This Week with Gosar

March 3, 2024

Media Largely Ignores Illegal Alien Crime Wave

Faithful Gosar Newsletter readers know that each month I report on the latest illegal border crossings.  For example, I recently noted that Customs and Border Protection released data showing more than 176,000 lawbreakers crossed the southern border in January.  More than 10 million illegal aliens, 340 terrorists and 27 tons of fentanyl have been welcomed into our country since Joe Biden took office.  Not included in these numbers are the nearly two million additional illegals, known as “gotaways,” who have evaded border patrol officials.

Who are some of these illegal aliens, you may ask?  Well, frankly, many are violent criminals.  While Joe Biden likes to claim that the southern border is “secure” and has repeatedly stated that it was “not rational” to deport illegal immigrants, the brutal crimes committed by these lawbreakers just this week are heartbreaking and illustrate otherwise.

In Georgia, Jose Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela, faces murder charges this week for the brutal murder of 22 year-old University of Georgia student Laken Riley.  Rather than being deported, Ibarra was let go under Biden’s parole policies.

In Virginia this week, Renzo Mendoza Montes, another illegal alien from Venezuela, was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.  He entered the country illegally last September but was released because of Biden’s immigration policies.

In Florida, Santo Felix Cruz-Ramos, an illegal immigrant, was arrested this week on charges of raping a woman.

That’s just this week!

There has been a wave of crime committed by illegal aliens for months. For example, a few weeks ago, I wrote about six illegal aliens who beat the hell out of two police officers in New York City.  A 15-year-old illegal alien shot a tourist in Time Square in New York City in February.  In Texas, an illegal immigrant was recently charged in a fatal hit-and-run death of a ten-year-old boy.  A two-year-old boy from Maryland was murdered by a Salvadoran illegal alien last month.  In Louisiana, a 14-year-old girl was raped by an illegal alien from Honduras.  In Washington, D.C., three police officers were shot in January by an illegal alien from Jamaica.

As the New York Post points out, these criminals crossed our border with total impunity and then kept breaking the law with the same impunity.  Joe Biden and the Fake News refuse to accurately report that these crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants.  The truth is that Biden could immediately end his policy of catch and release.  He could instruct border patrol agents to detain and deport illegals if he wanted to.  He could stop welcoming these lawbreakers with open arms.  Biden could end this invasion immediately if he chose to, but he refuses.  His open border policies are directly responsible for these senseless and heinous crimes.  Lives are being destroyed, families are devastated and communities across our nation are being crushed.  Yet, Biden and the Fake News largely ignore these tragedies.

Two more points: first, I have been keeping close track of the numbers.  Official data supports the number of illegals entering our country since January 2021 at 10 million.  And as noted above, the number of “got-aways” is documented at two million.  When combined, the total number of illegal aliens entering our country since January 2021 is about 12 million.  I point this out because lately I have seen people tweet or comment that the number is seven million.   That, of course is a national disgrace if true, but the more accurate number is 12 million illegal aliens.  Combined with the illegal aliens here prior to 2021, we have about 40-45 million illegal aliens in our country.

Second, there is a troubling trend of illegal aliens from Venezuela, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador and other countries because these countries are experiencing a decrease in violent crime in 2022.  One theory is that the violent sociopaths from those countries are being released from prison and sent here.  This trend will be important to monitor.  (I am aware El Salvador has implemented criminal justice reforms that have made it one of the safest countries in Central America).

Congress Kicks the Budget Can—Again

This week, the House of Representatives voted on a short-term bill to fund portions of the government until March 8 and March 22.  We are nearly six months into Fiscal Year 2024 and Congress still has not passed a year-long budget. This is now the fourth time Congress has voted on what is known as a continuing resolution, or CR, this fiscal year.  America is flat broke, our national debt exceeds $34 trillion, reaching a calamitous level and tripling in the last decade.  Yet Congress cannot do its basic job and pass a budget on time, much less balance it.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FLASH POLL:  I want to hear from you! 

Speaking of government spending, I want to know your thoughts on the latest spending fight in Washington, DC.  Without a spending agreement in place after March 8 (as noted above), the government will partially shut down.  Do you support shutting the government down if it means getting a spending deal that reins in wasteful spending?  Click here to take my poll and let me know your thoughts!

