|
Dear Friend,
Many of you likely saw President Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this week. Sadly, the rosy assessment he provided to the millions of Americans watching the speech was very different from the reality most of us are living.
We all feel the pain when we fill up our gas tanks, buy groceries, and pay our home heating bills. Paychecks aren’t keeping pace with price hikes. Too many of our friends and neighbors are struggling, and some parts of our country increasingly look nothing like the country we grew up in.
In fact, this week, a CBS News poll found that just 13% of Americans say the state of our union is strong.
That’s why this week as President Biden was set to address Congress, I was hoping for him to reverse course, stop the reckless spending, and be the unifier he promised to be in his inaugural speech a little over two years ago.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
On Tuesday, President Biden sounded like a kid that just maxed out America’s credit card – and wants to keep going. More of your money for Green New Deal mandates. More government handouts. More COVID-19 funding. More spending today, and a larger burden for our children and grandchildren.
Even more stunning, this laundry list of government goodies was laid out at a time when Congress is working to try and find bipartisan agreements on ways to trim spending as America once again approaches the debt limit.
Yet, instead of addressing the debt limit negotiations in a bipartisan manner, President Biden trotted out a familiar lie, accusing Republicans of trying to cut Social Security and Medicare. It’s tired, it’s dishonest, it’s irresponsible, and it is just plain false.
I have reiterated over and over again that Americans, who have worked hard their entire lives to pay into these programs, deserve to receive their hard-earned benefits, and they will.
As he continued with his 73-minute speech, his tone did not get better. It got worse.
During this time, I was looking for four things: A plan to fight inflation, a pathway toward lower energy prices, a proposal to secure the southern border, and a recognition of the real and rising threat posed by Communist China.
While none of these were a top priority for President Biden, Republicans in the House of Representatives are committed to solving the problems that the Biden administration has created over the past two years.
In just our first month in the majority, we passed legislation to hold Communist China accountable, end the federal government’s COVID-19 emergencies, and protect our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as well as repealed $80 billion for the IRS to come after hardworking Americans and required federal government employees to show up to work in person, just as Wisconsinites must do every single day.
This is just the start, and I look forward to continuing to deliver results. I hope President Biden will join us in getting our nation back on track.
Sincerely,
Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress
President Biden is protected with a fence during his State of the Union address, but he leaves the rest of America unprotected at the southern border.
Targeting China’s trade abuses
In our last edition of the Telegram, we told you about legislation that Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) and I introduced to put an end to America’s failed, two-decade trade policy with Communist China. It’s a policy that has inflicted deep and long-lasting harm on working-class families, weakened our manufacturing sector, and hollowed out countless American communities. It has also bankrolled an unprecedented Chinese military buildup, making China’s genocidal rulers more dangerous, more ruthless and more powerful than ever before. This week, our legislation made national news when Rep. Smith appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to talk about why it is so critical for Congress to pass our bill, link U.S. trade with China to human rights, and restore the authority of Congress to hold China accountable for its shocking abuses of political and religious dissidents. You can see that interview, and read more about the issue here.
Illegal aliens voting in the Nation’s Capital?
Sounds crazy, right? Well, that’s exactly what the city government in Washington, DC wants to allow. It’s a plan so outrageous that even the far-left Washington Post described it as “radical.” And it doesn’t stop with illegal aliens. The D.C. proposal would even let employees of foreign embassies – including those from countries like China and Russia– cast ballots. Now, I know we’ve heard a lot about “foreign election interference” lately – but this definitely takes the cake. That’s why this week, I joined 260 of my colleagues in voting to overturn this dangerous, un-American threat to our democracy. I was pleased that more than 40 of my Democratic colleagues joined with Republicans in bipartisan solidarity to halt this assault on American voting rights. However, it was alarming to see that more than 160 of them voted against this common-sense measure. You can check out the vote total here.
Protecting manufacturers and commerce
I had a great time meeting with the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce on Wednesday where we discussed ways that we can improve the business climate in America. Thank you for traveling all the way to Washington to discuss this important issue and for representing Wisconsin’s businesses on the national scale.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce joined me for a meeting in Washington. It’s always great to see Wisconsinites in the halls of Congress.
