The House concluded consideration of H.R. 2740, a fiscal year 2020 spending package for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State and Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development.

This legislation puts us on track to add nearly $2 trillion to the deficit over ten years, and I offered an amendment last week to reduce State and Foreign Operations spending by 1% for fiscal year 2020 – which failed to pass on the House floor this week. This is just another example of House Democrats continuing to promote out-of-control, government spending.

Although we have disagreements about many aspects of this legislation, I worked in a bipartisan manner with my colleague from California, Congressman Ro Khanna, to introduce an amendment to the defense portion of the bill to allocate $10,000,000 to the Defense POW/Missing Persons Office – which passed with overwhelming, bipartisan support.

This additional funding will assist in identifying unclaimed remains missing from the Korean conflict and is completely offset by reducing spending in other accounts. By funding these efforts, we can continue our work to return the remains of valiant soldiers of the Korean conflict home – allowing their families to find an eternal resting place for their loved ones.

The House also began consideration of H.R. 3055, the second fiscal year 2020 spending bill, which includes Military Construction.

I introduced an amendment with my neighbor from Georgia’s 10th district, Congressman Jody Hice, to fully fund the President’s budget request for construction of the second project of the Cyber Instructional Facility at Fort Gordon for $107 million. U.S. Army Cyber Command is currently transitioning down to Fort Gordon, and this transition requires construction of state- of-the-art facilities.

This increase of $37 million in funding is completely offset, and full funding for the Cyber Instructional Facility is integral to ensuring there are no delays in the projected timeline in this full transition to Fort Gordon. I am proud that this amendment passed with bipartisan support!

I joined National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) Administrator, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, and Congressman Joe Wilson at Aiken Technical College for the announcement of an educational initiative to develop the NNSA’s future workforce.

This initiative will provide critical skills essential to their mission at Savannah River Site (SRS) and is a crucial step towards filling the jobs of today and tomorrow.

With thousands of Georgia-12 constituents employed by the Savannah River Site, you may also be interested to know that the NNSA is hosting a public forum on Thursday, June 27, 2019 to gather feedback on their recommendation to repurpose the current Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) at SRS to produce plutonium pits. I support the NNSA’s recommendation of the two-site solution for plutonium pit production-- and I encourage you to attend and weigh in.  

The forum will be held at the North Augusta Community Center from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. located at 495 Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina, 29841.

I also spoke to Georgia EMC student delegates, some of whom were from Georgia’s 12^th district!

Hearing these young scholars ask how they can get involved in our political system and learn more about the legislative process gives me tremendous confidence in our nation’s future.

The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on exploring high-quality pathways to a college degree.

I asked our panel about how we can take additional steps to bridge the gap between our business and education communities in an effort to fill the millions of jobs available today. I believe the only thing hindering our economy from even further growth is the lack of a skilled workforce – an issue we are addressing at every turn!

The House Agriculture Committee’s General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee also held a hearing on how farm policy helps farmers in adverse conditions.

After recently signing disaster relief funding into law, which will benefit rural Georgia, I asked about ways we can improve the crop insurance program to further assist farmers who are experiencing losses due to natural disasters, like Hurricane Michael and the 2017 late season freeze that devastated our blueberry and peach crops.

I had great meetings with the American Nurses Association, KIA Motors, and the University of Georgia – just to mention a few.

Thank you all for taking the time to stop by my office to keep me up to date on your legislative priorities!

Telephone Town Halls are a great way to stay informed about my work in Congress on behalf of Georgia's 12th district. To sign up for future Telephone Town Halls, and I encourage you to do so, please CLICK HERE.

This week, I am highlighting H. Con. Res. 41, of which I am a proud cosponsor. This resolution, sponsored by House Republican Whip, Congressman Steve Scalise, expresses the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would have an adverse effect on the United States economy.

Simply put, a carbon tax would derail the record-breaking economic prosperity that the Republican-led Congress unleashed and would reverse the progress made towards achieving American energy dominance. This resolution underscores that a carbon tax is not in the best interest of the United States and would be detrimental to American families and businesses. H. Con. Res. 41 is currently awaiting further action on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Do you have a bill that you would like to see highlighted or that you would like me to support? Share your thoughts with me! You can email me ⇒  HERE, contact any of our offices or join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.