Congressman Good Update: Democrats Would Rather Shut Down the Government Than the Border

With the federal government's 2023 fiscal year set to expire on September 30, Congress is debating whether or how to address out-of-control spending in Washington. Just recently, our national debt reached a staggering $33 trillion or approximately $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. We are borrowing nearly $200 billion every month to operate our bloated federal budget, and that is simply unsustainable. While I am fighting to cut our annual spending back to pre-COVID levels, sadly, and inexcusably, many in Congress---Democrats and Republicans---want to borrow and spend even more. The people I hear from across the 5th District are tired of having their hard-earned tax dollars wasted to fund a government that is working against them. They don't want to borrow from their kids and grandkids to pay for Biden's border invasion, leftist climate policies, or a corrupt federal bureaucracy. They also want to be able to afford to pay the rent or even buy a house, put groceries on table and gas in the car, and to keep the lights on.  We simply cannot maintain the status quo in Washington, and Congress must not fail once again to deliver for the American people.  Right now, four of our required 12 annual spending bills have passed the House, while none have passed the Senate. I am working to cut our spending from last year, and to reverse the harmful Democrat policies currently in place and causing so much suffering for the American people. If Congress is unable to pass the spending bills by today's September 30 deadline, there would be a temporary pause for certain non-essential government functions. I want to clarify for you what a government "shutdown" means, because some may not notice its effects, beyond sensationalized media coverage. Most essential services of the federal government will continue without interruption, including: Social Security Medicare and Medicaid Most Veterans' programs Air traffic control and TSA Military operations and diplomacy U.S. Postal Service Law enforcement Other essential government services I came to Washington to end reckless spending and reverse harmful policies that have led to oppressive levels of inflation, a weakening economy, record illegal border crossings, and prioritized woke indoctrination in our military and our schools. The House needs to pass our 12 individual spending bills to achieve those goals. That is what Americans elected us to do

Why are Immigration Courts at the Breaking Point?

IRLI investigation focuses on real problems and solutions

WASHINGTON—One of the driving factors in our dysfunctional immigration system has been our overloaded Immigration Courts. The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has published an investigative note examining this problem and offering practical remedies.   The note looks at analysis of the problem offered by the Migrant Policy Institute (MPI), a pro-migrant research organization, as an example of how the Court's problems are commonly misdiagnosed.   IRLI cites the MPI report's assessment that hearing delays caused by backlogs create a "lack of certainty" for noncitizens, which results in "serious negative health effects, and that delays in receiving work authorization jeopardizes the ability of noncitizens to earn money.   "What MPI neglects to mention is that the vast majority of these complaints would be immediately negated if the aliens in question simply returned home, where they possess full rights of citizenship," IRLI's note said in response. "But MPI, like the rest of the anti-borders contingent appears to be convinced that any foreign national who is dissatisfied with life in his or her home country, has an unfettered right to come to the United States."   The note also identifies a key reason why our Immigration Courts are struggling: the tendency of the Court to accord more due process to aliens than the law requires.   "The spread of anti-borders ideology in our government has created the problems our Immigration Courts face today," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "We have abandoned the idea of secure borders, allowing millions of noncitizens to enter the United States illegally. At the same time, we afford those aliens excessive rights and due process, which creates years of delays for cases to be adjudicated. It has created a process that will only get worse without meaningful reform."   Matt O'Brien, director of investigations at IRLI, noted that, "Organizations like MPI have repeatedly scratched their heads and asked why we have such a giant backlog in the immigration courts. But the answer is simple: There are too many alien lawbreakers in the U.S. who are being given too many chances to plead their cases, the vast majority of which prove to be entirely baseless."

Gary Bauer: The Real Threat

President Joe Biden delivered a speech in Arizona yesterday to honor the late Senator John McCain. (As I've noted before, in the minds of progressives the only acceptable Republicans are dead Republicans.) 

Among other things, Biden announced funding for a new McCain Library at Arizona State University. It's being built with $83 million in COVID relief funds. Sen. McCain, who was known for fighting pork barrel spending, would be outraged. His son-in-law certainly was. 

More importantly, Joe Biden was back in attack mode, demonizing and dehumanizing the majority of the country that would kick him out of office if the election were held today.

Biden claimed there is a growing "dangerous" and "extremist movement" in the country that "does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy." Well, he's right about that. But he says the "extremist" threat is the MAGA movement. He's wrong about that.

