The House as a Footstool? The President refused to negotiate with any Republican in either the House or the Senate to work out a potential solution to the partial government shutdown until Thursday, October 10, which was the tenth day of the partial shutdown. House discussions with the Obama White House collapsed the next day, however, and Senate leaders took up negotiations over the weekend of O... Read more »
Winning? Really?! The Wall Street Journal recently quoted a senior White House official on the partial government shutdown as saying: “We are winning... It doesn't really matter to us how long the shutdown lasts because what matters is the end result.” Really?! Nobody’s winning. It’s this kind of talk that makes me extremely frustrated. This is not a game. Everyone is losing to some extent. Govern... Read more »
Ongoing Funding Negotiations Congress is embroiled in a fight over the spending of your tax dollars. As I write this, agreement has not yet been reached. At this time, I think it is important to quickly review the role of Congress as envisioned at this country’s founding. The Constitution formed a republic based on democratic principles, with the Republic including a system of checks and balances... Read more »
Defunding Obamacare and Controlling Spending With my support, on Friday, September 20, the House passed legislation known as a continuing resolution that prevents a government shutdown AND also prevents money from being spent by the federal government on the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). PPACA is also known as Obamacare. It is my belief that the Senate ought to publ... Read more »
Government Spying – An Update In early July, I joined with Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI) and fourteen other Members of Congress in filing an amicus (friend of the court) brief in support of a motion to disclose Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) secret opinions interpreting Section 215 of the Patriot Act. I am pleased to report that the FISA court recently ordered that the Just... Read more »
Syria – A Vote of Conscience I have been hearing from people throughout the Ninth District of Virginia about President Obama’s request that Congress authorize military action in Syria. This is a grave and serious issue, and I am grateful for every opinion I have received. More than 1,200 people have contacted my offices to formally express their views on this matter. Also, I have personally spoken... Read more »
Conflict in Syria The civil war in Syria is a tragic situation. This ongoing conflict has now affected the entire region and beyond. Countless numbers of people have left Syria for refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey and over a hundred thousand have been killed. Now there are reports that say the Assad regime employed chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons is unconscionable. In response, th... Read more »
Serving You I came to Congress to represent the Ninth District’s beliefs, values, and interests in our nation’s capital, an honor that I do not take lightly. Being your Congressman requires me to travel to Washington, D.C. and other places for legislative purposes, but no matter where I might be, serving you remains one of my top priorities. The role of my office is to serve as a liaison between ... Read more »
NSA Privacy Violations The Washington Post recently published an article that detailed an internal audit indicating that the National Security Agency (NSA) breaks privacy rules “thousands of times per year.” This May 2012 audit finds 2,776 “incidents” – instances in which rules or court orders regarding domestic surveillance were violated – from April 2011 through March 2012. Intelligence official... Read more »
Meeting with Local Officials I recently had the opportunity to visit with local officials from each community in the Ninth District of Virginia, thanking them for their service and discussing their successes, issues they face, and expectations for the future. Local officials from each of the Ninth District’s 29 jurisdictions were invited to these meetings, which we scheduled over a five day perio... Read more »
