This Week with Gosar

October 8, 2023

BREAKING:   Pray for Peace in Israel.  

Israel has suffered an invasion from the Gaza strip by the terrorist group Hamas, who entered Israeli borders and began to randomly kill women and children, along with men and soldiers.  It is atypical for Israel to be so unprepared as they have what was considered the most secure border in the world.   

The Israeli Defense Force is now organized and by the time you read this I am presuming order within Israel proper will be almost restored and the IDF will be executing plans to destroy Hamas and its infrastructure.  

Every country has the right to self-defense, just as every person does.  In 2011, I passed an amendment in the House ratifying Israel’s' right to self-defense when attacked by any group or country.   I also passed an amendment preventing any American aid going to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.  

Questions are now being raised that the billions of dollars Biden and democrats sent to Iran was used to assist Hamas directly or indirectly.  We must investigate this.  There are also reports that Hamas was using American weapons sold to Hamas by Ukraine.  This too must be remedied, if true. 

I ask you to join me in praying for the safety of Israel and its people.  Pray for the lives lost that they rest in peace and pray for an end to the conflict in this troubled area.  

Under President Trump the Middle East had sustained record-breaking peace and stability.  Under the weak presidency of Biden war has broken out in Armenia, Ukraine and now Israel.  Weakness is never respected.  Ronald Reagan said peace is achieved through strength.  God bless Israel and its people.  

History Was Made--Let's Talk About the Speaker's Situation

For the first time in our nation's history, a Speaker of the House of Representatives was removed before the end of his or her term.  Let me share some background about this and then I will tell you how I voted and why. 

As many of you may remember, in January of this year the Republicans in the House had a battle royale over the speakership.   You may remember me starting the process by nominating my friend Andy Biggs to be speaker, and with that we ended up with over a dozen votes before we agreed to support Kevin McCarthy.  This is what I said at the time:

"A wise person once told me, good process yields good policy, yields good politics," Mr. Gosar said. "You’ve got to return to that. It is with that that I place the name of my friend and colleague from Arizona, Andy Biggs, for Speaker of the House."

That started the debate, which I think was healthy, but the lame-stream media found controversial since democrats and the media are used to picking the speaker behind closed doors and squashing all opposition with threats and intimidation.  At the time, I got a lot of hate in the media and by Republican elites for taking my stand, but I’m proud I did, because I work for the people – not party elites or media hacks. Since then, things have been more open in the House than before, albeit far from perfect.

We ultimately agreed to support Mr. McCarthy and we had some excellent discussions about what reforms we wanted in order to support him.   For instance, we insisted on having 72 hours advance notice on bills before voting.  That may not sound like much to you, but we have had many situations where we had little to no time at all to look at a bill before voting, sometimes hundreds of pages long.  We demanded that all 12 budget appropriation bills be completed before September 30, the end of the fiscal year, and we made it clear we did not want what is called a CR, a continuing resolution.  A CR just continues the existing budget with no reductions or policy changes.  A CR in this instance would continue Nancy Pelosi's budget priorities, with which we disagree on many issues.  We also agreed that bills needed the support of the majority of Republicans to pass, that is, that we were not going to have democrats be the deciding votes on bills.  Lastly, we agreed to a nuclear option: any one member of the House could file a Motion to Vacate the chair, and a vote would be required if such a motion was filed.  Such a motion, if it passed, ends the speakership and starts the process over.  

There are 222 Republicans in the House, and it takes 218 to pass a bill.  

To put it bluntly, Mr. McCarthy had 222 constituents, but just five of them could call for a new election if the democrats joined.  And join they did.  All democrats joined with a eight Republicans this week to remove Speaker McCarthy.  

Unlike January, I voted to keep Kevin McCarthy.  We had an election, and the position comes with a two-year term.   Kevin won that election in January.  It does not make sense to me to follow a parliamentary system where you can have as many elections as you want at any time.  Such a process breeds instability.   All House proceedings are now stopped.   Including the Biden impeachment inquiry and the budget.  There was no urgency, in my view, to terminate Mr. McCarthy at this time.  It is not that I disagree that some of our agreed upon rules were violated.  Several were.  However, there is an old phrase that says you don’t change horses midstream and that is exactly what took place this week when the House voted in favor of vacating the Speaker.  That truism reflects the fact that you can lose more in changing leadership at the wrong time than proceeding and correcting leadership.  

