Dear Friend, This Memorial Day weekend, we honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and preserve our liberty.  I also have updates on the 2024 Farm Bill, legislation passed this week to protect your financial privacy, details about NC-07's Congressional Art Competition winner, and more.  Keep reading below for more information!  If you received this newsletter from a friend, and you would like to continue receiving these updates, you can subscribe here or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Representative David Rouzer


May 26, 2024


Dear Friend,



This Memorial Day weekend, we honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and preserve our liberty.  I also have updates on the 2024 Farm Bill, legislation passed this week to protect your financial privacy, details about NC-07's Congressional Art Competition winner, and more.  Keep reading below for more information! 



If you received this newsletter from a friend, and you would like to continue receiving these updates, you can subscribe here or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.



 

Honoring Our Fallen Heroes

 


Every year, on the last Monday in May, our nation pauses to pay tribute to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  Memorial Day is a day to honor and memorialize our fallen heroes for their courageous fight for freedom, liberty, and security.  We will never forget their service and selflessness.  They paid the ultimate price.  


This day also provides an opportunity to thank our veterans who have served as well as our men and women in uniform who are currently serving.  To every veteran across this great land, we thank you.  We are forever in your debt.  May God always bless our troops and the families of our fallen.


Memorial Day




 

This Past Week in DC

 

House Agriculture Committee Passes Farm Bill with North Carolina Priorities Included


North Carolina is blessed to be one of the most agriculturally diverse states in our great country, with the agriculture industry contributing more than $111 billion to the state’s economy and employing 16% of the state’s workforce.  Unfortunately, farm families throughout America have had to weather a pandemic, drastic inflation and interest rate hikes resulting in increased production and labor costs.


To support them, I joined my colleagues on the House Committee on Agriculture in approving H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill.  This legislation will ensure our producers have the safety net necessary to continue to produce the safest, most abundant food and fiber supply in the world.


North Carolina will especially benefit from the Farm Bill because of the steps taken to strengthen the competitiveness of specialty crops, improve access to safe drinking water in rural communities, and the other investments made to bolster our farm safety net, agricultural research, and open new markets abroad.  


Beyond the farmgate, this legislation strengthens rural economies across the country, incentivizes work, and maintains vital nutrition assistance for those who truly need it while enhancing work opportunities so they aren’t trapped on welfare.  Click here to read more about the priorities for North Carolina included in the 2024 Farm Bill!


Protecting Your Financial Privacy


In 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, completed a study known as "Project Hamilton" to research the adoption of a US Central Bank Digital Currency, which is a programmable digital currency issued, regulated, and controlled by a government.


Just as for many across America, this project concerned me as well as many of my colleagues in Congress upon learning of it.  The implementation of a US Central Bank Digital Currency (also known as a CBDC) could easily jeopardize the financial privacy and freedom of all Americans by giving the government the ability to monitor and/or restrict any transaction and any account.


We have already seen the consequences a government-controlled CBDC can have on a country’s citizens.  In China, the Communist Party has implemented a CBDC they use to restrict individual freedom by closely tracking citizens' transactions and then limiting such transactions or punishing them for purchases.


Additionally, the Federal Reserve lacks the authority to issue a CBDC without congressional approval.  Despite these concerns, the Biden Administration, through Executive Order #14067, continues to advocate for CBDC research and development in the United States.


To raise awareness of this issue and prevent this from happening, the House Republicans passed H.R. 1122, theCBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, with my support.  This bill, of which I am a cosponsor, would halt the efforts of unelected bureaucrats from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would strip Americans of their right to financial privacy.


Keeping Non-Citizens and Illegal Aliens from Voting in U.S. Elections


This week, with my support, House Republicans passed H.R. 192 to prohibit non-citizens from voting in Washington, D.C. elections.  By considering this measure, Congress is fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to exercise authority over legislative and public policy matters in the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the federal government.


H.R. 192 is in response to a misguided law passed by the D.C. Council in 2022 to disregard federal law and allow noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in D.C. local elections.  The D.C. bill, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act (D.C. Law 24-0242), also failed to make any exception for foreign nationals or diplomats enabling them to vote in D.C. elections as well.  This means representatives from other countries (including foreign agents working at the embassies of our adversaries such as Russia and China) can vote in D.C. elections, including for President!


H.R. 192 would repeal the D.C. Council’s Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 and prevent individuals who are not United States citizens from voting in elections in our nation's capital.  The American public must be confident the electoral process is carried out fairly and every vote is legitimate.  Otherwise, trust in our sacred institutions will deteriorate completely.



 

NC-07 Congressional Art Competition Winner

 

This week, I proudly announced Morgan Ward, a student at South View High School in Hope Mills, as this year’s winner of North Carolina’s Seventh Congressional District Art Competition!


I'm honored to congratulate Morgan as this year's well-deserved winner.  Her vibrant artwork is a great representation of her talent and will surely catch the eye of every visitor, staffer, and Member of Congress as they pass by it in the U.S. Capitol every day.  Every year, I am reminded of the impressive creativity throughout our district, and I thank each student who participated in this year's competition.


This summer, Morgan will be invited to Washington, DC to view her artwork amongst the others selected from congressional districts all around the country, connect with the other winners, and participate in a celebratory reception honoring this achievement!  Congratulations Morgan!


2024.05.08 Morgan Ward Certificate Presentation

Morgan Ward (left) receiving a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from my Constituent Services Representative, Lisa Myers (right), for winning the 2024 Congressional Art Competition.


Livelihood by Morgan Ward

Ward's artwork, Livelihood, is pictured above.




 

This Week's Good News Story

 

For this week's good news story, I'm highlighting the Methodist University Men's Golf Team who recently won the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship!  According to the NCAA, "Methodist University won the 2024 DIII men's golf championship after edging out Carnegie Mellon in a finish separated by just one stroke. It's the third championship since 2015 for the Monarchs and their first since 2022. Methodist now has a total of 14 championships, all under head coach Steve Conley."  Please join me in congratulating these distinguished student-athletes for this outstanding accomplishment!



 

Closing Thoughts...

 

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them." – Franklin D. Roosevelt


Sincerely,

David Rouzer Signature.
 
Representative David Rouzer
 
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