Friends,

Earlier this week, I spoke on the Senate floor about President Biden’s first 100 days in office ahead of his first address to a joint session of Congress.

Watch my floor speech HERE.  

In North Carolina, our state motto is ‘Esse quam videri’ – ‘To be rather than to seem.’ I think our motto does a good job summarizing the first 100 days of the Biden administration. As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made it seem he would govern as a moderate, pragmatic dealmaker. He set the bar high in his inaugural address, telling the nation: ‘My whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, and uniting our nation. I ask every American to join me in this cause.’ I was inspired by this statement, and I’m one of the Americans who were willing to join him in that cause. In fact, I was one of 10 Republicans who had the first official meeting with the President to see if we could come to common ground on a COVID relief package after successfully passing five bipartisan relief packages last Congress. Unfortunately, President Biden’s actions have not corresponded with his promises to date.

Instead of leading on his instincts to bring America together, President Biden has followed his advisor’s recommendation to go it alone. He’s pushed a highly partisan, ideologically-driven agenda. And you don’t need to take my word for it. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently declared that President Biden “has exceeded expectations” of progressives. Indeed, there is a lot in Biden’s agenda for the left to like. It’s an agenda designed to pass with no need for moderation and not a single Republican vote. No consensus whatsoever.

There are plenty of Republicans like me who are willing to work with President Biden and even put some of our supporters out of their comfort zone for the good of this nation. In fact, when he was sworn in, I said I would work to find common ground on areas where we may agree and vigorously oppose policies where we do not. Unfortunately, there has been little opportunity to do the latter. The willingness to negotiate has only been a one-way street on the part of Republicans. 

I went to the White House to find common ground on another bipartisan COVID package, but it’s ultimately up to President Biden whether he leads on his bipartisan instincts or follows his advisors pushing him to keep governing from the left.

Thank you for reading, and as always, please reach out to my office if you have any questions or need help with a federal agency. God bless.

All the best,