Weekly Columns
Democrats are in disarray. You may have heard that phrase repeated on the nightly news or your social media feed, and I can tell you it's true. Democrats were finally able to produce the text of the reconciliation bill on Thursday afternoon, and it showcases policies that will continue to throw our nation into chaos. Inflation is skyrocketing, our southern border is in crisis, Americans are still stranded in Afghanistan, and supply chains have run dry. The now $1.75 trillion reconciliation bill fails to do even one thing to address these urgent issues.
Many Americans are grappling with the anxiety caused by the threat of federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and quarantine requirements. That's especially true for parents, teachers, and other education personnel. In an effort to bring their concerns to President Biden, I led a letter, which was co-signed by my fellow Arkansas Representatives, strongly opposing any federal vaccine mandate for schools.
My annual agriculture tour of the Fourth District is one of the best weeks of the year. I get the chance to travel the district end to end and meet with some of the hardest working men and women who keep America on her feet. All the people I've met with, from business owners to employees, have an important lesson to teach about their daily lives that I can take back with me to Washington.
It has been a busy week on Capitol Hill as lawmakers wait to vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation, which is intricately tied to the $4.3 trillion reconciliation package. To pave the way for the massive spending packages that total over $5,000,000,000,000, Democrats voted, in a completely political move, to suspend the debt limit until just after the mid-term elections in 2022. This allows Democrats to completely pass the buck and avoid telling the American people how much each of us owe to cover the Democrats' massive spending priorities.
The founding principle of the United States is that Americans are guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. House Democrats are stripping America's most vulnerable citizens of the right to life by passing a bill with the erroneous title of the "Women's Health Protection Act." A better name for this legislation is the "Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act."
This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee debated its small portion of the highly partisan $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. The nearly $60 billion bill that we spent 15 hours debating is filled with unnecessary spending on liberal wish-list items that were too far left to make it into the bipartisan infrastructure package negotiated by the Senate and the White House.
President Biden announced drastic new COVID-19 restrictions last week that will affect 100 million Americans. According to his Executive Order, he has directed the Department of Labor to issue a regulation that would require all businesses with over 100 employees to mandate employee vaccinations or provide weekly proof of a negative test result.
In a landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas' Heartbeat Act, which prohibits abortion after six weeks when the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat. This is a big win for the pro-life movement and those who believe that all life is valuable and precious, regardless of status or circumstances.
The coordinated terrorist attacks on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, Afghanistan by ISIS was nothing less than a tragedy. Thirteen servicemen lost their lives in the mission to protect Americans and all human life in the face of true evil. My heart goes out to the families of those who were injured or killed. The nation grieves together with the loved ones of these heroes.
The world has watched in horror as Afghanistan crumbled to the Taliban and thousands of desperate people attempt to flee their brutal regime. The Taliban swept through the Afghan army with little resistance and set up shop in the Presidential Palace, surrounded by the weapons and equipment provided by the U.S.