I’ve had my differences with Kevin McCarthy. When Republicans won the U.S. House last November, it was by a very small margin. Conservatives like me used this to our advantage by demanding substantive reforms which open the legislative process and allowed conservatives to have a voice for the first time in many years.

For example, I am not at all happy that Congress has not passed all 12 appropriations bills, instead choosing to pass a 45-day continuing resolution.  Last week, I voted against the CR. It means we borrow more money and put ourselves deeper into debt only to extend the deadline for when Congress needs to pass the 12 appropriation bills by another 45 days beyond September 30th. 

Rather than address the crisis at our border, or anything else on the growing list of serious problems America is facing, this CR just kicks the can down the road.  I cannot support that.  

Nonetheless, vacating the chair during this 45-day extension now likely means that any progress and reforms conservatives made are now stalled. It also likely could lead to another disastrous CR while House Republicans use precious time to select a new Speaker – advantage Democrats. Simply put, the timing to vacate the Speaker was not right and we now are doing absolutely nothing in Congress to address the $33 trillion national debt, border crisis, failing bidenomics and historic bidenflation.   Like I said, nothing can get done and I will not vote for another CR to fund the government.

Despite the poor timing of the CR, I remain extremely optimistic about the direction of House Republicans. Members are stepping forward to offer their vision on how they will lead our conference as the next Speaker.  In order to win my support, the next Speaker absolutely must ensure that all 12 appropriations bills get a vote and end the cycle of governing by CR’s. We must vote on single subject bills that allow for debate and amendments. The next Speaker must allow 72 hours for Members of Congress to read legislation before any vote is cast.  We cannot spend another dime fighting a proxy war in Ukraine.  In my view, we either spend our money to make America better and Americans better off, or we don't spend it at all. 

We must stop the invasion along the southern border and we have to stop the wasteful spending that is crushing our economy.  I will work with anyone willing to do these things and I look forward to supporting a Speaker who shares my vision for making Congress accountable to the people.

There are two contenders at the moment:  Representatives Scalise and Jordan.  I spoke to my friend, Mr Jordan, and I will be voting for him to be our next speaker.  Rep. Scalise is a friend and a great colleague, but I think Jim has the moxy to take us to the next level. 

I also have a personal reason I supported Kevin this time.   In November 2021, one of my interns created a simple video, a cartoon, called an anime.  That little cartoon was shared on social media.  The cartoon was not threatening to anyone or anything.  It did depict me as a superhero with a cape and a sword battling the leftists.  Quite frankly, it was silly and unimportant, but the left, and the leftist media, falsely claimed it was a violent threat to Biden and others.   Apparently, they never watched Rick and Morty, or Bugs Bunny.  Does anyone think Wiley Coyote was an actual threat, in the real world, to rabbits?  Or in the coyote's case, it was Bugs Bunny that usually had a rock or anvil drop on him.   But only in cartoon land.  In any event, the leftists censured me.  I stood by my intern.  He was not fired, even though there was pressure to do so and Kevin McCarthy stood by me.  He urged every Republican to vote for me, and they did.  I have not forgotten. 

I wish Kevin well, his job was not easy.  These are strange times and our country is very divided.   Republicans are divided as well.  I am hoping we can reconcile, because the real problem in our country is not Kevin McCarthy.   It is the leftists who are promoting child sexual mutilation; promoting anti-family policies, promoting a weak military, promoting sexual deviancy; it is the left that opened our borders and now eight million illegal aliens, all of them by definition criminals, have entered in 2.5 years.  We have 40 million illegal aliens now in our country.  When you see our citizens living in tents in the streets, understand that the millions of illegal aliens are getting free housing with our tax money and stipends and medical care.  Meanwhile, we have veterans and senior citizens getting evicted from housing to make room for the illegals.  When you see a homeless elderly vet, know that the democrats are contributing to this.  It is the left that created a massive homelessness problem, high interest rates, inflation, and a historically high crime wave across our cities.  It is the democrats that have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the last three years from fentanyl poisoning, a drug that is coming into our country from Mexico with a welcome wagon.  None of this was Speaker McCarthy's fault.  Let's accept and focus on the real problem: leftists democrats.  As Elon Musk recently said, the real fight is between humanists and extinctionists.  

