This Week with Gosar

December 17, 2023

Congress Sells out America in NDAA Bill

This week, the House of Representatives passed the annual defense bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  The $886 billion legislation funds many aspects of our national defense.  It is an important bill as it pays for military salaries, repairs and maintenance, and hundreds of other important items that I fully support.  The final passage was 310-119, with 73 Republicans and 45 democrats voting no.  That is a shockingly high number of no votes for a bill that normally has a super majority of support.

To quickly bring everyone up to speed, earlier this year I voted in favor of the original version of this legislation when it first passed the House of Representatives because it supported our men and women in uniform while ensuring the necessary resources are available to rebuild and maintain a prepared military force to safeguard our country.  The Senate changed it substantially and our vote this week was on the Senate version.

Unfortunately, some members of congress saddled it with countless unrelated provisions that I could not support.  The House-passed version of the NDAA contained great provisions that focused on our military and got rid of leftist woke programs.   The Senate, controlled by democrats, passed its version that contains dozens of programs average Americans would be horrified to know that their tax money is supporting.

In a big loss for House Republicans, virtually every policy victory in our original bill was cut from the final bill.  Our “negotiators” failed to negotiate anything of value.  It was a complete loss for Republicans.  For example, the bill that passed includes money to pay for surgical mutilation for transgenders and hormones, it pays for sexualized drag shows on military vessels and bases, it pays for abortions, and keeps illegal affirmative action and DEI military programs fully funded, even though the Supreme Court has ruled that affirmative action and DEI is unconstitutional anti-White and anti-Asian racism.  Tens of millions of dollars are spent on these illegal programs, but more importantly, our military is weakened as competent people are passed over for promotions.  It also included millions for funding climate hoax programs.

A key take away is this: democrats supplied more votes to pass the NDAA than  did the Republicans.

It gets worse: this bill included the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.  I'm absolutely outraged it reauthorizes FISA without any reforms or safeguards to protect citizens from abuse by the intelligence agencies.  FISA has a long record of abuse against American citizens and operates as a blank check to the FBI and other agencies to read all of your text messages, emails, listen on calls, and do any electronic spying they want without a court order or warrant.  The Constitution requires a warrant when spying on Americans yet for well over a decade, U.S. agencies have used FISA to spy on people like you and me.

Thanks to the Durham report, we have a better idea of the lengths of corruption, such as an over-reliance on a former British ex-spy Christopher Steele's deeply discredited dossier used as a justification for instigating a witch-hunt into Donald Trump.  As if that were not bad enough, a court found in May that the FBI wrongfully used their database for searches on non-citizens and U.S. citizens - nearly 278,000 times! Our Constitution's 4th Amendment demands the government needs to obtain a warrant.  To continue using FISA without any safeguards to U.S. citizens is despicable.

I’m not done. The NDAA also now prohibits future Presidents from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval.  You know who wants to withdraw from NATO?  Donald Trump, that’s who.  And for good reason.  NATO was a cold war construct that is no longer relevant and has not been relevant for 30 years.  But it costs us billions every year and it is a foreign entanglement that risks drawing us in to wars and conflict we have no business being in, like Ukraine.

Regrettably, 147 of my Republican colleagues joined 163 democrats in voting in support of this crap sandwich.

Hunter Biden Ignores Subpoena, Skips Deposition

For nearly a year, three House committees including the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on which I serve, have been investigating the Biden family’s widespread corruption and abuse of power.  As part of that investigation, the committee issued a subpoena to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to appear this week to answer questions related to his role in the scandal.

Well, on Wednesday, Hunter Biden appeared on Capitol Hill not to answer questions before Congress but to stage a press conference while clutching his pearls on anyone daring to question his shady business dealings.  He wants to act tough, but he runs away from a legally issued subpoena to answers questions about his father's association with his corrupt business practices.

Two of Trump’s associates, Peter Navarro and Stephen Bannon, did the same thing relative to the fake January 6 committee subpoenas.   Both men were arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced.  Will Hunter be prosecuted? 

The rule of law applies to everyone.  No one is above the law, including the president or the president’s son.  Hunter Biden willfully ignoring a legally issued subpoena is nothing short of obstruction of justice and he should be immediately held in contempt of Congress. 

