January 12, 2025
Biden Signs Gosar Bill to Provide Free TSA PreCheck to Disabled Vets
I have some very good news to share. This week, Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 7365, the Veterans Expedited TSA Screening (VETS) Safe Travel Act, bipartisan legislation I introduced that would provide expedited security screening under the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) PreCheck program to severely injured or disabled veterans free of charge. I am very pleased that my bill is now the law of the land.
Under the VETS Safe Travel Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs would certify that a veteran is severely injured and therefore eligible to apply for the TSA PreCheck program free of charge. TSA would process the veteran’s application, granting access to the TSA PreCheck program provided they successfully pass the necessary background check and interview process.
Using information from the Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 325,000 veterans would become eligible for this free PreCheck screening program.
Biden Signs Bill Repealing WEP and GPO
Over the past month or so, I have shared in my newsletter that the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act,legislation that I cosponsored to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset to deliver higher Social Security benefits to millions of public sector retirees, including teachers, police officers and firefighters. I have received hundreds of letters on this important issue, and I promised I would provide updates. The good news is this week, Joe Biden signed the legislation repealing the two controversial tax provisions. With the law’s enactment, more than two million retired public servants impacted by the WEP and 750,000 spouses and survivors affected by the GPO will see an increase on average of $360 per month to their Social Security benefits. My work to secure Social Security is ongoing and I will continue to provide regular updates!
House of Representatives Passes Laken Riley Act, Most Democrats Oppose
This week, I joined every Republican in the House of Representatives in voting in favor of the Laken Riley Act, legislation named after a University of Georgia nursing student who was tragically kidnapped and murdered by an illegal alien while out on one of her daily jogs. It never should have happened. The killer crossed our southern border with total impunity and kept breaking the law after repeatedly being cut loose because of Joe Biden’s open border policies. Laken’s killer crossed the southern border and was sent on a taxpayer-funded bus to New York City where he was arrested for child endangerment and released without an ICE detainer. He was then flown on the taxpayer dime to Georgia where he was arrested for shoplifting and once again released without a detainer.Laken Riley should be alive today and Biden bears responsibility for her death. The influx of illegals surging across the southern border since Biden took office has been an unmitigated disaster, crushing small towns and big cities across America. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to explicitly require the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal aliens who have committed burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. House Republicans want to make our communities safe, and we want our border secured. Shamefully, the vast majority of House Democrats – 159 – opposed the legislation.
Donald Trump Certified 47th President of the United States
This week, the House of Representatives and the Senate met in a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. It was a moment filled with hope and anticipation for what lies ahead. A new era that will make America great again begins in earnest on January 20th when President Trump is sworn in. Republicans in Congress are ready to roll up their sleeves and work with President Trump. What’s in store you ask?
I will be working closely with the President and his administration to get major policies in place to reverse the unprecedented downward spiral Biden and the Democrats inflicted on the nation. President Trump has outlined an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days in office, focusing on reforming our tax policy, renewing the tax cuts enacted during his first term and introducing additional reductions. This includes eliminating income taxes on tips and pensions and discontinuing energy tax credits established during the Obama administration. I will continue advocating to eliminate taxes on social security benefits. If you’re retired and receiving social security you’ve paid enough taxes. You’re done. Higher taxes punish families and those who work hard and invest. Lower taxes encourage growth. You may recall the record economic prosperity we had under President Trump’s first term. It’s time to bring that back.
We will also consider imposing tariffs on countries including Canada, Mexico, China, and other nations whose trade policies unfairly hurt the United States. You may not be aware of this, however, tariffs almost exclusively generated federal government revenue up until 1913. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods that can be used to fund our government and address trade imbalances.
As I noted earlier, in the past four years we have seen somewhere between 12 and 20 million illegal aliens welcomed into our country by Joe Biden. Countless are violent convicted criminals and many more are potential terrorists. Congress will work with President Trump to secure our southern border, halt illegal immigration and initiate large-scale deportations. Anyone who says it can’t be done I say, “Watch and see.”
Congress will also be working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to identify ways to cut the bloated federal bureaucracy. This is harder than it sounds as entrenched interests will complain loudly and make dire predictions that without them the country will collapse.
Congress will be working with President Trump to halt endless and senseless wars. Our military and our resources have been used since the 1990s to promote “forever” wars and death around the globe. We have spent several trillion dollars funding death and destruction with no goal or plan to help the average American. Case in point: just this week, Joe Biden announced he is sending another $500 million to Ukraine. This is insanity. Faithful Gosar Newsletter readers know that I have voted against every single dime sent to Ukraine. In fact, I was the lone voice against our involvement in that war. It is now Republican policy. Hate to say it but “I told you so.” The bottom line is that our foreign policy has been run by clowns and Donald Trump is going to hopefully put an end to that.
Speaker Johnson has promised to work closely with Donald Trump to pursue these policies with “breakneck” speed. I will be riding shotgun to make sure it happens.
What Can Be Done to Avoid Wildfires?
The wildfires that are still burning in Los Angeles are heartbreaking and are causing untold physical and emotional harm to families.
The risk of this happening, however, was not unknown and to a large degree the spread of these wildfires could have been prevented. I am not going to address the reports of gross incompetence within the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Mayor of Los Angeles, or California Governor Newsom. Instead, I want to focus on how forest and vegetation management can vastly reduce the cause and spread of wildfires.
Since my first term in office, I have been promoting, through funding and legislation, wildfire risk mitigation. What this boils down to is removing fuel from the forest and that means forest thinning. I supported the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in Arizona following the devastating 2011 Wallow Fire. The overall goals of the 4FRI are to restore the structure, pattern, composition, and health of fire-adapted ponderosa pine ecosystems, reduce fuels and the risk of unnaturally severe wildfires, and provide for wildlife and plant diversity.
