this week serving georgia's 12th district...


I hope you will all join me in continuing to celebrate Black History Month throughout the month of February!

I was honored to award the Augusta-Richmond County 9-1-1 Center with the NG9-1-1 Institute Award for Outstanding 911 Call Center from the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.


We are very thankful to have such dedicated individuals keeping our communities safe and responding to emergencies quickly and effectively.

I went to view the simulated water levels of the Army Corps of Engineers’ recommended plan to replace the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam — and I must say, I was very disappointed.

Moving forward with this decision will significantly reduce the water levels in certain areas and I will continue to fight this plan and work tirelessly to find a better solution for the CSRA.

I also caught up with WRDW and WAGT to discuss the future of the Lock and Dam. Read more in the Augusta Chronicle HERE.

The House Education and Labor Committee held a Full Committee Hearing on “Underpaid Teachers and Crumbling Schools: How Underfunding Public Education Shortchanges America’s Students."


I had the opportunity to preside over the committee for Ranking Member Virginia Foxx and asked our panel about the growing need for innovation in our education system to keep students motivated and on the right path to achieving the American Dream.

Late Wednesday evening, my colleagues and I were finally given the opportunity to see the over 1,000-page spending bill to fund certain branches of the federal government. With only about twenty-four hours to review this legislation before the House took a vote, I simply could not offer my support.


Our nation is facing a very real crisis, and this bill did not go far enough to secure our border and stop the influx of illegal immigration and deadly drugs that are pouring into our country, nor did it provide the much needed disaster assistance for Georgia farmers who were devastated by Hurricane Michael last October. I’ve said it many times – we must get our appropriations process back to regular order so we can avoid scenarios where we have such a short amount of time to read and vote on a giant spending package. We can and must do better.

One of the Democratic priorities for 116th Congress is to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and I took to the House floor to speak out against this radical proposal that will hurt low skilled workers and small businesses.


With this in mind, I recently sent out a survey asking Georgia-12 residents what they thought about raising the minimum wage, and 70% of participants believe that this increase would cut hours for some employees and result in a loss of employment for others – thank you for your feedback!

I also spoke on the House floor to fight against the harmful late-term abortion legislation being pushed by Democrats in state legislatures across the country.


How have we come to a point in this country where infanticide is something we can disagree on? Each and every one of us has a right to life – even an innocent, newly born gift from God – and I will continue to stand up and fight for that right to life every step of the way. You can view my full speech on the House floor by CLICKING HERE.

It was a busy week of meetings in my DC office! I met with the American Federation of Government Employees, the Alliance for Headache Disorders, and Habitat for Humanity, just to mention a few.




Thanks for stopping by!

I was also happy to be able to get back to the district to speak at the Jenkins County Legislative Breakfast and the Ten Commandments Dedication and Presentation in Millen.

My favorite place to be is back in the district with the great folks of Georgia-12, thanks for having me!


This week, the House considered a large spending package that appropriated only $1.375 billion for physical barriers along our southern border, falling well short of the $5.7 billion requested by President Trump. This legislation simply did not go far enough to successfully and effectively secure our border; therefore, I was unable to offer my support.

With this in mind, I would like to highlight H.R. 796 this week, the Savings Through Security Act, of which I am a proud cosponsor. This legislation would appropriate up to $5.7 billion of unobligated Treasury dollars for construction of the southern border wall – and would pay back the Treasury with agency savings realized after the wall is completed.

H.R. 796 is currently being reviewed by a number of House committees and I thank my colleague Congressman Garret Graves (LA-06) for introducing this legislation for the 116th Congress.

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 ⇒  HEREcontact any of our offices or join the conversation on FacebookTwitter or Instagram

Sincerely,
 
Rick Allen
Member of Congress
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