Update: Since this column was first issued, both H.R. 3994, the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access, and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand (ACCESS BROADBAND) Act, and H.R. 4881, the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act, passed the House of Representatives.
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For Americans from all parts of the country to… Read more »
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, has great credentials. He is a strong pick to join the Court, and I hope the Senate acts on his nomination promptly.
But Judge Kavanaugh’s resume, while glowing, highlights an unfortunate fact about the Supreme Court. Of the nine current justices, all attended law school… Read more »
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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… Read more »
