The following op-ed appeared in the March 24, 2018 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. They say the good news rarely makes the news. It is certainly true that most of the work a congressional office does never makes headlines. Serving in Congress goes beyond casting votes on the House floor, attending committee hearings, or office meetings. For me, representing the 7th District means listening to constituents and seeing how my office can assist. It is the tireless hours staff dedicate to cas...
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The following op-ed appeared in the January 27, 2018 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Too often the American people have been excluded from the process while politicians in Washington vastly expand the federal government, run up huge debts, and accept anemic economic growth as the new normal. As wages remained stagnated for 30 years, I saw the college kids I taught unable to find jobs where they could utilize their God-given gifts and talents and provide a better life for their own childr...
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The following op-ed appeared in the December 27, 2017 edition of the Free Lance-Star. THIS YEAR has seen record-breaking good news for the United States economy. GDP growth has roughly doubled from a year ago, and experts are estimating we will close out the fourth quarter at over 4 percent. Consumer confidence has reached a 17-year high. Household wealth jumped by $1.7 trillion this year, and 1.4 million Americans are no longer relying on food stamps. Unemployment is the lowest it has been in ...
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The following op-ed appeared in the December 23, 2017 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Decades of evidence point to a trend: the inability of our national education programs to fulfill their worthy intentions. The test scores of U.S. students lag behind many advanced industrial nations. Students in Lithuania, Poland, Vietnam, and Canada are among the 39 developed countries that are outscoring U.S. students, according to the international PISA test findings. We are not preparing our kids t...
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The following joint op-ed appeared in the November 30, 2017 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. More than 8 million low-income children in the United States depend on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for health coverage. That includes 66,000 children and 1,100 pregnant women here in Virginia. Under Virginia’s CHIP program, thousands of children have received immunizations, annual checkups, and preventive screenings that detect illnesses like cancer and heart defects before they...
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The following op-ed appeared in the November 25, 2017 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Over and over again I hear the request from friends, neighbors, and colleagues on both sides of the aisle: Why can’t Congress unify and get things done? But this begs the question: What are we unifying around? Unity requires an established set of first principles to back up our policy positions. In other words, unity without any shared common beliefs or principles is impossible. When it comes to unity a...
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The following op-ed appeared in the October 21, 2017 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Big spenders in Washington have run up more than $20 trillion on our nation’s credit card with no plan to pay it back. The debt limit is a legislative tool that gives Congress the opportunity to examine how current policies affect spending, deficits, and debt — and correct course before a crisis hits. However, Congress has gotten into the bad habit of approving debt-limit increases without a single fisca...
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The following column appeared in the Richmond-Times Dispatch on September 23, 2017. Election cycle after election cycle, Republicans made the argument that if we controlled both legislative branches and the White House we could accomplish big-ticket items like Obamacare repeal and tax reform. We would finally balance the budget and bring fiscal sanity to Washington. We would stop governing by deadline-driven crisis where special interests win and American taxpayers foot the bill. Two weeks ago, ...
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The following joint op-ed appeared in the September 19, 2017 edition of the Washington Examiner. Karl Rove's recent column blaming the House Freedom Caucus for Washington dysfunction was wrong and misguided. It is unfortunate that he has chosen to exert this swamp-like influence. Contrary to Rove's piece, the House Freedom Caucus does not exist to obstruct our leadership. Rather, we do our best to listen to our constituents and fight for what they believe in. We are not beholden to our party or ...
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The following op-ed appeared in the August 26, 2017 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Our politics in America are more divided than ever. Frustration levels are high and the dialogue we see on social media and other mediums has too often degraded into name-calling and personal attacks. Where ideological differences exist, it often seems civil discourse has disappeared. To bridge political differences with other members of Congress, I have made developing personal relationships and introduc...
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