JEC Analysis: United States Debt Surpasses $35 Trillion
As a follow-up to last week’s newsletter where I noted the U.S. national debt has now surpassed $35 trillion, I wanted to get a bit more granular detailing the state of our national debt because every American should be deeply concerned.
Specifically, the total gross national debt has risen by $2.45 trillion in the past year, which amounts to an average increase of $6.73 billion per day and $4.67 million per minute, according to a new study released this week by the Joint Economic Committee. Shockingly, the national debt will reach $36 trillion in just five months. That’s a rate of one trillion dollars every 165 days. Every second, the national debt grows by $78,399! The consequence of this mounting national debt means higher interest rates on your mortgage and car loans, higher taxes, currency devaluation, higher inflation, financial instability and economic shock (see this week’s record stock market losses for more proof) and a crushing weight on future generations tasked with the burden of having to pay it off.
Strong Turnout at BLM Roundtable in LHC
This week I hosted a roundtable in Lake Havasu City to discuss the Bureau of Land Management’s plans to increase fees for many BLM sites in Arizona. Arizona is blessed with a vast array of tranquil wilderness and beautiful public lands. Our national parks are America’s crown jewels, inspiring awe and wonder. According to the National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects report, nearly 11 million people visit national parks in Arizona each year. With 80 percent of Americans living in congested, urban areas, we should make it easier, not more difficult, to enjoy and explore outdoor public lands.
I have a record of trying to make our federal lands accessible to everyone. In 2021, for example, I voted for H.R. 4300, the Alexander Lofgren Veterans in Parks (VIP) Act, legislation that would permanently waive national park fees for any veteran or Gold Star family member. That bill would also give free annual passes to active-duty military for national parks and federal recreational lands. You may also recall my April 2024 newsletter discussion about H.R. 6492, the Explore Act, a bill that will make it easier to use federal lands for recreation. That bill passed the House in April 2024.
Unfortunately, BLM’s latest plans would saddle Arizonans with unacceptable fee increases of between 50 and 300 percent. While Arizonans struggle to keep food on the table and cannot afford to fill their car up with gasoline due to Bidenflation and Kamalanomics, the BLM adds insult to injury by proposing massive fee increases that make many of our nation’s public lands less affordable. That’s both tone-deaf and foolish. These fee increases will harm local economies in Arizona, where recreation and tourism remain a significant focus. With fee increases between 50-300%, present and future generations cannot enjoy public lands if they cannot even afford to visit them in the first place.
You may recall that a few months ago I shared in my newsletter that I contacted BLM demanding an extension of the public comment period and insisted on a public meeting. I will note that BLM did agree to both my requests. I would like to personally thank everyone for coming out to share your concerns and hear from officials at BLM. 🎣🏕⛷🛶
Border Czar Kamala Harris: 1296 Days in Office, Zero Border Visits
Kamala Harris brought her radical circus to Arizona this week but failed to stop by Yuma to see firsthand the border invasion caused by the 13 million illegals who she and Joe Biden have welcomed into our country in the past three and half years. Arizona is ground zero for the border invasion. In fact, Border Czar Kamala Harris owns the chaos at our southern border. Her policies have opened the southern border to criminal aliens and drug cartels while releasing terrorists (more on that next), murderers and rapists into our communities.
Report: Border Czar Kamala Harris Released 99 illegal aliens on the terror watch list into the country
Speaking of the invasion along our southern border, this week, an explosive report released this week by the House Judiciary Committeedetails the Biden-Harris administration released at least 99 illegal aliens on the terrorist watch list into the United States. They were caught by the Border Patrol along the southern border from 2021 through 2023 and were subsequently released as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s open border and soft-on-crime policies. Terrorists simply let go after they were arrested. “That does not include the untold numbers of potential terrorists that evaded Border Patrol to enter the United States as part of nearly two million ‘gotaways’ since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration,” the report also notes. Kamala Harris has a record of letting violent criminals off easy, shielding illegal immigrant drug dealers from deportation, and helping bail out convicted rapists and murderers to commit more crimes. Families in America are not safe because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
It’s Mail Time!
📬 Every week, I receive thousands of letters from constituents. Here is a small sample of a few I received this week:
📨 Phillip R. from Golden Valley, AZ writes:
I think Congress should passH.R. 7343, the Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act. I would like to know your thoughts on this issue.
✏ Phillip, as you note, H.R.7343, the Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act is legislation requiring the Department of Homeland Security to take custody of any illegal alien who is arrested for assaulting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder. When H.R. 7343 came to the floor in May,I voted for it. All illegal aliens should be deported. Furthermore, to think that one could assault a police officer andnotget deported should incense any sane lover of justice.
