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Dear Friend,

Below is an update on House Democrats’ legislative priorities this week, as well as the latest North Carolina COVID-19 update.

House Democrats’ Misguided Legislative Priorities

Since President Biden took the oath of office, House Democrats have wasted no time in advancing their misguided legislative priorities.  Instead of tackling the most pressing challenges facing our country, like the crisis at our southern border or negotiating to reach a bipartisan infrastructure deal, this week House Democrats:

• Voted to grant D.C. statehood.
• Re-introduced the radical Green New Deal. 
• Voted on the NO BAN Act and the Access to Counsel Act.  Both pieces of legislation will do nothing to fix the crisis at the southern border. 
• Voted down the resolution censuring Rep. Maxine Waters’ for her dangerous comments in Minneapolis. 

The Unconstitutional Push for D.C. Statehood

After passing H.R. 1, attempting to steal a congressional seat in Iowa, and proposing undemocratic legislation to pack the Supreme Court, this week House Democrats furthered their ambition to consolidate power by voting on H.R. 51, the D.C. Admission Act.  This legislation violates the 23rd Amendment and is nothing more than a partisan initiative to add two more Democrats to the U.S. Senate.  The Founding Fathers intended for D.C. to be a city independent of any one state and carefully crafted the Constitution so the seat of the federal government would not be within a state.  The Framers worried that locating the nation’s capital within the jurisdiction of a state would potentially leave it at the mercy of that state.  

Democrats would lead you to believe that their argument is based on simply expanding voting representation for district residents, but several alternatives to statehood exist for D.C. to obtain voting representation in Congress and Democrats aren't interested in any of them.  The truth is, Democrats want D.C. statehood in order to gain two more U.S. Senate seats, eliminate the filibuster, and solidify their control of the Legislative Branch to enact policies like the Green New Deal and pack the Supreme Court. 

Reintroduction of the Job-Killing Green New Deal

This week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reintroduced the job-killing Green New Deal.  The Green New Deal would cause household energy costs to skyrocket, destroy the livelihood of millions of hardworking Americans, and increase global carbon emissions by shipping American jobs to the major polluters of the world, most notably China.

House Democrats Loosen Immigration Restrictions Amidst Border Crisis

Each day, the crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border escalates.  Instead of encouraging President Biden to accept responsibility and reverse his reckless executive orders that caused this national security, health, and humanitarian crisis, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats put two bills on the House Floor this week that will make the crisis worse and encourage more migrants to illegally enter the United States while the global pandemic is still ongoing.  

• The “No BAN Act” bolsters House Democrats’ assault on successful Trump Administration immigration policies and weakens our national security.  This legislation strips the President’s ability to reject migrants if their entry would be detrimental to the national interests and transfers the right to deny entry to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security — unelected cabinet officials who are not directly accountable to the American people.
  
  
• The Access to Counsel Act would negatively impact Custom and Border Protection’s ability to efficiently review millions of travelers and goods brought into the United States and would cost American citizens hundreds of millions of dollars.  Currently, 40 percent of Border Patrol agents are monitoring the migrants and children who have been apprehended.  The Access to Counsel Act would make it more difficult for Border Patrol agents to do their job because this legislation would take even more agents away from patrolling the border.

House Democrats Condone Rep. Maxine Waters' Inflammatory Remarks

Instead of condemning Rep. Maxine Water’s inciting comments made in Minnesota, Speaker Pelosi came to her defense.  Judge Peter Cahill, who was presiding over the Derek Chauvin trial, called her words "abhorrent," "disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function," and suggested that they were not "consistent" with the oath all elected officials swear to the Constitution.

This week, every single House Democrat voted to table the resolution censuring Maxine Waters for her “abhorrent" comments.  If you’ve not read them, here is the transcript of her comments at a rally in Minneapolis prior to the jury’s verdicts:  “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational.  We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”

North Carolina COVID-19 Update

This week, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced a timeline for further easing of some of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.  With stable trends and continued vaccination success, the state expects to lift almost all mandatory social distancing, capacity, and mass gathering restrictions by June 1.  Governor Cooper plans to issue an executive order next week outlining safety restrictions for the month of May. 

Tax Credits Available to Small Employers

The IRS and the Treasury Department recently announced details regarding tax credits available to help small businesses, including providing paid leave for employees receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. Click here for more information.

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), Governor Cooper, and our local officials are coordinating the COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort in North Carolina.  COVID-19 vaccines are available in North Carolina to everyone ages 16 and older.  You can use this tool from the NCDHHS to find a COVID-19 vaccine location near you in North Carolina.  

As of Friday, April 23 a total of 6,775,606 doses have been administered statewide.  Currently, 37.7% of North Carolina’s population has been partially vaccinated and 29.3% of the population has been fully vaccinated.  For more statistics on vaccine distribution, visit the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ Dashboard

For today’s good news story, I want to highlight Rashad and Jarett Gattison, two brothers from Wilmington, North Carolina who are also local Community Boys and Girls Club directors.  “’Having them in here gives them that love and support,’ Rashad Gattison said. ‘I think you learn a whole lot of life lessons through sports and arts like patience, how to deal with pressure through tough times, intuition, and thinking outside the box while seeing all the places you could go. It sparks the interest in your mind to make you want more for your life.’"  Thank you, Rashad and Jarett, for your service to our community and for providing leadership, compassion, and a safe environment to the kids whose lives are positively impacted by your club.

Stay tuned for more information and updates…