Dear Mr. xxxxxx:

Good Saturday morning.  It's hard to believe we are just 22 days away from Christmas.   But before those of us in Congress can fully celebrate, we still have a lot of work to do.

Following the election on November 8th, I’m flying back and forth to Washington where Congress is working to finish up important work that should have been done before the election, and the left is making their last push before Republicans take over the House in January.  I want to give you an update on this “lame duck” session and other things.

Election Results

While Republicans were disappointed that we didn’t retake the Senate, we did secure a majority in the House of Representatives.  This important shift means that, starting January 3rd when the new Congress is sworn in, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi’s liberal, leftist agenda will be dead in its tracks.

The President will still have a lot of power when it comes to executive orders and judicial appointments, but there will be no more bloated, inflation-creating, “Build Back Better” style bills.  Also, Republicans in the House will now have investigative power that will allow us to hold the Biden Administration accountable.

The shift in power also means that Republicans will now take over the chairmanships of House committees.  Decisions on subcommittee chairmanships will be made in January.  

Democrats’ Last Push

While Republicans will be in control of the House starting January 3rd, the Democrats still have control of the House, Senate, and the White House for a few more weeks.  During the “lame duck” session, they will do all they can to further their agenda as much as possible.  We are expecting votes on same sex marriage, federalization of elections, and more.

Federal Spending Fiscal Year 2023

As I mentioned above, Congress was unable to get the annual budgets passed by September 30th, so we had to pass what’s called a Continuing Resolution (CR). A CR funds the government at last year’s funding levels until we can get a new budget in place.  The current CR will expire on December 16.  There are several different scenarios of what could happen next, including another short-term CR to allow more time to negotiate the final packages, but I do not anticipate there being a government shutdown.

I believe Congress needs to get back to passing these annual appropriations bills by the September 30th deadline.  For the last two years, Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House but were still unable to get budgets passed in a timely manner.  While I’m hopeful this trend will stop under Republican leadership in the House, these will be challenging times as Republican House members stand in the gap to bring common-sense budgeting back and block massive spending increases on wasteful, leftist green energy programs and other “woke” policies sought by Democrats in the Senate and the White House.

Expanding Rural Broadband

I was honored to be in Walker County this past week, along with Governor Ivey and other state leaders.  We announced a new broadband internet network for the areas around Nauvoo and Oakman.  This new broadband expansion, headed up by Charter/Spectrum, will provide reliable internet for more than 6,500 homes and businesses.  This is exciting news for these communities!

As many of you know, I have made expanding access to reliable internet one of my top priorities in Congress.  In 2022, having internet access is almost as important as it was to have electricity a century ago.  For better or worse, in the age we live in, internet service is a must-have and no longer a luxury.

Congressional App Challenge 

Just like we have an annual art competition in all 435 Congressional Districts across the country, we also now have a Congressional App Challenge.  This competition challenges high school students to develop new apps, just like the ones you have on your phone.

This year, the winning team from Alabama’s 4th District is from Fort Payne High School.  Jordan Binkley and John Riley Thompson, pictured above, were chosen by our judges for the app they developed called “Dadify.”  They describe Dadify as an app that allows parents and their children to bond with fun activities and jokes.  

You can watch more about the winning app from their application video here.
Congratulations to Jordan & John.  Their winning app will be displayed on the U.S. House of Representatives website.

 Alabama Soldiers Visit Washington

As I'm sure most of you know, two U.S. military veterans from Alabama, Andy Huynh and Alex Drueke, were captured earlier this year while helping to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.  They were finally released in September.   A few weeks ago, Andy and Alex, along with their respective families, came to Washington to talk about their experiences in captivity.  I was honored to get to meet with them.  I know they continue to need our prayers as they recover from their time as prisoners.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas in Washington

Earlier this week, we had the lighting ceremony for the official U.S. Capitol Christmas tree.  My family and I really enjoy this time of year.  I will be back in touch before the actual holiday, but it's never too soon to wish all of you a happy Christmas season.

May God bless you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,


Robert B. Aderholt