Every time a first responder is assaulted; a teenage girl is raped and left to die; or some poor soul dies of a fentanyl overdose, America is once again reminded that national decay is a choice. Under the pathetic and disastrous reign ofborder czarKamala Harris, our southern border has been flooded with vagrants, killers, and merchants of death. Harris’ deliberately negligent border policies left the Yuma Regional Medical Center, inundated with criminal non-citizens, and$20 million in debt. But Americans remember the Trump years.
Like so many border initiatives that were started by Republicans in the House, H.R. 7343 hasnotgone to the Senate floor for a vote. How half our legislative branch can sit idly by as our southern border is ransacked by criminal aliens escapes common sense. But it does tell you where their hearts and minds are: not at our southern border, and certainly not with the good people of Yuma.
📨 Dawn M. from Lake Havasu City, AZ shares:
I am writing to you with deep concern about the alarming influence of theNew Apostolic Reformation (NAR) on House Speaker Mike Johnson. Thismovement poses a significant threat to the foundational principle of the separationof church and state, a cornerstone of our democracy that must be vigorouslyprotected.
I urgently request that you take a strong public stand against the influence of theNAR and its agenda. Specifically, I ask that you: 1. Publicly reaffirm your unwavering commitment to the separation of church; 2. Actively monitor and oppose any legislation or policies that are influencedby the NAR’s agenda;
3. Advocate for governance that is inclusive, secular, and respects the diversebeliefs of all constituents.
Our democracy is at a critical juncture, and it is imperative that our leaders defendthe principles that have long protected our nation’s freedom and diversity. I lookforward to your prompt and decisive action on this matter and appreciate yourdedication to upholding the values that make our country strong.I eagerly await your response.
✏ Dawn – as a Roman Catholic myself, I welcome questions about the Christian faith and relish this opportunity to discuss a few of yours. Your concerns about the “alarming influence” of the NAR on Speaker Johnson are, as far as I can perceive, unfounded. He does, admittedly, post Bible verses to his social media pages on occasion. Perhaps this concerns you. However, throughout his tenure as Speaker, I have observed no significant effort on the part of Mike Johnson to pass legislation recodifying the Biblical definition of marriage; to overhaul the Chaplain’s office to reestablish its nonsectarian Christian roots; or to in any way violate the First Amendment’s enjoinment of Congress to make no law “respecting an establishment of religion.”
You demand that I (a) “publicly reaffirm” my commitment to a separation of church and state, (b) “actively monitor and oppose” any legislative actions that further the NAR agenda, and (c) advocate for “inclusive, secular” governance that “respects the diverse beliefs of all constituents.” Allow me to address each in turn.
Your invocation of the “separation of church and state” as a core tenet of our Founders’ political philosophy lacks historical context. This supposed “wall of separation” can be found in asingle letterwritten by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. However, did you know that, as President, Jeffersonregularly attendedchurch services inside the House of Representatives? In fact, Christian worship services were held inside the Capitol building until well after the Civil War. These services were—in keeping with government policy since theopening prayerof our First Continental Congress—voluntary, nonsectarian, and nonpolemical. Throughout Jefferson’s administration, Christian preachers were welcomed, and even encouraged, to share the Gospel inside the old Supreme Court chamber and even inside Executive Branch buildings. If you ever get the chance to visit our Capitol, I do hope a member of my staff is able to show you these incredible spaces. They are well preserved. For further reading on this subject, I recommend the Library of Congress’ terrific catalog of Founding-era documents. As for House Speaker Mike Johnson, he said in November 2023 that the “separation of church and state is a misnomer” because the Founders “did not want the government to encroach upon the church—not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life.”
Regarding the legislative actions of the NAR’s “agenda,” I will certainly remain vigilant. It was Founding policy to make no law favoring or establishing any single denomination above the rest; if this especially militant Christian faction were ever to, as you suspect it might, attempt to establish itself as the national church, I would vote against that. I stand on the Christian pluralism of America’s Founders.
Lastly, you have asked me to commit to governing in an “inclusive, secular” manner. That which I hold nearest and dearest to my heart—my faith in the abiding Word and indomitable sovereignty of Almighty God—naturally influences the way that I live out my vocation. Your beliefs should too. While I cannot andwill notdisavow my Christian faith, you have my word that I will consider the diverse beliefs and concerns of all my constituents when discerning how I will proceed in all legislative matters.
Tweet of the Week:
Photo of the Week:
📸 Richard Mealey from Kingman, AZ shares this photo of a view of a gorgeous sunset in Kingman. Incredible shot! Thanks for sharing, Richard.
Do you want the chance for your photograph to be featured as our “Picture of the Week?” If so, send your best shots along with a brief description to Anthony.foti@mail.house.gov. Remember to include your name and where you live.
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