In case you missed it, Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) held a telephone town hall earlier this week to answer questions from residents across Georgia’s 12th District. Nearly 8,000 constituents joined Tuesday’s call where Congressman Allen provided updates on the southern border and fentanyl crises, President Biden’s student loan bailout, legislation Rep. Allen introduced to expand access to mental health services for students, and House action to protect your gas stoves.
For those unable to participate in the call, here are some of the highlights:
Harry from Waynesboro asked about the southern border crisis:
Congressman Allen: "...we’ve had 5.2 million illegal crossings of our southern border. More than 1.5 million illegal immigrants have evaded apprehension meaning we don’t know who they are and where they come from, if they’ve ever committed a crime, and it's a national security issue. CBP has seized 17,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across our southwest border. What we have is human trafficking and drug trafficking committed by cartels from Mexico at our southern border and it is the President’s responsibility as Commander-in-Chief to stop it. Our legislation [H.R. 2] committed to building a wall, fully securing the border, and dealing with it."
Patsy from Grovetown asked about rising costs:
Congressman Allen: "The first thing this administration did, they went through and [reinstated] all the regulations that we stripped through the Congressional Review Act in 2017 to free up the economy and reduce the cost of goods sold...All of a sudden, you saw all of these additional input costs added to the cost of a business and they had no choice but to pass that cost to their customers. The second thing he did was the war on fossil fuels, and he cut production...you have to understand energy and fossil fuels, it’s in everything, it’s how we produce everything, it’s in our supply chain and it’s in the very clothes you wear...On top of that, what this administration did is spent about [nearly] 5 trillion dollars. The problem is when you increase money supply, what does that do? That dilutes the dollar."
Marshall from Hepzibah asked about the direction of education in America:
Congressman Allen: "Our commitment to America, and why I believe we won the majority, was because of... what we’ve promised and what we’ve passed for the American people—the Parent's Bill of Rights. This legislation states that parents deserve a say in their children’s education. Washington Democrats are going to radically reshape our education system and deny parents a voice. H.R. 5, a Parent’s Bill of Rights, would ensure that parents have a right to know what their children are being taught, the right to be heard, the right to see the school budget and how they spend their money....I proudly co-introduced this legislation and voted to pass it out of the Education and Workforce Committee. I’m happy to say that the Parent's Bill of Rights was also recently passed in the House of Representatives with my support. Parents in this country should be able to trust that their children are receiving a well-rounded education and not some one-sided indoctrination led by the teachers’ unions."
Tarvey from Augusta asked about the transition to solar and electric energy:
Congressman Allen: "The way I view this is it should be market driven, not crammed down our throats and that’s what we’re seeing. When it's market driven, you’ve got competition, and competition’s going to bring down prices."
Teresa from Mount Vernon asked about China producing fentanyl and it flowing into the country:
Congressman Allen: "This administration is allowing [drugs] to pour through our border. Why are the American people putting up with this? It should be criminal. This stuff is pouring across our border and killing hundreds of thousands of people...As a promise to the American people, under our Commitment to America, we formed a [China Select Committee]. They are investigating Covid, they are investigating the origins of Covid, they are investigating fentanyl, trade policy, everything."
Peter from Columbia County asked about Congressman Allen's vote for the Fiscal Responsibility Act:
Congressman Allen: "This is the largest decrease in government spending in any Congress ever, $1.5 trillion over ten years. The other thing that’s very important in this bill, and very important as far as our Speaker is concerned, is something I’ve been trying to accomplish since I came to Congress. It’s what we call regular order...we’re going to go through the House with the appropriations process...If the Senate and the House do not accomplish that by January 1st of next year, there will then be a continuing resolution...to fund the government with a 1% cut across the board...Those were huge victories, but did we get everything we wanted? No."
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