A few weeks ago, I shared that I recently underwent hip surgery after years of excruciating pain. As a result, however, I did miss a few votes per doctor’s orders that I not travel. The good news is that I’m feeling very strong, have fully recovered and my doctor has cleared me for travel.
Since serving in Congress, I have had a near-perfect voting attendance record. In fact, the voting records for members of Congress were recently released for 2023 and I can report that there were 724 recorded votes in 2023 and I voted 99% of the time. My 99% is better than many Members of Congress but keep in mind there are a lot of competing demands and unforeseen circumstances that can cause a missed vote.
With few exceptions, however, nothing is more important than voting on behalf of you and it is an honor to do so. I’ll be back in DC fighting the Swamp after the Easter district work period. In the meantime, I am very grateful for the many kind words expressed by all the well-wishers who phoned or sent e-mails to me.
Congress Abandons Principles, Passes $1.2 Trillion Budget
On Friday of this week, Congress passed a massive, 1,012-page spending bill negotiated entirely in secrecy behind closed doors with zero input from Members of Congress. The legislation was made available in the dead of the night, around 3:00 AM this past Thursday, meaning it was impossible to read it before voting on it.
No amendments were allowed, and very little time was given for debate. In fact, to rush it through, the Speaker of the House waived the required 72-hour rule usually reserved for Members of Congress to read legislation before voting on it. The spending bill provides no meaningful policy changes needed to secure our southern border, continues to fund Biden’s woke and weaponized programs, further piles onto our $34 trillion national debt and contains more than 1,400 wasteful earmarks, including:
💰 $1,808,000 for a hospital in Rhode Island that performs late-term surgical and chemical abortions.
💵 $400,000 for the Garden State Equality Education Fund in New Jersey to fund gender mutilation surgery on minors, promote biological boys playing girls sports and using the same restrooms and coordinate against parental rights groups.
💰 $400,000 for a youth center in Wisconsin to fund “gender-affirming” clothing programs for ages 13-18.
💵 2,000,000 for a clinic in Oregon for gender-changing hormone therapy for adolescents.
💰 5,000,000 for the Mary’s Center in Maryland to help serve as the “home base” during the transgender changing process.
💵 $845,000 for an LGBTQ+ center in Colorado to promote LGBTQ+ garden parties and art shows.
💰 $400,000 for the Mazzoni Center in Pennsylvania to subsidize pediatric and adolescent transgender services.
I’ll be honest: Republican leaders in Congress waived the white flag on this budget bill. Want a clear indicator of how bad this legislation is? More Democrats (185) voted in favor of this garbage than Republicans (101).
Nearly 190,000 Illegal Aliens Crossed the Border in February
Late Friday, hoping no one would notice, the Biden administration announced that 189,922 illegal aliens crossed the southern border last month. On average, 5,000 illegal immigrants are being released into the United States every day. It gets worse: more than 1,100 pounds of deadly fentanyl, equivalent to 270 million lethal doses, were seized at the border in February.
Since Biden took office, nearly 28 tons of fentanyl and more than 10 million lawbreakers have crossed the border. This doesn’t include the nearly two million “gotaways” who have made their way into our country undetected. Worse, at least 330 terrorists on the watchlist have entered the United States in the past three years. It was reported this week that one of those caught admitted to being a member of the Hezbollah terrorist group and intended to create a bomb, with New York as the target. If that doesn’t bother you, it was also reported this weekthat some of Venezuela’s most violent criminals, including killers, thugs and gangsters, have been released from prison and are on their way to America.
Make no mistake, Biden’s failed, open border policies created the border invasion. Joe Biden took more than 94 executive actions on immigration, including halting construction of the border wall and ending the successful “Remain in Mexico” policy. His FY 2025 budget proposal which I discussed in last week’s newsletter calls for eliminating $50 million in border wall funding. Want more proof: illegal aliens have confirmed this: “The border is open everybody believes that the border is open. It’s open because we enter. We come in, free, no problem. We came illegally.”
Oops! 200,000 Illegal Alien Cases “Forgotten” by Biden
Speaking of illegal border crossings, this week it was reported that immigration judges “dismissed deportation cases against some 200,000 migrants under President Biden because the Department of Homeland Security forgot to file the required paperwork before their court dates.” Forgot? How very convenient.
Let’s refer to these individuals as the “forgottens.” Here’s all you need to know: with these 200,000 dismissals, Biden has created a de facto amnesty program for illegal aliens.
Don’t forget a few weeks ago I reported that Biden had secretly flownover 320,000 illegal aliens into the 43 airports in the United States to artificially reduce the number crossing the southern border. I referred to them as “flownaways.”
Let’s recap, since Joe Biden took office there have been:
👉 10,000,000 illegal aliens
👉 2,000,000 “gotaways”
👉 320,000 “flownaways”
👉 200,000 “forgottens”
Folks, this is being done intentionally. It’s all about power. As I noted a few weeks ago, the United States decennial census counts illegal aliens for purposes of reapportionment and allocating congressional seats. Thus, states that harbor illegal aliens will have their population numbers increased. With a population increase, those states may well get additional congressional seats in the House of Representatives and other states will lose seats. The surge of illegal aliens will generally benefit blue states and cause Congress to have an artificially high number of democrat congressional districts. Shut down the border, shut it down NOW!
Reminder: Gosar Hosts Upcoming Military Academy Day
High school Juniors, Seniors and parents: you’re invited to attend my upcoming Military Academy Day to learn more about how to receive a congressional nomination to a United States military service academy.
