By: Congressman David Kustoff
Since taking the Majority a year ago, Republicans in the House of Representatives have been working hard for the American people. We have taken key steps to fulfill our commitment to create an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future that’s built upon freedom, and a government that’s accountable.
The very first vote we took was on the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act. This legislation defunded the 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents the Biden Administration intended to use to target taxpayers with more burdensome audits. Americans deserve a government that’s accountable and one that works for them, not against them.
As you may know, the Speaker and Majority party leave the first 10 bills, numbered H.R. 1-10, for policies that are their top priorities. I would like to highlight a couple of those that the House of Representatives passed this past year.
We passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, to increase domestic energy production and lower energy costs for families across the nation. This legislation was a key step to combat President Joe Biden’s war on American energy and unleash American energy dominance.
We also passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, H.R. 5. We know how imperative it is for parents to have a say in their child’s future. The Parents’ Bill of Rights ensures their voice is heard. This bill puts in place concrete legal protections that will ensure parents always have a seat at the table when it comes to their child’s education.
That is not all we did.
We took key steps to end proxy voting, reopen the Capitol to visitors, establish a bipartisan China Select Committee to counter China’s growing aggression, block President Biden’s WOTUS rule, nullify D.C.’s Soft on Crime Bill, terminate the COVID-19 National Emergency, and eliminate the Military Vaccine Mandate.
We ended the year by passing the National Defense Authorization Act to fund our military and give our service members the largest pay raise in over 20 years. This important legislation will increase our ability to counter growing threats, support our troops, and protect our homeland.
I can confidently say that my colleagues and I are focused on alleviating the challenges you are facing each day.
The House also brought legislation onto the floor to help secure the border and close loopholes in our immigration laws. This was H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. This is the strongest border security package in American history.
As we look further into the new year, one of the biggest issues Congress will face is the wide- open southern border.
President Biden’s open border policies have created a national security crisis. Since he took office, there have been over 6.7 million illegal crossings of the southern border, and 8 million enforcement encounters nationwide.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, there were 2.48 million encounters at the southern border, the highest annual total ever recorded in a single year. During that time, they stopped 169 people whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist.
On average, more than 8,400 illegal aliens entered our country each day last year. In December, there were 302,000 migrant encounters, the highest number of illegal crossings ever recorded in a month.
Additionally, CBP reported that in FY23, they seized enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of the United States.
This crisis is making every single state, including Tennessee, a border state.
As I mentioned earlier, I was proud to vote for the Secure the Border Act, to strengthen our border security and immigration laws and to help deter illegal immigrants from taking advantage of our immigration system.
This is a national security crisis that we cannot ignore. It is my hope that in the new year the House, Senate, and the White House can come together to secure our southern border and stop the deadly flow of fentanyl into our communities.
It is an honor to be your voice in Washington and I promise to continue fighting for West Tennessee families, farms, and businesses.
Congressman David Kustoff, a Republican, represents Tennessee’s Eighth Congressional District, and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.