The real threat to democracy is coming from the neo-Marxist left that is literally trying to put Donald Trump in jail for saying what many liberals have said. At the same time, the neo-Marxist movement is building a campaign around the insane idea that half the country is a "threat to democracy." 

They are doing everything they accuse us of doing! Let me count the ways the left is threatening our constitutional Republic.

Their loyalists in the Deep State spread lies about Russian collusion to undermine the duly-elected president. 

Then they worked with Big Tech oligarchs to censor the truth, Trump and anyone else who dissented from the party line on multiple issues.

Rather than trying to restore confidence in our elections, the left is promoting policies that make cheating easier, thus undermining confidence in our elections.

The left has undermined the equal protection of the law by selectively using law enforcement to prosecute conservatives while radical leftists get off scot-free.

The left is trying to pack the Supreme Court, and regularly undermines the legitimacy of the court.

The left is teaching our children that America was evil from the beginning and is evil today.

The left is perfectly willing to exploit race and stoke racial tensions to gain power.

They are threatening to starve poor children in order to crush any opposition to the radical LGBTQ movement and transgender insanity.

They rejoined multiple international organizations that are taking sovereignty away from the American people.

The number one obligation of the government is to protect the country from foreign enemies. This administration intentionally puts America at risk. It is leaving our borders wide open. 

They are so hostile to normal American sentiments that they are importing a new population, which they believe will be more subservient to the nation they want to build, a "fundamentally transformed America."

Most progressives reject freedom of speech. They are at war with religious liberty. They want to gut the Second Amendment. 

And, of course, they are using a justice system they control, in jurisdictions they dominate, along with biased judges to imprison their leading political opponent and his followers. 

Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez would be proud.

This Saturday: U.S. Constitution Birthday Party in Culpeper!

Gary Bauer: Trump’s Abortion Fumble

There's a lot of disappointment over the way Donald Trump handled a discussion of the abortion issue over the weekend. We have let former President Trump know how we felt about the way he framed the issue. 

Read this important statement Trump posted yesterday on Truth Social:

"I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible, end Roe v. Wade. For 52 years, people talked . . . but couldn't get the job done. I got the job done! Thanks to the three great Supreme Court Justices I appointed, this issue has been returned to the States. . . Now the Pro-Life Community has TREMENDOUS NEGOTIATING POWER.

 

"Like Ronald Reagan before me, I believe in the three exceptions for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother. Without the exceptions . . . we would probably lose the Majorities in 2024, and perhaps the Presidency itself, but you must follow your HEART!  [Conservatives] must learn how to talk about Abortion. This issue cost [pro-life candidates] unnecessarily, but dearly, in the Midterms.

 

"We have to expose the [progressives] . . . as being the true Radicals on the Abortion issue, in that they allow the killing of babies in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th months, and even after birth.

 

"But it was OK to 'rip the baby out of the womb' under Roe v. Wade, and destroy a living soul. Now, with Roe v. Wade no longer, the power to negotiate is with the Pro-Life Movement, not the Radical Left [progressives] who are so willing to destroy Life!"

To reinforce Trump's view, Joe Biden copied a previous statement from Trump and sent it out all over the country, adding this comment: "Let's be clear: Donald Trump is responsible for ending Roe v. Wade.  And if you vote for him, he'll go even further."

Now, here's some context. 

Most of us, myself included, strongly believe that all of our children deserve to be welcomed into the world and should be protected by our laws and founding documents. I don't want one abortion, period. That is not, unfortunately, where the American people are.

Now that Trump got Roe overturned, people who don't want all abortions to be banned appear to be voting in unusual numbers, resulting in conservatives losing multiple key races in recent months in a wide range of states, even in conservative pro-life states. Meanwhile, really bad pro-abortion ballot initiatives have been passed, and more will be on the ballot next year.

We want no abortions. The radical lefts want abortions during all nine months of pregnancy and even afterwards. 

If conservatives can successfully expose the left's abortion on demand, up to birth extremism, we beat them.

If the pro-abortion left can label pro-life candidates as "extremists who want to ban every abortion," they win. 

The American people are somewhere in the middle, generally favoring laws that protect pre-born babies around 15 weeks. 

Trump is trying to thread that needle, and progressives are terrified he may succeed.

One final comment: I am extremely pleased that the Florida legislature passed a heartbeat bill and that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it. That's what can be done when you have supermajorities in a legislature.    

