The Tiffany Telegram: May 7, 2021

Dear Friend,

We wanted to start off this week by reminding everyone that Mother's Day is right around the corner. So if you haven't already – make sure you get out there and pick up something nice for Mom.

Speaking of Mother's Day, you'd think motherhood would be one of the few things everybody in Washington could get behind – right up there with apple pie. But like so many things in the nation's capital these days, nothing seems beyond the reach of woke political correctness.

As you may have seen, one of my colleagues evidently thinks the term "mother" itself is outdated. In a tweet this week, she used the term "birthing people" as a substitute. I'm not kidding, and this is not a late April Fools' joke. You can read about it here.

This week unemployment claims fell to their lowest point since the pandemic outbreak began more than a year ago in Communist China. But there is more to the story. Jobless claims are still well above where they were when the economy was humming pre-COVID. Even worse, nearly 4 million fewer people are in the labor force than there were back then – and that has a lot to do with the tidal wave of runaway spending in Washington.

Restaurant and tavern owners – some of those hardest hit by job-killing government lockdowns over the last year – are seeing customers come through their doors again. That's the good news. The bad news is that many can't hire enough workers to meet the resurgent demand. And it's not because we have a shortage of workers. It is because government is literally paying people not to work. The bottom line is that thanks to generous unemployment benefits being shelled out by the Biden administration, some Americans are in no hurry to go back to work.

Many of you know exactly what I'm talking about, and this unfortunately isn't a new phenomenon. People choosing not to work are receiving an additional $300 a week federal unemployment "bonus" on top of regular state benefits, which average $318 a week. And when you consider that staying on those benefits often pays more than working full-time at $15 an hour, it isn't a big surprise. Simply put, when government subsidizes something, you get more of it – and in this case, your tax dollars are being spent in a way that keeps people out of the workforce.

With the worst of the pandemic behind us thanks to a resilient economy built on pro-growth tax policies, regulatory reforms and speedy vaccine development, it's now time for state and federal leaders to remove financial disincentives to work – not create new ones.

In the meantime, if you're semi-retired or have some extra time on your hands, now is a great time to make some extra money (and help out your local small business) by seeing if you can pick up an extra shift or two.

We hope you have a great weekend, and that you enjoy this week's edition of the Telegram!

Sincerely,

Tom Tiffany
Member of Congress

The Governor's Fishing Opener in Hayward, WI

Race-based restaurant assistance on the menu?
For months, left-wing activists have tried to inject the issue of race into every aspect of our lives. From large corporations telling employees to "be less white" and school administrators admitting that their goal is to make certain children feel "less than" because of their race, to segregated college graduation ceremonies and even proposals to dole out medical care based on the color of a patient's skin, things seem to get more absurd with each passing day. Now the Biden administration appears to have put race on the menu again -- this time when it comes to assistance for pandemic-stricken bars and restaurants. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is set to distribute billions in assistance to struggling eateries – but there's a catch. Some businesses may get a leg-up based on skin color. This is simply wrong. The pandemic clobbered restaurants and taverns across the country in a color-blind way, and the job-killing, government-imposed lockdowns that followed inflicted a devastating, "equal-opportunity" one-two punch on mom-and-pop businesses. So why is the Biden administration now picking winners and losers based on arbitrary characteristics like race? It was wrong for the Biden administration to practice this kind of racial discrimination against farmers through the USDA, and it is just as wrong for the Biden SBA to discriminate against those in the hospitality sector. Government-sponsored racial discrimination is immoral, it is unfair, it is unconstitutional, and it must stop.

Are American sports stars profiting from Chinese slave labor?
That's a question many Americans are beginning to ask. Chinese sports apparel companies with ties to the communist regime have openly bragged that their supply chains are linked to a cotton-producing region in western China called Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is operating concentration camps, forcibly sterilizing and torturing religious and political dissidents while committing genocide. At least two of those Chinese companies, Li-Ning and Anta, have entered into multi-million dollar endorsement deals with current and retired American NBA stars. I have cosponsored bipartisan legislation in the past to block imports from Xinjiang, but we must do more. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle must continue to work together to hold China accountable and ensure that no American is inadvertently financing Beijing's human rights abuses by purchasing tainted products – or actively pocketing the profits of modern-day slavery. More on that later.

"Stimulating" foreign economies?
Some of you may recall reports from last year about $1,200 stimulus checks being erroneously deposited into the bank accounts of foreign nationals – who happily spent that money in their home countries. We all know that this sort of thing is bound to happen when government rushes to spend billions – or these days even trillions – of dollars with little discussion, debate or oversight. After those reports, the Treasury Department said they would "explor[e] possible options" to ensure that this didn't happen again. But it did. Thanks to some of you, we've been made aware of a few instances of foreign workers who headed home long before President Biden signed his $1.9 trillion spending package into law receiving $1,400 stimulus checks – money that was supposed to "stimulate" the American economy – not sent abroad. I am looking into what can be done to track down this money and will continue to support measures that restrict eligibility for taxpayer-funded assistance programs solely to U.S. citizens.