Read my full statement here.

Joe Biden Impeachment Formalized

This week, I joined all of my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives in voting to continue the ongoing investigations as part of the existing inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden.

In previous newsletters (here and here), I have outlined the growing mountain of evidence linking Joe Biden to public corruption schemes, involving tens of millions of dollars funneled to the Biden family by corrupt regimes overseas, including China and Ukraine.

Impeachment of Biden is something I completely support.  Public corruption cannot be tolerated.  

Click here to read my full statement.

Free Assange!

Do you guys remember Julian Assange? He is a journalist, publisher, and investigator, who founded WikiLeaks in 2006.  WikiLeaks was a site where information leaked by government employees was published, often with information the governments at issue wanted to hide forever, including information about bribery, war mistakes, and other issues.

Assange became known in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a trail of information  from U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, including video footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed 13 civilians, U.S. military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange believed that the public has a right to know what its governments are up to, even when those governments make major mistakes.

This week, I introduced H.Res. 934, a bipartisan resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that regular journalistic activities are protected under the First Amendment and that the United States ought to drop all charges and attempts to extradite Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.  Assange has been unfairly imprisoned for his disclosure of Afghanistan war records which promoted public transparency by exposing the hiring of child prostitutes by Defense Department contractors, friendly fire incidents, civilian killings, and more.

The case of Julian Assange has brought to light the importance of protecting journalistic activities and the potential consequences of restricting them.  If the U.S. government succeeds in prosecuting Assange for publishing information, it sets a dangerous precedent that could be used to silence other journalists and publishers in the future.

To read more about this resolution and view my complete statement, click here.

Natural Resources Committee Holds Hearing on Space Mining

This week the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight, over which I am the Chairman, held a hearing on space mining.  The hearing discussed the prospects of mining for minerals and rare earth metals on the moon and asteroids. The topic reads straight out of a sci-fi film, but it is a very real undertaking that requires a lot of forward thinking.  It is important to keep in mind that space holds a vast wealth of untapped resources which have yet to be claimed.  There are few laws regarding ownership in space, it is truly the next and final Wild West, therefore, is imperative that we establish a path forward.

China is well ahead of us already.  In 2019, the Chinese landed on the far side of the moon, where it is believed the most valuable minerals and concentration of minerals are located.

In addition, the Chinese are planning to build underground caves on the Moon to house miners and their support personnel. In the Spring of 2023, China announced plans to begin construction of a Chinese-manned Moon base by 2028.  We have no such plans.

As we prepare ourselves to take on this challenge, we must keep in mind that the Chinese are planning to do the same and will aggressively contend with us for any unclaimed resources.  China has used its global influence to secure control of a large portion of the global supply of minerals and rare earth metals—here on Earth.  Chinese influence over mineral-rich nations in Africa and elsewhere across the globe allows them control much of the supply and forces us to be reliant on them for a variety of these crucial materials.

Compounding this, our domestic leftists and the fools in the democrat party have enacted laws and policies intended to shut down mining in this country.  This, of course, works to strengthen China, which is their goal, but they claim it is for the environment, or climate warming or something else.

Space mining will soon become a necessity.  While economic independence from China and putting America on the frontlines of the new space race should be a bipartisan issue, most of the democrats at the hearing opposed our desire to discuss this topic.  They claimed there are issues (that they created) like crime, homelessness, inflation and social decay that are more important.  Space mining will lead to jobs, resources, and scientific breakthroughs.  Getting the process started is a huge step towards a stronger and more independent United States.  I want to thank Greg Autry, Professor Zaheer Ali, Professor Hanlon and others who testified or helped.

The Endangered Species Act: 50 Years Old and a 98% Failure Rate

I chaired the House Congressional Western Caucus for four years, and I learned to appreciate the great work it does protecting our farmers, miners, hikers, fisherman, hunters, timber harvesters, home builders, and others.  Now under the leadership of Chairman Newhouse, the Western Caucus released an in-depth study that proved, conclusively, that the Endangered Species Act has been a massive failure.  The reason this is important is that radical leftists, Marxists and anti-human democrats use the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to stop home building, roads, irrigation canals, and pretty much anything necessary to sustain human beings.  These leftists run to court and get court orders stopping all development until the proponents either give up or pay exorbitant transactional fees to get approved.  The study showed that:

“Nearly 60% of species purportedly “recovered” under the ESA should never have been listed in the first place, and were disguised as successes when taken off the federal list, an extensive study of federal ESA data by the Western Caucus Foundation (WCF) finds.  This further calls into question the effectiveness of the law, under which only 3% of approximately 1,700 species have been officially delisted as ‘recovered’ since the Act was signed into Law on Dec. 28, 1973. The WCF analysis puts the number of actual recoveries at less than 2%.”