In the meantime, we will continue to work with Donald Trump, other presidential candidates, elected officials and grassroots activists to effectively articulate the pro-life position.

Biden White House Slammed Family Separation, yet Continues the Policy

IRLI sues CBP for release of data on family units separated last year

WASHINGTON—The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in federal district court against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), seeking to compel the agency to provide 2022 family-separation numbers first requested in January.   Illegal alien advocates began complaining about family separation shortly after the Trump Administration implemented its "Zero Tolerance" policy and began criminally prosecuting border jumpers for "improper entry by an alien."   In the United States adults who are with minors when they are arrested for any type of offense have always been separated from them. This is true when a U.S. citizen is arrested for drunk driving with kids in the car as it is when an illegal alien is arrested for immigration violations when crossing the border with minors. And it has been standard practice for decades.   Nevertheless, the Biden Administration condemned any kind of family separation – even for legitimate reasons – as "abhorrent." However, while Team Biden appears to have ended almost all improper entry prosecutions, it has continued, and even may have increased, the so-called family separations.   On January 3, 2023, IRLI filed a FOIA request with CBP asking for the number of alleged family units separated between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022, as well as how many total minors were separated from adults during the same period.    Notably, IRLI's FOIA request was not for communications or other detailed records that might be difficult to locate, only for raw numbers that CBP should already be compiling in order to comply with both federal transparency regulations and Congressional oversight requirements.   Under FOIA, an agency is supposed to determine whether and to what extent it will comply with a request and provide relevant public records within twenty working days. However, more than seven months after IRLI's request was filed, CBP had still not responded to IRLI's request. Accordingly, IRLI filed suit to compel production of the requested information.   "This suit was necessary in light of the Biden Administration's hypocrisy and lack of transparency regarding its immigration policies," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. "The Biden White House and its supporters vilified the Trump Administration over family separations, yet it seems they have done it to an even greater degree. They also ignore FOIA requests because compliance would reveal data embarrassing to the administration. This court should force the White House to be accountable to the American people and provide information we have a right to know."   According to IRLI's director of investigations Matt O'Brien, "The failure to produce these records is part of an ongoing effort by the Biden Administration to deceive the American public and portray its border policies as 'kinder' than those of former President Trump. In reality, Team Biden is engaging in the exact same detention practices as both the Trump Administration and the Obama Administration."

FAIR Applauds House GOP Leadership's Inclusion of Border Security in Government Funding Bill

(September 18, 2023, Washington, D.C.) The following statement was issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), commending House Republicans for including needed reforms to end the Biden Border Crisis in a Continuing Resolution:
 
"Over the weekend, House Republicans took the much-needed step of ensuring that our dangerously insecure borders are closed as part of any spending deal to fund the government. The House-drafted Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government beyond September 30 includes nearly all of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. In addition to funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the inclusion of key provisions of H.R. 2 requires that DHS invest in physical barriers, personnel and technology to secure the border.
 
"As the Biden Border Crisis, and its impact on communities all across the United States, grows worse by the day, it is critical that the full House pass the CR with these border security provisions intact and hold the line when a final deal is hammered out with the leadership of the Democratic controlled Senate.
 
"Securing the border is a fiscal issue. The unprecedented and unceasing influx of illegal aliens triggered by Biden administration policies affect the budgets of countless federal agencies that process, feed, shelter, educate, and provide medical care to the illegal migrants. The Biden Border Crisis is also wreaking havoc on state and local governments that are coping with influxes that, in the words of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, threaten to 'destroy' their communities.
 
"Congress cannot hand the Biden administration a blank check that allows them to continue subverting our immigration laws and endangering national security. House Republicans took the necessary step of making sure that the government has the funds it needs to operate, but not carte blanche to carry out the Biden administration's dangerous, destructive and illegal dismantling of border and immigration enforcement."

Congressman Good Update: Fighting for Everyday Americans

Honoring Our Commitment to Cut Spending

Most Americans agree that Washington has a spending problem. We are suffering from high inflation that is increasing the cost of housing, gas, groceries,and utilities; and severely decreasing our purchasing power. Meanwhile, the elitesin Washington want to continue the status-quo.

My colleagues and I in the Freedom Caucus held a press conference to addressour efforts to cut wasteful federal spending, appropriately fund the government, implement conservative Republican policies, and avoid a government shutdown.We are calling on Speaker McCarthy to honor the commitments he made to become Speaker in January, including cutting our non-defense discretionary spending to pre-COVID levels, as we voted to do in April with the Limit, Save, Grow Act. We must pass the remaining 11 of our 12 annual appropriations bills, that also implement the policies we ran on, and that end the woke and weaponized government that is oppressing the American people. 

