Dear Katie,

Welcome back to my West Texas Wrap-Up. Please remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for regular updates on how I am serving the people of West Texas!

Election Integrity

This week, the House passed H.R. 8281, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This simple legislation, of which I was a proud cosponsor, requires states to obtain proof of citizenship when registering an individual to vote and removes non-citizens from existing voter roles.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, nearly all of my Democrat colleagues voted NO.

Allowing non-citizens to vote in elections is unconscionable and un-American - it incentivizes more illegal immigration, rewards Biden’s open border policies, and, worst of all, it undermines the Constitution and American’s ability to choose their representatives.

American citizens – and only American citizens – have the sacred right to vote in elections in the United States.

Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a plan to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge from 6,400 acres to 700,000 acres through land purchases and voluntary conservation easements.

I have two major concerns about a "voluntary" public land expansion by the federal government: I don't believe this is a good use of taxpayer dollars; and, there's no such thing as a "voluntary" government program.

I have shared my serious concerns with the Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and will fight to defend West Texas against even a hint of federal overreach.

Additionally, I wrote a letter to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in which I expressed concerns regarding their efforts to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge with the acquisition of private land through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, and North American Wetland Conservation Act.

A signed PDF of the letter is available here. 

I will fight to defend West Texas against even a hint of federal overreach.

Holding Garland Accountable

Until recently, the mainstream media and Democrats in Washington have been working in concert to conceal the obvious mental decline of President Biden from the American people.

Special Counsel Hur uncovered evidence that President Biden illegally retained and disclosed classified materials, yet declined to bring charges because he believed it would be difficult to convince a jury to convict "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

AG Garland has refused to release the audio tapes of Hur's interview with Biden, defying a Congressional subpoena in the process. Not releasing the tapes leads one to believe that the audio would be further damaging to Biden and confirm the decline of his mental acuity.

Rep. Paulina Luna's inherent contempt of Congress resolution for Merrick Garland may have failed this week, but our fight to hold this AG accountable and deliver transparency to the American people is far from over.

Defending Rural America

Recently, with the support of the Texas Farm Bureau and the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, I introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Biden administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) rule, which would add six additional species of freshwater mussels – the Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe orb, Texas pimpleback, Balcones spike, and false spike - found in Texas to the Endangered Species List and the Texas fawnsfoots to the list as threatened.

There is no energy independence or food security without the hard-working, freedom-loving people of Rural America.

In fact, no one conserves natural resources better than those who make a living off them, which makes our ag and energy producers responsible stewards of our environment. Yet, instead of basing these latest designations on sound science, this Biden administration policy is a politically motivated attempt to regulate ag and energy producers out of business. I’ll never stop fighting against President Biden’s attempt to placate the far-Left and villainize the hardworking men and women of Rural America who feed and fuel our nation.

Additionally, I led over a dozen Members of Congress in pushing back against the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule entitled "Clean Power Plan 2.0", which would issue new regulatory requirements for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants.

In our letter to EPA Administrator Regan, we point out that this new rule impermissibly intrudes directly into states’ responsibilities to assure an electric generation mix that provides reliable, affordable power to their citizens. The rule limits existing generation, under the purview of states, and constrains the expansion of new gas-fired generation. This will further strain the nation’s energy supply, drive up costs for consumers, and surge power outages throughout the country.

Fighting Against Biden's Far-Left Agenda and Open Border

Recently, I introduced several amendments to three appropriations bills to prohibit the Biden administration from utilizing these funding bills to advance its far-Left agenda and fight back against President Biden's open border policies.

My amendments:

• Defund the Biden administrations executive order that would unlawfully use taxpayer dollars to boost voter registration in blue areas of swing states.
  • On March 7, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order to allow bureaucrats to use taxpayer funding to register voters, distribute vote-by-mail ballots, and more.

• Compel the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement DHS’s Office of Inspector General’s recommendations following its report, which includes improving screening and vetting of asylum seekers, detaining and removing inadmissible travelers, preventing the release of high-risk individuals, and more.
  •  In June, two illegal immigrants were arrested for strangling a 12-year-old girl to death in Houston.  
  • Also in June, authorities arrested a Salvadorean gang member in the United States illegally for murdering a 37-year-old mother of five. 
  • Earlier this year, an illegal immigrant was arrested for the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley. 

• Terminate federal funding for NGOs that engage in human trafficking and illegal immigration smuggling.
  • Earlier this year, the State of Texas sued an NGO stating the organization was housing 300 migrants who were avoiding detection by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. 

• Prohibit Non-Governmental Organizations from using FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program to provide public services to illegal immigrants. 
  • Last year, reports exposed that the American Red Cross provided maps and guides for illegal immigrants detailing how best to illegally cross the border. 
  • Heritage Foundation found that over $332 million from FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program was being used for services for illegal immigrants, including housing and transportation.

• Defund the Office of the Secretary of State until the State Department implements sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) officials. 
  • In May, after the International Criminal Court recommended issuing an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Arrington demanded the U.S. sanction ICC officials in response. 

• Prohibit DHS from contracting out to other federal agencies to provide services for illegal immigrants. 
  • Last year, a report from DHS detailed that the agency contracted with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to help DHS provide medical car for illegal immigrants, despite the VA’s backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases for our nation’s veterans.

Protecting Women's Sports

This week, the House passed H.J. Res. 165, repealing Biden's radical Title IX rule that would allow biological men to play in women's sports and use women's locker rooms.

Biden and the Democrats have surrendered Title IX to the far-Left and hollowed out the law's original intent to protect women.

Too many female athletes have already had their big moment stolen by biological men competing against women.

It's not just wrong, it's crazy!

Remembering My Friend Officer David Smith

Recently, I joined countless friends and neighbors from throughout West Texas grieving the loss of Officer David "Big Dave" Smith, who passed away on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.

Dave was a giant of a man, his stature only eclipsed by the size of his heart for God, for family, and for this country.

I would always look forward to hearing the voicemails he would leave me and the encouraging, affirming words to "keep your head" and "keep your eyes on the lord."

He leaves behind a wife and eight loving children, but I know that he is home. As Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This week, I delivered a speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives to honor the life and legacy of my dear friend.

In the News

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It is an honor and privilege to represent you in Congress. Feel free to forward this newsletter to our fellow West Texans and encourage them to sign up here for this update.

Your friend and fellow West Texan,

Jodey C. Arrington
Member of Congress