| Video of the Week: |
This week Time Warner Cable News did a report on my most recent efforts to save the 440th Airlift Wing. Click here or on the image above to watch the video. |
| Weekly Update: |
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This week the House unanimously passed my 440th AW Amendment to the NDAA. My amendment is simple and straightforward: it will prohibit deactivation of the 440th Airlift Wing until the Secretary of Defense personally certifies that this proposal will – in no way – impact military readiness for our paratroopers at Fort Bragg. I am demanding accountability – this is something I strongly believe to be a terribly misguided and shortsighted decision. I was glad to have my colleagues rally around me in support of the 440th Airlift Wing as they unanimously passed this amendment. I have and will not stand idly by when I see a decision negatively impacting the brave men and women serving our country, and the Air Force’s proposal is certainly one that commands accountability from our military leaders. Click here to read my full statement on passage of this amendment. Click here to see my speech in support of my 440th Airlift Wing amendment during House floor debate on the NDAA. Also this week, my Grid Innovation Caucus Co-chair, Congressman Jerry McNerney, and I introduced H.R. 2244 and H.R. 2245 – two Electric Grid Modernization provisions to be included in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Architecture of Abundance Energy Package. As co-chair of the Grid Innovation Caucus in Congress, I have made it a priority to modernize and strengthen the electric grid to increase its security and reliability and to protect critical electric infrastructure. Click here for more information about this legislation Another bill we passed in the House this week is the USA Freedom Act. This legislation ends bulk data collection, strengthens protection for civil liberties, increases transparency, prevents government overreach and helps protect national security. Click here for more information about the USA Freedom Act.
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| Voting to Protect Life |
This week I voted in favor of ?#?HR36? – the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Below is the statement I released regarding my vote: “As difficult as this process has been, we have arrived at a better bill. Today’s bill alleviates my initial concern as it demonstrates compassion towards women who are in the midst of a crisis while also creating additional protections for the unborn. As a staunch supporter of prolife matters, this new bill will play a pivotal role in providing a voice for the unborn and empowering women. As a nurse and a mother, I know how important it is that we allow for a woman to seek medical guidance from a member of the health community during this process. This new bill encourages this discussion and provides a woman with an opportunity to have a conversation with doctors or counselors that she wouldn’t have had otherwise, and this may ultimately lead her down a different path— one where she embraces her unborn child and ultimately chooses life.” |
| More on the Fight to Save the 440th |
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Be sure to take a look at this editorial from Monday’s Fayetteville Observer regarding the fight to save the 440th. From the editorial: “Renee Ellmers is as tenacious a politician as we’ve seen in some time as she fights to keep the 440th Airlift Wing on Fort Bragg…No other posts with airborne troops have resident airlift units. But no other posts are Fort Bragg, whose airborne and special-operations soldiers are the core of this nation’s global-response force. Soldiers here must be ready to deploy within hours, not days or weeks. The resident aircraft also are needed to maintain the higher level of training that Bragg troops require. Former Bragg commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson said as much in a rare public comment by a top military leader on the controversy.”
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Snapshots from the Week
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