Details are in the flyer below. I hope to see you there!
Ninth Congressional District High School Students Invited to Participate in the 2024 Congressional Art Competition
Attention high school students in Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District: you are invited to participate in the 2024 Congressional Art Competition!
The first-place winning artwork will be displayed for one year in the United States Capitol. Each day, countless individuals will observe the amazing artwork. The Congressional Art Competition is a great opportunity to encourage and showcase the incredibly talented high school artists from Arizona.
Here are the details:👇👇👇
You’re invited! Gosar to Host Discussion on the Border Crisis
Please join me in Goodyear, Arizona on May 10th for a very important roundtable discussion regarding the ongoing border crisis.
Details are in the flyer below.👇👇👇
It’s Mail Time!
As March winds down, I received more than 8,200 letters! I appreciate hearing from everyone, including those who disagree. Here are samples of some of the letters sent in this week:
📨 Loren F. from Goodyear writes:
Please sign the “Federal Education Freedom Pledge” promising that you will cosponsor and vote for legislation that allows federal funding to follow students rather than government-assigned schools to increase freedom in K-12 education, empower parents, and end roadblocks to high-quality educational opportunities in America. Clearly, there is widespread support for school freedom from parents across the country and now is the time for federal action to capitalize on this momentum and create an educational system that works for everyone nationwide.
Loren, American children deserve a quality education that allows them to succeed and thrive and I agree that parents should be able to choose the best education for their children. I am, and have consistently been, an ardent supporter of empowering parents and families to find the right education for their children. One of the government’s highest responsibilities is safekeeping the education and well-being of our country’s leaders and innovators of tomorrow.
I am a strong advocate for homeschooling. I have also fought for increased flexibility for charter schools and other means of improving student optionality. I have also championed the freedom of American Indian tribes to expand their charter school options to ensure that they are not deprived of the opportunity to innovate and succeed. With over a million students currently on charter school waitlists, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House of Representatives to bring the additional choice that students and parents have been demanding.
Congress ought to support the interests of American students. Please know that I will keep your interests in mind.
📨 Steven G. from Lake Havasu City, AZ is not a fan of Daylight Savings Time and writes:
It’s time to “lock the clock.” The Senate is on board and now Congress should make it law. It would be nice to have Mr. Gosar lead the way.
Steven, I’m with you! I’m no fan of daylight savings time adjustments and I think it’s “time” we end this outdated practice. Daylight Savings Time was an idea enacted at the beginning of the 20th century. The Calder Act, passed into law in 1918, established the first Daylight Savings Time. The legislation was later abolished due to its unpopularity, leaving it to be a local issue. Eventually, many industries found the lack of consistency with time to be a major issue so they pushed for federal regulation and helped pass the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Shortly after passage, Arizona wisely exempted ifself from participation in DST.
As you note, the U.S. Senate passed legislation last Congress that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move that would promote brighter afternoons and more economic activity. This Senate bill was never passed by the House of Representatives. But I certainly would support legislation regarding Daylight Savings Time if brought to the House floor for a vote.
📨 Gerald H. from Yuma, AZ shares:
I strongly request that you stop Congress’ reckless spending spree, which is destroying our nation’s finances and prosperity. The national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, and estimates predict another $22 trillion to be added by 2033. This spending is contributing to inflation, and it’s unsustainable. Spending must be cut dramatically. We cannot afford current spending levels, and, most of it is unconstitutional as it falls outside of the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8. Please restore fiscal responsibility, and adhere to the Constitution, by significantly ending our nation’s disastrous federal spending spree.
Gerald, I agree 100%. The budget passed this week in Congress spends billions and billions more and piles on our nation’s debt. I cannot support it. Making matters worse, no one in Washington, D.C. takes our spending problem seriously. Biden’s $7.3 trillion budget proposal, released last week, does nothing to cut wasteful spending or reduce the size and scope of the woke and weaponized federal government. Instead, if enacted, would further bankrupt America. Biden’s plan calls for the largest tax hike in history – nearly $5 trillion, and amasses $16 trillion in deficits for the next decade, in piles on another $1.8 trillion to the national debt next year. In fact, If Biden’s budget were adopted, the gross national debt would eclipse $52 trillion by 2034. I’ve often said, we cannot spend our way to prosperity. Raising taxes and spending more of your money is not the solution.
Tweet of the Week:
Photo of the Week:
Marianne Newton from Yuma, AZ recently snapped this picture of a sunrise over the Gila Mountains while on her patio. What a view, Marianne. Thanks so much for sharing.
Do you have photography skills? Do you want the chance for your photograph to be featured as our “Picture of the Week?” If so, send your best shots of our great state along with a brief description to Anthony.foti@mail.house.gov.
Warning!! The Gosar Weekly Newsletter is meant for discerning readers with above average intelligence. If you are a reporter, it probably means you are in over your head already. We link to interesting stories. We get stories a couple different ways: Google alerts, a third-party aggregator and sometimes readers send stuff. We don’t vouch for every publication or every author. If we link to a story, it is because of that story. The views expressed in any of the publications do not represent any promotion, endorsement or reflection of Congressman Gosar’s views. While we try our best, we cannot guarantee every news organization spouting hatred, animosity or divisiveness will be filtered from appearing in the Gosar Weekly Newsletter. We will endeavor to prevent that from happening by never linking to Fake News organizations including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Rolling Stone, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Mirror, Media Matters or the New Republic.
