My motivation to come to Washington comes from my desire to serve the people of the First District every day. I am dedicated to getting real results to create a better Commonwealth and nation. However, the last few months have been completely dominated by a partisan impeachment process – causing legislating and productivity to come to a screeching halt. This week, the Senate voted to acquit President Trump of both articles of impeachment and I view this as a new beginning.
On Tuesday, a hopeful nation listened to President Trump address the country during his third State of the Union. He outlined a strong, visionary path forward for America and called on Congress to continue building on our economic and military successes. He spoke about promoting our working families through workforce development, combatting climate change through forward thinking methods like the Trillion Trees Initiative, investing in our military to ensure we remain the strongest fighting force the world has ever known, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and protecting all Americans with pre-existing conditions. He also committed to bring high-speed internet to the unserved areas of our nation like right here in the First District.
These are also my top priorities and I look forward to working with both my colleagues and the administration to get these things done. As I travel around the First District, I am constantly hearing from folks that they are sick of the partisan stalemate in Washington; I am too. The question is always the same, “will Congress be able to come together to get things done,” and my response is simply this: we have to, the American people expect nothing less. And this isn’t impossible. Just this week, legislation that I introduced with my colleague Elaine Luria (VA-02) to reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Program passed the House. This legislation will authorize funding for a program that is vital for the health of the Bay – a national treasure, and an economic engine of our region. The common ground is there – folks just have to be willing to work together for the greater good.
With the partisan impeachment behind us, my hope is that we will now get back to the real issues – finding a bipartisan solution to lowering the price of prescription drugs, creating an infrastructure package, reforming our broken budget process, and expanding access to broadband in rural areas. America has unlimited potential, and I am working to make each day better than the last. On Tuesday, President Trump announced, “the best is yet to come” – I couldn’t agree more.
