I was excited to vote for my friend from Louisiana, Congressman Mike Johnson, to serve as the 56th Speaker of the House. Speaker Johnson and I have a lot in common, including our shared faith and our strong conservative values.

Before being elected to Congress, he was a constitutional lawyer who worked to defend religious liberty, biblical values, and the right to life. He's a previous chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress (which I joined after taking office in January).

In his first address as Speaker, he spoke of the many challenges we face moving forward, like rebuilding and restoring the public's trust in our institution, standing strong with our ally Israel, and ensuring we fund the government past our November deadline.

It's not going to be easy, but under Speaker Johnson's leadership, we're not going to let anyone slow us down. We got right to work, passing our first resolution just hours after he was sworn in as Speaker and passing another appropriations bill through regular order just one day later.

After weeks of chaos and inaction, I'm excited to get back to delivering results for the American people.

As soon as Speaker Johnson took the oath of office, House Republicans moved quickly to put a bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas's war against Israel.

I was proud to cosponsor this resolution, which also expressed our support for Israel's right to self-defense and condemned Iran's sponsorship of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

While I was glad to see the resolution pass with a strong majority, I'm angered that some in Congress refuse to condemn Hamas. These Members are part of a disturbing trend of American progressives embracing antisemitism.

On college campuses and in social media echo chambers (particularly CCP-controlled TikTok), students have fallen for Hamas propaganda under the guise of "anti-colonialism."

Make no mistake: when these radicals chant "Long live the Intifada" or "From the river to the sea," they're not protesting colonialism. They're echoing Hamas's disgusting calls for the destruction of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people.

The anti-Israel brainwashing doesn't disappear when students leave campus. That's why, for example, many in the White House Press Corps were shocked to hear Biden NSC spokesman John Kirby (correctly) point out that Hamas was not an accurate source for information on the war.

It's a horrendous loop: young people fall for anti-Israel propaganda and then grow up to be reporters, academics, and politicians who spread the same lies.

As your Congressman, I won't be fooled and I won't be intimidated. I'll always stand with Israel, and I'll do everything in my power to fight against hatred and antisemitism.

As always, it's an honor to serve you and all of South Mississippi as your United States Congressman.

If you have questions about pending legislation or need help with a federal agency, please visit my website or contact one of the offices below.

Sincerely,