December 1, 2023

Rundown from Washington 

Congress was back to work this week—sort of. A few solid, conservative bills cleared the House, and we also booted the biggest fabulist to ever step foot in the halls of Congress out of the institution—Mr. George Santos of New York. However, we didn’t make any progress on appropriations bills required to fund the government, which come due early in the new year. Like I said a couple of weeks ago—we will have a Merry Christmas, but as for a happy New Year, we will have to wait and see about that!

Here’s the rundown from the week:

Expelling George Santos

I believe members of Congress should be held to a high standard of conduct. Mr. George Santos has fallen woefully short of that standard. It's part of our job to hold our colleagues accountable. Today, we voted to expel him, which I believe is the result he deserved.

Santos spewed lies to hoodwink voters to get elected, admitted to several fraudulent activities, and made an absolute mockery of the institution. Our Constitution guarantees Santos will have due process on his criminal charges—but Congress has the authority, and I believe the obligation, to punish its members to ensure this type of person remains far from this sacred institution. I take the job of representing the American people very seriously.

I dive deep into why I voted this way in my Comment from the Capitol, and ask you a simple question: When it concerns your member of Congress, are the qualities of honesty and integrity important to you? Give it a listen here.

Freezing Funds to Iran

Back in September, on the 22^nd anniversary of 9/11 to be exact, the Biden Administration waived sanctions to allow $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds located in South Korean banks to be transferred to banks in Qatar in exchange for the release of five American hostages.

Let’s be clear—although it’s always our goal to welcome back American hostages, the way the Administration handled the situation made it a concession to the leading state sponsor of terror and a brazen human rights abuser. Handing over $6 billion to this evil regime is reckless. All it does is potentially finance more terrorist attacks on Americans and our allies.

The House passed a bill this week to cut off this dangerous flow of funds used for terrorism, developing nuclear weapons, and oppressing Iranian people. It’s called the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act, and it imposes immediate, mandatory sanctions on any financial institution that engages in a transaction with the Qatari banks holding the $6 billion of Iranian funds, which effectively freezes this money. With the addition of an amendment I helped lead, the bill was made even better, and is the toughest Iranian sanctions bill ever to pass the House.

Especially at a time when we know Iran’s proxies Hamas and Hezbollah are escalating attacks on American forces in the region and actively trying to destroy the State of Israel, it is remarkable to me Biden needs this prodding.

Protecting Communities from Biden’s Border Crisis

There have been over 6.4 MILLION illegal crossings since President Biden took office. That’s more than double the population of Arkansas. Let that sink in.

Since day one in office, Biden has knocked down Trump’s effective border policies, which has opened the floodgates for an unprecedented, mass influx of illegal immigration. It’s truly an unmitigated humanitarian, public health, and national security disaster.

There’s no question that Biden’s open border policies have incentivized immigrants to try to enter our nation illegally, and it’s causing devasting effects across the country, not just at the border itself.

Makeshift shelters for illegal immigrants at national parks are the latest security and safety concerns. The mission of the National Park Service is to conserve scenery, “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations,” not house illegal immigrants. Plus, hardworking taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for their “free” housing.

I proudly supported H.R. 5283, the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act, this week to stop incentivizing further waves of illegal immigrants by providing them with a free place to live in our national parks. This bill would prohibit any federal funding, including new leases or contracts, from building illegal immigrant housing on lands owned by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management. The bill also revokes the Biden Administration’s lease to build migrant shelters on National Park Service land in New York City.

I will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to restore operational control at the border. President Biden must wake up and fix this mess.

Picture highlights from the week:

From the front...

Congressman Steve Womack
Arkansas Third District