In other words, the ESA has one job: save species that are deemed “endangered” and recover them to a healthy status.  The data conclusively established that the ESA has failed to achieve its basic metric 98% of the time. When a program fails its goals 98% of the time, it should be scrapped.  The ESA is long overdue for repeal.  

Stay Away from D.C? Two Professional Sports Teams Leave D.C. Due to High Crime

It is a shame that the democrat “run” (run down, more like it) city of Washington, D.C. has returned to its infamous days of high crime, desolation and dystopia. 

I have to go to D.C. weekly.  You don’t.  Unless you’ve seen every other state already it’s ok if you don’t visit D.C. until safety returns.  This week it was announced that two D.C. sports teams, the Washington Capitols and the Washington Wizards, are saying goodbye to D.C. due to uncontrolled crime and they are saying hello to Arlington, Virginia.  Not shocking to anyone is that Virginia is run by a Republican governor. It makes a difference. 

2022 was a record-breaking year for D.C. crime, and by comparison, 2023 is worse.

• Violent crime is up 40% 
• Homicide is up 37% 
• Personal Theft is up 22% 
• Robbery is up 70% 
• Motor Vehicle Theft is up 103%
• Arson is up 125%

Two members of Congress have been recently assaulted. Another was car jacked. Staff get assaulted.  Uber drivers have been murdered.  This is all due to democrats who love crime and chaos and the George Soros-funded prosecutors who want to let every criminal walk free, unless you attended a rally on January 6^th.  In that case the book will get thrown at you and you can get 18 years in jail for simply texting your buddies.     

Using the RAND Corporation’s Cost of Crime Calculator, the House found that the aggregate cost of crime in D.C. is $3.2 billion annually.  Of course, it is impossible to put in dollars the value of a life taken by murder.   

As total violent crime in D.C. has increased 40% in the last year alone, the D.C. council’s approved FY2024 budget for the Metropolitan Police Department cuts 20.2 million in funding.

D.C. is incompetently managed.  Until things change you and your family would be wiser to spend your tourism money in Vermont, or New Hampshire, or the Grand Canyon…anywhere but D.C.

It Took an Act of Congress to Let Kids Drink Whole Milk 

This week, Congress passed H.R. 1147, The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. I voted for it, but 99 of my colleagues said, “No whole milk for you!”

This all started with the USDA banning whole milk in school lunch programs.  The USDA falsely contends that whole milk is bad for you.  The truth is whole milk is the healthiest version of milk.  In order to get the healthiest form of milk we had to pass a law and override the USDA. 

Don’t listen to the USDA about milk or the misguided food pyramid they came up with. Ever since the USDA started giving nutrition advice, diabetes, cancer and other health problems sky rocketed in this country. 

The food pyramid was created in 1992. “ In 1992, diabetics constituted 4.5% of the U.S. population.”  In 2021, “29.7 million people of all ages—or 8.9% of the US population—had diagnosed diabetes.” The food pyramid recommendations have resulted in a doubling of diabetes and massive increases in cancer.  Let the kids drink whole milk.   It does a body good. 

Poll Results: 97% of Readers Say Congress Must Investigate J6 Committee

Last week, I asked faithful Gosar Newsletter readers to respond to my poll questioning if Congress should investigate and seek criminal charges against members of Congress serving on the House of Representatives January 6th Committee for destroying evidence including videotaped depositions of witnesses.

The results are in: an overwhelming 97.3% (717 people) replied that Congress should investigate Members of Congress who served on the J6 Committee.  2.2% (16 people) responded that Congress should not investigate and less than 1% (4 people) are unsure. 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.  I’ve got my marching orders!

It’s Mail Time!

