Washington Update

This week, Congress voted on two pieces of legislation. The first was about police reform, which has been an issue at the forefront of political debate for the past few weeks. This is a serious issue that requires thoughtful solutions, and unfortunately some Democrats have offered a reactionary solution instead of one that will address the problems directly. I do not think that defunding the police will solve any problems, I believe it would actually make matters much worse. What our country needs is a better training for police officers, a ban on the use of chokeholds, and diligent and public record systems that can give us hard data on police misconduct. That is exactly why I co-sponsored the Justice Act, which is a bill that will make a positive impact on law enforcement and the American people. I am proud to support this bill and I am hopeful that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will support it too.

The second piece of legislation that Congress voted on this week was regarding D.C. statehood. To be clear, this bill is a joke. D.C. statehood is an absurd notion that goes directly against the system of government our Founding Fathers created. They intentionally did not grant D.C. statehood because they knew that a "state" that had the nation's federal government within its borders would create a massive conflict of interest, and having the same rights as other states would only encourage corruption, centralize power, and destabilize the equality of individual states in Congress. This vote was an easy No for me, and it was clear that you all felt the same.

Rural Broadband

As you may know, one of my top priorities in Congress is tackling the issue of rural broadband. This is something that impacts so many people in our district on a daily basis, and it's simply unacceptable. Right now, there are two different America's, one that has access to high quality, high speed broadband, and one that does not. We have to fix this. That's why I created the ReConnect Program years ago and pushed to include broadband funding in the COVID-19 relief bills we passed earlier this year. However, government can't be the only solution to this problem - and luckily, here in our district we have organizations taking the matter into their own hands.

Cullman Electric Cooperative just introduced their phase one fiber project plan last week, and I am thrilled about the work they are doing. This is a great step forward for rural broadband in Alabama, and I am happy that these wonderful folks are right here in our community. One day rural America will have high quality, high speed broadband like the rest of the country, and we will be able to thank groups like Cullman EC for making it happen.

Census Update

Each decade, starting in 1790 and continuing today, our country has undergone a Census. Although this might seem like an arbitrary count of people in the United States, it actually impacts each of our lives more than you know. Health clinics, fire departments, schools, roads, and other facets of our community depend on vital funding from the government that is based on the numbers reported during the Census. So, this civic duty we are each responsible for carries a lot of importance for the coming decade.

As of right now, our district is in 3rd place in Alabama for response rates at 59.7% - I think we can do better! If you haven't already, please fill out your Census! If you've already taken care of that, ask your friends and spread the word. It's a simple but important act that Americans do every decade, and you can fill yours out online by clicking here.

If you need any more motivation to fill out your Census, my good friend Randy Owen has a message for you!