Dear Friend,

The border is broken. My colleagues on the Committee on Homeland Security and I saw the impact of President Biden's border crisis first hand when we traveled to El Paso last week. We then returned to Washington to hear heartbreaking testimony from a mother who lost two sons to fentanyl overdoses — they thought they were taking Percocet — and we heard from a sheriff who is overwhelmed and warned that the border crisis will impact every community in America. Over the last two years, Congress has heard from constituents from our local communities and law enforcement officers who are facing the same problems. However, now that Republicans control the House, the Majority party is listening to their concerns. 

Above: Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security visit with law enforcement agents patrolling the border

Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb shared his insight — and frustrations with the federal government over the last two years — with me in a Committee on Homeland Security hearing yesterday. You can watch our exchange below.

After two years of inaction by the Democrat controlled White House and Congress, Republicans see a path to address the border crisis now that we control the Majority of the House of Representatives. As a part of the mission to address the ongoing drug crisis, I plan to reintroduce the END FENTANYL Act, a bill to update the strategies used by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to interdict illegal drugs crossing through our ports of entry. 

A vast portion of the drugs that are sold on American streets enter our country across the southwest border. I saw this firsthand on my trip to the border last week when we joined officers who had just found over $2 million worth of cocaine stashed in a drug smuggler’s car. The END FENTANYL Act would take a strong step to combat the drug crisis on the border by requiring Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to update its manuals to identify ways to help prevent drug and human smuggling activity through ports of entry. It also would restore oversight by requiring the CBP Commissioner to report any changes that are made to the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Legislation on the House Floor

This week, the House of Representatives considered two important pieces of legislation — a resolution to rescind Biden’s woke 401(k) rule and the REIN IN Act. 

On December 1, 2022, President Biden’s Department of Labor issued a final rule that allows retirement fund managers to prioritize climate change, social justice, and other items on the far-left agenda when considering how to invest your hard-earned money. This action trades future earnings to support the woke agenda instead of return on investment. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation to rescind the rule; and last night, the bill passed the House of Representatives, taking a strong step to ensure that the dollars you invest for the future are not squandered on the woke agenda. Today, the U.S. Senate followed the House and passed the resolution.

The House also passed the REIN IN Act, which would require the Biden Administration to publish the inflationary impact of executive orders so Americans can hold this Administration accountable for its disastrous inflationary policies. President Biden has relied on Executive Orders to advance a far-left agenda, such as canceling the Keystone Pipeline and pushing Green New Deal policies. These EOs have fueled the inflation crisis by cutting domestic energy production and wasting taxpayer dollars on frivolous priorities. The American people deserve to know the full inflationary impact of Executive Branch actions before they are made. This bill is a step in the right direction and advances the priorities of Republicans to restore accountability in our federal government. 

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