Rick Allen

Congressman Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12) held a telephone town hall on Monday to answer questions from citizens who live in the 12^th district of Georgia. Congressman Allen released the following statement today:

“On Monday, I was able to connect with thousands of people from across the 12^th district of Georgia on a telephone town hall. It was a pleasure to be able to give them an update on my work in Washington and to hear their questions. I was also able to ask poll questions to get a pulse of the district, and a snapshot of how people in the 12^th district feel about important issues facing the nation. The feedback from this group of constituents is extremely helpful to me and my staff in order to better serve everyone in Georgia-12. Thank you to everyone who participated!”

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

Betty from Girard asked if there is anything else Congressman Allen can do to support the President’s agenda:

Congressman Allen: “I was interviewed by the Atlanta Journal Constitution just a week ago and the first question was, ‘according to the legislation you have supported the president’s agenda 100% of the time’ and I said ‘yes ma’am that is correct.’ I said ‘we, the House, met a year ago, we developed the better way agenda, the president ran on it,we all ran on it, and that’s what the House has-been doing.’

“I feel good about our progress, unfortunately there’s so much noise it seems to keep quiet what we’re doing, but we’ve got our heads down, we are working.” 

Jeanne from Augusta asked if the government can redirect more funds to technical colleges and career education:

Rep. Allen: “I’m on Education and Workforce Committee and we [the House] have just authorized this career and technical education $1 billion program for 2018 and it passed… what was great it passed with bi partisan support, and the other thing that we added in this program that I’m excited about is accountability. In other words, too many times the federal government gets involved in these programs and they just fund them and try and get them and try and make them successful. …Two things were doing: we’re giving a lot of leeway to folks across not only Georgia but across the country… the other thing is we want to be accountable to our taxpayers, and we want to know how these students are doing, and then that we’re actually getting these jobs filled that need to be filled. But yes that has just been authorized and should become law hopefully in not too distant future.”

Robert from Vidalia asked if there will be future social security increases:

Rep. Allen: “There is a great future for raises in Social Security; it’s called a robust economy. Social security is indexed to the economy and cost of living. We are seeing great signs in this economy. I talk to business people often.  I was on the phone all day Friday, calling one particular county to see how things are. And I tell you, there is a lot of optimism about the economy. If the economy grows you are going to create some inflation, which some inflation is good. As you have inflation and the cost index increases, then social security is tied directly to that. I see a robust economy in our future if the opposition party gets out of the way and allows the Trump agenda to move forward.”

Gloria from Augusta asked about raising the minimum wage:

Rep. Allen: “I’ll tell you from a business standpoint. Each one of our folks in our company, those who start in our industry all make above minimum wage… Frankly what we’ve seen is if you raise the minimum wage, you actually decrease employment. Because folks have got to start somewhere, and a lot of these businesses cannot pay folks who are starting at the $15-$20 mark.

“We’ve got six and half million jobs open now. I talked to a gentleman in the trucking industry just yesterday down in Douglas Ga. And he is paying his truck drivers between $20-$25 an hour. He has a dozen jobs open right now. So it looks like to me that business is going to drive this.”

Ed from Statesboro asked about defunding Planned Parenthood:

Rep. Allen: “Our healthcare bill provides for the defunding for one year of Planned Parenthood, and of course you say that’s just one year, but the importance is, if we can do without it that one year, then hopefully we can end it. Planned Parenthood is the biggest abortion provider in the United States. Obviously we have protections that do not allow taxpayer-funded abortions, but at the same time, how can we fund someone who is in that business?

“You know we have community health centers-- that is the solution. We are seeing those spring up. In fact it really helps contain healthcare costs…. Frankly we are hoping that they put Planned Parenthood out of business, and we won’t have to deal with them.”

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, please sign up for his weekly e-newsletter here.

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