I receive thousands of letters each week and I appreciate hearing from everyone.  Here are samples of some of the letters I received this week:

Beverly B. from Apache Junction writes:

Assange should be released.  I've said it before and will say again, our own government is our biggest security risk.  The majority in Washington wants to line their own pockets and do what benefits them. When someone brings to light what's really happening, then the government does everything they can to eliminate that source. 

Beverly, you are correct.  Well said.  Assange uncovered corruption.  Today we face more corruption through the Bidens, as well as corruption earlier from the Clintons and John Kerry.  Assange is a threat to those who want to hide the truth. 

Jackie L. from Kingman shares her thoughts about impeaching Joe Biden:

How can I help?  I am a poor person, but I have God on my side and I will continue to pray for His will to be done in ALL AREAS of government both in America and abroad. Deceit and lies are staggering these days!  The evil in the AMERICAN government is undeniable and must be stopped before this great country falls.

Jackie, you may be materially “poor” but you are rich in the love of God and the love of your fellow Christians.  America’s foundation is based on Judeo-Christian values which are biblically sourced.  Please keep praying.  We need all the help we can get.  

Jerry S. from Allen, TX writes:

Thank you, Congressman Gosar. Hunter Biden should be held accountable, just like the rest of us. 

Jerry, exactly.   We see the FBI and the Department of Justice trying to protect Hunter Biden.  They lied about the Hunter Biden laptop, which is full of evidence of the receipt of bribes (and the hiring of prostitutes).  The house of cards is starting to fall, however.   Stay tuned. 

Dayton S. from Prescott, AZ cautions:

I appreciate your newsletter and information about the ongoing investigation of the Bidens. However, I don't think you should stoop to name-calling because it lessens the impact of your message. Leave out "the Biden Crime Syndicate" references and stick to the facts, which you present well. When the Bidens are charged (or impeached) and convicted, THEN you can use that term--until then, present the evidence to your constituents and the country and the courts and let them and us decide their fate.

Dayton—I hear you.  Starting in this newsletter that term was removed.  Good idea. 

Tweet of the Week:

Photo of the Week:

Pat Newbert of Chino Valley, AZ snapped these very festive photos of the Courthouse holiday lighting in downtown Prescott.   Love these pictures, Pat.  These will get you in the holiday spirit!  Thanks for sharing.

Do you have photography skills?  Do you want the chance for your photograph to be featured as our "Picture of the Week?"   If so, send your best shots of our great state along with a brief description to Anthony.foti@mail.house.gov.  Remember to include your name and where you live.  We have a beautiful state, let's show her off!

Gosar in the News and Other Must-Read Stories:

Space News: House committee debates space mining

Fox News: Bipartisan congressional resolution calls on US officials to drop charges against Julian Assange

Fox News: Hunter Biden faces backlash after defying subpoena with press conference 'stunt': 'Hold him in contempt!'

Sputnik News: Biden Bankrolling Ukraine Fuels Bloodshed, Blunts US Economy - Expert

The Kennedy Beacon: Debacle in Ukraine: Imperial Hubris and the Corporate Capture of US Foreign Policy

Real Freedom Talk: Orchestrated Invasion: The CCP’s Border War and the Global Agenda

Red State: Biden Gets Trapped by His Prior Words About What Should Happen to Those Who Defy Subpoenas

Rasmussen Reports: One-in-Five Mail-In Voters Admit They Cheated in 2020 Election

The Federalist: Let’s Be Clear: This Is About Joe Biden, Not Hunter Biden

Warning!!  The Gosar Weekly Newsletter is meant for discerning readers with above average intelligence.  If you are a reporter, it probably means you are in over your head already.  We link to interesting stories.  We get stories a couple different ways: Google alerts, a third-party aggregator and sometimes readers send stuff.  We don’t vouch for every publication or every author.  If we link to a story, it is because of that story. The views expressed in any of the publications do not represent any promotion, endorsement or reflection of Congressman Gosar’s views.  While we try our best, we cannot guarantee every news organization spouting hatred, animosity or divisiveness will be filtered from appearing in the Gosar Weekly Newsletter.  We will endeavor to prevent that from happening by never linking to Fake News organizations including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Rolling Stone, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Mirror, Media Matters or the New Republic.