President’s Flawed, Burdensome WOTUS Rule Survives Veto Override Despite Bipartisan Opposition

Earlier this month, President Biden bowed to the demands of radical environmentalists at the expense of hard-working Americans by vetoing H.J. Res. 27, a measure I introduced to overturn the Biden Administration’s flawed, burdensome Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. 

A two-thirds majority was needed to pass and override President Biden's veto making it impossible to achieve without the help of a large number of Democrat votes.  Biden's WOTUS rule is one of the most damaging in history, with the potential to devastate production agriculture, derail infrastructure projects and harm our economy.  Because Congress spoke with a loud bipartisan voice against this overreach, however, it should help in the many cases that will come before the courts. 

H.J. Res 27 passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support in March, and a majority of states have halted implementation of the Biden Administration's WOTUS Rule.  We will continue to work to push back against and defang this onerous rule at every available opportunity.

Protecting Women and Girls in Sports

Last week, with my support, the House passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to defend access to a fair playing field for female athletes.  It’s dangerous and unfair to force female athletes to compete against transgender biological males in women’s sports.  Doing so grants biological men access to college scholarship opportunities specifically set aside for women and allows them to compete in women’s sports despite the fact they are much stronger and faster.  If transgender participation in women’s sports is allowed to continue, it will eventually result in effectively eliminating women’s sports. 

In February, I announced Samin Bhan of John T. Hoggard High School and Atiksh Bhan of Wilmington Academy of Arts and Sciences as the winners of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge for North Carolina's 7th Congressional District.

Last week, they stopped by my office to tell me more about their app, named Lookupp, which promotes mental health by encouraging users to look up from their smart phone screen, and have face-to-face interactions with the people they care about.  It was an honor to meet these impressive young students and congratulate them on their ingenuity, hard work, and success.

Supply chain disruptions are impacting every American consumer and business through increased delays, disruptions, and costs.  Last week, I was proud to coordinate the first event hosted by the bipartisan Supply Chain Caucus to identify the wide-range of factors leading to these disruptions and to collaborate on common sense policy solutions to improve the supply chain delivery system. 

I was joined by my co-chairs Congressman Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Congressman Colin Allred (D-TX), and Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-MN) along with key industry stakeholders to discuss the current state of the supply chain and ways policymakers can keep our farmers, businesses, families, and economy moving to alleviate interruptions in the supply chain.

Each of the ideas shared during the roundtable will help improve the ability to deliver goods across the country.  Click here to read more about the event.

For this week's good news story, I'm recognizing three students from Columbus Career and College Academy who recently won first place in a state-level SkillsUSA competition.  According to The News Reporter, "Abril Baza won a first place Level I Masonry award, topping 49 other first-year masonry students from across North Carolina. Israel Bugarin earned the first place Level II award, competing among all students in their second year or higher.  CCCA graduate and current Southeastern Community College student Annayeli Dionisio claimed first place in the Post-secondary Level competition.” 

The conference was the largest showcase of Career and Technical Education in North Carolina with more than 2,100 career and technical education students competing over 120 hands-on trade, technical and leadership contests.  These contests span more than 95 trade areas from construction, automotive, and welding to drafting, public safety, and more.

"Always stand on principle...even if you stand alone." — John Adams