Blog

For those who have visited Israel: Elaine and I will be heading there next week, along with some others in Congress My itinerary is packed with educational seminars, briefings with Israeli and Palestinian officials, meetings with political groups, etc. But this is also a personal journey -- it's something we've wanted to do for a while. Which leads me to the purpose of this… Read more »

I’m here at Westminster Towers in Rock Hill to present the French Legion of Honor Medal to Thomas "Pinky" Funderburk, for his heroic actions during World War II. The Legion of Honor was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, and is the highest award from the country of France for military and civil merits. The President of the French Republic has recently bestowed this honor on Major… Read more »

Some states are intentionally withholding their abortion data from the CDC. As a result, we have no idea how many abortions are actually performed in this country. This needs to change. Here's my op-ed in yesterday's Spartanburg Herald-Journal about a bill I'm sponsoring in Congress which aims to do just that. https://www.goupstate.com/…/2…/shocking-truth-about-abortion Read more »

I've co-sponsored a bill that would waive the passport fees for for family members of anyone serving in the Armed Forces who is hospitalized abroad. (H.R. 2847) The cost of a new passport is over $100. And if you're injured while serving our nation, your family shouldn't be burdened with this expense just to be at your side. Read more »

Fiscal sanity. That's really all I'm asking for. Later today, I'll be voting NO on a budget act that will increase discretionary spending caps by over $320 billion and suspend the debt ceiling limit for the next two years. (H.R. 3877) $68,000 is your personal share of our $22 trillion national debt. We didn't get here because of tax cuts, or because the government didn't take enough of… Read more »

We had a huge win today in the House with a bill I sponsored for our veterans. I love passing along this kind of news. For background information, the Veterans Administration has acquired a mountain of healthcare information on our veterans, including medical history and genomic data volunteered by over 600,000 men and women who served.  What we know is that within these massive… Read more »

This legislation was the wrong way to do the right thing. I’m talking about H.R. 1327, which reauthorized an honorable program called the Sept. 11th Victims’ Survivor Fund (VCF). I had a lot of calls and comments about my “no” vote on this bill last week. A few were obtuse remarks from individuals whose default position was to assume evil intent. But most were from folks who knew better,… Read more »

It’s been called the “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” And it’s caused a chaotic mess in the House of Representatives this week. On Tuesday, Democrats pushed a vote to condemn President Trump's recent comments on Twitter. Then they tried to impeach him last night. After the impeachment vote failed, Speaker Nancy Pelosi remind the nation that six (6) different Democrat-led committees in the… Read more »

UPDATE - JULY 19TH 1:00 PM: we called down to the PSC this morning and asked about the Sept. 17th hearing. Over the phone they told us that as of right today (7/17) that hearing is still scheduled. However, on July 31st, the Commission will vote on a motion on whether or not to cancel that Sept. 17th hearing. So I think we'll know for sure after that vote on July 31st. --- ORIGINAL POST… Read more »

The bill in question is H.R. 1327, titled Never Forget the Heroes: Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act of 2019.  It was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) on February 25, 2019 and passed the House of Representatives on July 12, 2019, sending it to the Senate for further consideration. In this legislation, the September 11th Victim… Read more »