Speaker McCarthy has an opportunity to be a transformational Speaker who stared down the Senate, the White House, and the reckless uni-party spenders. He can reject the status-quo and pass our spending bills and send them to the Senate. If Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to "shut down" the government by refusing to rein in spending and make America more secure, he can own another "Schumer Shutdown."

CCRC 9.12.23 Newsletter

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Rep. Donalds Supports Move By Speaker McCarthy To Initiate Impeachment Inquiry Against President Joseph R. Biden

WASHINGTON – Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) issued the following statement in support of Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) decision to initiate an impeachment inquiry against the 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden. 

"As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, I've taken part in countless hours of public and private hearings, read thousands of pages of classified and unclassified documents, and have been briefed on a wide array of evidence unequivocally linking President Biden to blatant and pervasive corruption through his son Hunter Biden.

"Unlike Congressional Democrats during the Trump administration, House Republicans have taken the painstaking time to develop a substantial case to present before the House of Representatives and the American people outlining the severity and breadth of Biden's corruption dating back to his days as vice president. The American people are exhausted and disheartened by the intentional and consistent prejudice in government investigations by Biden's DOJ and under Nancy Pelosi's reign, and yesterday's launch of an impeachment inquiry makes it clear that President Biden will have to answer for his pay-for-play political career. I believe this inquiry will have met the high evidentiary bar to eventually impeach President Biden."

Amanda Chase: Parents First

I wholeheartedly applaud Governor Youngkin for pardoning Scott Smith, the Loudoun County father who was arrested at a school board meeting for expressing his outrage regarding a coverup by the Loudoun County public school system after his daughter was raped.

We remember the story well. RTD described it this way- "The assailant, a student at Stone Bridge High School, sexually assaulted Smith's daughter in a campus bathroom in May 2021. The assailant was then transferred to the county's Broad Run High School, where he abducted and sexually assaulted another girl at school just five months later."

Loudoun County eventually fired their school superintendent for his involvement in the coverup.

A huge thanks also to Senator Bill Stanley who served as legal counsel for the family.

Please continue to pray for healing for Smith's family as they deal with such incredible trauma.

Carol Bauer: Capital Prayer Alert - 9-10-23

Heavenly Father, you have entrusted the generations to come to us. You gave many of us the opportunity to grow up in a less complicated time when schools shared the priorities and value systems of most parents. Times have changed and we as parents and grandparents must recognize the new reality. 

 

Open our eyes to see the new priorities driving education. Prompt us to be curious and brave. Help us to be engaging conversationalists with the young ones in our lives.  Give us opportunities to share our wisdom and humor wrapped in love. Open their hearts to hear. 

 

When the time comes to engage with a teacher, administrator or school board member grant us wisdom, make us articulate and winsome and remind us that we do what we do as parents for our kids who are created in Your image and entrusted to our care.  May we feel Your presence beside us.



AFP Launches "Win the Majority" Initiative for the 2023 Virginia Election

With the Virginia election eminent, now more than ever we encourage citizens to take action to secure a majority in the General Assembly.  Our grassroots focus on the election will be the winning edge for advancing freedom and liberty in Virginia.

 

With a majority in the Virginia General Assembly, we can pass long needed legislation to help Virginians.  Including:  School choice with parental rights, repeal the Northam energy mandates to lower utility costs, and pass Governor Youngkin's tax reduction & jobs growth plan.

 

AFP invites you to take action as a grassroots volunteer for the Virginia election.  We provide a great volunteer experience for you to rally Virginia voters to support key conservatives for the Virginia Senate and House.  We will be hosting phone banks at our AFP Skyline regional office in Charlottesville with additional opportunities in the Shenandoah Valley.

 

Our volunteer action events feature: on-location friendly training, easy to use phone tools, and a complimentary meal for all volunteers.

 

Join us!  Volunteer to make a direct, positive impact for Virginia's 2023 election.

