Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

I want to begin by addressing the crisis evolving in Afghanistan where the Taliban is taking complete control of the country. This situation provides further proof that Biden is again dead wrong on foreign policy...deadly wrong. I have many friends in the district as well as know other members of Congress who served our nation bravely in Afghanistan. They are beside themselves with disbelief as to the whole situation... why did the Biden administration originally set September 11, 2021, as the withdrawal date for our troops, the 20th anniversary of the attack on our country? (Reminder: The 9/11 attack was orchestrated from a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, which has and continues to maintain close relations with Al Qaeda.) Choosing this date was one of the most stupid decisions this incompetent White House has made.

Then the Biden administration moves up the withdrawal date to August 31. What has become clear is that the Biden administration is completely unprepared and has done no contingency planning. This is a dangerous situation for Afghans, our allies, and may have great ramifications on our own national security. Just this morning, the Afghan president fled the nation as the Taliban took over their capital city of Kabul. Click here to read a story from the Wall Street Journal. For the record, the Taliban took over the country in a week!

Throughout the 20 year history of this war, there have been countless Afghans who have stood with the United States. They are now being hunted by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Congress saw this humanitarian crisis coming and as recently as late June pushed the Biden administration to act. (Pictured below at a press conference on this issue.)

Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

This week, our team was in the District traveling to various events. The 9^thDistrict is home to our Commonwealth’s hardest working people, great communities to raise our families, and prosperous small businesses.

As someone who spent a career helping to build a small family business into a significant Pennsylvania employer, I enjoy talking to companies. Hearing their struggles and discussing ways we can help get the government out of their way so they can grow and prosper. One of the most significant challenges any job creator has faced is finding employees. Due to the extra unemployment bonuses supported by President Biden and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, many businesses are struggling to find workers. It was announced that the U.S. unemployment rate did dip lower to 5.4%. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate stands at 6.9%. In states that are prospering, they have gotten rid of these incentives, which has helped attract workers back to the workforce. Pennsylvania has not.

We will never compete with the prosperous economies of Florida, Texas, Arizona, Utah or Georgia unless we have a governor who understands we must model our policies after the states and governors who are winning.

I met with our friends at the Schuylkill County Chamber of Commerce. I was joined by Bob Carl, the Chamber’s President and CEO and their team for their government affairs meeting.

Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

This week we were back in D.C. as Democrat's insistence on extreme liberal partisan policies continues. The people need to know that progressive Democrats are holding a critical bill hostage with the threat of an outrageous expansion of government that is part of their agenda to grow government and the people's dependence on it. We are not a socialist country, and we must not threaten future generations with this multitrillion-dollar reconciliation bill that is not sustainable. The critically important bipartisan infrastructure bill is in jeopardy if it is perceived as a "Trojan horse" for a completely partisan $3.5 trillion reconciliation vote.

I joined Neil Cavuto on Fox Business to discuss the reconciliation plan and the need for hard infrastructure needs. Click here or below to watch.

I delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House on the importance of passing an impactful transportation and infrastructure package with no strings attached. Click here to visit our official Facebook page to view.

Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

Visiting Pennsylvania this week, Biden called the fight for voting rights the biggest test of our democracy since the Civil War. Really? Because legislators want to implement commonsense voting reforms like requiring voters to show proof of their identity before casting their ballot and ensuring signatures match on mail-in ballots. The drama surrounding election reforms was inflamed when 60 Texas State House members boarded a private plane to Washington, D.C., to avoid voting on an election reform bill that includes an end to drive-thru voting for able-bodied citizens. The bill also EXPANDS the hours in the day for early voting in every county in Texas. This is a bill that the Biden Administration called this bill "un-American" and part of a "21st-century Jim Crow assault." The cartoon below sums it up.

Good evening and welcome to our Weekend Update.

I hope everyone enjoyed a great 4^thof July weekend. Like you, we enjoyed time with family celebrating our great country. As President John F. Kennedy once said, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty."

I am proud to be American. While the extreme left has tried to make this statement controversial, my support for this great nation will never waver. I know you feel the same.

This week, I conducted several interviews on the Fox Business Network. On Wednesday, I spoke to Neil Cavuto on Fox Business on China’s crackdown on Bitcoin and U.S. IPOs. Click here or below to watch my interview.

We can no longer be victims of wishful thinking when it comes to the Chinese Communist Party. Our nation needs to be as tough as we can be against Chinese aggression. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is laser-focused on growing the size of our government and uninterested in promoting policies focused on growing the private sector that will allow our nation to prosper.

On Thursday, I joined Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business to discuss the rise in crime in our major cities. Click here or below to watch.

If you weaken police, you heighten crime.

If you weaken border patrol, you increase illegal crossings.

If you spend $5 trillion, you increase inflation. This is a ridiculous, upside-down policy agenda.

Happy 4^th of July, and welcome to our Weekend Update.

As families and neighbors gather this Independence weekend, it is important we take time to celebrate this great nation and the freedoms we enjoy. In celebration of our great nation’s birth, President Ronald Reagan once remarked, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

While in Washington, D.C., this week, I joined Fox Business to discuss government waste and fraud as well as the importance of growing the private sector, not increasing the size of government. Click here or below to watch.

Good evening and welcome to our Weekend Update.

As infrastructure talks with the U.S. Senate show signs of compromise, I hope the Biden Administration sees the value of a bipartisan, paid-for infrastructure plan that is targeted towards states' needs without a level of spending that will further drive inflation and increase taxes.

This week, I joined Newsmax TV to discuss the latest on infrastructure infrastructures. Click here or below to watch.

Another issue dominating the news is election reform. In Washington, Democrats’ H.R. 1 imposes “DC Knows Best” mandates, federalizing elections in a clear power grab. This is Democrat’s #1 priority, not COVID recovery, the border crisis, or inflation and the labor shortage. They’re fighting hard to entrench their power, not fighting to put American families first.

Compare that to Pennsylvania, where the Republican legislature passed a commonsense election reform package that includes measures to strengthen voter’s trust in our electoral process. For example, the legislation requires regular election audits; improves election uniformity among the 67 counties as required by the Pennsylvania Constitution; enhances certification processes for all machines used in elections; requires signature verification using ballot scanning equipment for mail-in and absentee ballots; improves lists of registered voters; conducts an audit of every election for, among other things, to improve the security of our elections. It also includes a voter identification provision. Specifically, registered voters would receive through their counties’ durable scannable voter registration cards, much like the identification cards currently issued to voters, to be used when voting in person. 

A recent poll by Franklin & Marshall College shows 74% of those polled support requirements that voters show an identification card when voting in person, and 81% are in favor of signature verification. Republicans and Democrats support a voter identification provision. Unfortunately, Governor Wolf has promised a veto of this legislation.

Equally troubling, this week, the Biden Administration has deployed the Department of Justice to file a politically motivated lawsuit against the recent election reform bill in Georgia. Georgia has more fair and open election laws than many other states… including Delaware. Yet, after failing to sell H.R. 1 to the American people, the Biden Administration is now weaponizing the Justice Department to attack election integrity. This is a clear attempt to undermine confidence in elections in the pursuit of political power.