Dear Friend,

This week, the Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on legislation to remove the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) list. As Telegram readers know, I have introduced and supported legislation to get this job done since I first came to congress over two years ago. It took a while, but we are making steady progress.

Our bill, the Trust the Science Act, is very simple. It requires the Secretary of Interior to reissue the 2020 Department of the Interior final rule that de-listed gray wolves in the lower 48 United States and would preclude any future “re-listing” mischief by activist judges. As everyone in Wisconsin knows, this is something we’ve seen far too often – most recently when a judge in Oakland, California vacated the de-listing rule in 2020 and unilaterally put it back on the ESA list by judicial fiat.

We heard directly from various experts on the topic of ESA, including one witness Dr. Nathan Roberts, who was invited to specifically testify on the topic of gray wolves. He was a Bear, Wolf, and Furbearer Research Scientist with the Wisconsin DNR for over 6 years and is extremely well-versed on the issue. He reiterated the fact that the gray wolf has recovered in America, that the science is clear, and said it is time for management authority to be restored to the states.

I couldn’t agree more.

There is something we should all remember: When a species is removed from the ESA list, it’s something we should celebrate. Why? Because it is a success story. It means that a species has recovered – and it enables us to use our limited time and resources to concentrate on our efforts to protect and recover other species that truly are under threat or at risk of extinction.

Sadly, this basic logic is lost on too many people on the other side of this issue. They tend to measure success by how many species end up on the list – not how many we can recover and remove. In their view, the ESA is a sort of statutory ‘Hotel California,’ – one that radical environmental groups and judges check animals into – but who can never leave.

The bottom line is this: Wisconsinites know best when it comes to managing Wisconsin’s wolf population, and it’s long past time we empowered Wisconsin to do so. That’s why this common-sense bill is supported by every Wisconsin Republican member of the House. It’s also why back in 2015, 26 scientists called for the Great Lakes population of gray wolves to be removed from the ESA. The data is clear, and we’ve waited long enough.

I look forward to the next step in this process, which will be a markup by the Natural Resources Committee – and then hopefully consideration by the full House of Representatives.

If you’re interested in how the hearing went, you can see some of my Committee questioning here.

Thanks again for starting off your weekend with us! We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of the Tiffany Telegram.

Sincerely,





Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress

Thank you to everyone who filled out the gray wolf delisting survey I sent out yesterday. If you have yet to fill it out or happened not to receive it, you can fill it out here.

Protecting parents’ rights
As Telegram readers know, a couple of weeks ago I cosponsored H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, which was introduced by my colleague Rep. Julia Letlow (LA-05), to empower parents and promote the well-being of children. We introduced this bill in response to a growing effort by the left to shut parents out of their children’s education. Unfortunately, many school districts have been ignoring the wishes of parents while special interest groups try to criminalize free speech. From President Biden's Justice Department classifying parents who speak out at school board meetings as 'domestic terrorists' to state legislators proposing legislation to bring criminal charges against parents who don’t support woke transgender ideology. Today, the House of Representatives passed our bill to ensure parents get to have a say in their child’s education. Unfortunately, not a single Democrat voted in favor of protecting parents' rights. Today, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle prioritized keeping graphic books in school libraries over encouraging school districts to welcome and encourage parental engagement when making decisions. I find it disheartening that so many policymakers subscribe to the belief that parents should be left in the dark when it comes to what their child is learning in school, but I was pleased to see this bill pass and move on to the Senate for further consideration.

Cadott: Thanks for a great listening session
Thank you to everyone who came out to my Cadott listening session on Tuesday at DJ’s Restaurant. We had a great turnout of about thirty people, many of whom asked fantastic questions. I enjoyed discussing my bill to end the green energy giveaways for wind and solar arrays as well as the legislation I introduced with Senator Ron Johnson to stop President Biden from turning over our pandemic policy to the World Health Organization. I also had a great time discussing how House Republicans in the majority are following through on our promises by defunding Joe Biden’s 87,000 additional IRS agents, refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and voting to end the COVID-19 public health emergency. Chippewa County, I am looking forward to my next visit.

