E-Newsletter

As promised before the election, President Donald Trump committed to prioritizing the best interests of the United States by securing our homeland and combatting outside threats to our national security. We have already seen important progress just months into Trump’s second term. After a visit to Panama by Secretary of State Marco Rubio over concerns that Communist China exercised… Read more »

On March 18, astronauts sent to space by NASA and its historical aerospace partners could not be brought home by that same team.  SpaceX came to the rescue! Why did this happen? It happened because Elon Musk recognizes the status quo will not work. He founded SpaceX to do a mission largely abandoned by NASA, and that is to get man to Mars.  To paraphrase Gene… Read more »

As the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, part of my responsibility is to oversee the Brownfields Program. This is mostly a bipartisan effort, but it is specifically helpful to the Ninth District. A brownfield site is a piece of property where the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of the site may be complicated by the presence or potential… Read more »

On March 4, I witnessed President Trump deliver his Joint Address to Congress. This was his first speech at the U.S. Capitol since his inauguration. In that inaugural speech, Trump proclaimed the Golden Age of America begins right now. During his Joint Address, he struck a similar tune. The Golden Age of America consists of numerous Administration policies and goals, some of which are… Read more »

March 4 is a date that may not mean much to you, or any American. But 100 years ago, it was a significant day. March 4 used to be the official day for presidential inaugurations. President-elects such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt were sworn into office on March 4. The fourth member of Mount Rushmore, General George Washington, did not celebrate his 1789… Read more »

As I have discussed in a previous column, my Congressional calendar is going to be filled with new assignments. I still serve on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, but I was recently appointed as chair of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment. The Trump Administration will be pursuing a number of environmental reforms to unleash American energy dominance and lower the… Read more »

The fast-paced work of President Trump is headlined by a series of his Executive Orders. One of his Orders coincided with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an annual observance dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of female athletes. President Trump hosted an event at the White House to mark the occasion. Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports was issued by President Trump to… Read more »

The tariff issue is complicated and not easily explained in a soundbite. Tariffs are a tool that can be used to reorganize trade deals and remedy unfair dumping of semi-finished and manufactured goods that harm American industry and jobs. The American lumber and wood products industry is where unfair trade practices in Canada have led to hardship. American producers complain that they… Read more »

The 119th Congress shapes up to be a busy Congress, particularly for me. The increase in activity is both because of the bold initiatives Republicans hope to pass and additional committee assignments that I have been given. In the last term, I was selected for the first time to serve on the House Committee on Administration. The Committee has jurisdiction over most of the activities… Read more »

U.S. foreign policy is bound for a transformation under President Trump. After his election in November, many world leaders have established lines of communication with Trump. Some even visited Mar-a-Lago with the then President-elect. One issue gaining interest concerns the Panama Canal, which has operated since its opening in 1914. France was an original sponsor in constructing a… Read more »