Morgan Griffith

Reports have circulated in recent months, mostly on questionable news outlets like Facebook etc., asserting that a Balanced Budget Amendment passed through Congress, namely H. J. Res. 2, requires money to be taken from the Social Security Trust Fund. Claiming that balancing the budget takes money away from Social Security or Medicare is crazy talk! I supported the Balanced Budget Amendment and I want to tell you about the facts of the Balanced Budget Amendment in an effort to address any misunde... Read more

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. – John Adams to his wife Abigail John Adams was certainly correct that Americans would long cel... Read more

Farm Bill Farming is essential to our way of life. Of course, we all rely on farmers to get food to our tables. Our economy also depends on agriculture, Virginia’s largest private industry and an important part of the Ninth District. We count on farmers, and farmers need stable, consistent policies from Washington. That’s why the farm bill recently passed by the House of Representatives is so important. I supported this year’s farm bill. It maintains programs vital to farmers and the rural commu... Read more

Opioids can affect people from any walk of life. As the House of Representatives considers legislation to fight the opioid epidemic, Democrats and Republicans in Washington are finding a lot of common ground. During two weeks in June, the House will devote itself largely to opioid legislation. This week, a bill I introduced called the Creating Opportunities that Necessitate New and Enhanced Connections That Improve Opioid Navigation Strategies (CONNECTIONS) Act passed the House. The bill’s lead ... Read more

On June 8, the House of Representatives passed the Energy and Water appropriations bill to fund the Department of Energy (DOE), among other programs. The United States is in the middle of an energy boom, and I believe the Energy and Water bill we passed will help keep us on the right path. Energy policy is integral to the economic and national security of our country, and future energy policy depends on the investments in research we make now. When it comes to the types of energy a national ener... Read more

Drug Prices, Gag Clauses, and Sunlight High prices for prescription drugs affect the pocketbooks of many residents of the Ninth District. Even with health insurance, people have trouble paying for their prescriptions. Many factors affect what a person pays when he or she fills a prescription. There isn’t a silver bullet that will take care of this problem, but I believe more transparency is essential to helping address it. As the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “Sunlight is... Read more

Death There’s a saying about not making the perfect the enemy of the good. I thought of that saying recently when I voted for the Senate’s version of “right to try” on May 22. Regular readers of this column know that I am a staunch supporter of the concept of “right to try,” which would allow patients facing life-threatening illnesses to access experimental treatments. Throughout my time in Congress, I have introduced bills to implement it at the federal level. Recently, vocal support from the T... Read more

“The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.” So began the order of John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, instituting the custom of Decoration Day. This occasion became what we know as Memorial Day, now observed on the final Mond... Read more

Improving Care for Veterans One of our highest obligations as a nation is “to care for him who shall have borne the battle,” as Abraham Lincoln eloquently stated in his Second Inaugural Address. The men and women who wear the uniform of the United States military put their lives on the line for our freedoms, and many come home with wounds both seen and unseen. Over the past few years, too many stories have emerged of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) failing the brave people it is meant to... Read more

A saying often attributed to the late Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL) goes, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.” It’s a warning about how easily government spending can spiral out of control. But through a special procedure called rescission, Congress may soon make targeted cuts here or there that, while modest, amount to real savings. On May 8, President Trump submitted to Congress a rescission package proposing $15.4 billion in targeted cuts to enacted s... Read more