Federal Judge Rules Spending Bill and Proxy Voting Unconstitutional

But there’s even more news this week about spending!  On Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the $1.7 trillion funding bill that Joe Biden signed into law in 2023 was unconstitutional because the House of Representatives lacked a quorum to conduct business but nevertheless proceeded by casting 226 votes by “proxy.”  Read more about this ruling by clicking here but in very simple terms, under a change of the rules governing how Members of Congress were able to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Member of Congress was allowed to designate another Member of Congress as a “proxy” to cast the vote of the designating Member of Congress if a public health emergency due to COVID was in effect.  There were many reasons to use the proxy vote during the pandemic, including travel restrictions that prevented Members of Congress from flying, shutdowns and pandemic related-sicknesses or exposure to the virus that forced Members of Congress to quarantine.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued and this week a federal judge ruled that, because a quorum of Members of Congress was not present, proxy voting violated the Constitution’s quorum clause requiring a majority of Members of Congress be physically present to vote on legislation.   The judge further ruled that passage of the 2022 spending bill by Congress and then signed by Joe Biden also violated the Constitution because Congress utilized the proxy.

No doubt the Biden administration will appeal the judge’s ruling and we will have to see what the impact of this decision is, but it does bring me to my next point: Members of Congress on rare occasion do miss a few votes and when they do, the Constitution does not allow for an alternative way to vote and this week I sure wish there was!  Read the next story to understand why!

Gosar Has Successful Hip Surgery, Expects Full Recovery

After suffering from unbearable pain in my hip for years, I finally decided to undergo surgery.  As a result, however, I did miss a few votes this week…and I sure wish I could have used a proxy to vote against the latest continuing resolution I discussed earlier in this newsletter.  The good news is that I’m feeling very strong, expect a short but full recovery and hope to be back in Washington very soon.  Many thanks for the kind words expressed by all the well-wishers who phoned or e-mailed me.

Hunter Biden Appears before Congressional Committees    

This week, after months of delays and stunts (see my previous newsletter here), Joe Biden’s son, Hunter finally appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (on which I serve) and the House Committee on the Judiciary to answer questions regarding his knowledge of Joe Biden’s participation in the Biden Family influence peddling scheme.  Hunter’s testimony is critical to the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry, where he and his family are alleged to have made millions of dollars from foreigners by selling the Biden brand around the world.  For example, according to witnesses, we know that Biden’s created over 20 shell companies to hide and move cash around.  We also know that China, Russia, Romania and Ukraine paid the Biden family more than $24 million between 2015-2019.  From bank records obtained by the Treasury Department, we also know that there are at least 170 suspicious banking transactions associated with the Biden brand.  Despite Joe Biden telling the American people he never interacted with Hunter’s business associates and that there was a “wall” between him and his family’s business dealings, we have proof that Joe Biden spoke to Hunter’s business associates dozens of times and dined with foreign executives on behalf of the Biden family brand.  In fact, during the deposition, Hunter Biden testified that he put his father on speakerphone with business associates several times and that he would often put these calls on speakerphone at the table with business associates.  Hunter even acknowledged that Joe Biden was indeed “the big guy” referenced in emails about a $5 million business deal with China.

We know that Ukrainian and Chinese companies paid millions of dollars to Hunter Biden.  We must always ask: what was Hunter selling? What is his product?  What is his skill that warrants millions?  The answer is clear:  the service was access to the brand, Joe Biden.  That’s it.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  As I have repeatedly said, the American people deserve transparency and Joe Biden must be held accountable for his lies and corruption.

The full transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition this week can be found here.

Gosar Honors Mohave County Sheriff for 50 years of Service

I recently had the privilege of honoring Rudy Jehle for five decades of service in the Mohave County Sheriff’s Search in rescue.  Sheriff Jehle, who is retiring, truly personifies the patriotic virtue of selflessness and service to his community.   My District Director, Penny Pew, provided Rudy with a copy of the Congressional Record recognizing his 50 years of service to Mohave County.  Thank you for your service, Rudy!

Tax Season Help

We’re in the middle of tax-filing season, and with April 15th looming, you’ve no doubt already spent countless hours preparing your taxes.  If you need help filing your taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made available some resources to assist processing your tax return.  Here is a helpful link that you can click to find answers to many of your tax questions.

Many taxpayers will be eligible to use the IRS Free File software by clicking here. The program offers software packages that will find deductions, credits, and exemptions for users. If you are more comfortable with a tax professional handling your tax return, click hereto find someone to help prepare them.

Still have questions? Visit the Interactive Tax Assistant to find information about filing status, credits or deductions, dependent eligibility, and more.

Also, be on the lookout for unscrupulous individuals posing as IRS agents.  Remember: never give your personal information over the phone to anyone who calls out of the blue asking for it.  It could be a criminal looking for a quick payout or trying to steal your identity.

If you are having difficulty with the IRS, please stop by my Goodyear office located at 1300 South Litchfield Road, Suite 115-H or call my office at 623-707-0530.  We will do our best to help!

It’s Mail Time!