 

AFP Charlottesville Phone Bank Opportunities

 

Saturday, Sept. 30        Noon-2:30PM     AFP Charlottesville Office, 375 Greenbrier Drive

Tuesday, October 10    5:30-8:00PM       AFP Charlottesville Office, 375 Greenbrier Drive

Saturday, October 21   Noon-2:30PM     AFP Charlottesville Office, 375 Greenbrier Drive

Tuesday, October 31    Noon-2:30PM     AFP Charlottesville Office, 375 Greenbrier Drive

Saturday, Nov. 4            Noon-3:00PM     Super Saturday Skyline Regional Phone Bank @ Waynesboro Best Western

 

Contact Flint Engleman for more information or to sign-up to volunteer. 

Email:  FEngleman@afphq.org or call/text (540)226-4591

De- and Re-certified — Paul Jacob on the persecution and triumph of a pandemic dissident.

"Around the country, a slew of doctors had board certifications removed and licensure threatened for sharing their COVID-related opinions," explains The Epoch Times, in an article devoted to one of those persecuted, Dr. John Littell of Florida.

Early in the pandemic, "Dr. Littell, a longtime family physician in Ocala and a medical school professor, began posting videos sharing his thoughts about COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines early in the pandemic," Natasha Holt's Epoch Times article narrates. "He was frustrated to find his content often was pulled down from his YouTube channel." 

But the establishment's efforts didn't stop there. "[I]n January 2022 and again five months later, he received warning letters from the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), the organization that issued his certification for his medical specialty."

His videos on YouTube and then the safe, free-speech haven Rumble, spread "medical misinformation," the board charged, warning that he could lose certification. But these were warnings. The board got a bit more serious and physical when they removed Littell from a public meeting, giving him the bum's rush.

And then the board de-certified him.

It's a long story, but appears to have a happy ending, with Littell re-certified and organizing a support group for medical professionals' free speech rights, and the basic need to practice independent, patient-centered medicine, and to disagree with the gimcrack "consensus" policies that establishment organizations impose.

While there are multiple medical certification boards in America, these are not free-market concerns competing for customers. The government is heavily involved at every level. And the policies and "science" that Dr. Littell and others ran up against were not only political, but wrong — medically and morally. 

As we are increasingly discovering.

Which makes medical freedom more important than ever.

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

NFRW Capital Connection: Remembering 9/11

Memories of September 11 Remain Strong

NFRW President Eileen Sobjack catches son Casey, who joined the Army following the 9/11 attacks, between bootcamp and training as a helicopter mechanic before deploying to Iraq Do you know where you were on September 11, 2001?   I think most of us do recall exactly where we were and what we had planned that day.   Our family was awakened by my son, who rose early to get ready for work and heard the news that the first tower of the World Trade Center in New York was hit by a plane.   We watched in horror as the second tower was hit, then the Pentagon, and lastly Flight 93 -- which was targeted for the White House or the Capitol. The passengers on this flight were alerted to the attacks and made a heroic attempt to take control of the aircraft, forcing the hijackers to crash the plane in a field near Shanksville, PA.   Upon learning that these were terrorist attacks, Americans rallied and united. In the days ahead, we learned that many heroes gave their lives to save others, not only first responders but also regular Americans.   Recruiting offices were inundated with young men and women who wanted to join the military to serve their country. My son was one of them. He took a detour from his plans to become a private helicopter pilot and joined the Army as a Chinook helicopter mechanic. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq for over a year.   Security at airports drastically changed as extensive security measures were put into place that still exist today.   Less than two weeks later, the Republican Women gathered in San Antonio for our national convention. It was one of the most patriotic events I have ever attended.   As we prepare to mark the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, let us honor the memory of those who perished and pray for those left behind. Let us also reflect on the heroism we saw that day and in the days following, and strengthen our commitment to our nation and to each other. This renewed sense of patriotism and unity will give us purpose and cause us to embrace what is truly important.

NFRW President Marian Miller pens a message of encouragement to President George W. Bush during the NFRW 31st Biennial Convention in San Antonio, Texas, less than two weeks after 9/11. More than 1,500 Republican women filled three banners with hundreds of messages of support during the three-day event.

Family Research Council and FRC Action Announce Annual Summit to Feature DeSantis, Pence, Trump and Other National Leaders

Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Donald Trump and Other Leaders to Address Annual Summit

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Next week, Family Research Council and FRC Action will hold the third annual Pray Vote Stand Summit, which replaced FRC Action's previous flagship event since 2006, the Values Voter Summit. The Pray Vote Stand Summit will address issues such as protecting the unborn, the importance of the nuclear family, domestic and international religious freedom, the growing indoctrination in our nation's schools, gender ideology, the military, election integrity, and much more. The summit will return to the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. from September 15-17, 2023.

