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Message from Congressman Scott Fitzgerald
Good morning!
The House has finally resumed regular order following the election of Mike Johnson as the new Speaker of the House. It’s been a tough few weeks of building consensus, but I am proud of the candidate our conference has coalesced behind. Speaker Johnson is an honest and thoughtful man who not only has strong conservative values but lives those values out through his work.
Under Speaker Johnson’s leadership, we wasted no time and got right to work the very same evening he was elected by passing a resolution to stand with our ally Israel and reaffirm the country’s right to self-defense. The following day, we kept up the momentum and passed the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill.
This week, I will travel back to DC and continue working on appropriations bills. Speaker Johnson outlined an ambitious plan that I believe will put the House on a path to pass all the remaining funding bills and begin negotiations with the Senate.
It feels great to be back in the normal swing of things, and I look forward to passing conservative policy priorities under Speaker Johnson’s leadership.
Have a great week!
- Scott
House Passes Energy and Water Appropriations
The House is open for business, and we picked up business right away last week in passing our fifth appropriations bill, H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
Reminder: the Senate has passed ZERO appropriations bills.
This bill eliminates President Biden’s waterway rule and returns control to states where jurisdiction has historically fallen. The bill also rescinds $5.58 billion from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and prohibits oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be sold to any entity owned by, or under the control or influence of, the Chinese Communist Party.
Most important of all though, this bill reins in wasteful Washington spending by:
- Eliminating funding for unrelated climate change activities in the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, including electric vehicle procurement and “climate cops” across the Corps.
- Making targeted reductions to applied energy programs that already received large amounts of funding in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the IRA.
- Rejecting the President’s Budget Request for $35 million to start a new National Laboratory focused on multidisciplinary research in diverse communities.
Signed onto the ACRE Act to lift financial burdens for WI residents
Agricultural production and the prosperity of farmers and ranchers is critical to the economy of agricultural states like Wisconsin. Community banks provide 80% of all financing to agriculture from the banking sector and are often the catalysts for new and expanded business opportunities within our communities.
Unfortunately, soaring interest rates have decreased community banks’ ability to compete for agricultural loans and mortgages with other lenders who enjoy very broad tax benefits. This is where the ACRE Act enters.
This legislation would aim to ensure the ongoing ability of community banks to serve both agricultural producers and rural homeowners. This bill would expand access to affordable agriculture real estate credit to more than 4,000 rural communities across the country and would deliver approximately $400 million worth of annual interest expense savings to farmers and ranchers in 2023.
Specifically, the ACRE Act would save Wisconsin residents over $48 million collectively in mortgage and farmland savings.
This legislation is critical for Southeast Wisconsin and I am proud to help push it forward in Congress.
Green & Gold Congressional Aide Program
ICYMI, my office is seeking a veteran for a position in WI-05’s Oconomowoc district office. If you or a person you know are interested, I encourage you to apply!
The person chosen for the special position will work with military and veteran constituents to handle veterans-related casework and act as a facilitator between constituents and federal, state, and local agencies.
The Green & Gold Congressional Aide Program was established by the House of Representatives to provide employment opportunities for veterans within member offices.
The program is limited to veterans who meet all of the following requirements:
- Honorably discharged
- Released from active duty within the last six years
- Terminal pay grades at or below E-5, O-3, or W-2
- Veterans promoted to the pay grades of E-6, O-4, and W-3 within 6-months of separation from active duty are eligible, granted they meet ALL other eligibility requirements.
- Veterans who are in receipt of a 20-year or Temporary Early Retirement Authorization (TERA) retirement are not eligible for the program.
Click here to learn more about the job posting.
That’s a wrap for this week’s eNewsletter! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on my work for the 5th District of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Scott Fitzgerald
Member of Congress
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