Randy's wrap up

COMPETES Act

This week, on behalf of the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee, I addressed the House Rules Committee on Amendment to H.R. 4521- America COMPETES Act of 2022.


At nearly 3,000 pages, H.R. 4521 is a partisan package tossed together by Democratic leadership behind closed doors with no Republican input.
The Science Committee already passed through committee thoughtful, bipartisan legislation to increase our investment in basic research, spur private sector innovation, and secure our nation’s leadership in R&D to combat growing threats from China. This is a stark contrast to the process we are witnessing with Speaker Pelosi’s COMPETES Act.


Now we are left with a toxic bill that gets us no closer to reaching a bicameral, bipartisan deal on this legislation. This is what happens when the Speaker’s office twists around good legislation and contaminates it with messaging bills to appease the extreme leftists in her caucus.
We have bipartisan momentum to take action on China. So instead of voting on this partisan catch-all bill, with more references to coral reefs than to China, let’s focus in on what’s most important: Strengthening American competitiveness and holding China accountable for its actions.
The nearly 3,000 page CONCEDES Act does nothing to counter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their malign actions. Instead, this bill destroys America’s competitive advantage while lining the pockets of those responsible for unleashing COVID-19 on the world. This legislation will put China first and America LAST. 
THE FACTS ABOUT CONCEDES ACT: 

• At 2,900 pages and a $325 billion price tag, the Democrats’ America Concedes Act is the opposite of countering the Chinese Communist Party.
• Authorizes $8 BILLION to pour into an unaccountable U.N. climate slush fund, which has already awarded $100 million to China.
  • It does not guarantee the $8 billion won't be used to purchase things like solar panels or batteries, whose supply chains in China are tainted by genocide.
  • Democrats rejected attempts to prohibit the Chinese Communist Party from accessing the billions of dollars they want to pour into the Fund.
• Gives unions unfair advantages over small businesses and independent workers by adding Davis-Bacon provisions to previously bipartisan policies. 
• Mentions climate change 156 times.
• Tries to appease Chairman Xi by omitting the word “genocide” from provisions on human rights in Xinjiang, despite the House having voted twice to call it genocide. 
• Covers up for the Biden Administration’s giveaway of $40 billion in no-strings-attached IMF money to the CCP last spring, and their support for $130 billion more last summer. 
• Authorizes $2 billion annually with no sunset for a “new” International Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Security Program, essentially doubling up on programs and activities already being conducted by State and USAID.
• Creates “Climate Change Officers” within the Foreign Service, weakening our diplomats’ focus on core U.S. national interests.
• It includes no measures to hold Communist China accountable for their covering up COVID-19 or ongoing genocide against religious minorities in their country. 
• Grants the Department of the Treasury unchecked authority to block Americans’ digital currency payments worldwide
• Provides no resources to enforce our sanctions laws or increase our military strength, including omitting provisions on export controls, security assistance to allies facing CCP aggression, and failing to curtail CCP military modernizations and weapons development.
• It includes millions to study coral reefs. ​

Beaumont Prison 

I am deeply troubled by the loss of life that occurred this week at the United States Penitentiary, Beaumont. However, I am thankful that no Correctional Officers were harmed during yesterday’s incident. I am also thankful that these officers put their lives on the line, every day, for work that must be done.

My office is monitoring the situation.  Yesterday, I spoke directly with with Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials, including Warden Dobbs to get a status update.

• All prisons are currently secured under lockdown, but the lockdowns are expected to be short lived
• Inmates are still receiving normal care, reading materials, and food.
• The fight resulted in, 2 deaths, 2 hospitalizations.
• Incident appears to be MS13 related
• Prison officials are aware of gangs in the prison systems, including MS13.
• No staff were hurt during the incident
• Alarm for the fight was triggered by the staff, and the fight was stopped within minutes
• FBI is involved in the investigation
• Violence was contained to only the Pen

While instances of prison violence are not always avoidable, staffing shortages across the federal system—and especially at the Federal Correctional Center (FCC) in Beaumont—contribute to dangerous working conditions that endanger the lives of guards and inmates alike. As a member of the BOP Reform Caucus, I have worked to address staffing shortages by introducing H.R. 5761, the Pay Our Correctional Officers Fairly Act. When this bill is signed into law, it will make wages more competitive for BOP employees at FCC Beaumont and throughout the nation.

Additionally, I was joined by Congressman Clay Higgins and Rep. Brian Babin in sending a letter to BOP Director Michael Carvajal on September 29, 2021, addressing the staffing issues at FCC Beaumont.

If the underlying issues that plague the BOP are not addressed, I am afraid that we will continue to see instances of violence throughout the federal prison system. I will continue to work with my colleagues on the BOP Reform Caucus to address these concerns, and I call on Director Carvajal to fulfill his duty as Director of the BOP to take immediate action to secure our prisons and to work with Congress to solve the staffing problems.

Skyrocketing Crime Rates

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mocked Fox News' coverage of Democrats' soft-on-crime policies, saying, "what does that even mean," during a recent interview. 
 
Psaki's comments reinforce the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats' inability to take seriously the rising crime rates that are endangering American communities and our nation's law enforcement.
 
Biden's crime crisis is directly tied to radical Democrats' support for the defund the police movement.
 
