Senator Richard Burr Message


This was a busy week both legislatively and with visitors from North Carolina in Washington. On Wednesday, I was honored to join a group of over one hundred North Carolina veterans of World War Two at the World War Two Memorial on the National Mall. These brave men and women were led into the memorial by a bagpipe processional and were the guests of honor for a wreath ceremony honoring all of the veterans from southeastern North Carolina who fought and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and liberties. To view pictures from this moving event, visit my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/senatorburr
Honor Flight is a very special organization that flies veterans of World War Two to Washington, DC, free of charge to visit the memorial that was built in their honor. We owe these men and women, and all the members of that generation, a debt of gratitude for their service and for the morals and values they instilled in us and exemplify to this day. God bless these veterans and all who have served our nation in uniform.
Yesterday, I introduced a bill along with a group of bipartisan Senators to hold China accountable for undervaluing its currency which has an extremely detrimental effect on American manufacturing jobs and our entire economy. For years, China has manipulated the value of its currency, purposefully undervaluing the Yuan in order to give it an unfair advantage in the global economy.
Between 2001 and 2008, over 2.8 million American jobs were lost due to our trade deficit with China. The trade deficit we have with China represents a dire threat to our economy and has resulted in fewer American exports and the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs, including many in North Carolina. This trade deficit is due, in large part, to China undervaluing its currency which is an issue we must address in order to re-establish our competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Our bill would enact tough consequences for countries that fail to adopt appropriate policies to eliminate currency misalignment and would ensure that tools, such as the U.S. trade laws, may be used to counter the damage done to U.S. manufacturers caused by currency manipulation.
Regular readers of this newsletter are aware that last week I introduced a bill aimed at improving our nation’s education system by giving states, local communities, and school districts the flexibility they need to make decisions that directly affect their students. To read more about that bill, click here. Earlier this week, I went to the Senate floor where I discussed the importance of this bill as well as the role of charter schools in our public education system.
I encourage you to visit my Youtube page to watch these and other videos and let me know what you think. You can visit that page here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorRichardBurr
On a lighter note, I was recently approached by the Washington, DC, publication Roll Call. They were interested in doing a profile piece — on my car. Those of you who have visited me in Washington may have seen me driving around Capitol Hill in that car, a 1974 Volkswagen Thing. My car has become something of a tourist attraction around the Senate, and it’s profile piece appeared in Wednesday’s edition of Roll Call. To read that story, click here. If you ever come up to Washington, be sure to let my office know so we can line up a tour of the U.S. Capitol building and help you with other things to do in our nation’s capitol, and remember to keep an eye out for the Thing.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr