This week marks the 49th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, a devastating decision that has led to over 60 million babies being killed. The right to life is sacred and should not even be a political debate—but now Democrats are taking it one step further by attempting to abolish the Hyde amendment, which prevents taxpayer money from funding abortions. Abortion is not health care, and the government should never sanction the killing of innocent children.
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In fact, as another deadline to fund the federal government approaches on February 18th, I joined more than 180 Members in applauding Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy for their unwavering commitment to ensure pro-life protections remain in all federal appropriations bills, and vowing to vote against any federal funding bill that weakens or eliminates them.
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I’m also proud to receive an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony List in honor of my strong pro-life voting record during the 117th Congress.
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One Year of Biden’s Presidency
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This week marked one year since President Biden took office. Since then, our nation has continued to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and several new crises have emerged. Families have been impacted by rising prices and inflation, major supply chain disruptions, and burdensome federal mandates. On the world stage, we’ve been humiliated by a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, failure to hold China accountable for COVID-19, and begging OPEC to boost oil production after eliminating America’s energy independence.
I joined the House Republican Conference for a press conference recapping Biden’s first year, which you can watch here.
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SCOTUS Victory! Blocking Biden’s Workplace Vaccine Mandate
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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden Administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with over 100 employees to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing.
After months of uncertainty, this ruling is a win for America’s workers, businesses, and economy. As I’ve said since day one, folks should get the vaccine if they’re able, but ultimately it’s a personal choice and not up to OSHA to regulate actions outside of the workplace. OSHA is not a public health agency, and the Biden Administration should have never treated it as such. I’m proud to have led the fight at the congressional level, and am grateful for the Supreme Court’s swift decision.
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Addressing the Rising Cost of Groceries
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The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the state of the rural economy. During the hearing I asked Biden’s Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, about rising prices at the grocery store and overall inflation.
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Upholding Conservative Values
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Thanks to the Faith & Freedom Coalition for honoring me with the Friend of the Family award for my commitment to defending the family, protecting religious liberty, and standing with our ally Israel.
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Defending Georgia’s Work Requirements
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Once again, Democrats want to eliminate commonsense work requirements in the midst of a labor shortage across our nation. On December 23rd, the Biden Administration denied part of the State of Georgia’s Medicaid waiver that would extend Medicaid coverage to certain individuals, but require the individual to work or go to school as a condition of receiving Medicaid coverage. To make matters worse, the Biden Administration claimed that requiring someone to work or go to school was unworkable because of the pandemic, when we know that businesses across Georgia are in desperate need of workers more than ever.
I joined the entire Georgia Republican Congressional delegation in sending a letter to the CMS Administrator to express our opposition to the decision.
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Providing Flexibility for Impact Aid School Districts
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The Impact Aid program represents the federal government’s promise to provide school districts with additional assistance when property taxes are lower because of the presence of military, federal or tribal lands. Impact Aid schools rely on take-home surveys to get a head count on federally-connected students, but that has been disrupted by the pandemic.
That is why I was proud to support the Supplemental Impact Aid Flexibility Act to allow school districts to reuse their FY22 student counts and property tax data when submitting their upcoming FY23 applications at the end of January. This additional reporting flexibility will be helpful to many of the 1,100 federally-impacted school districts like Richmond County Schools in the 12th District district, which serves the community of Fort Gordon.
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Summer Internship Opportunities
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My office is currently accepting internship applications for the summer semester. Internships provide young professionals with the opportunity to learn firsthand about the legislative process and constituent services. Candidates can find additional information and how to apply on my website, and must complete their application no later than Friday, March 18th.
Additionally, the U.S. Naval Academy is currently accepting applications to their summer programs, including their Summer Seminar and STEM Camp. More information is available here.
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The Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats continue to make baseless accusations against Georgia’s election law, which makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat. Meanwhile in several Democrat-run cities they want to allow illegal immigrants to vote. This is unconscionable!
That’s why I’m proud to cosponsor H.R. 6299, the Protecting Our Democracy by Preventing Foreign Citizens from Voting Act. This bill would prohibit federal funds from going to state or local governments that allow non-citizens to vote in any election.
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Sincerely,
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Rick Allen Member of Congress
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