FBI Still Rogue and Working to Undermine America

The FBI, a rogue agency for decades, should focus on drug trafficking, child trafficking and human trafficking.  Instead, it has become so politicized it is the armed wing of the democrat party.  In the largest investigation in U.S. history, America First protestors (about 75 million and all Trump supporters) exercising their right to petition their government have now been classified by the FBI as domestic terrorists.   If given the chance, I will vote to reduce the FBI jurisdiction (and funding) to interstate crimes involving drugs and trafficking only.  It is done as a domestic spy agency and democrat enforcer.  

Speaking of Democrat Enforcers---

The Department of Justice has opened investigations against Elon Musk and his purchase of Twitter, his company Tesla, and his space company Space X.  Musk is not a Republican, but he has spoken up against censorship.  In retaliation, the Biden DOJ is now trying to put him out of business or in jail just like they are trying with President Trump.

Elon Musk is one of our country's few geniuses.  He simply wanted to build amazing electric vehicles, travel to Mars, and end censorship.  For that the democrats want to destroy him and are using official government resources to do so. 

Turning Point Issues Rankings—I Get 100%

The non-partisan Turning Point Action issued its updated lifetime scoreand I received a 100% rating.  Thank you to Charlie Kirk, Rep. Austin Smith and Tyler Bowyer, who are on the front lines of reclaiming our once great country.  Turning Point is a Phoenix based educational and advocacy organization that has been key in reaching out to our younger voters and demonstrating the value of conservative policies.  

Gosar Recognized as Defender of Economic Freedom - Again

I am proud to have recently earned the Club for Growth Defender of Economic Freedom Award for my conservative voting on issues relating to limited government and economic growth.  The award is given to Members of Congress who score 90% or better on votes cast in a year and who maintain a lifetime rating of at least 90%.  Each year the Club for Growth issues Key Vote Alerts urging Representatives and Senators to vote in favor of economic policies that strengthen our nation’s economy and against legislation that would raise taxes, increase harmful regulations, and grow our already massive government. At the end of the year, the Club for Growth Foundation conducts a study of how members of Congress voted on key issues, including the Club’s Key Vote Alerts, and ascribes a score.  You can see how my score compares to other elected officials by clicking here.

Biden Now Wants a Border Wall

After 2.5 years, eight million illegal aliens and hundreds of thousands of Americans murdered by fentanyl poison, suddenly Biden and the soon-to-be impeached Secretary Mayorkas, want to build some border wall.  They called Trump, and the rest of us, "racists" and worse for wanting our country's sovereignty protected with a wall.  We will see how this goes, but after a violent week of crime where hard core socialists were murdered across our country, maybe they are starting to regret the hell they have unleased on America.  

Make no mistake:  If Trump is elected in 2024, I will support deportation of all illegal aliens and completion of the border wall, with armed patrols from our military.  Trump has stated he will pursue this. 

Our military has one job: protect our borders and sovereignty.

Instead of protecting the United States, our military has been "protecting" Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and almost any other country but the one it is supposed to defend.  Our military budget is massive.  That money needs to serve us here, in America.  

Western Passport Center Hosts Passport Day

If you need help processing your passport or other travel documents, the Western Passport Center in Tucson is hosting its annual Passport Day, on Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. to accept passport applications and provide passport information to U.S. citizens. On Passport Day only, no appointment is needed, and applicants will be seen on a first come, first served basis. 

         What:         Passport Day

         When:        Saturday, October 28, 2023

         Where:       Western Passport Center

                           7373 E. Rosewood Street

                           Tucson, AZ 85710

         Payment:    Credit card, personal check or exact cash 

It’s Mail Time!

I receive thousands of letters each week from constituents.  I appreciate hearing from everyone and do my best to respond.  Here are a sample of some of the letters I received this week:

Jim T. from Phoenix writes:
As a retired military, what Milley did and his behavior in most instances would warrant a General Courts Martial and likely reduction in rank and loss of several thousands in retirement pay. His usurpation of not only the CINCs prerogatives but those of Congress in the circumstances warrant at least formal review and punishment associated with the offense.  Should anyone in the military do this same thing with Iran or North Korea during this Administration, there would be no question of CQ Brown demanding immediate military application of the UCMJ or if he is of the liberal bent and personality of Milley, it would be ignored as being misquoted and defended by a media that is so out of touch with reality, they make Sci-Fi movies look real. 

