Press Releases

Congressman Rick W. Allen (R-Ga-12) held a telephone town hall last night to answer questions from residents of Georgia's 12th District. Congressman Allen gave an update on some of the accomplishments signed into law during the 115^th Congress under the Republican-led House and Senate, President Trump’s State of the Union, his committee assignments for the 116^th Congress, as well as some of the harmful Democratic priorities under the new majority in the House of Representatives.

For those who were unable to participate in the call, here are some of the highlights:

Linda from Claxton commented on the need for rural broadband and praised the 2018 Farm Bill being signed into law in December:

Congressman Allen: “Well Linda we are working on broadband across the entire 12th district and it’s critical to the future of our economic development. Rural America has a great opportunity, as we build that infrastructure, to really compete with the larger cities. We are really excited about [the Farm Bill being signed into law]; it is a long time coming. Thank you so much.”

Mike from Waynesboro asked about pro-life legislation:

Congressman Allen: “We went to a prayer breakfast this morning and the President …talked about the sanctity of life, and 90% of the folks in the room applauded and celebrated that. And he talked about the horrible celebration of death in New York and Virginia. I don’t understand the Democrats' position on this...169 of my colleagues [and I] sent a letter to the President asking him to pledge to support pro-life policies, and I know he sent a letter to the Speaker basically saying that if you send me any legislation that changes any of our pro-life polices, I will veto it.”

Angelia from Garfield asked about electronic logging devices in the trucking industry:

Congressman Allen: “The answer to that question is yes, I have supported legislation [to stop these regulations] …One of the biggest problems is when you’re hauling livestock… it needs flexibility…Thanks for sharing this with us and we will continue to try to find a solution to this, but it is presenting major problems to our trucking industry and moving our goods and services around this country.”

Patty from Hazlehurst asked about the rising cost of prescription drugs:

Congressman Allen: “Yes, the President actually addressed that the other night – America is home to the greatest medical innovation in the world. What that means is that we are subsidizing the drug costs for the rest of the world, which is why the President said this stuff has got to stop. And he basically said that we should not be paying any more than other nations that are purchasing these drugs, in fact all of the drugs, pretty much, are developed here…. So the President and the [house] Energy and Commerce Committee are addressing this, they are having hearings on it, and this is going to be a bipartisan issue. So, I feel very optimistic there will be very good progress on this in the 116th congress.”

James from Hephzibah asked about the cyber opportunities in the Augusta area:

Congressman Allen: “I was out at the [Cyber Academy of Excellence at the Richmond County Technical Career] Magnet School, in Richmond County…There are 160 young people in that program and twelve of them already have jobs… these young people are in high school! I didn’t have a job when I graduated from high school. Another thing we have done is we have secured almost $375 million in military construction projects there at Fort Gordon alone…We are ramping up very quickly, obviously you are seeing a lot of infrastructure improvements around the area. But these things take time and, yes sir, we are working on all fronts, and again the potential is unlimited, and thank you for your support.”

If you would like to sign up for the next telephone town hall, please sign up here. If you would like to learn more about the work Congressman Allen is doing in Washington and for the 12th District, please sign up for his weekly e-newsletter here.

###