Press Releases

Congressman Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12) held a telephone town hall Tuesday night to answer questions from residents of Georgia's 12th District. Congressman Allen gave an update on our booming economy, disaster relief for farmers in Georgia's 12th district, his work on the House Education and Labor Committee, actions taken to address opioid addiction and lower the costs of prescription drugs, as well as the mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Israel.

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

Bart from Glennville asked about our dire workforce needs.

Congressman Allen: “Let me tell you, anywhere I go in the district, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, we have positions available. Whether it be truck drivers, whether it be welders, carpenters, you name it. There are more jobs available today than there are people looking for jobs. As a former business owner, I know first-hand the challenge of finding a skilled work force. This is why I am proud to have worked on legislation...called the Carl D. Perkins [strengthening] Career and Technical Education for the [21^st Century] Act. It provides federal support to state and local career and technical education programs.

 “This bipartisan legislation will improve current CTE policies to help more Americans gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the workforce….We want to get the business community involved. In fact, the first thing that I discovered when I got elected to Congress, and served on the Education and Labor Committee, is that we have a huge disconnect between the business community – and the jobs available out there – and the education community. So, we are putting those together, and this legislation does that.”

Barbara Anne from Augusta asked about the growing student loan debt in our country.

Congressman Allen: “When I got to Washington and realized the amount of total student loan debt, which is over 1.5 trillion dollars, I started asking questions about how we got in this position. So, I was honored to work on the PROSPER Act to reform our higher education system. Unfortunately, the PROSPER Act was not considered on the House floor in the last Congress. I look forward to working with my colleagues on higher education to fix this problem in this Congress.

“Just to give you an idea, the PROSPER Act [stands for] Promoting Real Opportunity Success and Prosperity through Education Reform Act. It did pass the House Education [and Labor] Committee by a vote of 23-17. It promoted innovation and access for completion; it simplified and improved student aid, which is what we talked about as far as student loans and ensuring strong accountability were concerned… But right now we need to get this PROSPER Act passed so at least young people will know – if you borrow the money, you have to pay it back.”

Craig from Augusta asked about the taxpayer money spent during the two-year Mueller investigation.

Congressman Allen: “Attorney General Barr has established a special prosecutor that is going to undertake the reason that we had an investigation and spent that money in the first place… The other thing that we are seeing is Senator Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, is going to be conducting various hearings to try to get to the bottom of [this]. Why did we have this investigation, and what would have prevented it? [We must] bring to justice those that have caused it, because, frankly, this shouldn’t happen in America…We never want to see this in [our] country again.”

Horace from Augusta asked for my thoughts on H.R. 5, the “Equality Act,” coming up for a vote this week.

Congressman Allen: “I am proudly voting no, and I agree one hundred percent with what you just said. It’s shameful that we are even debating something like this on the House floor. It directly contradicts our First Amendment rights, number one. It erases a lot of provisions and protections that we put in the law, like the Hyde Amendment.

 “Certainly, you know, we already have laws on the books that deal with any type of discrimination. I’m hoping that we can have some type of spiritual awakening in this country…I can’t impose those values on other people, but I would hope that their eyes would be open to knowing and doing what is right and what is wrong.”

Gaylon from Evans asked about the monumental costs associated with the radical, socialist proposals that the Democrats are pushing this Congress.

Congressman Allen: “Socialism has not worked. It is nothing more than a power grab. The only reason that any politician would push any socialism would be to have complete control over you and your resources. [Those are] not the principles on which this country was founded, and I promise you that I will do everything in my power to stop it. The latest Democratic social agenda is the Green New Deal, and we know that that will cost $93 trillion over 10 years. We know that Medicare for All will cost $32 trillion over 10 years. The more control the government has, the less freedom the people have. That is the reason we’re on the call tonight – to get that message out.”

Sylvia from Sylvania asked about actions being taken to stop illegal immigration.

Congressman Allen: “In the last Congress, we fell short about 18 votes of passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill. We got no help from the other side of the aisle, zero, and this is a bill that the President would have signed into law. It would have solved all of our problems with our labor as far as agriculture. It would have solved the DACA problem. It would give us a merit-based system. It would have solved a lot of our labor shortages. It was one of the best pieces of legislation that I’ve ever seen, and it died. We’ve got to secure that southern border! The President said, and I agree with him, that immigration reform is priority one.”

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.

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