Dear Friend,
 
It’s been a busy week traveling around the district, but I wouldn’t trade being back home in Wisconsin for the world.
 
Last Friday, I traveled to Chippewa Falls to host a press conference on the reintroduction of the FARM Act.Telegram readers might remember, the Future Agriculture Retention and Management Act – or FARM Act for short – would eliminate the market-distorting energy tax handouts that help prop up the siting of solar panels and wind arrays on agricultural lands, often taking the farmland out of production.
 
With global food demand rising and food shortages already being reported, the FARM Act is a much-needed policy that will restore common sense and fairness to energy and agricultural policy by removing the corporate welfare that has subsidized unreliable and intermittent energy sources for far too long.
 
Instead of forcing taxpayers to underwrite generous “green energy” giveaways that incentivize the removal of farmland from production, this legislation would protect Wisconsin family farms for generations to come, protect American farmland, and safeguard long-term food security. More on that later.
 
Then on Wednesday, I held four in-person listening sessions in Clark, Jackson, Monroe, and Juneau County.
 
A common theme expressed by constituents at all of them was a concern about sending money to Ukraine without any accountability. Since last February, our federal government has spent over $100 billion on aid and weapons donations to Ukraine. That is a lot of money, and there needs to be accountability on where it is going. This foreign conflict isn’t just contributing to our growing national debt, it is depleting our own military supplies and delaying the delivery of defense systems to other allies that have already paid for them. Bottom line: We need much more transparency on where all of this money is actually going.
 
I wrapped up the day in Juneau County where we discussed the opioid crisis, in particular the need to stop the free flow of fentanyl over the southern border. Over 120 days ago, eight House Republicans, myself included, asked President Biden for a meeting to discuss the fentanyl crisis and to deliver letters, photos, and obituaries from families who have lost loved ones to a fentanyl poisoning; yet, the Biden administration continues to ignore our request.
 
The fentanyl crisis isn’t a red or blue issue; it’s an American issue, and all lawmakers need to get serious about securing our southern border to help stop cartels from killing our loved ones.
 
We’ve got a lot more to tell you about in this week’s edition of the Telegram, and we appreciate you starting off your weekend with us.

Sincerely,





Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress

I held four listening sessions in Clark, Jackson, Monroe, and Juneau County on Wednesday. We had a great turnout, and I am looking forward to hosting more listening sessions soon. Thank you to everyone who attended! Stay tuned for future dates and times.

More Biden administration links to China?
Links between Communist Chinese interests and individuals in President Biden’s inner circle have been raising troubling questions for many years. It’s a disturbing pattern, and it’s something that can’t simply be dismissed as a coincidence. Earlier this month, fresh investigative reports raised additional red flags, this time regarding a man President Biden appointed to an international panel that wields influence over U.S. business activity in Asia. That individual, Dominic Ng, reportedly belonged to two organizations in the past that serve as front groups for Chinese intelligence. In response to these allegations, several of my colleagues and I alerted the FBI and asked them to take a closer look. It’s no secret that the Chinese Communist Party is making a concerted effort to infiltrate major American institutions – everything from big business and higher ed to political institutions and civil society groups. It’s a troubling development – one made worse by the fact that shortly after taking office, President Biden disbanded a special task force created by former President Trump focused on identifying, exposing, and rooting out Chinese influence operations in our country. You can read our letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on the issue here.
 
Calling all high school artists
Yesterday, my office announced that we have begun accepting submissions for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. This year’s theme is: A day in the life of Wisconsin, and I encourage all high school students to participate. The winner will have their artwork hung in the U.S. Capitol Building for a year, and each submission must be mailed or hand-delivered to my Wausau Office (2620 Stewart Ave. Suite 312 Wausau, WI 54401) by Friday, April 7th at 5 PM. For more information on competition guidelines, please click here.
 
Protecting the future of American farming
As I mentioned earlier, I recently re-introduced the FARM Act, which would eliminate the market-distorting energy tax handouts that help prop up the siting of solar panels and wind arrays on agricultural lands. These industrial-scale projects on agricultural land often take key farmland out of production, which is the last thing we should be doing given rising grocery prices, growing demand and reports of food shortages. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), since 2014, U.S. Farmland acreage has decreased by over 13.62 million acres – amounting to an average loss of over 1.9 million acres per year. Over the next decade, it is estimated that wind and solar subsidies will cost taxpayers $113 billion. Food security is national security, and I will do everything I can to ensure that our farmland is put to good use, so we do not see food shortages here in America. You can learn more about this legislation here. 

