Dear ,

I hope you and your family are doing well! Below, please find a few updates on my work last week for the residents of Arizona’s First Congressional District.

How Do You Make Public Policy in a World Where You’re Not Allowed to Tell the Truth?

Click here or on the image above to review my full remarks from last week’s speech.

If you’re still with me during the times I deliver my weekly House floor speeches, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say having a society with the chance to live a little better every day is moral. Last week, I reminded my colleagues the importance of recognizing a main driver of our spending-- demographics. In a couple years, spending on interest will surpass spending on Social Security, Medicare, and defense to become the largest expense in all of government. Without a recession, or a war, or even a pandemic, we're at a $3.7 trillion baseline for borrowing. We've put ourselves in a dauntingly fragile position. 

Tax receipts are up 7%. Medicare spending is up around 10%. This fiscal year, if those numbers rolled over, being closer to 4% or 5%, the partisan theatrics would increase ten-fold. I reminded the audience that the bond market was essentially in charge of our spending in one of my speeches a couple weeks ago. Think about it: do you think the rest of the world is going to keep loaning us money, respecting the sovereignty of the reserve currency that is the dollar? Why are we destroying ourselves? Why are we destroying your retirement?

Upcoming Mobile Office Hours With My District Office

My district casework team is here to assist residents of Arizona’s First Congressional District with applications and claims pertaining to federal benefits. Staff from my district office may be in your neighborhood to offer one-on-one casework assistance. Stop by the Holland Community Center in the Cholla Conference Room tomorrow, May 21, from 12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., or call my District Office at (480) 946-2411 for immediate assistance with the IRS, Passports, Medicare, Social Security, VA and other federal benefits. 

House Committee on Ways & Means Passes Schweikert Legislation Protecting Americans’ Privacy and Promoting Donor Integrity

The House Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 8293, the American Donor Privacy and Foreign Funding Transparency Act, my legislation that would require tax-exempt organizations to disclose aggregate data on donations from foreign sources. It also protects American taxpayers by preventing federal agencies from implementing new donor disclosure requirements for tax-exempt entities. 

This helps solve the ongoing effort of prohibiting attempts by foreign entities to control and influence our public policy, discourse, and elections. Not only have America's adversaries influenced elections through large sums of funding, but they are now finding more creative ways to infiltrate American innovation by allocating funds for university-led projects. According to Bloomberg, a U.S.-blacklisted Chinese telecommunications company has been secretly funding research conducted at various institutions in America.

Chairman Jason Smith noted that my legislation expands on prior foundation laid by the Ways and Means Committee to shine a light on foreign bad actors seeking to subvert our politics by requiring tax-exempt organizations to report the amount, frequency, and source of foreign donations. This will give the American people insight into whether the policy and political advertisements they see blanketing our airwaves are funded by foreign governments or actual American grassroots. 

A Snapshot of April Arizona Inflation

According to the JEC Republican State Inflation Tracker, for the average Arizona household to maintain the same consumption basket they had in January 2021, they would need to spend $1,202 more each month or $14,426 more per year! For comparison, the average U.S. household would have to spend $1,074 more each month or $12,892 per year. Arizona is ranked 7th for increased monthly inflation costs across all states (including U.S and the 
District of Columbia).

Arizona Restaurant Week Has Begun!

Click here to a see a list of participating restaurants.

From May 17-26, Arizona is highlighting 197 restaurants during the 2024 Arizona Restaurant Week! Weekly specials range anywhere from $30-$70/plate per person. Personally, as a lover of authentic Indian cuisine, I'm looking forward to indulging in some fantastic butter chicken. Thank you to the Arizona Restaurant Association for organizing such a wonderful week of delicious local deals. It's not too late to sign up to participate as a business-- click here for more details on how to get involved. 

Academy Nominations – Application Portal Is Now Live On My Website

As your Congressman, I have the privilege of nominating a limited number of students for scholarships to attend a military service academy each year. The U.S. Service Academies are among the most highly respected educational programs in the nation. To be admitted to an academy, applicants must meet stringent academic, physical and medical requirements specified by public law. As a cadet/midshipman at the academy, students will be provided a fully-funded four-year college education. The honor of attending an academy comes with an obligation and commitment to serve for a minimum of five years upon graduation. For high school students seeking a congressional nomination to one of our nation’s academies in the upcoming school year, the application portal for AZ-01 is now open!

Recognizing Some Amazing Citizens in AZ-01

It is my sincere pleasure to recognize to Mr. Bill Scheaffer, the recently retired Executive Director of the non-profit environmental organization 'Valley of the Sun Clean Air', for his outstanding efforts in reducing the use of petroleum fuel and combating toxic emissions that are released into the atmosphere. To award his clean air initiatives, Mr. Scheaffer received the Environmental Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, and Valley of the Sun Clean Air was installed in the U.S. Department of Energy Hall of Fame. Upon Mr. Scheaffer’s retirement, prior board director for 'Valley of the Sun Clean Air', Don Covert has further expanded the company's goal alongside his daughter Brenna and will carry on Mr. Schaeffer’s efforts.

Serious Schweikert Solutions: The Family Growth & Investment Act

This week’s Serious Schweikert Solution involves a matter that is a win for young families across the nation, and it’s called the Family Growth and Investment Act. As a father of two miracles, I understand firsthand how daunting the sudden influx of expenses are for new parents. 

My legislation seeks to uplift working families during the first year of a newborn’s life by providing a one-time tax deduction for non-medical expenses like car seats, strollers, and cribs which are otherwise costly and can make raising children out of reach for many hardworking Americans. Families are estimated to spend approximately $13,000 per child annually and will spend over $233,000 for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise a child through the age of 18. This legislation eases that burden, giving parents a much-needed boost during one of the most stressful and financially challenging years of their lives. Click here to see the full bill text. 

What I’m Reading & Why It Matters

This week, I've been researching a new mRNA cancer vaccine. The first trials were conducted using animals, following with trials on four human patients, which have shown promising results. By injecting clusters of particles in the messenger RNA, better results have been achieved. This vaccine aggressively attacks tumor cells by recognizing them as a virus. During the trials, human and animal subjects have seen promising outcomes, experiencing longevity in being disease-free. The next steps are to get FDA approval and test on a larger body of patients.

There's also been some surfacing research regarding affects that are experienced through Ozempic. Novo Nordisk has had a stronghold of the Denmark economy since its rise to prominence with its weight loss drug. The nation's economy has become strongly tied to the success of this company. Concerns have been raised regarding the company's power in Denmark and how closely the company impacts unemployment. People fear if the company goes under that unemployment will skyrocket, causing the economy to crash in Denmark. The fear is similar to that of Nokia and Finland. 

I've come across further studies promoting the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), from replacing fashion models to focus groups. New AI technology now has the capability to predict how a person will look wearing clothing and how they will feel about products. This could threaten to get rid of focus groups all together. Along with medical applications, AI could predict the behavior and personality of people by looking at their DNA and also how medical conditions might progress in a person. AI can also answer survey questions with new algorithms. Lastly, new AI tech may be able to replace clinical trials using data from patients, while it has potential to see how patients will react to a drug and how a disease may progress in a patient. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this update on my latest work in Washington, D.C. and Arizona’s First Congressional District! If you have any comments or concerns, I encourage you to reach out to my office.

Sincerely,

David Schweikert