Family Research Council President and FRC Action Chairman Tony Perkins commented:

"Our nation stands at a critical juncture. America needs leadership that will confront the cultural and spiritual crisis facing our country. As we move into the 2024 presidential election cycle, we are working to ensure the issues impacting faith, family, and freedom are understood and advanced. Our focus will be ensuring that the sanctity of human life, upholding the true, God-given purpose of human sexuality, and the myriad policies that affect the family -- ranging from religious freedom to tax policy -- remain front and center. We look forward to having a conversation with those seeking the support of Christian voters who are coming together from across the nation for this year's Pray Vote Stand Summit."

WHAT: 3^rd annual Pray Vote Stand Summit

WHEN: September 15-17^th 2023

WHO: Confirmed speakers include:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R)

Former Vice President Mike Pence

Former President Donald Trump

Former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey

Tony Perkins, FRC President and FRC Action Chairman

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, FRC Executive Vice President

Former Congressman Jody Hice, Senior Vice President at FRC and President of FRC Action

More confirmed speakers at prayvotestand.org/speakers

WHERE: In-person at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C. (2500 Calvert St NW, Washington, DC 20008) and online at prayvotestand.org.

Registration required, and available at http://prayvotestand.org

To obtain media credentials for this event, please email media@frc.org.

Family Research Council (FRC) is a sponsor only of the educational portion of Pray Vote Stand Summit. FRC does not sponsor the appearance of any candidate for public office, nor does it support or oppose any candidate for elective public office.

Gary Bauer: Biden Funds Neo-Nazi Hate

One of the most outrageous things Joe Biden did after taking office was to restore funding to the Palestinian Authority. In 2021, Biden sent Mahmoud Abbas $235 million of your hard-earned tax dollars. Last year, it was more than $300 million.

President Donald Trump cut off U.S. funding in part because of the Palestinian Authority's "pay-to-slay" scheme which literally subsidizes terrorism against innocent Israelis and American citizens. To this day, Abbas refuses to end it.

So, what is the "return" on Joe Biden's investment in Abbas for the United States and our ally, Israel? Predictably, it's more hate.

During a recent address, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defended the Holocaust by denying that Hitler's victims were real Jews, and he quoted Karl Marx, who was also notoriously anti-Semitic, as an authority on the subject of Jewish identity.

Abbas's raw anti-Semitism should come as no surprise to anyone. He's an expert anti-Semite. Seriously. Abbas did his doctoral thesis on Holocaust denial. 

Abbas's outrageous remarks weren't limited to defending Hitler. The Palestinian dictator, now in the 18th year of his four-year term, also labeled the United States as the true enemy of the Palestinian people. 

Why would Biden give hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to this insane tyrant who hates Jews, hates Israel and hates America? 

While Biden falsely accuses Donald Trump and millions of Americans of being "semi-fascists," he's the one who is literally funding real neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers in the Middle East!

 

Make no mistake about it: The effort by Abbas, the United Nations and various radical Islamist groups to claim that Israelis are "occupying Muslim land" and "aren't real Jews" is an effort to erase Jewish history and their homeland. 

Jews were living in these lands when Washington, D.C., was a swamp and before Mohammad was born. But if Israelis aren't real Jews and are interlopers, the entire Bible is a lie. So, the effort to erase Jews in Judea and Samaria is also an effort to erase Jesus and Christianity.

Israel is regularly conducting archeological research and regularly finds things that confirm the presence of Jews in these regions for thousands of years. They are also finding archeological proof of the Christian gospels and the accuracy of the Bible.

For example, there was news this week about a new project that recently unearthed steps to the Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the blind man.

 

Virginia Senator David Sutterlein: Virginia's Amended Budget

The General Assembly met on Wednesday to finally consider a robust package of budget amendments to Virginia's current biennium budget. This work should have been done back on February 25. I strongly objected to many problems with the process, but supported the final package because most of the end results are very positive for the Commonwealth's citizens.

Tax Relief for Working Virginians
The budget amendments include $906.8 million in tax relief from excess FY 2023 income tax collections to the 2023 Individual Income Tax Rebate Fund for rebates of $200 to individual taxpayers and $400 for married taxpayers that filed jointly. They also provide $48.1 million in tax relief by slightly increasing the standard deduction in tax year 2024 from $8,000 to $8,500 for single filers and $16,000 to $17,000 for married filers. These are both positive developments but the reason for the excess revenue was because of systemic overtaxation exasperated by inflation being caught by the tax rates, but the standard deduction that 85% of taxpayers use not being adequately increased from its amount set in actual dollars. A wiser approach would have been to structure the tax relief in an enhanced standard deduction for taxpayers to end the recurring systemic overtaxation - this is something that should be done in 2024.  

