Thank you for taking the time to read my most recent updates from Eastern North Carolina and Washington, D.C. As always, it remains a true honor and a privilege to represent you in Congress! If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe to my e-newsletter here.

Last week, we voted to elect Mr. McCarthy as Speaker of the House for the 118th Congress. While our democracy can at times be difficult, it is by far the best form of representative government. Despite some initial differences, after thoughtful, thorough, and meaningful discussions, Republicans came together and elected Kevin McCarthy as the next Speaker of the House. Now moving forward, we will begin our work to deliver results for the American people. We are already hard at work addressing the onslaught of self-inflicted crises brought on by the Biden Administration and House Democrats. After two years of wasteful spending, record prices, pain at the pump, and a tragic southern border crisis, Republicans are united in tackling these issues and ending one-party rule.

This week officially marked the first week in Congress under a Republican majority. On day one, we passed legislation to rescind funding for the 87,000 new IRS agents. Inflation continues to hover at record highs and small businesses continue to struggle. The last thing these small businesses can afford right now is 87,000 new IRS agents not only targeting their enterprises, but their entire livelihoods. I spoke on the House floor urging support of this bill. You can watch my full remarks by clicking here or on the image below.

We also passed a number of other bills this week: 

• The Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves from China Act prevents the sale of our oil reserves to Communist China. Democrats left our Strategic Petroleum Reserve at the lowest level in decades; Republicans are committed to reversing their course. 
• The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Prosecution Act will prohibit a healthcare practitioner from failing to exercise the proper care to a child who survives an abortion. I will always stand up for the right to life and protect the lives of our most vulnerable.

I also introduced legislation this week to protect military families’ constitutional rights. The Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act (H.R. 341) guarantees Second Amendment rights to the spouse of a service member. I am proud to always support our outstanding military families and am hopeful this essential piece of legislation will finally see the light of day in a Republican majority. 

My bill, the Student Veterans Counseling Centers Eligibility Act (H.R. 4233), was recently signed into law by President Biden. H.R. 4233 requires the VA to furnish counseling to veterans or members of the Armed Forces who are pursuing a course of education using specified Department of Defense or VA educational assistance benefits. We have lost too many souls to suicide. If this legislation can save even one of our veterans, I will consider this a victory.

I joined my Doctors Caucus co-chairs on a statement regarding the FDA's rule change that broadens availability of abortion pills to retail pharmacies and mailboxes across the country. It reads in part, "The Biden Administration and the FDA are once again proving their disregard for life in this final rule. The very people who are supposed to protect the health and well-being of the American people want to turn every post office and drug store into an abortion business that ultimately will harm women and unborn children." You can read our full statement here.

I joined Mornings with Maria today to discuss the news around President Biden's classified documents and Elon Musk's newest release of the Twitter Files. You can watch here or by clicking on the image above.

I joined The Evening Edit last night to discuss the Democrats' denial of the scientific origins of COVID-19. You can watch here or by clicking on the image above.

I joined Newsmax last week to discuss the Speaker election. You can watch here or by clicking on the image above.