In this email newsletter: - FY25 Government Funding Update
- Biden's Border Security Executive Order
- Congressional Art Competition Winners
- How Can I Serve You?
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I'm sure you can all remember how turbulent it was attempting to pass the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills, starting last summer and spilling into this spring. Continuing resolutions were used to avoid partial government shutdowns, which eventually turned the appropriations bills into minibuses which consisted of thousands of pages of billions of dollars in spending packaged together. This time around, we are following Speaker Johnson's lead in trying to get ahead and work on the appropriations for 2025 well before Congress's deadline that occurs every year on September 30th.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Military Construction-Veterans' Affairs (MilCon-VA) appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025. This legislation allocates money that is passed through our annual budget to programs that are related to the Military and Veterans' Affairs department.
I am happy to report this legislation had a handful of wins, including honoring our commitment to our nation's veterans by fully funding health care and benefits programs and bolstering our national security through funding for the India-Pacific region to combat China's on-going aggression. The bill also includes a prohibition on the use of funds to promote or advance critical race theory (CRT) and prohibits implementation of Biden's divisive executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This legislation protects the Second Amendment rights of veterans by preventing the VA from sending gun ownership information to the FBI without a judge's consent.
Although the House passed the MilCon-VA appropriations bill, we still have a long way to go to pass eleven more appropriations bills before September 30th to keep the trains running on schedule. I am happy to work as long as we have to this summer to get through them all, and I hope my colleagues in Congress will have the same outlook!
Along with passing all twelve appropriations funding bills to keep the government running next year, the House also must pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) each year to keep our Department of Defense (DOD) up and running. I am pleased that this year, Members were allowed to offer amendments to the NDAA to further improve the legislation.
On June 14th, the NDAA was passed by the House of Representatives and will move on to be considered by the Senate. I am proud to say that six of my amendments passed the House and were included in this year's NDAA: - Amendment #142 requires disclosure of the cost to taxpayers of any project funded with financial support from the DOD. I believe that taxpayers ought to know where their money is going and what their money is funding.
- Amendment #148 authorizes the President to award Major James Capers Jr. the Medal of Honor for acts of valor as a member of the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, in which he was awarded the Silver Star.
- Amendment #154 establishes that it is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Navy name a vessel the "U.S.S. Major James Capers Jr."
- Amendment #453 prohibits the provision of gender transition procedures, including surgery or medication, through the Exceptional Family Medical Program. This program has historically been used to support military families with children with special needs or chronic illnesses, not for kids to get life-altering mutilating surgery.
- Amendment #442 eliminates every office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Armed Forces and DOD and terminates the employment of all personnel in such offices.
- Amendment #300 requires a study on the operational readiness of the Strategic Seaport Program as affected by dredging capacity. The Strategic Seaport Program, which includes the Port of Charleston, provides the military with a reserve seaport capacity to handle any sudden, large increases in the need to move military assets during a national emergency or surge deployment.
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Last week, Joe Biden announced an executive order about border security. In my opinion, this executive order (EO) is an absolute INSULT to the American people.
The new EO would allow 2,500 illegal encounters a day before shutting down the US-Mexico border. That means that under this new rule, hundreds of thousands new and illegal immigrants will be allowed into our country, even if the EO was enforced properly.
I did the math so you don't have to. Allowing 2,500 illegal crossings per day is still: - 17,500 per week.
- 75,000 per month.
- 912,500 per year.
This is not immigration reform! This is an open invitation for almost a million new people to illegally enter our country! It's nothing more than a sham. In case you forgot, there have been OVER 9.5 MILLION illegal immigrant encounters nationwide- and those are only the ones we know about.
On top of this continual flow of new illegal immigrants, this EO makes mass migration permanent by: - Exempting child trafficking to ensure trafficked children are delivered to their US destinations.
- Funneling all surplus traffic to ports of entry for automatic entry and deportation amnesty.
- Leaving all 912,500 new illegals in our country.
Since Biden's first day in office, he has implemented extreme, far left border policies that have led the country down a dark path of soaring crime rates and an alarming national security crisis. He made various executive actions on immigration in his first year in office; from removing Title 42 and Remain in Mexico, to halting border wall construction, and reinstating Catch-and-Release, Biden's policies has made it monumentally easier for immigrants to illegally enter and stay in our country. Under Biden's executive actions, every community has become a border community. I believe that ONE illegal border crossing per day is ONE TOO MANY. |
Each spring, student artists from around the country enter the Congressional Art Competition.
Here in SC-5, we had 70 students across seven schools submit their art work. Our panel of judges from Rock Hill, legendary artists Jim Shore and J. Michael Simpson, had a tough task but were able to select a winner.
Logan from Wilson Hall High School in Sumter was selected as SC-5’s 2024 Congressional Art Competition winner for his piece, “Far from Perfect,” and will be celebrated in a year-long display in Washington, DC!
“This artwork is a self portrait developed through the destruction of another drawing. It's a blend of abstract and realism that highlights the imperfections of the piece through colored pencils and watercolor. This pushes the boundaries of how art is used in a sense of mistakes, which shows that it is ok the have a mistake because you can always build from those mistakes to make something beautiful.” – Logan
Our 2nd and 3rd place entries - Liz from Wilson Hall High School, and Julia from Spartanburg Christian Academy.
Congratulations to our winners! |
If you or someone you know needs assistance with any branch of the federal government, my congressional office in Rock Hill is here to help. Whether it's the IRS, Social Security, immigration, passports, veterans’ affairs, or anything else related to the federal government, please give us a call at (803) 327-1114.
Meanwhile, if you have questions about legislation or my votes in Congress, my office in Washington, D.C. can answer those. You can reach my D.C. office at (202) 225-5501.
The most important job I have in Congress is to help folks here at home in South Carolina. Please don't hesitate to call my offices at the numbers listed above. You can also reply to this email or click here to contact me online anytime. |
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