I receive thousands of letters each month.  Here are samples of some of the letters I received this week:

Deborah H. from Yuma writes:

I urge you to cut all of our nation’s unconstitutional and wasteful federal spending. We’re destroying our country by overspending, and it’s time that we return to following the Constitution. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution lists everything that Congress is authorized to spend money on. Congress doesn’t have authority to spend money on anything not listed in Article I, Section 8 — such spending is unconstitutional. Unfortunately, we currently spend trillions each year, mostly on programs that are blatantly unconstitutional (as well as wasteful). We must immediately cut all such spending. If we stopped spending money on the many unconstitutional programs, the federal government would shrink by over 80%, and we would immediately solve our debt and deficit problems. Please immediately take action to cut unconstitutional spending.

Deborah, I’m with you.  The size and scope of the federal government has infinitely expanded beyond what the Founders envisioned in the Constitution.  This growth has been exacerbated by Joe Biden and a Congress unwilling to rein in spending.  Our history of fiscal irresponsibility is damaging however Mr. Biden has taken it to new levels by ushering in trillions of COVID-19 spending, unlimited war spending, fake infrastructure bills and billions of dollars going to illegal aliens.  Worse, his plan is to spend even more.  I have opposed these unnecessary measures and I have always been a leaner, fiscally responsible government Constitutional conservative and will continue to oppose any legislation which further harms our economy and the security of this country.

Melany C. from Yuma shares:

I am urging you to hold student loan servicers accountable. Borrowers have been impacted by gross negligence at the hands of these servicers, and it is blatantly clear they have not been doing their job. Millions of borrowers have been hit with billing errors, long wait times, delays in application processing, and more which puts them at great financial risk. Congress must act in order to protect millions of Americans and their families from further harm. President Biden and the Department of Education have already taken some action by withholding millions of dollars in compensation to these loan servicers, but Congress has the ability to enact long-term consequences and regulations that can keep loan servicers in check. Borrowers across the country need their loan servicers to provide correct information in a timely manner and not continue to be an obstacle to critical information and much-needed resources. Loan servicer accountability is needed now more than ever and Congress can make a permanent difference for millions of Americans.

Melany, 43.4 million Americans have student loan debt, totaling $1.75 trillion.  Worse, many students will never repay their loans and end up defaulting on them.  Unfortunately, college costs continue to soar in part because of overgenerous federal lending policies.  As federal loans become all too easy to obtain, colleges are more willing to increase tuition costs knowing there will be a constant funding stream of student loans.  

I understand the importance of education, and I realize that student loan debt can be a major problem for struggling families during this rough economy.  As a dental student, I worked multiple jobs to cover some of the costs of my education, but still accrued debt.

While cancelling student loans may sound like a great deal for the millions of young adults carrying around debt from college, student loan forgiveness isn’t free.  In fact, it comes with a tremendous price tag for taxpayers who unfairly would now be paying the borrower’s debt.  In fact, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate sets the price tag for student loan debt cancellation at $570.5 billion.  This amounts to a cost per taxpayer of $3,526.

The real problem here is the high cost of higher education.  Students should not have to borrow $50,000 or more to get a college degree.  The fault lies squarely with the universities in this country who have been price gouging students because of student loans.  

Bailing out the loans simply encourages universities to raise their rates instead of looking at real market conditions.  If there were no student loans, universities would have to price their credit hours realistically.  Until universities lower their lavish faculty and administrative salaries and benefits, there will be no student loan reforms.

Regardless of the economic, moral, or constitutional reality, Biden continues to ignore all of it.  In fact, the White House is actively pursuing alternative workarounds from the courts, by stretching the law and going far beyond what Congress intended when they passed laws which have little to do with student loan assistance. 

Biden’s effort to high-grade tax money without Congressional approval is unconstitutional and illegal.  His effort here was pure political pandering to this demographic.  For these reasons, I cannot support Mr. Biden’s disingenuous proposals to forgive college student loan debt.

Nathanial W. from Surprise sent in:

I’m writing to express my strong support for the Biden Administration’s decision to pause pending approvals of new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities. 

At a time when the science tells us we have just six years to cut global emissions in half, the pause enables the Department of Energy to study the dangerous impacts of any new facilities on our climate and our health. 

This is the right call.  Studies show that – contrary to industry claims – transporting LNG abroad generates significantly more planet-warming emissions than burning coal. We simply can’t afford to rubberstamp new infrastructure guaranteed to accelerate climate change. 

Nathanial, before I get to the specific response to the LNG ban, let me comment on your gloomy prediction that we are all dead in six years if we don’t do what you want us to do.

Since the 1970’s “experts” have been warning us, like some Mayan Sun god, that the earth will soon die and everyone on it as well. 

Harvard biologist and Nobel Prize winner George Wald, predicted in November 1970: “Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”

Dennis Hayes, a key organizer of Earth Day noted in Spring 1970: “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.”

Kenneth Watt, UC Davis ecologist claimed in the 70’s: “At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.”