Thank you to Officer Helstern and DJ’s Restaurant for providing a great listening session environment.

Another day, another witch hunt
For the past seven years, Democrats have sought to do everything in their power to bring President Trump down. Whether it was the Russia collusion hoax, raiding the former President’s home, or now, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into President Trump, they will never stop their craze for targeting Donald Trump not based on facts, but politics. The latest ploy to indict former President Trump by upgrading a misdemeanor to a felony is just the latest scheme in their bag of tricks. Despite other New York City liberal attorneys telling DA Alvin Bragg that he doesn’t have a probable case, Bragg is going forward with his attempt to indict President Trump. Perhaps the craziest part is that since Alvin Bragg took office, he has downgraded 52% of New York City’s felony charges to misdemeanors. However, in Trump's case, he's seeking to do the opposite and upgraded a misdemeanor to a felony. Perhaps Soros-backed DA Alvin Bragg should focus on his own city’s rampant violent crime rather than pursuing a politically motivated prosecution. To help get answers from DA Bragg on what appears to be an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority, the House Judiciary Committee asked Mr. Bragg to come testify to get the bottom of this witch hunt. Since at least 2018, the New York County DA’s Office has been investigating President Trump, yet in 2019, even the U.S. Justice Department opted not to pursue further prosecutions. So, what has changed? President Trump decided to run for president. DA Bragg owes the House Judiciary Committee answers… Is the Manhattan DA’s office using federal funds to investigate President Trump and is this an effort to interfere in the 2024 presidential election? You can watch my interview discussing this more in-depth with Fox’s Maria Bartiromo here.

Great news: Newsmax is back on DirecTV
As many of you know, earlier this year DirecTV decided to cancel Newsmax from their streaming services. However, in a huge victory for free speech and conservative news media, Newsmax was put back on air this week. Just after Newsmax was de-platformed several of my colleagues and I sent a letter to AT&T, DirecTV, and TPG Capital expressing our concerns with their action taken against the conservative platform. I will always stand up against censorship and fight for your First Amendment right to free speech. No matter their political view, Americans deserve the right to decide where they get their news from. 

Click here or on the image above to watch my interview celebrating Newsmax being back on DirecTV.

Committee Update

Federal Lands Subcommittee
Wildfire debate heats up
We had a hearing in the Federal Lands Subcommittee this week to discuss commonsense solutions to wildfires. We considered four pieces of legislation, including my bill, the ACRES Act, which would help bring transparency to land management agencies, cut down on litigation, and help save land and lives. You can hear more about all the bills we considered here during my opening remarks. We had various industry stakeholders testify, and we had a witness from the Forest Service as well. The reason why we see wildfire season out west continue to rage out of control year after year is due in large part to poor – and in some cases, non-existent forest management. Some key things that make it harder to actively manage our public lands are weaponized environmental laws, frivolous litigation, and bureaucratic red tape. Together, they combine to form a kind of “analysis paralysis” that hamstrings the ability of land managers and local communities to thin overstocked forests and restore forest health. The bills we discussed would help solve these issues, but we still have a lot more work to do. We will continue to put forward solutions to help address this issue and hold this administration accountable. There are ways that we can help mitigate the threat of wildfire immediately in the short term and this Subcommittee will keep working to discuss and advance important legislative fixes. You can see the questions I asked our witnesses here.

Judiciary Committee
Hunter Biden lied, where are the consequences?
This week in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance we held a hearing titled “ATF’s Assault on the Second Amendment: When is Enough Enough.” As you know, the Biden administration’s Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) continues their cynical play going after law-abiding Americans with their unconstitutional executive rules (more on that later). As the Biden ATF continues their assault on the Second Amendment and Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL), they seemingly don’t care that Hunter Biden allegedly lied on an ATF form. I asked one of the witnesses about it in the hearing, which you can watch here. According to the witness, Hunter Biden could get up to 15 years in prison for lying on Form 4473 that he did not use illicit drugs. This is yet another example of the two-tiered justice system deployed by the Biden administration, and I will not stand for it. I will continue to fight to fix the double standard of justice in our nation.