Economic Development Investments
The budget amendments provide $125 million for matching grants for localities to develop business ready sites for economic development projects and $75 million for the Business Ready Sites Acquisition Fund to create and maintain a portfolio of project-ready sites for economic development in the Commonwealth. Also included are $10 million to complete planning, design, and site acquisition work to develop an inland port in the Mount Rogers Planning District, $4 million for research and development of innovative energy technologies and $500,000 to support the recently established Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.

Increased Support for Public Education
The budget amendments provide a supplemental $653.3 million in direct aid to public education and local school divisions. $418.3 million of these funds are one-time flexible funding to support implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, address learning loss, and provide additional operating and infrastructure support. There is also $20 million provided for school safety and security grants. The amendments fund the state portion for an additional 2% pay raise for public school teachers, bringing the total increase for this year to 7%.

Some of the direct aid to local school divisions in or near the Senate district that I represent include:  
Bedford County         $5.1 million
Botetourt County       $1.9 million
Carroll County           $2.5 million
Craig County             $279,000
Floyd County             $1 million
Franklin County         $3.5 million
Montgomery County  $3.6 million
Roanoke City             $10.6 million
Roanoke County        $6.5 million
Salem                         $1.9 million
Wythe County             $2.5 million

Increased Mental Health Support
The budget amendments include $186.8 million for increased mental health supports. Among some of the largest mental health investments are $58 million to expand crisis receiving centers and crisis stabilization units; $30 million to expand Permanent Supportive Housing for the seriously mentally ill; $18 million for increasing compensation at Community Services Boards in 2024; $20 million GF to expand mobile crisis teams and support hospital-based psychiatric alternatives; and $11 million for school-based and children's mental health services.

Increased Support for Law Enforcement
The budget amendments provide $30 million for community violence intervention and prevention initiatives, including: $10 million for a new Safer Communities Program, which includes grants to localities and a new Office of Safer Communities at the Department of Criminal Justice Services; $15 million for the Operation Ceasefire Grant Fund; and $5 million for the Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention Fund. Also included are $5.1 million to assist local law enforcement officers with the costs of court ordered transportation related to mental health commitments and $2.1 million in one-time "599" funding in Aid to Localities with Police Departments. $7.6 million is provided to address salary compression for deputy sheriffs and regional jail officers and $4 million is provided to local prosecutors offices.

Amendments Package Heads to Governor Youngkin
The passage of the robust budget amendment package in the General Assembly means it will now head to Governor Youngkin who will have a little more than a week to sign it as is, make line-item vetoes, or offer amendments for the General Assembly to consider in the coming weeks. You can view the entire budget document here. 

Eagle Forum Applauds Senator Vance for Protecting American’s Freedom to Breathe

Senator Markey Favors Unscientific Masking, Blocks Vote

Eagle Forum released the following statement after Senate Democrats prevented a vote on a bill to stop the federal government from imposing mask mandates on the American people:   Today, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) attempted to bring a bill, The Freedom to Breathe Act, to the floor for a vote.  This common sense, science-backed bill would have prevented federally funded schools and transportation systems from mandating masks be worn.  After almost two years of toddlers and travelers being forced to cover their faces and impede their breathing or face ostracization, and in light of studies showing that masking is ineffective in stopping the transmission of COVID-19, the American people are fed up.  It's time to finally "trust the science" and reject the politics of fear.   Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) objected to a vote on the bill.  He chose to mislead people by claiming the bill would prevent anyone who wants to cover their face from doing so.  He used the tired and misleading argument that masking protects against the virus.  Even Dr. Fauci said over the weekend that no one, including the CDC, has plans to force Americans to re-mask.  But the words and actions of Sen. Markey demonstrated that is not true.   We applaud the efforts of Senators Vance, Budd (R-NC), Braun (R-IN), Hawley (R-MO), Schmitt (R-MO), Barasso (R-WY), and Britt (R-AL) to bring the bill to a vote and stop the unscientific tyranny of mandated masking.  We urge all Members of Congress to stand up for science and pass the Freedom to Breathe Act.