January 27, 2023

Friends, 

I hope you and your family are well! There is a lot to update you on from the past few weeks, and I wanted to provide you with an update regarding what’s going on in the 118th Congress –

Subcommittee Chairman of Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Committee

I am honored and thankful to have been selected as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chairman. As the Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair, I am the highest-ranking South Carolinian to serve on Energy and Commerce since Congressman Isaac Holmes chaired the Committee in 1843.

In this role, I will continue my fight for American families as our nation faces an unprecedented energy crisis due to the Biden Administration’s war on domestic energy production. I am excited to help lead on energy policy to utilize our nation’s vast natural resources, bring down skyrocketing energy costs, strengthen grid security, and re-establish American energy independence, so we are no longer relying on our adversaries to meet our energy needs.

Energy security is national security, and now more than ever, it is imperative that the United States is energy secure. We must utilize an all-of-the-above approach to address our nation’s energy crisis, including through nuclear energy production, which provides clean, reliable, and affordable energy 24/7/365. It is time we unleash domestic energy production and restore American energy independence and dominance.

Under the leadership of Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, I am confident the Committee on Energy and Commerce will address the United States’ energy crisis head-on by unleashing domestic production and delivering commonsense solutions to tackle record-high energy costs.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security helps shape the United States’ energy policy, and its jurisdiction includes National energy policy, fossil energy, renewable energy, nuclear energy, nuclear facilities, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, among others. To read more on this, click HERE. 

Fighting Biden's COVID Mandates

This week, I introduced H.R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, and led over 60 House Republicans in challenging Joe Biden's authoritarian COVID shot mandate on our health care workers.

No American should ever be forced to choose between the COVID shot or losing their livelihood. I led the fight against Joe Biden’s authoritarian COVID shot mandate on our healthcare workers in the last Congress and will continue leading the charge until this requirement is lifted. Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is unscientific, un-American, and deeply damaging to healthcare workers as we already face a nationwide staff shortage.

Strategic Production Response Act

Joe Biden has continually drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to the lowest level since 1984 as a political gimmick to lower gas prices since the Democrats’ energy policies have caused gas prices to soar to historic levels. Keep in mind, the SPR is reserved for national emergencies or natural disasters, but the Biden Administration has tapped it as a Band-Aid to the energy crisis caused by Joe Biden’s war on American energy. This is a threat to both our national security and energy security. 

To combat this, we passed H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act, to help ensure the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is protected for true energy emergencies and is not abused for political purposes by the Biden Administration. I was proud to support the Strategic Petroleum Response Act to prevent President Biden from draining the SPR for political gain while stifling domestic energy production. Click HERE for my remarks on this important legislation.  

Leading Roundtable on American Energy Security

This week, I kicked off my first official Committee event as a Subcommittee Chair at our Roundtable on American Energy Security! Energy and Commerce Republicans are ready to combat our nation's energy crisis and fight to ensure we are energy secure. Click HERE for my remarks. 

Debating Energy Myths with AOC

The other side of the aisle is simply uninformed on the realities of domestic energy production and the Strategic Production Response Act. AOC and I debated some of these myths and misunderstandings on the House floor last night. American oil production is the cleanest in the world, and we should unleash domestic production to utilize our nation’s abundant natural resources. Click HERE for our debate on the House floor last night. 

Talking NIL, College Football with Coach Beamer

I may be a Clemson Tiger, but it was great meeting with University of South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer this week to discuss college football and the Name, Image, and Likeness issue in college sports. Thanks for visiting and for the work you do!

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Seventy-eight years ago, the Auschwitz death camp was liberated. Today, we honor the memory of the more than six million Jews senselessly murdered during the Holocaust. Never forget and never again.

Supporting School Choice and Educational Freedom

Parents are the primary stakeholders in their children's education and are not "equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism" as some education bureaucrats have claimed. I have long been an advocate for school choice and will continue to work to ensure parents are empowered and each child has the educational opportunity they deserve.

Legislative Action

I cosponsored H.R.319, Rep. Ken Calvert’s Legal Workforce Act, which amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to create mandatory requirements for the use of any electronic employment eligibility verification system.

I cosponsored H.R.311, Rep. Michael Cloud’s Cost Estimates Improvement Act, which requires the cost of servicing the public debt and a list of any federal agencies, programs, and initiatives with fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative goals covered by the legislation to be included in cost estimates.

I cosponsored Rep. Brian Mast’s H.R.297, which requires the military to reinstate individuals (upon their request) who were involuntarily separated from the military solely for not getting the COVID shot. 

I cosponsored Rep. David Joyce’s H.Res.32, which would protect American industries from federal overreach and recently-proposed environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) disclosures rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

I cosponsored H.R.288, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald’s Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2023. This legislation would mitigate the federal overreach and the abuse of power of unelected bureaucrats in federal agencies by returning power to Congress. 

I cosponsored Rep. Scott Fitzgerald’s H.R.287, to ensure local educational agencies applying for certain Federal education funds post the curriculum for elementary and secondary schools online.

I cosponsored Rep. Buddy Carter’s H.R.279, the Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act, to provide conscience protections for pharmacists and prohibit governmental discrimination against health care providers with certain objections to abortion.

I cosponsored Rep. Kat Cammack’s H.R.277, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2023 (REINS Act). This legislation  would ensure that no major rules of the executive branch have force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law by Congress.

I cosponsored Rep. Jay Obernolte’s H.Res.29, the Finding Federal Savings Committee Resolution. This resolution establishes the House Committee on the Elimination of Nonessential Federal Programs to analyze and modify or eliminate nonessential federal government programs. 

I cosponsored Rep. Thomas Massie’s H.R.185, which would end the CDC requirement for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers. 

In the District

Lockheed Martin announced the first successful flight of its F-16 Block 70 aircraft in Greenville this week with test pilots Dwayne “Pro” Opella and Monessa “Siren” Balzhiser. The flight lasted 50 minutes and will be flown by at least five countries in the mid-2020s. 

Greenville-based fantasy costume designer Zan Campbell was featured on the first season on the Very Local app, "The Spark GVL," a series that features residents who have made a national name for themselves. Zan Campbell, a former Naval helicopter pilot, is now the owner of Fell & Fair Productions.  

The University of South Carolina opened two new Palmetto iCarolina Learning Labs in the Laurens and Clinton branches of the County Public Library System. These labs have iMacs, MacBooks, and iPads and provide technological training on how to use them. These learning labs were developed to serve underprivileged communities in South Carolina by providing them with better and faster access to the internet.

It is an honor to serve the Third District of South Carolina. Should you or your family need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact my office directly.