Committee Update
Natural Resources
Tapping into America’s energy and mineral potential
We had an eventful week on the Natural Resources Committee, starting off with a full committee hearing titled “Unleashing America’s Energy and Mineral Potential.” This was our first oversight hearing of the year, and one of our biggest priorities on the Committee is promoting the domestic production of energy and minerals to not only help satisfy increasing global demand but also to meet our own national security needs. The Biden administration has hindered our ability to domestically produce oil and gas, as well as mine for the minerals that are key to producing the modern-day technology we all rely on. Republicans are committed to taking an all-of-the-above approach to energy and mining and introducing key permitting reforms that will make it easier for producers to do so. The demand for conventional energy will continue to rise in the coming decades, so while the President claimed during the State of the Union that we will need fossil fuels for at least the next 10 years, we will need them for much longer than that. You can see some of my remarks from the hearing here. Also, I sent a letter to Interior Secretary Haaland and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore alongside my colleagues requesting that the agencies finalize a key rule. This Cottonwood rule is responsible for delaying at least 130 projects, and it has also made it harder for the Forest Service to manage lands in the National Forest System. The long-term health of our public lands and National Forests are in jeopardy if we don’t fix this problem. Hopefully, this letter will create a sense of urgency in our land management agencies and help bring about a resolution as soon as possible.
Recent Legislation
Taking aim at UN-sponsored antisemitism
Last week, I joined my colleague Rep. Greg Steube (FL-17) in introducing legislation that would block the scandal-plagued United Nations from unfairly targeting Israel on the world stage. It would do so by blocking any U.S. contributions to so-called “Commissions of Inquiry” that relate to Israel. These “COIs” are mandated by the hopelessly corrupt UN Human Rights Council – which includes notorious human rights abusers like Communist China and Cuba. You can read more about these absurd commissions, and about the embarrassing actions of the UNHRC here. The good news is that President Trump withdrew the United States from the UNHRC back in 2018. The bad news is that President Biden recently rejoined it.
District Update
Forest products industry meeting
I enjoyed meeting with the Pulp and Paperworkers' Resource Council on Wednesday. We discussed the need to be active managers of our forests, as well as the negative impact we would see if the northern long-eared bat was reclassified under the Endangered Species Act. The long-eared bat has a range of 37 states and 300 million acres of private forest land, and this new listing would result in new restrictions and red tape that would hamper economic activity all over the United States, especially within the forest products industry. I will continue to fight the relisting of the northern long-eared bat, and I will continue to fight for the many Wisconsin families who rely on a vibrant and healthy forest products industry.
I enjoyed meeting with the Pulp and Paperworkers' Resource Council!
Photo of the week
If you would like to submit a picture to be featured in our photo of the week section, please email it to [email protected] with your name and location. We have received some wonderful submissions, and I am looking forward to seeing more. Let’s continue to show off Wisconsin’s beauty!
“Rise and shine!” – Submitted by Lin, who captured a beautiful sunrise over Newman Lake
Upcoming Events
Listening sessions next week
On Wednesday, February 15th, I will be hosting four in-person listening sessions in Clark, Jackson, Monroe, and Juneau County. These sessions are a great way for me to hear directly from you about any concerns or questions you may have, and they also allow me to provide an update on what is going on in Washington. We had a great turnout at my January listening sessions, and I hope to have an even better turnout at these. I look forward to seeing you there!
On Wednesday, I’m hosting four in-person listening sessions in Clark, Jackson, Monroe, and Juneau County.
Resources
This week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private nonprofit organizations in Florence, Forest, Marinette, and Vilas County are eligible to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) due to losses from drought from April 28 through October 15, 2022. More information can be found here.
While many begin to travel internationally again, the Department of State is available to assist with passport services. We recommend to apply at least six months before planned travel as routine service may take up to about 18 weeks. For more information, please visit travel.state.gov.
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.
Follow Rep. Tiffany
 
|
