Who to Contact to What During August Recess: Arizona’s Congressional Delegation
August recess offers Arizonans an important opportunity to meet members of Congress closer to home. Committee assignments help us understand which lawmakers are especially well positioned to influence federal decisions affecting hunger, housing, health care, immigration, public education, economic security and care for creation.
Every Arizona resident is represented by both U.S. senators and one House member. Constituents should begin with their own representative, but congregations and statewide organizations may also have reason to contact other delegation members whose committees closely intersect with their ministries or concerns.
Committee assignments below are current as of July 28, 2026.
Arizona’s U.S. Senators
Sen. Mark Kelly
Sen. Kelly serves on the Armed Services Committee, Environment and Public Works Committee, Joint Economic Committee, Select Committee on Intelligence and Special Committee on Aging. On Environment and Public Works, he is the ranking member of the Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Innovation and Safety Subcommittee and also serves on the Fisheries, Wildlife and Water and Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittees. View the Senate’s official committee assignments
These assignments make Kelly an especially important contact for:
Extreme heat, climate resilience and environmental justice.
Arizona’s water supply and drought response.
Infrastructure and disaster preparedness.
Economic security and the cost of living.
Medicare, Social Security, caregiving, senior hunger and protections for older adults.
The human consequences of military and national-security policy.
LAMA advocates could ask Kelly to support federal investments that help Arizona communities prepare for deadly heat, protect clean air and water, strengthen assistance for older adults and address hunger and economic insecurity.
Sen. Ruben Gallego
Sen. Gallego serves on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. His subcommittees include Housing, Transportation and Community Development; Water and Power; and Border Management, Federal Workforce and Regulatory Affairs. View the Senate’s official committee assignments
Gallego may have the broadest direct intersection with LAMA’s current priorities. Arizonans can contact him about:
Affordable housing, homelessness and protections for renters.
Community development and public transportation.
Water security, drought and energy policy.
Immigration enforcement, asylum, border management and the treatment of people in federal custody.
FEMA and the federal response to disasters and extreme heat.
Veterans’ housing, health care, employment and benefits.
Consumer protections for families with limited incomes.
Congregations serving immigrants, asylum seekers, unhoused neighbors or veterans have particularly strong reasons to share their experiences with Gallego’s office.
Arizona’s U.S. Representatives
District 1: Rep. David Schweikert
Rep. Schweikert serves on the Ways and Means Committee, including its Tax and Oversight subcommittees, and on the Joint Economic Committee. View his official assignments
Ways and Means has jurisdiction over taxes, Medicare, Social Security, portions of health policy and several programs affecting family economic security. Schweikert is therefore an important contact regarding:
Medicare and Social Security.
Affordable Care Act coverage and health-care affordability.
Tax policies affecting low- and middle-income households.
Poverty, wages and the broader cost of living.
The economic effects of reductions in public benefits.
District 2: Rep. Eli Crane
Rep. Crane serves on the Homeland Security Committee, including Border Security and Enforcement, and on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. View his official assignments
His committees place him close to federal decisions concerning:
Immigration and border enforcement.
Asylum access and treatment at ports of entry.
ICE and Customs and Border Protection operations.
Conditions in immigration detention.
Federal law-enforcement accountability.
Emergency preparedness and homeland-security programs.
Congregations in northern and eastern Arizona can share how immigration enforcement affects families, churches and local communities, and urge policies that preserve safety while respecting human dignity and access to asylum.
District 3: Rep. Yassamin Ansari
Rep. Ansari serves on the Natural Resources Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, including subcommittees addressing energy policy, federal law enforcement and government operations. View her official assignments
Her assignments intersect with:
Climate change, extreme heat and environmental justice.
Public lands, energy development and water.
Federal accountability and delivery of public services.
Immigration enforcement and federal law-enforcement oversight.
The effects of government policy on Phoenix neighborhoods and vulnerable populations.
Ansari is a natural contact for LAMA advocates working on heat mitigation, care for creation, immigration and federal accountability.
District 4: Rep. Greg Stanton
Rep. Stanton serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. His Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittees include Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. View his official assignments
Relevant issues include:
Public transportation and accessible infrastructure.
FEMA, disaster response and extreme-heat preparedness.
Community development and resilient public facilities.
Humanitarian assistance, migration and human rights in the Western Hemisphere.
International aid and the root causes that force people to migrate.
Stanton is especially well positioned to hear from East Valley congregations about transportation, heat resilience, emergency planning and humane regional responses to migration.