I was joined by state lawmakers, local stakeholders, and hardworking farmers on Friday for a press conference at Custer Farms Inc. in Chippewa Falls.

Recent Legislation

UN-believable: United Nations issuing textbooks praising terrorism?
We’ve told you in the past about some of the crazy things your tax dollars are financing at the scandal-plagued United Nations. This week we’ve got another example. A few of you may be aware of an obscure sounding UN agency known as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or “UNRWA” for short. Well, despite its innocuous sounding name, some of the “works” UNRWA has been financing with your tax dollars aren’t providing much “relief” to anyone. In fact, the group has been caught quietly employing operatives linked to the terrorist group Hamas, and even admitted “mistakenly” distributing textbooks in Gaza that mislabel Israel as “Palestine” on maps, and openly advocate for “Jihad.” It’s crazy, and it’s why former President Trump cut off American funding to UNRWA in 2018. Unfortunately, the Biden administration reversed this policy shortly after taking office – pouring nearly $700 million of your tax dollars into this corrupt and antisemitic international bureaucracy. It is outrageous, and it needs to stop. That’s why I will be cosponsoring legislation set for introduction in the House of Representatives soon to shut down American contributions to this rotten-to-the-core UN agency. You can read more about the legislation here.
 
Funding up test scores down
The word education doesn’t appear once in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, which is why for the first 200 years, the United States didn’t have a federal education department. That’s because our framers understood that education is a state and local issue that fits firmly under the auspices of the Tenth Amendment. That changed in 1979 when President Jimmy Carter signed legislation establishing the Department of Education with an operating budget of $12 billion to collect information on schools that could help States establish more effective school systems. Forty years later funding is up – to nearly $80 billion – and test scores are down. As I’ve said before, I trust parents, local communities, and states to know what is best for their children not unelected bureaucrats in Washington. That’s why this week I signed on to Rep. Thomas Massie’s (KY-04) bill H.R. 899 that would eliminate this department and restore the authority of states, local governments, and parents.

District Update

All around the Seventh District
On Saturday, I had a great time supporting the Wisconsin Builders Association with State Representative Chanz Green and State Senators Romaine Quinn and Cory Tomczyk in Hayward. We had a good conversation about the home building industry, and even got to take a photo in front of one of the houses Sjostrom Construction is currently building.

I enjoyed supporting the Wisconsin Builders Association and Northland Area Builders Association on Saturday.

On Tuesday, I enjoyed meeting with local business leaders from the Central Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance. We discussed the FARM Act as well as the importance of American-made energy. Skyrocketing energy costs hurt everyone, especially our local businesses that rely on diesel fuel. By unleashing American energy, we can bring down energy prices for our local businesses and everyday Americans.

I had a great meeting with the Central Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance in Rothschild

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 awesome submissions so far, and I am looking forward to seeing more. 

“Life’s just right when the lake’s in sight” – Submitted by Diana who captured this sunrise over Ojaski Lake in Chetek

Upcoming Events

Mobile office hours
Over the next two weeks, members of my staff will be hosting mobile office hours to help and assist residents who might be having trouble with a federal agency. We will be in seven different counties starting on February 22nd to March 2nd, and if you are having trouble with the Internal Revenue Service or need assistance with the Veterans Affairs, Social Security, Medicare, passports, and more, you won’t want to miss these events. To check when and where we will be over the next two weeks, click here.
 
Northwoods Virtual Job Fair
The Job Center of Wisconsin is hosting a virtual job fair for those living in Wisconsin’s Northwoods on Wednesday, February 22 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Attendees do not have to stay for the entire three hours, but can join anytime between 10AM and 1PM to talk with the employers at the time that is most convenient to their schedule. This is a great opportunity for job seekers to get connected with the businesses in their community who are looking to hire. There will be employers from various job industries at the event, so if you or someone you know is looking for work, you can find more information and register to attend here.

Resources  

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