Dear Mr. xxxxxx:

Happy SEC Championship Saturday.  Good luck to the Crimson Tide as they take on Georgia this afternoon.

Expulsion Vote

Before I get to the rest of the newsletter, I want to discuss Friday's vote in the House to expel Representative George Santos of New York. I did vote to expel, but it was a vote I did not take any ounce of pleasure in.

Voting to expel a member of Congress is a very solemn action that I do not take lightly. Many of my Republican colleagues voted no, and I understand how they could come to that conclusion, especially in light of the fact that since the Civil War, the House has not voted to expel a Member of Congress that has not been convicted of a crime.  Each member had to review the facts and come to their own conclusion. That being said, as I reviewed the House Ethics Committee written report with all the charges that were made against him, George Santos was given multiple opportunities to defend himself and explain the allegations that were made against him, yet he refused. 

I believe the situation Congressman Santos finds himself in rose to the level that he should no longer be serving in the House of Representatives. While George Santos is a fellow Republican, and the Republican majority will now be less, I don’t believe that even a slim majority should excuse such gross, unethical conduct.  Politics should not be considered in such a matter. Moreover, I also had to ask myself if a member from the other side of the aisle was facing the same, or similar situation, would I vote to expel and I found myself reaching the same conclusion.  Members of Congress must be held to the highest standards.  This was an unprecedented situation, and, I believe, required this unprecedented action.

Wrapping Up November

November is over and we are officially in the Christmas season. But before Congress can celebrate, we still have work to do. Earlier this month I supported Speaker Mike Johnson’s call to extend funding for the government into the new year to give us more time to get government funding for 2024 done the right way.

Speaker Johnson inherited a bad hand, with no good options on the table, and very little time to maneuver. This continuing resolution grants us the additional time we need to complete our appropriations bills in the House that will dramatically cut spending and begin to change the way Congress has traditionally done business. As the Speaker himself will tell you, this isn’t ideal; but I believe this is a necessary step to get us where we want to go, cutting our national debt, while also prioritizing our national defense and conservative principles over social engineering and bureaucratic nightmares.

So, we will be working on these priorities in the coming weeks. We will take a break for Christmas and then get right back at it in the first few days of 2024.

LHHS Funding

In last month’s newsletter I told you about the funding bill I’m responsible for, the Labor, Health & Humans Services, and Education bill. I also told you about the cuts I have put into the bill as a way to start changing the course of our nation’s inflation problem and our huge national debt. It also pushes back and defunds controversial, woke programs pushed by the Biden Administration.

This month we debated the bill on the House floor. You can watch the remarks I gave on this bill from the House floor by clicking below:

Here is some of the news coverage this bill I’ve led has gotten:

U.S. Rep. Aderholt: New discretionary spending bill will force federal agencies ‘to run lean and mean,’ cut spending for DEI, ‘controversial grantees’ (1819News)

Aderholt proposes return to ‘Trump-era’ spending in major appropriations bill (Yellowhammer News)

Pushing Back on Justice Department Overreach

I think we have all been troubled by the reports we’ve seen of the U.S. Justice Department seemingly to target parents who have raised objections over what their children are being taught in school.  One of the funding bills I’ve worked on, called the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill, we have defunded these operations.

I recently spoke about this on Tony Perkins Washington Watch Program, which you can watch below.

National Adoption Month

November has been National Adoption Month.  And November 18th was National Adoption Day. As one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA), I introduced a bill recognizing these two important events on the calendar.

Recognizing National Adoption Day and Month is an integral part of keeping adoption as a legislative priority.  Uniting families is certainly something that unites Republicans and Democrats across party lines. I look forward to continuing to work together in a bipartisan way to tackle the barriers to adoption until every child knows the blessing of a loving home.

Biden Administration Targeting Faith-Based Adoptions Groups

Speaking of adoption, the Biden Administration has proposed a rule that clearly targets faith-based adoption agencies. The rule, if finalized, would require state child welfare agencies to ensure the availability of “safe and appropriate” placements and services for children in foster care who identify as “LGBTQI+”. The new requirement stands to harm faith-based providers as it could mitigate their availability and involvement within the child welfare system.

I led a letter along with several of my colleagues to the Department of Health and Human Services demanding this rule not be finalized. The number of children who need homes continues to grow; yet the number of available foster homes is steadily declining, and the Biden Administration is doing nothing to help with that discrepancy. In fact, the rule proposed by HHS does nothing but harm children in foster care and push an extreme agenda. It’s clear the Administration cares only about their radical left agenda, not about American values, families, or children.

Celebrating the Marine Corps Birthday

We posted to social media about the United States Marine Corps celebrating its 248th birthday and mentioned that Roy Drinkard of Cullman, who is 103, is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living Marines. Our post was picked up by WAAY Channel 31 in Huntsville.

Celebrating 100

Speaking of veterans, I would also like to extend birthday wishes to Vivian “V.C.” Evans of Arley. He turned 100 in November. Evans proudly served our nation in World War Two. He has been married to his wife Annis for 76 years.  Congratulations V.C. and thank you for your service.

Thank you for reading our newsletter. I will be back in touch before Christmas.

May God bless you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,


Robert B. Aderholt