Jim, you’re spot on.  You know exactly what you are talking about.  I laid out last week the Military Code of Justice provision that controls this issue, and the death penalty can be imposed for subverting the chain of command, undermining the Commander-in-Chief, and sharing secrets with our enemies.  Milley should be prosecuted, stripped of his rank and given time in a jail cell to understand the gravity of his misconduct.   He also botched the Afghanistan withdrawal, failed to set up a secure perimeter in Kabul that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. troops, and let the Taliban walk away with up to $80 billion in military equipment.   I doubt we have had a worse general.

Justin M. from Goodyear shares:

As a veteran and current member of the USAF reserves, I find it completely infuriating and unacceptable that in our current fiscal environment we continue to send aid to Ukraine to support the armed conflict there. I fail to see and have heard no coherent argument how our massive deficit spending to support Ukraine's military, government offices, pensions, and other portions of their government will benefit the USA and the American taxpayer.

I am asking you to actively oppose further financial and DOD support of Ukraine, we are advancing towards conflict with Russia that is not in our national interest nor beneficial to US taxpayers. I do not want to burden my children with the insane national debt that is ever-increasing to support foreign interests.

Justin, I hear you and agree 100%.  You may not know, but I was one of only three members of Congress to vote against sending our tax money to most corrupt nation in Europe back in March 2022.  Since then, opposition has grown to close to a hundred members.   I said then, and I say again today, Ukraine's borders are not worth defending especially when our own border is wide open, and we are under a sustained invasion—over eight million and counting.  Ukraine is a corrupt authoritarian dictatorship.   It provoked Russia into this conflict by having its Nazi militias kill Russian civilians, over 14,000, between 2014 and 2022.   It is a country riddled with Nazi ideologues.  The current regime was installed in a violent coup, that was supported if not created by the U.S. Department of State in 2014.   Our agents helped overthrow the popular and democratically elected president and instead installed the current corrupt regime.  We have no business there.  Ukraine made its bed with Russia, and now it can lay in it. All that money, hundreds of billions, belongs in the U.S. to help our people here or to be saved and not create more debt.  Thank you, Justin. 

Heather J. from Yuma writes:

Please help urge your fellow representatives to stop the government shutdown. Every year active-duty military and their family are held hostage by congress because they refuse to behave like adults and compromises. Those of us living overseas are affected even more as spousal unemployment is higher than stateside. Single income military families can’t afford to go without pay. We are asked to defend our nation and its allies far from home in foreign lands then we are forgotten about or used a pawns for one political party or the other.  Please stop threatening to shut down the government and do the job you were elected to do.

Heather, I have not threatened a shutdown.  In fact, I was insistent that we pass all 12 budget bills before September 30.  I understand the problems a shutdown can cause.  I will continue to insist on responsible budgeting.  As for being stationed overseas, I think it is long past time we look at our military presence across the globe.  There is no reason we have military bases in Germany and other European countries.   World War 2 is long over.   The use of these bases in the last 40 years has been to intervene in other countries' politics, and to destroy nations.  That is not defending America.  I wish safety for you and your family.  

Joe M. from Parker laments:

Your staff must be quite adept at fielding hate messages and email threats. You, the staffer reading this email, are probably a young woman of high moral standards and you have been exposed to things that would shock your parents to the core. My first instinct was to write a message that was evil, vitriolic and disgusting because those are the emotions your member`s recent comments engendered in me. He is not a good man regardless of his outside persona. He is a buffoon. Save your resume and any future career you may seek and get out while you can. Is he even a good dentist?

Joe: leave my interns alone.  Don't be a creep and don't be so full of hate.  Admitting you are full of evil is a serious confession and you need to get right with Jesus.  Martin Luther King said "throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad.  Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too."  You may be an "evil, vitriolic" leftist, but I have hope for you as a person to be a better man.  

Tweet of the Week:

Photo of the Week:

Jon Heidrich from Wickenburg, AZ sent this cool photo of the harvest moon he snapped from his cabin in Show Low.  Thanks for sharing, Jon!

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:

The Federalist: FBI Targets Trump Voters As Domestic Terrorists Ahead Of 2024 Election

City Journal: Baltimore’s Thin Blue Line Is Broken

New York Post: Biden’s ‘wall’ 180 is just another deceptive stunt

Messy Nessy: The Saga Behind America’s Giant Government Cheese Vaults

Center Square: Illegal border crossers since 2021 total more than individual populations of 38 states

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.