Recent Legislation

Always Taking Firearms Agency
It’s no secret that under President Biden the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been weaponized into the Always Taking Firearms Agency. Overreaching and unelected bureaucrats at the ATF believe they have the authority to make the laws, but they don’t – Congress does. That’s why I am fighting back against their gross overreach. This week I helped introduce two bills to ensure Americans’ Second Amendment rights are not taken away. The first piece of legislation, H.J. Res 44, will prevent the Biden ATF from enforcing an unconstitutional pistol brace rule. Pistol braces are designed to help disabled combat veterans enjoy recreational shooting, but with the stroke of a pen, the Biden administration cowered to radical gun-grabbing lobbying, deemed pistol braces illegal, and turned millions of law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight. This legislation introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA-09) would repeal the ATF's unconstitutional pistol brace rule through the Congressional Review Act. More information on that bill can be found here. Additionally, I also joined Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID-01) in introducing the ATF Transparency Act, which would ensure that ATF bureaucrats are processing firearm applications without delay and allow American gun owners a fair appeals process for wrongfully denied applicants. Perhaps if President Biden’s ATF wasn’t wasting their time targeting law-abiding gun owners, they could process applications in a timely manner. More information on the ATF Transparency Act can be found here.

District Update

Celebrating Maple Month
From March 15th to April 15th, it’s Maple Month in Wisconsin, and last Saturday, I enjoyed joining the Pozarski Family, State Senator Jesse James, and the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association at Pozarski Family Farms in Boyd for the annual first tree tapping. Wisconsin ranks fourth in the nation for maple syrup production, and I hope you enjoy a sappy-filled Maple Month in Wisconsin with products ranging from maple syrup, maple syrup root beer, seasonings, cream, and even some maple syrup cotton candy.  

Happy Maple Month from the first tree tapping at Pozarski Family Farms in Boyd.

District-wide healthcare roundtable 
Earlier this week, I was able to attend a roundtable in Rice Lake where I heard from a group of Wisconsin healthcare administrators about the challenges that rural hospitals are facing. We discussed rising drug costs, accessibility to healthcare services, and the negative effect that COVID-19 has had on staffing and recruitment in the healthcare system. It is important that Wisconsin’s rural residents have quality care accessible to them across the Seventh District. Thank you to the Wisconsin Hospital Association for putting on this roundtable and to the representatives from Marshfield Medical Center-Rice Lake, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Burnett Medical Center, Spooner Health, Hayward Area Memorial Hospital & Water's Edge, Indianhead Medical Center & Shell Lake Clinic, and Western Wisconsin Health for a great conversation!

Photo of the week
Thank you to everyone who has submitted a photo of the week. Since the first day of spring was this week, I look forward to seeing some pictures of sunshine, flowers, and wildlife. If you would like your picture to be featured in the photo of the week section, please submit it here with your name and location. 

“The Wonder of the North” – submitted and taken last night by Dave in Merrill

Upcoming Events

Coming soon to Douglas County
Next Friday, I will be hosting a listening session with State Representative Angie Sapik (R-Lake Nebagamon) in Superior. You won’t want to miss this great opportunity to hear from two of your elected representatives. The in-person listening session will be on March 31st from 5 PM to 6 PM at the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center. All Seventh District residents are welcome to attend, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have and providing a legislative update. More information can be found here. 

Resources  

Summer is just around the corner, so don’t wait until the last minute to apply for or renew your passport for your upcoming vacation. The current processing time is 10 to 13 weeks, so we recommend getting this done as soon as possible. For more information, please go to travel.state.gov.

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.  

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. 

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