As you can imagine, I voted no on the bill.
You can read my full statement on voting against the omnibus bill by clicking here.
You can watch my floor speeches by clicking here and here.
Challenging unconstitutional proxy voting
After the vote on the omnibus bill, I challenged the constitutionality of allowing more than half of the votes on it to be cast by proxy.
There were over 220 proxy votes cast on the $1.7 trillion omnibus in the final hours before Christmas, which created a lack of a physical quorum as the Constitution requires.
You can watch a clip of me speaking on the floor about proxy voting by clicking here.
Here are some news stories about what I’ve been up to lately:
Passport resources
The State Department is encouraging passport applications and renewals during the off-peak travel season in fall or winter because demand is lower and processing is faster. Please remember to check your passport expiration date and keep in mind some countries require your passport to be valid for six months after your visit. You can find information on how to apply or renew your passport here.
USDA Wildfire and Drought Resources
The US Department of Agriculture offers several resources available to farmers and ranchers impacted by the recent wildfires and drought in Texas. We encourage you to take advantage of this federal assistance if eligible.
Resources for wildfire and drought recovery and risk management are available here and here, respectively.
If you have any concerns that my office can help out with, please don’t hesitate to call or email through the “email me” portal on my website. If you feel so inclined, you can also just send an old-fashioned letter to my Washington or district offices.
If your friends, relatives, or neighbors would also like to sign up for these weekly updates, they can do so by sending my office a quick email or simply by signing up here. For more up-to-the-minute updates, you can follow my press team on Facebook and Twitter.
Sincerely,
Chip Roy
Member of Congress
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