Then the so-called “experts” in the 70’s said we were going to all die because of ….wait for it…global cooling!  For example, the New York Times said on July 18, 1976 that because of global cooling “… the news for the future is not good. The climate is going to get unreliable. It is going to get cold. Harvest failures and regional famines will be more frequent. Weather will probably make history—again.”

By 1978 the New York Times proclaimed it as an established and irrefutable fact, with a “consensus” of “experts” that global cooling would never end: “An international team of specialists has concluded from eight indexes [sic] of climate that there is no end in sight to the cooling trend of the last 30 years, at least in the Northern Hemisphere.” 

The world survived the 70’s so by the 1980’s the media and its “experts” had switched to global warming as the reason for our imminent death. The switch was made because the predicted global ice age never materialized in the 1970’s.  In fact, The vaunted Associated Press wrote in June 1989 that the world had a mere 11 years before we all died.  The article, called, “Rising Seas Could Obliterate Nations,” started with a banger: “A senior UN environmental official (Noel Brown) says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.” There are dozens of other articles in 1980’s like this all with similar predictions of our imminent death due to global warming. 

Then the same lies and fear mongering occurred through the 1990’s and 2000’s.  Instead of global warming, the “experts” started to switch to simple “climate change” (the current mantra) because even with faked data the weather predictions consistently failed to show a global warming much less a dangerous warming.  In July 2009, Prince Charles, an obvious weather scholar, claimed that Earth had only 96 months before the world would “collapse” and “all that goes with it.”  

By 2006 Al Gore, the individual who invented the internet, claimed the world would be extinct by 2016.  Unless, and this is a big point to make, we all did what he said we should do which included selling our cars, paying all of our income in taxes, following UN dictates, destroying our electrical grid and huddling in caves while he vacationed in Davos.  Except for people like you, we all laughed at his stupidity and arrogance.  

Who can forget democrat Ted Turner, who in 2008, suddenly had a prophesy an Egyptian King would have blushed with envy:  “We’ll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not 10 but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state like Somalia or Sudan, and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there’ll be no more corn growing.” The remedy according to this high priest of weather: Higher taxes, sell your cars, destroy our electric grid, stop producing oil and gas and don’t have children.  Basically, Mr. Turner advocated a pure anti-human policy.  

In 2014, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius claimed: “We have 500 days to avoid climate chaos.”

My colleague from New York, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez predicted in 2019, based apparently on her Ph.D. in weather, that the end would come by 2031. 

The plucky but very pessimistic Greta Thunberg claimed we were doomed in 2019 if we didn’t hop to it and do what she demanded, which was oddly the same demands Al Gore made.  She painted this rosy future: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

I could go on Nathaniel.  You claim we only have six years.  Maybe Al Gore told you this.  Maybe it was Time Magazine.  Or Ted Turner.  Or Greta Thunberg.  Or some UN report.  

I reject fake science.  I reject death cult predictions and if I am going to put my faith in to something it will be in Jesus Christ and fact-based science. 

Now on to the LNG. 

Nathanial, earlier this year, Biden announced a temporary pause on approving pending LNG exports.  He claimed it’ll help the environment.  However, according to the House Energy & Commerce Committee: “The Department of Energy (DOE) has already commissioned five studies to examine the effects of U.S. LNG exports. The results unanimously demonstrate the benefits to the U.S. economy and domestic natural gas prices. DOE has also issued two studies that examined the life cycle greenhouse gas impacts of U.S. LNG exports showing strong environmental benefits. Notably, the two prior presidential administrations conducted these studies without blocking export permits.”

A few weeks ago, I voted in favor of a bill which would stop this order by Biden.  I support allowing American energy producers to thrive and grow.  Biden’s export ban would hurt these companies, making them less able to produce for Americans.  This bill passed on a bipartisan basis because even some anti-energy democrats realized the radical nature of the Biden regime.  Now it lies in the hands of the Senate.

Tweet of the Week:

Photo of the Week:

Dave Swanson from Prescott Valley took this photo of a Great Horned Owl in his backyard on New Year’s Day.   Very cool.  Thanks for sharing, Dave!

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.

Remember to include your name and where you live.  We have a beautiful state, let’s show her off!

Gosar in the News and Other Must-Read Stories:

Economic Policy Innovation Center: Bidenomics Slush Fund Subsidizes “Undocumented” Immigration

The National Pulse: Biden Refuses Cognitive Test During Physical Exam.

Just the News: Mitch McConnell’s legacy: $27.6 trillion in national debt

Just the News: Court declares $1.7 trillion federal omnibus was passed unconstitutionally

National Review: Exclusive: Blinken Cautioned State Dept. Staff against ‘Misgendering,’ Using Gendered Terms Like ‘Father’ in Official Cable

New York Post: Legacy media shield Laken Riley’s alleged killer, Jose Ibarra — and his enabler, Joe Biden

New York Post: New election year means another Russiagate as Biden, Dems try to smear impeachment probe

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.