It comes as little surprise that the biggest obstacle to scientifically proven and responsible forest management through thinning forests and removing fuel is opposition from forest-rabid environmentalists.
Last year, in September 2024, I co-sponsored H.R. 8790, the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act which passed the House. This legislation sought to simplify and expedite environmental reviews to reduce costs and planning times for critical forest management projects. It also allowed us to prioritize the forests that are at the highest risk of wildfire. That bill promoted federal, state, tribal and local collaboration to better manage fire resources.
Ultimately this bill was aimed at improving the health and resiliency of America’s forests, addressing overgrown areas prone to fires through active management. Had these programs been used in Los Angeles, the intensity of the current fire would likely have been much less.
In June 2018, my amendment to the Agriculture and Nutrition Act was passed, allowing counties to enter into Good Neighbor Authority cooperative agreements and contracts with the U.S. Forest Service. This amendment enabled local communities to actively participate in forest management, aiming to mitigate the threat of catastrophic wildfires.
In fact, in December 2018, during President Trump’s first term, two of my forest management policies were signed into law, including my active forest management plan and my allocation of resources to the forest service to manage forests more effectively.
All the way back to my first term, I was raising the alarms on forest management and the need to reduce combustible forest fuels. In May 2012, I introduced H.R. 5744, the Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Act, which sought to reduce government bureaucracy and red tape and expedite grazing and forest thinning projects on National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management lands, something the environmentalists, many based in California, vehemently opposed.
In short, what we are seeing in Los Angeles can be prevented with proper management. We don’t need to act like these things “just happen” or blame it on other factors. Such fires can be mitigated with proper resources and good personnel on the ground. I will continue to work on preventing mass catastrophic wildfires.
District Highlights
This week, my Office Manager Jeremiah Cota had the privilege of attending the Veterans Stand Down at Colorado Indian Tribes. A Veterans Stand Down is a community event that provides services to homeless and at-risk veterans. The events are collaborative and include food, clothing, health screenings, and referrals to other services.
Meanwhile, my District Director Penny Pew (pictured above) attended the hundred-year birthday celebration for Army Veteran and American Hero George Cross in Buckeye. He enlisted in the military at age 16 and at age 17 he jumped out of a plane and joined the historic Battle of the Bulge. Happy Birthday, George!
Penny also attended the Veterans Treatment Court graduation in Lake Havasu City to celebrate the graduation of two veterans. The Lake Havasu City Veterans Treatment Court has shown to be one of the most effective programs in improving the lives of our nation’s heroes. As always, many thanks to Judge Kalauli for his untiring service to our veterans.
It’s Mail Time!
📬 I receive thousands of letters each week and I appreciate hearing from everyone. Here are a few letters I received this week:
📨 Roger E. from Waddell, AZ shares:
I was pleased to read about your bill, H.R. 34, for two reasons. First it makes total sense to redirect revenue from our natural resources towards social security and second, what a delight to read a two-page bill! Short and sweet.
✍ Thanks, Roger. The premise behind H.R. 34 is to expedite permits and leases on public lands which has the added benefit of generating more funding and depositing 10% of those increased revenues into the Social Security Trust Fund to help shore it up.
📨 Kathryn H. from Lake Havasu City chimes in:
In your weekly newsletter of January 5, you state “As you know, President Trump won the 2024 election in a landslide, securing for himself and his agenda a clear mandate from the American people.” As you know very well, the election was won by only 1.47%, the 6th smallest margin of victory in our country’s history. Less than 80% of registered voters voted for him. This is most assuredly NOT a “landslide,” and hardly a “mandate” for his agenda. As one of your constituents, I would really prefer my elected representative be truthful about this past election and not repeat false talking points. CD-9 deserves a representative who does NOT lie.
✍ Kathryn, its’s the truth! Not only was it a landslide, but President Trump’s victory was a resounding and sweeping mandate! As the Washington Times rightly points out, it was the equivalent of a political earthquake. Mr. Trump’s sweep of battleground states and popular vote victory over Kamala Harris shows that his triumph trickled down the ballot, helping Republicans capture the Senate and holding on to the House. In fact, President Trump notched the highest count of the popular vote of any Republican ever. His wins in all the seven swing states were substantial. It was indeed a mandate and it was clearly why Time Magazine named President Trump the Person of the Year. But don’t take my word for it. The Irish Times headlines reads Donald Trump has a mandate to overhaul the US. Speaker Mike Johnson noted “Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate” at a news conference. Continuing, it was a decisive win across the nation.” Better yet, read this article from the American Conservative entitled “The Trump Mandate.”
Tweet of the Week:
Photo of the Week:
📸 Daniel Hagen from Payson, Arizona shares this picture he snapped of a Great Egret and a Snowy Egret flying together while he was recently paddle boarding in early fall. Incredible photo, Daniel.
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.
Gosar in the News and Other Must-Read Stories:
📰 The Hill: Biden administration providing additional $500M in weapons to Ukraine
🗞 New York Post: Gitmo release shows Biden & Co. have gone 100% off the rails
📰 Interesting Engineering: Arizona gets biggest solar project in the US to power 180,000 homes
🗞 Washington Examiner: Where did all the fascism talk go?
📰 Washington Times: Donald Trump is the peacemaker the world needs
⚠ Warning!! The Gosar Weekly Newsletter is meant for discerning readers with above average intelligence. 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.
