News from US Congressman Chuck Edwards

Well, here’s Congress stepping in. Now that I’m a Member I’m leading that effort with the introduction of the Voter Population Accuracy Act.

With the unchecked invasion of our southern border, we don’t know who’s entering the United States, where they’re staying and what they’re doing in our country. Yet, these folks are influencing who represents you in Congress and inform where your tax dollars go.

To make sure that only citizens are counted in our census, not illegals, I introduced this bill to require the Bureau of the Census to ask respondents about their citizenship status on the United States census that occurs every 10 years.

Every U.S. census conducted between 1890 and 1950 included a question on citizenship status. Since 1950, the U.S. has only included a citizenship question on the long-form census questionnaire, which is sent to only 5-16 percent of American households.

This failure to evaluate whether a great majority of census respondents are American citizens or not has made it impossible to determine or even accurately estimate the number of illegal immigrants in our country.

As President Ronald Reagan wisely said, “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” The Voter Population Accuracy Act will once again require the Census Bureau to ask the basic, commonsense question of whether someone is an American citizen.

Making it harder to cheat in elections

Due to absentee ballot abuse, a Connecticut judge recently overturned the results of a mayoral primary.

Days before the Nov. 7 municipal election in Bridgeport, Conn., Superior Court Judge William Clark determined that evidence of election fraud required throwing out the results of the Sept. 12 primary.

After a video surfaced of incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim’s supporters stuffing stacks of papers into an absentee ballot drop box, the election was thrown out.

This shocking video is one of several instances of election tampering and voter fraud that occur each year in our country’s elections. Election fraud like this is exactly why Americans have lost faith in the bedrock of our democracy – our elections.

It is critical that your trust in our elections be restored, and that’s why I introduced the No Federal Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act.

We saw ballot harvesting in North Carolina in 2016 and 2018, and it continues to undermine our democracy today.

The No Federal Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act will prevent any federal dollars from being used for a federal election in states that do not prevent ballot harvesting.

As your congressman, I’ll continue to stand for the integrity of our elections and defend your sacred right to vote by making it easier to vote but harder to cheat.

Congressman Edwards votes to censure Tlaib

Tragically, there is a growing tide of anti-Semitism around the world. Americans and the rest of the civilized world must unequivocally condemn anti-Semitic behavior as well as the cheering on of barbaric terrorists.

Several censure resolutions have been brought before the House recently and I showed my strong support for the censure resolution of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) introduced by Rep. Rich McCormick (GA-06). House Resolution 845 that I voted “yes” for focuses on Rep. Tlaib’s conduct that runs afoul of the First Amendment and verges on the realm of both fraud and incitement.

This censure focused on Tlaib’s continued insistence that Israel was behind the destruction of a hospital in Gaza. Despite credible evidence from intelligence agencies around the globe that the tragedy was the result of a misfired terrorist rocket, Tlaib continued to push this harmful and anti-Semitic narrative.

Standing firm with Israel

United States-Israel relations are critical to providing stability in perhaps the most volatile region in the world. As Israel’s sovereignty continues to be threatened by unrelenting forces, the U.S. must support the state of Israel.

Israel is one of our greatest allies, a democracy in a sea of hostility. Terrorist groups, such as Hamas, and those who back these terrorists, such as Iran, want to wipe out both the U.S. and Israel. In no world can we allow Iran to have access to nuclear weapons, and we must cut off any financial access to these terrorist groups.

We must financially support Israel to help fight these radical terrorists and defend its sovereignty.

There are several big pieces of legislation I am supporting to help defend Israel, including:

• H.R. 6126 – The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act
  •     This bill provides Israel with $14 billion in emergency funding and the resources it needs to defend itself.
• H. Res. 771 – Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.
• H. Res. 739 – Disapproving of the waiver of sanctions on Iran submitted to Congress on Sept, 11, 2023.
  • This bill disapproves of the administration’s sanctions waiver, which would allow $6 billion in Iranian assets to be released to Iran.
• H.R. 3774 – The SHIP Act
  • This bill imposes sanctions on foreign ports that process oil from Iran and violate U.S. sanctions.
• H.R. 3152 – The Fight CRIME Act
  • This bill imposes sanctions pertaining to Iran’s missile program.
• H.R. 2973 – MARITIME Act
  • This bill builds on the Abraham Accords by requiring the Department of Defense to develop, in cooperation with allies and partners in the Middle East, an integrated security architecture to counter maritime threats posed by Iran, violent extremist organizations, piracy activities and criminal networks.
• H.Res. 100 – Expressing support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of Iran, and condemning violations of human rights and state-sponsored terrorism by the Iranian government.
• H.R. 1777 – United States-Israel Future of Warfare Act
  • This bill requires the Department of Defense to establish the United States-Israel Future of Warfare Research and Development Fund to conduct collaborative defense projects between the U.S. and Israel in areas of emerging technologies.
• H.Res. 768 – Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.
• H.R. 5932 – Fortify Israel Act
  • This bill authorizes additional assistance to Israel using assets confiscated from Iran.
• H.Res. 793 – Calling on Hamas to immediately release hostages taken during October 2023 attack on Israel.
• H.Res. 803 – Honoring the American and Israeli civilians murdered or unaccounted for in the brutal attacks by Hamas terrorists.
• H. Res. 559 – Declaring it is the policy of the United States that a nuclear Islamic Republic of Iran is not acceptable.
• H. Res. 599 – Urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
• H.R. 3266 – Requires the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the curriculum used by the Palestinian Authority to see whether teachers are using materials that encourage violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups and whether U.S. aid is used to fund the dissemination of such materials.

These are just the first steps to help support the people of Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas terrorists. We will continue to stand firm with and fully support Israel as its borders come under attack yet again from Iranian-backed terrorists, making sure that Israel is able to defend its right to exist and that innocent hostages are released.

With my warmest regards,

Chuck Edwards
Member of Congress