Dear Friend,
With 2022 coming to an end – and as your Representative in Congress – I want to share some of our biggest accomplishments and milestones from this past year. I am so grateful to serve our community in Eastern North Carolina, and I'm looking forward to another productive year on behalf of the Third Congressional District! If you would like to share my e-newsletter with others, please direct them to this link to subscribe. |
My number one priority as your Representative in Congress is to serve you! As a physician of more than 30 years, I understand the value of listening to patients and delivering exceptional care. Our office operates with this same professionalism and mindset on behalf of constituents.
Over this past year alone, our office aided over 1,222 constituents by resolving issues with federal agencies. This included helping veterans access delayed VA benefits, assisting families with overdue refunds from the IRS, and helping travelers renew their passports. |
My team and I worked diligently to communicate on the issues that matter most to you. We held numerous telephone town halls, connecting with tens of thousands of constituents, and proudly completed over 11,689 individual responses to constituent calls, letters, and emails. To get in touch with my office regarding legislation or other district-related issues, visit our website HERE.
My office also helped return over $3.15 million dollars to hardworking North Carolinians in the form of IRS refunds, small business loans, disability retroactive payments, and more. I could not be prouder of our district casework team who works tirelessly to ensure residents have the resources and benefits they need.
If you or a loved one are in need of assistance with a federal agency, please contact any of my district offices. We are here to help! |
When it comes to seeking solutions for Eastern North Carolina, I introduced a number of bills this year, tackling issues related to health care, higher education, veterans' affairs, and coastal waterway management. I worked across the aisle to streamline GI Bill benefits, permanently expand access to telehealth services, lower drug prices, and improve medical device operability. I also introduced measures to stop President Biden's decision to forgive student loans and pressure colleges and universities to divest from dangerous Chinese companies which are a threat to our national security.
Our biggest achievement was one that was years in the making. In August, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was signed into law as part of the Honoring our PACT Act. The bill will eliminate burdensome red tape to ensure that those exposed to toxic chemicals at Camp Lejeune, including servicemembers, Marine dependents, civil servants, and contractors, can receive their day in court. As the proud representative of more than 89,000 veterans, I am honored to have led the effort to make sure our Camp Lejeune community gets long-overdue care and benefits. |
Just a few weeks ago, the House also passed the FY2023 NDAA with my support. It will fully fund our military, provide $190 million for our Eastern North Carolina bases, and authorize a 4.6 percent pay increase for our troops.
We achieved another major victory in the NDAA by formally eliminating the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for our service members. While we celebrate this long-overdue success for our war heroes, there is much more to be done.
Now I’m pushing to formally reinstate U.S. service members who were involuntarily separated from the U.S. Armed Forces for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. I look forward to advancing a bill in a Republican-controlled House to deliver justice for our brave service members who were wrongfully targeted by the Biden Administration's vaccine mandate. |
This month, I hosted the second annual Campus Free Speech Roundtable in the U.S. Capitol to provide students, alumni, and stakeholders with a venue to discuss free speech violations in higher education. We brainstormed legislative paths forward for Congress to safeguard First Amendment protections for all students, regardless of political affiliation.
As a member of the Congressional Free Speech Caucus, I am exploring several avenues to protect students’ rights in higher education. Most notably, I am fighting to pass my bill, the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act to require public and private universities to report First Amendment violations to the Department of Education and publicly share campus policies on free speech. This bill would go a long way in holding our colleges and universities accountable because failure to comply would restrict federal funding. With the incoming Republican majority, it’s more important than ever that Congress make free speech protections a top priority for our students. |
In 2022, I had the privilege of meeting with hundreds of Eastern North Carolinians to discuss some of the most important issues facing our country and learn about all of the wonderful ways that our community members are leading the nation in education, innovation, business, energy, waterway management, technology, and more.
Meeting with constituents is one of the most important ways that I can learn about our community’s needs, develop meaningful legislative solutions to those needs, and bring your priorities to the halls of Congress. I am so grateful to everyone who took the time to meet with me over the course of the past year to advocate on behalf of the Third Congressional District. |
This past fall, I hosted the second annual bipartisan WATERS Summit with my good friend Congressman David Rouzer in Wilmington, N.C. The purpose of this bipartisan conference was to hear from leading experts about human adaptation strategies to waterway challenges in North Carolina and develop legislative plans to combat these challenges over the next 5, 25, and 100-years. The event was a huge success, and my team and I are very excited about the next WATERS Summit, which will return to Greenville, N.C. in Fall 2023!
Our efforts to bring together stakeholders and address these issues regularly are already paying dividends. In fact, Congress passed my bill, the Oregon Inlet Feasibility Study Act as a first step in addressing navigational, commercial, safety, and flood control concerns at Oregon Inlet. |
While there are many challenges that lie ahead of us, I am confident that a new House Republican majority will restore much needed balance to our country.
Recently, House Republicans unveiled our Commitment to America policy agenda for an economy that is strong, a nation that is safe, a future that is free, and a government that is accountable. You can read more about our GOP Commitment to America in my North State Journal op-ed HERE.
Thank you for taking the time to read some of my office highlights from 2022! As always, it remains a true honor to represent you in Congress. As we celebrate the beginning of a new year filled with new hurdles and opportunities, I look forward to another strong year of advancing key local and federal initiatives on behalf of our Third Congressional District.
For more information, and to receive real-time updates on my work in North Carolina and Washington, follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to my newsletter.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! |
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Sincerely,
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Greg Murphy
Member of Congress
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