Sharing Their Stories 

Last week, I introduced the American Border Story Memorial Act, joined by “Angel families,” who have lost loved ones to the ravages created by former President Joe Biden's broken border and the cartels’ deadly drug trade.

I am proud to say that cosponsors of the bill include Congressmen August Pfluger (R-TX-11), Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5), Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23), Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22), Pete Sessions (R-TX-17), Brian Babin (R-TX-36), Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23), Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2), and Brandon Gill (R-TX-26).

This legislation would establish a permanent memorial in Washington, D.C. to honor the victims of the open border and illegal immigration. No taxpayer dollars will be used to build the memorial wall. The memorial complies fully with the Commemorative Works Act and will be established by The American Border Story, a nonprofit organization. 

I believe that while these families are often featured in discussions advocating stricter immigration enforcement and border security, their personal loss should be memorialized, and the wall will also serve as a reminder of the costs of bad policy.

I thanked President Trump for taking swift action to secure our borders immediately upon taking office, proving that it could be done despite Democrats’, former Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas’, and President Biden’s claims that a more secure border was not possible.

Angel family members in attendance included Mary Ann Mendoza; mother of Sgt. Brandon Mendoza, Agnes Judit Gibboney; mother of Ronald Da Silva, Joe Abraham; father of Katie Abraham, Anne Fundner; mother of Weston Fundner, Jane Gray; mother of Nicole Gray, Wanda Dequardo; mother of Christian Knight, and Anatoly Varfolomeev; father of Anya Varfolomeev. 

I am grateful to the families for sharing their stories of loss and what this bill means to them during the holiday season. 

ICYMI - Hamadeh Demands Investigation Into CNN-Kalshi Partnership

U.S. Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) has sent a sharply worded letter to the Acting Chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Caroline D. Pham, demanding immediate answers and potential regulatory action regarding the newly announced partnership between prediction-market platform Kalshi and CNN.

In the letter, Congressman Hamadeh warns that the collaboration “poses direct and foreseeable threats to market integrity, democratic stability, and American national security,” arguing that it creates an unprecedented structural conflict of interest by allowing a major news organization to both report on and financially benefit from high-stakes geopolitical events.

“CNN would be uniquely positioned to shape public perception and news cycles around the very events Kalshi lists as tradable markets,” said Congressman Hamadeh. “These events would involve elections, war, foreign policy crises, and domestic instability. No other major media outlet has attempted such a partnership, and for good reason: it creates a built-in structural conflict of interest that allows an influential news organization or foreign adversaries to shape outcomes for financial or competitive advantage.”

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