Committee Update
House Judiciary Committee
Protecting American intellectual property
This week, we learned that the Biden administration supports waiving patent protections for COVID vaccines. That's why I joined several of my colleagues in penning a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, urging her to oppose the request to waive certain portions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This comes as India and South Africa are both requesting a patent waiver to get all the intellectual property from the vaccine companies already producing the vaccine, so they can start theirs. And it isn't just India and South Africa that could benefit. The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out that this could also – ironically – benefit Communist China. "China's current crop of vaccines are far less effective than those in the West, but soon Beijing might be able to purvey Pfizer knock-offs," the paper noted. "The U.S. has spent years deploring China's theft of American IP, and now the Biden Administration may voluntarily let China reap profits from decades of American innovation." The truth is that many vaccine companies are already helping foreign countries with vaccine development. That is a tremendous display of American goodwill to the rest of the world. Instead of undermining American technological prowess, the White House should advocate for strong intellectual property protections to help keep American businesses strong and vibrant. America invests huge sums of money in research and development to keep a steady stream of cutting-edge products coming to market. That's why I signed on to the Preventing Foreign Attempts to Erode Healthcare Innovation Act sponsored by Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida. The bill would defund any attempt by the Biden Administration to support the WTO TRIPS waiver.

House Committee on Natural Resources
"Green energy," emissions and human rights
This Wednesday the Natural Resources Committee had a markup for a number of partisan bills that would increase burdensome regulations, kill jobs, and weaken American energy independence. That said, I offered two amendments to try and make a bad bill a little bit better. One of these bills, H.R. 1506, would implement standards and disclosure requirements created by the so-called "Sustainability Accounting Standards Board" (SASB), a non-governmental entity funded by some notable donors like Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer. My first amendment sought to level the playing field by applying the same emissions disclosure mandates to so-called "green energy" companies that the bill would apply to traditional energy producers (too often, "green energy" companies that claim to be "low emission" don't include the emissions created by their efforts to obtain compounds and construct solar panels and wind turbines in their calculations). I also put forward a second amendment that would require companies to disclose whether any of the materials or labor sourced in the construction of solar panels and wind turbines come from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China that we mentioned earlier in the newsletter. We know that between one-third and one-half of the polysilicon material used to make the world's solar panels comes from Xinjiang, and that "Xinjiang Goldwind" – one of China's largest wind turbine manufacturers – has deep links to the Chinese Communist Party. This amendment will help ensure that the American people know if so-called "clean energy" developers are exploiting "dirty" practices like slave labor – or are complicit in China's shocking human rights abuses. Both of my amendments were adopted by a voice vote.

Recent Legislation
Demanding answers on Postal Service spying
Recent news reports recently revealed that the United States Postal Service was not only delivering mail, but also acting as a de facto investigative agency, parsing through private social media posts of domestic and foreign citizens. Concerning news, to say the least, as their function should be to deliver the mail rather than spy on Americans. Interestingly, this surveillance started in December of 2020 – not during the summer riots – and allegedly tracked and collected information on Americans' social media posts, including those involving protests. The program, named Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) had not been made public until now, and purportedly searched for "inflammatory" postings to share with other law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Constitution protects citizens from unlawful government surveillance without a warrant. In light of this very troubling report, I joined several of my colleagues in requesting an immediate briefing from the Postmaster General. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've seen the federal government weaponize a federal agency in pursuit for what appears to be political or ideological reasons. Many Telegram readers no doubt remember how Lois Lerner and the IRS illegally targeted conservative groups during the Obama -Biden administration. I will continue to keep a close eye on this, to ensure that organs of government are not being deployed against Americans for partisan purposes.

District Update
16th Annual Sustainable Forestry Conference
Over one hundred timber professionals gathered in Florence County this week for the 16th annual Sustainable Forestry Conference. The forest products industry is a key economic driver in the northland. I enjoyed being able to speak at the Conference where I discussed the management of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, the closing of the biggest wood-consuming mill, the Wisconsin Rapids Mill, and the CN railroad. The ability to connect our products to the world by rail is critical for the growth of Northern Wisconsin.

WATCH: My recap of the 16th Annual Sustainable Forestry Conference

COVID-19 and Vaccine Update
This week Wisconsin continued to see a decline in positive cases reported with an average of 633 cases per day. On a national scale, positive case numbers are down an additional 26 percent. I would also like to note that after a number of concerning weeks with variant cases spreading throughout Michigan and Minnesota, both states are now seeing a downward trajectory of 48 percent and 19 percent respectively.

On the vaccine front, Wisconsin has distributed 4.4 million vaccine doses, 1.8 million being second doses. Currently 43.7 percent of Wisconsinites have received at least one dose. Additionally, this week the White House announced a new goal—to have at least 70 percent of adults in the U.S. receive their first dose by July 4th, putting us well within reach of herd immunity. As always, if you are interested in receiving a vaccine please utilize your local pharmacy participating in the federal pharmacy program or register for the statewide appointment system here: https://vaccinate.wi.gov/en-US/.

Resources
The USDA continues to make resources and assistance available to agricultural producers and working families to ensure access, safety and stability for food markets and supplies.

Small businesses can also apply for assistance through the Economic Injury and Disaster Loan program. This program provides economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue as a result of the pandemic.

If a friend forwarded you this newsletter, and you would like to receive it in the future, you can subscribe here for weekly updates and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

As always, you are welcome to visit my website or to contact my offices in Washington, DC or Wisconsin, which remain open for service, if you have any questions or need assistance.