Weekly Updates

This week Congress was out of session. Instead of working in Washington, I was back in the district in what is known as a district work period. Members of Congress use work periods to go back home and meet with local leaders, small business owners, community organizations and other groups to find out what is going on back home and what issues are important to constituents.  So I used… Read more »

This week was a rather interesting one. My colleagues and I discussed some very important issues and the debates that took place at times were somewhat heated.   Among the issues that took center stage this week was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) extension. FISA is a bill that allows our intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on terrorists operating here in the states… Read more »

Greetings from our Nation's Capital  I thought this week I would give you a report on some events occurring in Africa and the role I have taken in those events as a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.You may have heard that Kenya, who emerged as a democracy in1992, held general elections this past December. President Mwai Kibaki was challenged by two other candidates,… Read more »

Hello from Washington D.C.   What a week it has been. I had the great privilege of attending President Bush's final State of the Union Address on Monday. It was thrilling to be in attendance for this annual speech to the nation. I was pleased to join my fellow legislators tonight to hear directly from the President his agenda for the coming year. The President laid out a number of… Read more »

As I promised last week, I am back this week to report on the rest of my trip to Iraq and the Middle East...  I wrote last week primarily about the meetings I had with some high level government and military officials. This week I'd like to focus on the fine men and women serving in our armed forces and the results they are producing.While in Iraq, I had the chance to meet with our… Read more »

Last week I had the privilege of visiting Iraq and thanking our troops for the amazing job they are doing in defense of our freedom. I saw first hand the tremendous progress we are making in Iraq and got to meet with our troops and commanders on the ground to hear from them what is really going on in that country. My trip began with a long flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan. My… Read more »

This past week I had the pleasure of visiting Riverside Health System and the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD) and meeting with some of the area's finest medical professionals. These facilities and their superb staffs are playing a vital role in the development of new, cutting edge medical technologies and are excellent service providers to locals in need of treatment.… Read more »

Happy New Year to the residents of the 1st District! As we look fondly back on 2007 and begin to look ahead to 2008, I am excited to continue my role as your voice and vote in the U.S. Congress. I can't wait to get to work on January 15th, when the Congress starts back to work. In the meantime, I am out, traveling the District listening to constituents, figuring out what needs to be… Read more »

Greetings from Washington D.C.! What a week it has been! After a whirlwind campaign that lasted only one month, my family and I found ourselves up in our nation's capitol last Thursday where I was sworn in as Virginia's newest Congressman. Congressman Frank Wolf, the Dean of the Virginia Delegation, introduced me to the rest of the Representatives and was very gracious in his comments.… Read more »