I wish I had a more productive update for you on the status of the Speaker’s race. Unfortunately, the House Republican Conference has yet to elect a new Speaker. This week, I voted for our Conference’s nominee each of the three times we went to the floor for a vote because we need to get back to work, and we can’t do that until we have a Speaker. We have a crisis at our southern border, one of our closest allies in the Middle East at war, and a deadline to fund the government in less than 30 days. We must return to governing. I, like the majority of our conference, wish that 8 of my colleagues had not weakened our Republican majority by removing Speaker McCarthy.

We are in the position we are in today because a small minority imposed their will on the majority. Eight Republicans teamed up with every single House Democrat to remove a Republican Speaker of the House, with no plan in place to replace him. Those of us who voted to keep McCarthy knew his removal would only undermine our Republican majority and delay our work. I will continue working with my colleagues to find a path forward, and will continue working for the Valley no matter who holds the Speaker’s gavel.

This week, I had the pleasure of welcoming both the Central Valley and the Kern County Honor Flights to the Capitol. These patriots, and their families, have made incredible sacrifices for our nation and it was great to be able to personally thank them for their service.

The annual Medicare Open Enrollment period is now through December 7^th. If you’re a senior on Medicare, you should take this time to review your current plan to make sure it still fits your needs. I’ll be hosting a Medicare Open Enrollment telephone town hall with representatives from Medicare & Medicaid Services next Tuesday, October 24^th at 12 pm PT. If you or someone you know wants to join, make sure to mark your calendar and sign up here. Visit Medicare.gov to learn more.

Each year, I'm honored to nominate students living in California’s 22nd Congressional District to attend a United States service academy, where they receive a full-ride scholarship, room and board, stipend, and commission as a military officer upon graduation. My office is still accepting applications from students interested in attending one of our great military academies. Students interested in attending West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, or the Merchant Marine Academy must earn a nomination from a Member of Congress or another official nominating source. 

To download an application, visit my website here. For questions about nominations, please call our Hanford office at 559-460-6070.

Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues in sending a letter to the Commissioner of the IRS urging them to extend their tax filing deadline for those impacted by the storms and flooding we saw across California earlier this year.

Thankfully, the IRS agreed with our request and has extended the deadline for those impacted. The new deadline to file your federal and state income tax returns and make tax payments is now NOVEMBER 16, 2023.

For more information, visit the IRS website here

Our question this week comes from Armindo in Hanford. They ask:

“What is being done to secure the border and secure Mexico's participation in the fight against the drug cartels?" 

Thank you for your question Armindo. I think everyone can agree that what is happening at our southern border is a serious crisis. Border Patrol had more than 200,000 encounters at our border in the month of September alone - a record high. Not only is this a national security crisis for our nation, but it is also a humanitarian crisis for the tens of thousands of migrants making the dangerous journey north into the United States. I've visited the border multiple times during my time in Congress, including a trip earlier this year. The situation in April when I visited was the worst I've ever seen it, and it has only gotten worse since then. 

Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. This legislation would increase the number of Border Patrol agents, end catch and release, streamline the asylum process, and fund the deployment of new technologies to help our agents on the ground. The only way to finally fix our broken immigration system is to take a comprehensive approach to the problem. While H.R. 2 is a great start, there is certainly more work to be done.

For too long, extremes on either side of the aisle have discouraged real and meaningful progress on immigration and border security. It’s very frustrating that Republicans and Democrats both would rather stick to their party position than come to the middle to work on a comprehensive solution. I’ll continue working across the aisle to work on solutions that secure the border and streamline our immigration process.

The House should be working on these critical issues this week. But because eight Republicans joined all the House Democrats in removing Speaker McCarthy, the House is at an impasse as we cannot take up any legislation until we choose a new Speaker. I will continue working with my colleagues to re-open the House and get back to doing the People's work. 

Do you have a question about my position on an issue? How the Congress operates? My thoughts on the news of the day?

Send your first name, town, and question to AskDavid@mail.house.gov and I might answer yours right here in one of my weekly newsletters. Make sure to subscribe to my weekly email updates to see if your question was answered!

If you want to share your opinion with me on issues of importance, you can always contact me on my website.

Did you know you can now sign up for texts from my office to stay up to date on my work in Washington D.C.? To sign up to receive updates from me directly to your phone, just text VALADAO to (559) 387-4346 and you will be automatically subscribed. You can also sign up for text alerts using this form here.  

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