Alabama and other states have recently passed new laws restricting or criminalizing abortion to challenge the Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade in the wake of Justice Kavanaugh’s appointment. America’s founders saw a role for federalism in managing disagreements. But recent abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender bathroom controversies raise doubts whether federalism […]

Lottery supporters were left saying “so close …” last week after the latest attempt to establish the game in Alabama collapsed under the weight of competing interests and power plays. It was reminiscent of the failed lotto player, successfully matching his numbers one-by-one until his hopes are dashed when that final digit proves ever elusive. […]

War-time letters throughout our nation’s history can offer us a window into the personal sacrifices of our fighting men and women. Perhaps one of the most famous was by Major Sullivan Ballou of the Second Rhode Island Infantry, written just before the First Battle of Manassas in the Civil War. In it, he talks of […]

Every year, on the last Monday in May, our country takes a collective pause to remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to this nation. Memorial Day isn’t simply a day off work, and it is much more significant than just marking the unofficial start of summer. This special holiday is […]

The Alabama legislature lowered the minimum age for a truck driver’s (CDL) license to 18 for within-state transport (the minimum age remains 21 in interstate trucking) to help alleviate a driver shortage the American Trucking Associations (ATA) says has existed since 2005. Trucking has long been a major employer in Alabama and Pike County. What […]

The cast was about 2 inches too long, and the topwater fly plopped down gently on a chunk of flat rock underneath the blooming mountain laurels on the Tallapoosa River north of Lake Martin. One slight twitch of the fly rod tip and the Ol’ Mr. Wiggly fly slid into the current. The fly didn’t […]

For a bill called the “Protect Alabama Small Business Act,” SB 129 sure would hurt small businesses like mine. I own the FASTSIGNS locations in Mobile and Daphne, and I know firsthand what it takes for small franchise businesses to succeed. This bill simply isn’t it. SB 129 would take private franchise contracts like mine […]

Last week I had the great experience to join my colleagues in a little friendly competition at the Congressional Clays Competition hosted by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. It was great to express our Second Amendment rights with some healthy rivalry, but it reminded me of those in this country who cannot express this right freely. […]

Trillions of pieces of plastic are creating huge garbage patches in the world’s oceans. One company’s efforts to do something about this problem can lead us to rethink some perceived economic wisdom. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that two million tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans each year. Most of this waste […]

Throughout my time in Congress, I have been staunchly and unapologetically pro-life. I will continue to use this platform to fight for life at every stage because unborn babies cannot fight for themselves. Since much of the news in our state and throughout the country lately has focused on recent pro-life efforts, I would like […]

The five-day special legislative session that addressed the increase in the gas tax to fund an Infrastructure Rebuilding Program for the state was a remarkable success. I still marvel at the adroitness, efficiency and expediency in which the governor accomplished this monumental initiative. She called for a special session on the night of her State […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Recently in the halls of Congress, it’s become a much too common practice for some Democrats to spew hatred and anti-Semitism. From Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to Representative Rashida Tlaib to Representative Illhan Omar, their words cut deeply. Their spreading of anti-Semitism is harmful to all Americans. On the world stage, we have […]

The Auburn Tigers’ great basketball season — culminating with a trip to the Final Four — drew much national attention to Auburn and the state of Alabama, as the team touched the hearts of countless fans, old and new, and became the state’s first school to reach that milestone. It’s an excitement Auburn and our […]

They say time heals all wounds, but for me, it’s not so easy. You see, just over a year ago my only child was killed just 26 days before her 18th birthday, and three months to the day before she would have graduated from Thompson High School. My sweet daughter Cici was distracted by her […]

Since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, they have turned a blind eye to infanticide, promoted overregulation of American businesses, and sought socialist measures in the United States, oftentimes at the expense of the taxpayer. They have also made it clear that they stand for open borders by ignoring the ongoing crisis at […]

Several Democratic presidential candidates are proposing raising the top income tax rate to 70 percent. Proponents want tax hikes to stem worsening inequality and adequately fund the Federal government. Opponents contend that such high tax rates will significantly reduce economic growth. Economists are famous for disagreeing, but we agree that if we tax anything, we […]

On May 7th, I returned from a bipartisan female congressional delegation (CODEL) to Afghanistan and Jordan, led by my good friend and colleague Congresswoman Susan Davis from California. This CODEL marked my eighth year traveling to visit with deployed U.S. soldiers and Afghan women around Mother’s Day. During the trip, I had the privilege of […]

HB314 bans abortion for any reason except for the life of the mother. The bill’s purpose is to establish the personhood of the unborn child and to challenge Roe v. Wade, which ruled that the unborn is not a person and does not deserve protection under the U.S. Constitution. HB314 passed the Alabama House of […]

Did you know that it’s against the law to braid hair, wash hair or even plant flowers professionally in Alabama without a license? That’s because occupational licensing, originally meant to protect consumers, has gotten way out of hand. A video recently produced by the Alabama Policy Institute illustrates just how ridiculous it has become. Sure, licensing certain […]

This is National Drinking Water Week, a week in which we highlight the essential role of drinking water in our society and economy. But how did we get here? Municipal water systems are a more recent development than many realize. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, workers and their families moved from rural areas […]

Last week, I was honored to address a group of newly naturalized citizens of the United States. It was an experience that gave me the opportunity to reflect on a question as old as our nation itself: “What does it mean to be an American?” In the United States, we don’t define citizenship as being […]

Economic freedom is the freedom to engage in commerce and use our property as we see fit. Over the past 25 years, economists have developed measures of the economic freedom of nations and states. A new measure of the economic freedom of metropolitan areas (MSAs) allows us to answer which Alabama city has the most […]

Every ten years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a count of every resident in the United States, as mandated by Article I, Section 2 of our Constitution. This action is critically important to understanding current facts and figures about our country’s people, places, and economy. It’s hard to believe that a decade has almost passed, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the humanitarian and national security crisis continues unabated at our southern border, Democrats refuse to acknowledge what is really happening. Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern for them. They even go as far to say it is a manufactured crisis by the Trump administration. Before President Trump took office, those same […]