Dear Friend,

I hope you and your family are doing well through the Arizona summer heat. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback with me through last week's survey. If you missed the survey, feel welcome to complete it using this link.

Below you will find an update from this past week, and helpful reminders for you and your family. 

Border Apprehensions Continue to Increase

Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released data on the number of migrants apprehended at our southern border. In June, CBP encountered 188,829 migrants along our southern border. To put things in perspective, here is the data from CBP last year: 

In the first five months of the Biden Administration, CBP has encountered over 1.1 million migrants at our border. It is well past time for President Biden and Vice President Harris to be focused on securing our southern border to prevent crime and illegal drugs from entering our communities. The crisis at the border directly impacts the safety of our communities in Arizona, and endangers families and children traveling through dangerous and sometimes life-threatening conditions.

This Administration must take action to secure our border and re-implement many of the policies we once had in place that decreased incentives for illegal crossing. 

Joint Economic Hearing on Corporate Power 

I joined the Joint Economic Committee hearing on "How Concentrated Corporate Power Undermines Shared Prosperity" and discussed the importance of allowing disruptive entrepreneurs to have access to the resources they need in order to create new investments in our economy.

Right now, it is important for us to improve innovators’ access to capital and look at smarter, less burdensome ways to regulate their activities, because the disruptions they bring to market place a check on the growing power of big corporations.

I am proud to have introduced several pieces of legislation with my colleagues on the Entrepreneurship Caucus to expand access to these resources and allow for increased competition in the market. To watch my testimony during the hearing, click here. I speak starting at 47:00 and again at 1:26:25.

Arizona Rock Products Association Roundtable

I joined the Arizona Rock Products Association for a discussion on the work we are doing in Congress to advance Arizona's aggregate materials and construction industry. It was great to hear about the work this group is focused on, and learn more about the regulatory challenges they are facing. 

Recently, I introduced two pieces of legislation to streamline federal permitting processes and reduce government regulation by reforming the National Environmental Policy Act. Too often our policy proposals create burdensome government processes, slowing down our ability to promote innovation and efficiently move infrastructure projects forward. To learn more about these pieces of legislation, click here. 

Important Passport Reminder

I want to remind you of the ongoing backlog the U.S. Department of State is experiencing with passport processing. If you are planning to travel internationally this fall, it is important to check the expiration date on your passport now before booking any travel. 

The Department is expecting continued delays for routine renewals and new passports that can take 18 weeks to be processed.  Don’t wait - learn more from the State Department here. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read this update. If my office can ever be helpful for you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. 

Sincerely,

David Schweikert