Touring Post-Helene Ag Damage with House Ag Chairman GT Thompson

House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03), Rep Darren Soto (FL-09), and Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) came down to Georgia's Eighth District with me this weekend to survey the damage after Helene across South Georgia and North Florida.

Georgia’s farmers need help, and I appreciate the Chairman and others taking the time to meet with them firsthand so we can better work together for relief.

Honoring Our Veterans at the Perry Rotary Club

Thank you to the Perry Rotary Club for hosting a community Veterans Day lunch last week to honor our local veterans! It was a special honor to also meet and spend some time with a WWII veteran who attended the lunch.

It is an honor to represent many great patriots who have put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. Our veterans deserve the utmost respect and recognition for their sacrifices year-round. 

Meeting with Principal Chief Hill of the Muscogee Creek Nation

Last week, Principal Chief David Hill of the Muscogee Creek Nation visited my office in D.C. to discuss developments on advancing H.R. 8182, the Ocmulgee Mounds Park and Preserve Establishment Act. 

I assured him that Rep. Sanford Bishop and I are working hard in the House to move this bipartisan initiative forward, and we expect to have some positive legislative developments soon.

GPB | Hurricane Helene knocked a massive hole in Georgia's timber industry

"...Estimated commercial timber losses come to about $1.8 billion across the four states hit hardest by Helene — Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida. But Georgia losses by themselves account for about three quarters of that, some $1.3 billion. That’s according to a joint report by the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia...

If there are winners here, they could be the independent loggers, truckers and the mills, but it’s easy to see how farmers in an industry where there is no crop insurance are wondering how they can afford storm cleanup. Gillis said they are looking to the federal government for help. 

'They’re wanting some way to be made whole, you know?' he said.  

Republican U.S. Rep. Austin Scott said he doesn’t expect that to happen.  

'I do not believe that anybody will be made whole,' Scott said.  

Scott serves on the House Agriculture Committee which will be taking up federal Hurricane Helene disaster relief for farmers.  

'There will be a lot of help for timber with cleanup,' Scott said. 'I expect, hopefully, help with the replanting. But, you know, if somebody had $1 million worth of timber that got blown down, I do not expect that they're going to be made whole.'"

Read more here.