E-Newsletter

Energy and Commerce Update        As you know, I serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Many major domestic policy issues fall under its jurisdiction, from energy to telecommunications to manufacturing to healthcare and health insurance. This means that the committee always has a lot on its plate. I am pleased to report that it’s been hard at work… Read more »

Filibuster Frustration I have written often in this column about the modern filibuster/cloture rule. Unlike the classic filibuster, in which a senator might take to the floor for hours to speak on an issue, the modern rule allows a senator to put a secret hold on a bill without having to go to the floor to explain his or her objections. And under the rules, the motion to proceed to… Read more »

So Now What? The United States Senate is letting down the American people by failing to advance any solution for the disaster that is Obamacare. It has rejected its own repeal and replace plan, it has rejected the 2015 repeal, and in the latest failure, it rejected the “skinny repeal” plan What was the skinny repeal plan? It was a plan to repeal Obamacare’s employer and individual… Read more »

The Trouble With the CBO If you have been watching the news coming from Washington in recent months, you will likely have heard mentioned again and again “the CBO score.” The release of the CBO score on a federal legislative proposal is treated as a marquee event. When a score is released, it is treated by the media as the definitive cost assessment of a proposal’s impact. Because the… Read more »

A Better Deal for the American People On July 11, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced that it had called off procurement for a new headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI has been looking for a new facility to replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC. If you are looking for a project that highlighted Federal Government… Read more »

Strengthening NATO Before attending the G20 summit with the leaders of the world’s largest economies in Hamburg, Germany, President Trump visited Poland. When he gave a speech in Warsaw, an estimated 15,000 people, many waving American flags, came to listen. This crowd reacted enthusiastically to the speech. I am not surprised that so many Poles turned out with such excitement for a… Read more »

Independence and Southwest Virginia On July 4, we celebrate Independence Day, the anniversary of when 56 men pledged “[their] Lives, [their] Fortunes and [their] sacred Honor” by adopting the Declaration of Independence. We honor them on Independence Day, but in Southwest Virginia, their legacies can be found every day. One can simply look at a map to find them.* Two of the counties… Read more »

A Win for Religious Freedom On June 26, the Supreme Court ruled in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources that religious institutions cannot be prevented from receiving funds solely because they are a religious organization.  The case originated in Missouri, where a church applied for funding from the state to replace a… Read more »

Shooting in Washington On Wednesday, June 14, a horrifying attack took place. At an early morning baseball practice, a man approached the field, confirmed it was the Congressional Republican baseball team practice, and started shooting at the players. The players were preparing for the Congressional Baseball Game, a bipartisan tradition beginning in 1909, Republicans versus… Read more »

Could it Be? Bloomberg, Former Sierra Club Director, and Griffith Agree? The former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club, Carl Pope, and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, have a new book out, Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet First. In their promotional materials it says, “In the years ahead, cities, businesses,… Read more »