Higher Energy Prices and You
As reported by the New York Times’ Clifford Krauss, “Natural gas prices spiked by nearly 10 percent on Friday to levels not seen since 2010 as another wave of freezing weather brought surges of heating and electricity demand.” Natural gas now tops $5, the highest it has been in three and a half years, which CNBC reports “… has led to concerns about… Read more »
2013 In Review and 2014 Congressional Issues Survey
It is my privilege to represent and serve you in the House of Representatives, particularly at this critical time. I have traveled thousands of miles throughout Southwest Virginia, Southside Virginia, and the Alleghany Highlands in the last year, attending various meetings or events and speaking with many different people about… Read more »
The ADAPT Act, Fire Hydrants, and the NSA
The ADAPT Act
Regular readers of this column are aware of my ongoing efforts to improve the quality and safety of our health care system and increase patient choice and control. We have numerous bills that have been introduced, and that the various committees are working on. Among those committees that are working on improvements… Read more »
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… 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… 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… Read more »
Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement regarding newly declassified documents that pertain to the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program on American citizens:
“It is clear to me that Congress should stop this NSA spying program. On July 24, I voted in favor of the Amash-Conyers amendment to rein in the NSA spying program, and I believe it is… Read more »
Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) today issued the following statement in response to the newly-declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) opinions:
“I am pleased that the Administration is finally releasing several of the FISA Court rulings which show some of their reasoning in allowing the NSA surveillance programs to seize our phone records, etc. … 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… 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… Read more »
