February 3, 2023

Friends, 

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

Freedom for Health Care Workers Act Passes House!

I am proud that my bill, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, passed the House this week with a bipartisan vote of 227 to 203 to end Joe Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate on health care workers! Over the past few years, far too many Americans were forced to get this shot against their will to keep their job, while others were fired or forced to walk away from their profession altogether. I began leading the charge against Joe Biden’s authoritarian vaccine mandate in 2021 when the frontline workers who were praised as heroes in the early days of the pandemic were forced to get to the shot or get out, even as we struggled with a nationwide staff shortage in the health care industry.

Imposing the COVID shot on our health care workers is unscientific and un-American, especially as we now know the COVID shot is ineffective at preventing transmission. Joe Biden’s draconian COVID authoritarianism has no place in this country, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to “follow the science” and see this legislation through. While this is an important step, the fight is far from over, and I will continue fighting to end all of Joe Biden’s remaining COVID mandates. 

Click HERE for my remarks on this and HERE and HERE for media coverage. 

Immigration Legislation to Combat Border Crisis

Our nation is being invaded by illegal immigrants due to open border policies and a lack of enforcement, with over 4.5 million illegal border crossings since Joe Biden took office. To combat the southern border crisis, I've introduced six immigration bills to help secure the southern border and enforce our nation's laws. These bills ban Social Security access for illegal immigrants, allow authorities to deport immigrants listed on the national terrorism database, direct funds seized from drug cartels and human traffickers to build a border wall, revoke the passports of members of foreign terrorist groups, punish illegal immigrant visa overstays, and defund crime-ridden sanctuary cities.

Border security is national security, and I am confident my immigration legislative package will begin to take necessary steps to combat the southern border crisis and safeguard our national security. Click HERE for more information on this and HERE for media coverage on this. 

Combatting China with the TELL Act

This week, I re-introduced the TELL Act (Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the US Act) because the Chinese Communist Party has consistently proven to be untrustworthy and a threat to the American people. This legislation gives the Federal Trade Commission the authority to inform Americans if their data has been compromised by China and if it is being stored, transferred, or exposed to the CCP or CCP-controlled companies.

The TELL Act will hold the CCP accountable and send a powerful message that they can no longer exploit our security or harvest American data. This pushes back against China’s use of state-controlled entities to infringe on Americans’ data privacy and takes necessary steps to safeguard data security while hindering the CCP. It is absolutely necessary for us to take steps to ensure Americans’ personal data is not jeopardized by the CCP. Click HERE for more information on this. 

Challenging Joe Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Scheme 

This week, I co-led an amicus brief with Congresswoman Virginia Foxx to challenge the Biden Administration's student loan forgiveness scheme. The Biden Administration does not have the authority to unilaterally "forgive" student loan debt across the board, and attempting to do so is nothing more than a political maneuver. This exploits the original intention of the HEROES Act of 2003, oversteps the authority of Congress, undermines the will of the American people, and would send the country further into a debt spiral. The Court should invalidate the Secretary of Education’s sweeping student loan forgiveness program since it trespasses on Congressional authority and violates the separation of powers. Click HERE for more about this. 

Standing for Freedom of Speech

The Smithsonian, a government institution, trampled on the First Amendment rights of Upstate South Carolina students and chaperones by kicking them out of the National Air and Space Museum for wearing “Rosary PRO-LIFE” beanies. This is a blatant violation of their First Amendment rights, and we’re fighting back against this. Does anyone think this would have happened if the students were wearing BLM or pro-choice hats? To read more about this, click HERE.

Restoring American Energy Dominance

I was honored to fill in as Chair during the Committee on Energy and Commerce's first full Committee hearing of the year to discuss restoring American energy dominance—what an important topic to kick off Committee activity this Congress! Click HERE for my remarks at the Committee hearing on American energy dominance.  

Denouncing Socialism on the House Floor

86 Democrats voted against a Resolution "Denouncing the horrors of socialism," and 14 voted present. 100 Democrat representatives, nearly half their caucus, refused to denounce such an evil system. Socialism has failed every time it has been tried and belongs on the ash heap of history. Click HERE to read the resolution. 

Legislative Action

I cosponsored H.R.392, Rep. Gregory Steube’s Religious Insignia on Dog Tags Act, which would direct the Department of Defense to allow religious emblems to be on commercial dog tags and be lawfully sold. 

I cosponsored H.R.391, Rep. Gregory Steube’s Safe Bases Act, which would give the Department of Defense authority to allow service members to carry a concealed firearm while on any military base.

I cosponsored H.R.384, Rep Kevin Hern’s Protecting Life from Chemical Abortions Act, which puts strict limitations on any abortion drugs and prohibits abortion from being considered a public health crisis.

I cosponsored H.R.383, Rep. Diana Harshbarger’s bill “to nullify the modifications made by the Food and Drug Administration in January 2023 to the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for the abortion pill mifepristone.” This bill would reverse the FDA’s pro-abortion modifications that weakened the safety requirements and evaluation of chemical abortion pills. 

I cosponsored H.R.382, Rep. Brett Guthrie’s Pandemic is Over Act, which passed the House this week, and would terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency if enacted into law.

I cosponsored Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s H.R.372, Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2023, which would prohibit federally funded organizations from performing abortions and from providing funding to any entity that does perform them.

I cosponsored Rep Michelle Fischbach’s H.R.371, Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023, that would cut off federal funding from Planned Parenthood and from any organization affiliated with it.

I cosponsored Rep. Chip Roy’s H.R.344, Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act, which would direct the President to take necessary steps in preventing members or affiliates of the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing any public or private real estate in the United States.

I cosponsored Rep. Chip Roy’s H.R.343, No Taxpayer Funding for the World Health Organization Act, that would prevent the United States from providing any contributions to the World Health Organization.

I cosponsored Rep. Virginia Foxx’s H.R.330, Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from awarding family planning grants to any organization that performs abortions or provides funding to other entities that perform abortions.

In the District

The Battle of Musgrove Mill State Historic Site is offering an opportunity for a guided hike of the battlefield trail this Saturday, February 4. The Ranger-led hike will last around two hours and offers a chance to learn about the importance of the Battle of Musgrove Mill and its importance. 

Cowpens native Susan Jolly donated four of her nine AKC-registered bloodhound puppies to the Laurens County Sheriff's Office. Once the puppies are trained, she hopes they will help officers find missing people. 

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.