Each month I want to provide you with regular updates about what’s going on in our nation’s capital and throughout the 4th District of Kansas. Here’s what happened in January.
At The Southern Border At the beginning of the month I went with my colleagues on a fact-finding mission to Eagle Pass, Texas, where we saw firsthand the complete lawlessness and destruction at the southern border – all happening because of Biden’s failed policies and his administration’s willful neglect of the law. Our live press conference was even interrupted when several migrants tried to cross into the United States illegally. These migrants were completely undeterred by the cameras, members of Congress and even Border Patrol. This is what happens when you enact bad policies and fail to enforce good ones. Typically, the Del Rio sector of the border sees 1,400 crossings per day. In a major push over the Christmas holiday, crossings jumped to 2,400 per day for about 10 days. To process this influx, agents had to be pulled from the field, leaving a 240-mile sector of the border un-patrolled. These are shocking numbers with dangerous consequences.
More shocking, though, is that in the days leading up to, and during, our visit, crossings plummeted to 200 per day, demonstrating that it is possible to get the border crisis under control. And, it is imperative for our national security that we do so.
In November, Customs and Border Patrol arrested 6,422 aliens with criminal convictions nationwide, including 83 known gang members, 10 of those being MS-13 members. 4,797 Chinese nationals were encountered at the southwest border in November, representing a nearly 800% increase compared to November 2022. Last month, CBP seized 1,846 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southwest border – enough to kill more than 400 million people and federal officials estimate they are only able to seize 5-10% of fentanyl smuggled across the Southwest border. If this isn’t a crisis, I don’t know what is.
I am hopeful that our visit helps draw attention to the border crisis, pushing the administration to actually enforce the laws on the books and encourage the Senate to take up H.R. 2, which the House passed last year. As Speaker Mike Johnson said at our press conference, if the president would simply reinstate the Remain in Mexico Policy from the Trump administration, it could reduce illegal immigration by 70% or more. Republicans have and will continue to push good, common sense policy to secure our border.
Advancing Legislation to Rein in the National Debt Since arriving in Congress I have been a relentless advocate for reining in wasteful D.C. spending and getting our national debt under control. The current national debt is more than $34 trillion and D.C.’s spending habits are largely unchanged. However, we took important steps in the Budget Committee in January to start to rectify this problem.
My colleagues and I had a hearing to mark up several bipartisan legislative proposals aimed at bringing accountability and transparency to Congress’ broken budget process. All three bills – the Fiscal Commission Act of 2024, the Fiscal State of the Nation Act and the Debt to GDP Transparency and Stabilization Act – passed out of Committee and are one step closer to becoming law.
Additionally in January, I voted against another continuing resolution, or CR, that would have continued the same bloated spending for another handful of weeks. We have to break the cycle of CRs and reckless omnibus spending packages that are pushing our national debt higher and higher. The CR ultimately passed, but I’m dedicated to pushing the House to return to regular order and pass our 12 appropriations bills while reducing wasteful Washington spending.
Advocating For American Research & Development January marks the start of a new year and also the start of a new tax filing season. Innovators and small businesses in Kansas and across the country are increasingly eager to have stability in accounting for research and development (R&D). We know that where R&D occurs, jobs and economic opportunities follow.
That’s why I went to the House floor with several Ways and Means colleagues and other representatives to lead a Special Order hour to discuss the importance of R&D immediate expensing and encourage the passage of bipartisan legislation I sponsored that would restore this important provision.
Since the R&D expensing provision expired in 2021, R&D spending has rapidly declined and is now down to less than one half of 1%. R&D fuels innovation, job creation and economic growth, so with such low levels of R&D spending, Kansans are losing out on the jobs and economic growth that flow from investing in research and development.
As companies spend far less on R&D, the sector is down by more than 14,000 jobs. Three- quarters of research and development spending is on wages and salaries, making R&D amortization primarily a jobs issue.
Through our remarks in the Special Order hour, my colleagues and I encouraged other representatives to support this legislation, unlocking growth and prosperity for American workers and the economy. More than 200 members are already cosponsors – 113 Republicans and 100 Democrats. Both parties agree – we need immediate action on my common sense legislation.
The next week, major components of from my bill were included in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which was passed out of the Ways and Means Committee with every Republican and all but three Democrats voting in favor of this common sense bill.
Trump v. Anderson Amicus Brief
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether President Donald Trump should remain on the ballot in the State of Colorado. This comes after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be removed from the ballot since, they argue, Trump is barred from serving as president under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Dating back to the post-Civil War period, this section of the Fourteenth Amendment bars anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution from serving in federal or state office if they engaged in insurrection against the United States.
This argument is quite a stretch. It depends on an overly broad and malleable understanding of what it means to “engage in insurrection”; and overlooks textual and structural limitations of Section 3. Colorado’s decision undermines the will of the people and their ability to freely elect their leaders, all while setting a dangerous precedent. As Americans, we cannot take for granted the freedom we have to choose our elected leaders.
That is why I joined 135 of my colleagues in January in signing on to an amicus brief led by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). I am hopeful that the Court will hear our concerns and will act to protect the rights of American voters.
Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families My colleagues and I on the Ways and Means Committee reviewed and passed out of committee an important bill blocking part of a proposed Biden administration rule that could restrict pregnant women’s access to maternal care. It then passed on the House floor and is headed to the Senate.
Not only does this legislation support pregnant women and families in need, but it also pushes back on the Biden administration’s attempt to sidestep Congress and change policies to match their political agenda, to the detriment of pregnant women throughout the country.
The proposed rule could have prohibited states from allowing Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) funds to be used by pregnancy resource centers. At a time when prices are rising thanks to Bidenflation, we should be doing all we can to help parents and families in need – not taking away or limiting the resources available to them.
Working to Build a Culture of Life
In mid-January, thousands of Americans traveled to our nation’s capital to stand in solidarity with one of our nation’s fundamental rights – the right to life. Each year around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the March for Life brings together a diverse group of Americans united by their love of and respect for life. My staff in Wichita helped send off Kansas students as they left for D.C., and I was able to catch up with a small group of the students while they were touring the Capitol. I was grateful to see these dedicated students stand boldly for life.
Connect with Me
Interested in receiving regular updates about what’s going on in Congress? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter at estes. house.gov and please don’t hesitate to reach out to my District Office in Wichita at 316-262-8992 if you have questions, concerns or need help with a federal agency.
Ron Estes, one of only a handful of engineers in Congress, worked in the aerospace, energy and manufacturing sectors before representing Kansas’ 4th Congressional District since 2017. He is a fifth-generation Kansan, former state treasurer, and serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Budget Committee, and Education and the Workforce Committee.
