WASHINGTON – Congressman Rick W. Allen (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 the crisis at our southern border, restoring election integrity, upholding the Second Amendment, and more. For those who were unable to participate in the call, here are some of the highlights: 

Rebecca from Hazlehurst asked about legislation affecting the Second Amendment.

Congressman Allen: “…These laws do nothing to prevent criminals from committing crimes… the most restrictive areas of the country that have the most restrictive gun laws are where the most crimes are committed, and every day citizens have a difficult time protecting themselves... The statistics bear that out. Thank you for your question and believe that I am fighting every minute to preserve this Constitution, particularly our First and Second Amendment rights.”

Colden from Martinez asked about securing the southern border and building the wall.

Congressman Allen: “…It is a total crisis, it is chaos, it is going to cost taxpayers a fortune to stop [border wall] construction. Once you have signed contracts... you can’t just stop construction because there are severe penalties for doing that. It amazes me how these intellectuals in Washington D.C seem to know more than the people on the front lines. When you ask the border patrol if we need a wall they say absolutely. I mean they are ignoring the very people that are trying to secure our borders.

“Obviously this is a major industry -- these cartels are making millions of dollars on human trafficking and they are advising people that as soon as you set foot in this country, even though you are breaking the law.. you still have rights. Then you appear in court, and of course we know that the Biden administration [policy] is catch and release; these people are released in the country and we never hear from them again. It is tragic, these people are put through a very dangerous journey. And what they are doing to these children, I can’t imagine. I mean this is why the President and the Vice President have not been to the border. They don’t want to go down there and actually see with their own eyes what is going on.”

Joseph from Appling asked about ending MLB’s antitrust exemption.

Congressman Allen: “I have joined my good friend, Representative Jeff Duncan, and we have introduced a bill to eliminate Major League Baseball’s anti-trust exemptions.”

Justin from Clyo asked how we can hold China accountable for their role in withholding information about COVID-19.

Congressman Allen: “China needs to be held accountable -- if I have anything to do with it they will… House Republicans did produce a China Task Force, and no Democrats served on this. They produced 40 recommendations – because we are not in the majority the Democrats are blocking…recommendation[s] on how to deal with this.”

Glenn from Reidsville asked about expanding access to rural broadband.

Congressman Allen: “Well we just happened to have a hearing in the Agriculture Committee on broadband… Bottom line is we know what works and I believe that every American should have the ability to get the speeds that they need to operate broadband in their business and in their home, no matter where in America they are.”

“…I can tell you it would be a tremendous economic engine. I am fighting for it every day and it is just a matter of getting the money appropriated, and we can do that any number of ways... I attend every hearing that we have broadband discussed because it is critical for our business and education opportunities in the 12^th District.”

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