Anti-Semitism Has No Place in America I have been discouraged by an increase in anti-Semitism during recent months. The most horrifying example was the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, but anti-Semitic rhetoric has also become more commonplace in public life. Often, this hate is directed at our close ally, Israel. Treating a steadfast friend and the only democracy in the Middle East with such vitriol is disgusting. I strongly believe Israel has a right to exist,...
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The “Green New Deal” should have Americans seeing red. The so-called Green New Deal, a resolution introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), is not a science-based plan but an ideological scheme to remake our country masquerading as environmental policy. Its backers frequently compare it to the effort to win World War II. That effort mobilized American society to destroy the fascist regimes of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan; this effort would mobi...
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Did Your Power Stay On During the Cold Spell? Thank Coal Extreme cold temperatures at the end of January imposed hardships on many in Virginia as well as other parts of the country, closing schools and interrupting travel plans, among other difficulties. Some areas in the Midwest experienced record low temperatures well under zero degrees Fahrenheit. Such periods of extreme cold can strain the electrical grid. The supply of natural gas is squeezed by production issues that arise due to the tempe...
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Fiscal Restraint While the Federal Government needs to spend on some things, it ought to be frugal with your hard-earned tax dollars. It was nice to be recognized in a recent Blaze TV story and Washington Examiner article as one of the few Members of Congress whose votes in the 115th Congress (2017-18) would have resulted in a net spending cut. This data came from the Coalition to Reduce Spending, which tracks bills affecting spending in Congress. The Border Crisis is an Environmental Crisis, To...
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Partial Government Shutdown I have heard questions from constituents regarding the operations of the Federal Government that will continue operating during the partial government shutdown. While some departments remain unfunded, some were covered by appropriations bills that have been signed into law. For example, the Department of Defense has been funded, meaning servicemen and -women in the Armed Forces will continue to receive their paychecks. Similarly, President Trump signed into law spendi...
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” John Adams made this observation almost 250 years ago. I recalled his words when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in arguing against more funding for security at the southern border, claimed that President Trump was “manufacturing a crisis.” The facts on the border establish that a crisis exists. According to Department of Homeland Security...
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Rules are important. This is a foundational principle in a republic based on democratic principles. The first vote I cast in the Virginia House of Delegates was against a rules package. I voted no because it did not contain proportional representation for political parties in committee membership, something I believed necessary for good representation. A later assembly adopted my amendments to correct this problem. They remain part of the rules that govern the House of Delegates. As this Congres...
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The year 1619 does not loom as large in American memory as some others from our colonial experience. When thinking of those early times of English settlement in North America, 1607, the year Jamestown was founded, and 1620, when the Pilgrims landed in what is now Massachusetts, are more likely to come to mind. Yet the events of 1619 had a profound impact. They are worth remembering as we enter 2019 and mark the passage of 400 years. One of them was a great stain: the beginning of slavery in Engl...
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Christmas brings with it many traditions and memories. Whether a family gathering, an annual party, a song, a food, or something else, almost everyone has something they look forward to savoring at this time of year. I recall from my childhood the delight my sister Betsy and I took for years in a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer decoration my mother made for her classroom and brought home from the school where she taught. It was a profile cutout with the body covered in white cotton balls and a re...
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C. Bascom Slemp President Trump recently named Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as his acting Chief of Staff. Having worked with Mick when he represented South Carolina in the House of Representatives, I think the President has made a good choice. Earlier in the search process, attention focused on a current colleague of mine and another Freedom Caucus member, Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC). At a Freedom Caucus meeting, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) observed that if Meadows was ...
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