DEMOCRATS’ CRIME CRISIS:

• Following a year of defunding the police rhetoric from President Biden and Congressional democrats, over a dozen major U.S. cities had record high homicide rates in 2021.
  • At least 16 U.S. cities have set new homicide records in 2021, according to local police departments.
  • In 2021, there were 346 officers shot, 63 of whom were killed by gunfire.
  • In 2021, there were 103 ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers, a 115% increase from 2020.

DEMOCRATS WHO SUPPORT DEFUNDING THE POLICE: 

• President Biden famously expressed support for the Defund the Police movement during an interview in 2020 but was forced to walk back his position after public backlash to his position. 
• Vice President Kamala Harris applauded Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for defunding the police.
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “defunding police means defunding police.” Arguing the cuts to the NYPD weren’t enough.
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley said she supports efforts to defund police departments. 
• Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for ‘no more police.’ 
• Rep. Ilhan Omar said “not only do we need to defund, we need to dismantle” Police Departments.  
• Rep. Cori Bush said that she would “make sure” she has private security for her protection while simultaneously promising to defund the police for the rest of America. 
• President Biden’s Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke supported efforts to “defund the police.”
• President Biden’s Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said officials must heed calls to “decrease police budgets and the scope, role, and responsibility of police in our lives.”

President Biden’s Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, proposed a budget to divert funding from law enforcement.

Afghanistan Failure

President Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan left unknown numbers of Americans stranded behind enemy lines and led to the deadliest attack on Americans in Afghanistan since August 2011. 
 
Now, newly leaked documents from the Biden White House reveal just how "unprepared" President Biden and his administration were for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. 
 
The documents indicate that those outside of the administration felt Biden "lacked urgency" as the administration was still scrambling to prepare an evacuation and relocation plan for civilians and Afghan staff the afternoon before Taliban forces took over the capital city of Kabul during the conclusion of the U.S.'s disastrous withdrawal. 
 
According to Axios reporting:
“The document regarded "Relocations out of Afghanistan," and the meeting was held from 3:30-4:30pm on the afternoon of Aug. 14, Washington time.
 
“At that moment, Taliban fighters were descending upon Kabul.”
 
“Mark Jacobson, deputy NATO representative in Afghanistan during the Obama administration, told Axios: ‘That so much planning, prioritizing, and addressing of key questions had not been completed, even as Kabul was about to fall, underscores the absence of adequate interagency planning.’”
THE FACTS ABOUT BIDEN’S FAILED WITHDRAWAL: 

• President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has led to:
  • UNKNOWN HUNDREDS of Americans were abandoned behind enemy lines in Afghanistan for months. 
    • The administration admitted they did not know how many Americans remained in Afghanistan.
  • The deadliest attack on Americans in Afghanistan since August 2011 occurred because of Biden’s failed leadership. 
  • Unknown BILLIONS of dollars in U.S. military equipment is now in the hands of the Taliban. 
• Terrorists are now emboldened to attack Americans.
  • ISIS-K has demonstrated the ability to launch attacks despite recent setbacks and depleted numbers.
  • Al Qaeda has renewed calls for lone-wolf attacks on the U.S. homeland. 

TIMELINE FLASHBACK:

• Biden is the one who decided to pull out U.S. forces by the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
• Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was NOT conditions-based. 
  • The conditions of President Trump’s agreement were continuously violated by the Taliban and the Biden administration did not hold them accountable. 
  • The Biden administration had been warned that the Taliban would stop at nothing until they retook the country. Now, the Taliban is back and the United States is less safe . 
• The decision by the Biden Administration to abandon Bagram Air Base early and leave only a few hundred troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport opened the door to the Taliban’s rapid takeover. 
  • Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs John Kirby joined CNN where he ADMITTED the Administration has NO PLANS to help Americans get out of Afghanistan.
  • White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki refused to admit that Americans are stranded in Afghanistan, despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary.

These leaked documents further prove that President Biden is to blame for the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. No one else.
​

Recent Legislation

• H.R. 6558 - To ensure that the right to vote shall not be impaired due to vaccination status.
• H.R. 6563 - To direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to require the disclosure of violations of Federal law with respect to human trafficking or alien smuggling, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 6564 - To require educational agencies and institutions to provide in-person instruction to students as a condition of receiving Federal education funds, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 6565 - To establish an alternative use of certain Federal education funds when in-person instruction is not available.
• H.Res. 582 - Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
• H.R. 6018 - Housing PLUS Act of 2021

This Week's Poll Question 

​Friends, 


President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland visited New York City on Thursday to talk about combating crime.  Despite over a dozen major U.S. cities experiencing record high homicide rates in 2021, the White House is hard at work in Washington D.C. putting the final touches on an executive order focusing on police "accountability".


While the executive order focuses specifically on federal law enforcement, it may serve as a model for local police departments across the country. The proposed order comes at a time when crime is high, and in many departments federal and local, morale is low.


Instead of providing law enforcement with the resources they need to combat the increase in violence, the proposal directs the Department of Justice to "establish the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database in order to provide a centralized repository of official records documenting instances of law enforcement officer misconduct."


The draft in its current form does not cut funding, but orders federal agencies to change policies, including banning chokeholds, reforming the body-worn camera policy, and restricting the use of "no-knock entries."


But I want to hear from you!

 
 Do you think Biden's proposed police reform executive order will empower law enforcement to better combat crime?
 
 
 Yes 
 
 No 
 
 Unsure 
 
 
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God Bless you and God Bless Texas!



Sincerely,
 
Randy K. Weber