On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation on Thanksgiving establishing the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday, encouraging every American – at home and abroad – to give pause and give thanks. Thanksgiving had existed before in America. There was the First Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims and Native Americans in […]

With the conclusion of the 2018 midterm elections, I have one question, specifically for the faith-based community: Where is your theology? If you conduct a quick Google search you will find out the word “theology” means “the study of the nature of God and religious belief.” If theology is the study of God, then how does an […]

One hundred years ago, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the world’s largest, deadliest and costliest war to that date drew to an end. The guns that boomed over field and forest in Europe fell silent. World War I was over. Over 116,000 Americans had lost their […]

Did you know that there are an estimated 4.9 million 16 to 24-year-old individuals in this country who are not in school and are also unemployed? This is an unfortunate but true statistic, and roughly 3 million of these young people are living in poverty. During the recent district work period, I had the opportunity […]

Most Americans have to work for a living. We must trade for the goods and services we want to consume, and for most of us, we trade our labor. Conflict over two legal work classifications, employees and independent contractors, illustrate how government’s rules can imperil economic prosperity. People must work for a living, but people […]

The fanfare that accompanied last week’s ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open The Lodge at Gulf State Park, a Hilton Hotel, was unprecedented, a fact affirmed by a pair of experts in the field of lodging and hospitality. With Governor Kay Ivey headlining a long list of dignitaries at the grand opening of the long-awaited facility, […]

The members of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles aren’t doing their jobs. In July, Jimmy O’Neal Spencer was charged with the brutal killings of Martha Dell Reliford, 65, Marie Kitchens Martin, 74, and Martin’s seven-year-old great-grandson, Colton Ryan Lee, in Guntersville. Spencer, a man with a violent rap sheet going back to the early 1980s, had […]

Alabama’s manufacturing industry has always been at the heart of our state’s economy. Even today as Alabama’s economy is growing, the manufacturing sector is projected to have above-average growth according to a recent study from the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business. As we look to […]

As women, mothers and as the supporters of many other young mothers and their children, we have watched with outraged disbelief the absurd attacks that Planned Parenthood is hurling at Amendment Two, Alabama’s pro-life amendment on Tuesday’s ballot. Planned Parenthood and its allies have spent nearly $1.5 million dollars in out-of-state, dark money to protect […]

At a recent church service, the sermon focused on the 12th chapter of Mark’s gospel, which describes Jesus’ answer to a question from a scribe about which Commandment is “first of all.” In it, Jesus replies with the Shema. He says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall […]

There have been several exciting, noteworthy developments for our district, state, and country lately. For starters, now that November is upon us, President Trump has again declared this month the second annual National Veterans and Military Families Month to “salute the brave and dedicated patriots who have worn the uniform of the United States, and… […]

Traditional social media have been criticized recently for purveying fake news. California may form a commission to investigate stemming fake news, while Congressional hearings have implored Facebook and Twitter to act. Is the news market failing? Classical liberals back to John Milton and John Stuart Mill have stressed freedom of speech and expression as crucial […]

Here is a fact that Democrats are desperately trying to keep from the public: Not only do Republicans support providing health insurance coverage for those with preexisting conditions, but Republicans in the House actually passed legislation that did just that. The American Health Care Act included an amendment that Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and I introduced. […]

This past week, I had the pleasure of visiting many fine farmers and foresters throughout Southwest Alabama to learn more about the incredible work they do on a daily basis. This was part of my annual “Ag Matters” agricultural tour, which brings me to farms and forests in each of the six counties that make […]

With Congress out of session for an October district work period, I have taken this valuable time to be on the road in Alabama’s Second District visiting with the people I represent and sharing with them an update from Washington. I believe this time we spend together is truly invaluable. It’s so important for me […]

In addition to selecting our governor, constitutional officers and lawmakers like me, voters in the November 6 general election will have the opportunity to cast their ballots on four proposed statewide amendments to our 1901 Alabama Constitution. Amendment Two on the ballot allows all of us to take a stand in support of the traditional morals and values […]

Rarely in today’s world of instant communication and “the loudest voice wins” politics do we hear positive stories in the news cycle. Now, though, I would like to draw attention to a story that has proven to be good news, but has, for the most part, not received the coverage it deserves: conservative policies are […]

Protecting ratepayers and ensuring that we have a reliable, secure and affordable supply of electricity in Alabama is the lens through which I view energy policy. It was through this lens that I saw the Obama administration’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP) as a significant threat to our state and that I now see President […]

As Hurricane Michael recovery efforts continue, we are gradually learning the full scale of damages portions of our district are facing. The setback for the agriculture industry is severe, to say the least. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, I traveled to the Wiregrass to see firsthand what some of our farmers are experiencing. […]

It’s a day of reckoning as sure as a sunrise.  This week, the City of Opelika sold its city-owned broadband system for pennies on the dollar (or, to be fair, nearly a quarter on the dollar).  With $43 million in debt and about $15 million in cumulative losses, the city (or rather its constituents) has […]

“The sky is falling, the sky is falling,” cried Chicken Little in the ancient European folk tale about a manic chicken who believes the world is coming to an end. The expression “the sky is falling” has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or inaccurate belief that calamity is looming. Twenty-five centuries later, lets cue, […]

There are very few places in the United States that can boast the sort of diverse infrastructure we have here in Alabama. There are 11 interstates, over 3,000 miles of freight rail, 5 commercial airports, and more than 132,000 miles of rivers and stream channels in our state. One of our state’s most important pieces […]

Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall on the United States mainland, ravaged areas of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia on October 10th. While only early estimates are available at this point in time, it has been reported that more than 650,000 homes and businesses across the Southeast lost power, and 60,000 […]

It’s not clear to me how or why it happened, but running for elected office has become a #MyTurn movement. #MyTurn went mainstream with the failed candidacy of Hillary Clinton. She had no policies, no vision for America, no apparent rationale to be elected president – except one: she thought it was her turn. So […]