District 5: Rep. Andy Biggs
Rep. Biggs serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. His subcommittees include Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement; Crime and Federal Government Surveillance; and Federal Law Enforcement. View his official assignments
These assignments make him a significant contact on:
Immigration law and asylum.
ICE detention and deportation policy.
Due process and family unity.
Criminal justice and federal surveillance.
Accountability for federal law-enforcement agencies.
Even when a member’s position differs from LAMA’s, respectful constituent engagement matters. Advocates can share firsthand stories from affected families and explain why Lutheran teaching calls for humane treatment, due process and protection for people seeking safety.
District 6: Rep. Juan Ciscomani
Rep. Ciscomani serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, with assignments to the Homeland Security; National Security, Department of State and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittees. He also serves on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. View his official assignments
Ciscomani is one of the delegation’s most consequential contacts for LAMA because appropriators decide how much federal money programs actually receive. His assignments cover:
HUD housing and homelessness programs.
Public transportation and community development.
ICE, Customs and Border Protection and immigration detention funding.
Refugee assistance, diplomacy and international humanitarian aid.
Veterans’ housing, employment, health care and benefits.
Southern Arizona Lutherans can ask Ciscomani to protect affordable-housing investments, oppose funding for inhumane detention practices and support programs that address displacement and migration through humanitarian assistance.
District 7: Rep. Adelita Grijalva
Rep. Grijalva serves on the Education and Workforce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee, including subcommittees on early childhood and K-12 education, higher education and workforce development, and Indian and Insular Affairs. View her official assignments
Her assignments connect directly with:
Public schools and equitable educational opportunity.
School meals and child nutrition.
Early childhood education.
College affordability and workforce development.
Tribal sovereignty and federal responsibilities to Indigenous nations.
Public lands, mining, water and environmental justice.
Grijalva is an important contact for southern and western Arizona advocates concerned about public education, childhood hunger, Tribal communities and care for creation.
District 8: Rep. Abraham Hamadeh
Rep. Hamadeh serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, including the Veterans’ Health and Economic Opportunity subcommittees. View his official assignments
The strongest LAMA intersections are:
Veterans’ health and mental-health care.
Veteran homelessness and housing stability.
Employment, education and transition assistance.
Military spending and its relationship to other human needs.
The well-being of military families.
Congregations serving veterans can bring Hamadeh specific stories about gaps in health care, housing, food security and access to benefits.
District 9: Rep. Paul Gosar
Rep. Gosar serves on the Natural Resources Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. His subcommittees include Energy and Mineral Resources, Federal Law Enforcement, and Health Care and Financial Services. View his official assignments
His committee work intersects with:
Health-care access and affordability.
Federal law-enforcement accountability and immigration enforcement.
Public lands, mining, water and environmental protection.
Rural economic concerns and access to public services.
Consumer financial protection.
Western Arizona congregations can speak with Gosar about rural health care, water security, environmental stewardship and the effects of federal enforcement policies on communities.
Where Are the Best Connections?
For several leading LAMA concerns, these members have especially relevant assignments:
Affordable housing and homelessness: Gallego, Ciscomani and Stanton.
Immigration, asylum and detention: Gallego, Crane, Biggs, Ciscomani, Ansari and Gosar.
Health care, Medicare and Social Security: Schweikert, Kelly, Gosar, Hamadeh and Gallego.
Extreme heat, water and care for creation: Kelly, Gallego, Ansari, Grijalva, Gosar and Stanton.
Public education and child well-being: Grijalva.
Veterans’ needs: Gallego, Ciscomani and Hamadeh.
Economic security: Schweikert, Kelly and Gallego.
No Arizona member currently serves on the House or Senate Agriculture Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over SNAP and the Farm Bill. That does not make the delegation irrelevant: every member will ultimately vote on Farm Bill legislation and federal funding. Hunger advocates should therefore contact both senators and their own representative, while recognizing that Arizona does not presently have a delegation member helping write the bill from inside an agriculture committee.
Make August Recess Count
Committee assignments tell us where a member may have special influence, but constituents do not need to be policy experts to participate. A personal story from a food pantry, cooling center, school, shelter, congregation or immigrant family can show how federal decisions affect real Arizona neighbors.
During August recess, consider requesting a meeting, attending a town hall, inviting a member or staff person to visit your congregation or ministry, or sending a short message focused on one clear request.
Introduce yourself as a constituent and person of faith. Describe what you are seeing in your community. Connect it to the member’s committee responsibilities. Then ask what the member will do.
Faithful advocacy is not about party loyalty. It is about bringing the experiences of our neighbors into the public square and asking government to serve the well-being of all.