February 2023

In this email newsletter:

• Chinese Spy Balloon
• Federal Debt Limit
• Appointed to Rules Committee
• Ozempic Shortage
• Contraband Cellphone Jamming in Prisons
• Major James Capers
• New Bill on Abortion Reporting
• How Can I Serve You?

Like many Americans, I am deeply troubled over the Chinese surveillance balloon that made its way across the continental United States before finally being shot down this past Saturday off the coast of South Carolina. 

Don't ever forget: China has been tied to intellectual property theft of many U.S. companies and cyber espionage activities. Their "Confucius Institutes" at numerous U.S. colleges and universities have been a big source of concern. The world is still waiting for transparency from Chinese officials concerning the origins of Covid. And if all that weren’t enough, Chinese entities are trying to buy up large swaths of U.S. farmland, some of which are near critical military installations. 

With a long list of concerns originating from China, their government claims that balloon was simply conducting benign scientific research. However, I believe very little said by Chinese officials can be trusted. Furthermore, the time for China to make that statement was before the balloon was launched, not after it made unauthorized entry into U.S. airspace.

On a related note, as your representative in Congress, I have many concerns and questions about President Biden’s handling of this situation. This is a matter of national security that should receive a high degree of congressional scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Over the coming weeks and months, you’ll likely hear a lot about the federal debt ceiling. That’s the legal amount of money the federal government can borrow. Thirty-one trillion, three hundred & eighty-one billion dollars is the current statutory debt limit, which is a tremendous amount of money.

Recently, the federal government reached that debt limit, which triggered the U.S. Treasury to implement “special measures” so the country can continue to meet its financial obligations for a few more months. However, by this spring or perhaps summer at the latest, Congress will need to raise the debt ceiling once again. Failure to do so could potentially cause the government to default on certain payments and would certainly send the markets and economy into chaos. That would be disastrous, and we obviously need to avoid that situation. However, I believe there’s an important question to ask…

*** How do we address the debt ceiling issue in a divided Congress, with the firm understanding that reasonable, incremental spending cuts need to be part of this process?

My view is that every major piece of financial legislation ought to come with some incremental, responsible spending cuts to keep us moving along a trajectory towards a balanced budget. I have a detailed post about this topic on my website. Click here or the button below to read more.

Clearly, it's not appropriate to deploy cellphone jamming technology in most places. However, I believe prisons should be able to utilize these devices to prevent inmates from using contraband cellphones. This is because, as South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said, “Prisoner access to contraband cell phones is on the rise even here in South Carolina, and it’s leading to murders, riots, drug trafficking, and fraud.” 

Unfortunately, federal regulations are preventing the use of jamming technologies within prisons. So last year, I co-sponsored a bill called the “Cellphone Jamming Reform Act” that would update these regulations. I plan on co-sponsoring that bill again this term of Congress, where it will hopefully gain more traction.

If you were going to write the script for a military action movie where the leading character was a larger than life, fearless war hero, I think the inspiration for that movie could easily be Major James Capers.

Born in Bishopville, South Carolina, Mr. Capers enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. After serving in combat infantry, he re-enlisted and would soon become the first African American to serve in the Marine Corps’ elite special operations unit known as Force Recon. Ultimately, Maj. Capers went on to become one of Force Recon’s most decorated Marines.

During his service, Maj. Capers and his teams conducted over 50 wartime missions, many of which were classified. He led amphibious assaults, covert missions to rescue POWs, and even a recovery mission for a downed B-57 bomber rumored to be carrying a nuclear weapon.

It would take more than two hands to count the number of times Maj. Capers was wounded while serving our nation. His list of awards is a mile long and includes multiple Purple Hearts, the Silver Star, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and two Bronze Stars with the “V” designation for valor.

A true American hero if there ever was one, Maj. Capers’ service to our nation did not end after retirement in 1978. To this day, he still mentors active duty and retired service members.

Back in May of last year, I introduced a resolution in the House that would authorize the President to award Major Capers with the Medal of Honor. I also recently reintroduced this bill for the new 118th Congress. I believe it's time to get Maj. Capers the recognition he deserves.

Last week, I reintroduced a bill in Congress called the Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2023. It would incentivize states to report accurate abortion statistics to the CDC in order to remain eligible for certain federal funding. Click here or the button below to read more about this legislation.