{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where party = \"Republican\", state = \"NC\" and year = 2013 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-announces-five-service-academy-nominations", "Pittenger Announces Five Service Academy Nominations", "2013-12-31", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 31, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER ANNOUNCES FIVE SERVICE ACADEMY APPOINTMENTS \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE - As the New Year begins, several students from the Charlotte area are set to start lives of service to their country. \u00a0Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) is honored to announce five young men have received appointments to United States service academies for the coming year.\n\u00a0\n Mr. Connor Calvin, a senior at Charlotte Christian School, will join the Naval Academy. \u00a0\"Every day I want to go to work leading people who seek to craft a better world for their families and liberate those under oppression,\" Connor stated. \u00a0He is the son of Leigh and John Calvin, and lives in Matthews.\n\tMr. Peter Hetzel, who is homeschooled and also attends Grace Academy, will be a cadet at West Point. \u00a0Peter has two brothers in the Naval Academy, and joins them in a tradition of service. \u00a0He is from Weddington, and is the son of Whitney and James Hetzel.\n\tMr. Ethan Mead, a senior at Charlotte Catholic, wanted to join the Air Force Academy. \u00a0\"I want to be able to put all of my efforts into making not only the United States a better place to live,\" Ethan said, \"but the rest of the world as well.\" \u00a0The son of Delaine and Mark Mead, Ethan is from Charlotte.\n\tMr. Mitch Renfrow, a senior at Providence Day School, plans to join the Air Force Academy. \u00a0As a lacrosse goalie and Sunday school teacher, Mitch believes \"the best leader must also be a good follower,\" and hopes to become an Air Force chaplain. \u00a0From Charlotte, he is the son of Georgene and William Renfrow.\n\tMr. Emory Walls, a senior at Providence High School, will join the Air Force Academy. \u00a0Emory has been interested in aviation from a young age, since his grandparents gave him a copy of The Encyclopedia of Modern Aircraft for his second birthday. \u00a0He is the son of Alison and George Walls, and is from Matthews.\n \"By serving a cause greater than their own self-interests, each of these young Americans are embarking on an inspiring course which will make America proud,\" Congressman Pittenger commented. \u00a0\"The Ninth District is blessed with many talented young individuals, and their willingness to step forward to answer freedom's call reflects their sense of duty, devotion, and resolve.\"\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger has personally called all five appointees to congratulate them on this accomplishment. \u00a0The five appointees are a great start to the appointment process in the two weeks since Congressman Pittenger's office sent nominations to the service academies.\n\u00a0\nTo date, there have been five appointments for 2014, joining 14 appointments for 2013.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140228094446/http://meadows.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=490", "Meadows Introduces Legislation Authorizing Park Service Payments to Swain County", "2013-12-23", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Mark Meadows", "M001187", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Location\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tImage\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMap URL\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWashington D.C. Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWashington D.C. Office\n\t\t\t\t1516 Longworth HOB\n\t\t\t\tWashington, DC 20515\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (202) 225-6401\n\t\t\t\tFax: (202) 226-6422\n\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/bmdwE\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Office\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Sheriff's Office\n\t\t\t\t300 Shultz Circle\n\t\t\t\tNewland, NC 28657\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/aWlVv\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBuncombe County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBuncombe County Office\n\t\t\t\tSkyland Fire Department\n\t\t\t\t9 Miller Road\n\t\t\t\tAsheville, NC 28776\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/E92EQ\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBurke County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBurke County Office\n\t\t\t\tMorganton City Hall\n\t\t\t\t305 East Union Street, Suite A100\n\t\t\t\tMorganton, NC 28655\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/b4EFo\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCaldwell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tCaldwell County Office\n\t\t\t\t\tHealth and Human Services Bldg.\n\t\t\t\t\t2345 Morganton Blvd.\n\t\t\t\t\tLenoir, NC 28645\n\t\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 426-8701\n\t\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/15e5n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Office\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t107 Peachtree Street\n\t\t\t\tMurphy, NC 28906\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 835-4959\n\t\t\t\t3rd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:00 PM - 4:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/JT3GE\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tClay County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tClay County Office\n\t\t\t\tClay County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t261 Courthouse Drive\n\t\t\t\tPaul Jordan Conference Room\n\t\t\t\tHayesville, NC 28904\n\t\t\t\t3rd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 11:30 AM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/Yzu2l\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Office\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t12 N. Main Street\n\t\t\t\tRobbinsville, NC 28771\n\t\t\t\t2nd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/Cu7ux\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHaywood County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHaywood County Office\n\t\t\t\t285 N. Main Street, Suite 1300\n\t\t\t\tWaynesville, NC 28786\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 452-6022\n\t\t\t\tHours: M, W, Th, F, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/qUVJ1\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHenderson County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHenderson\u00a0County\u00a0Office\n\t\t\t\t200 N. Grove Street, Suite 90\n\t\t\t\tHendersonville, NC 28792\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 693-5660\n\t\t\t\tFax: (828) 693-5603\n\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/6d5aI\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tJackson County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tJackson County Office\n\t\t\t\tSouthwestern Commission Building\n\t\t\t\t125 Bonnie Lane\n\t\t\t\tSylva, NC 28779\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:30 PM - 4:30 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/n6Zcr\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Office\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t5 W. Main Street, Room 332\n\t\t\t\tFranklin, NC 28734\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/E4AMg\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Office\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t1 N. Main Street\n\t\t\t\tGrand Jury Room\n\t\t\t\tMarshall, NC 28753\n\t\t\t\t1st Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 1:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/AKPTF\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMitchell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMitchell County Office\n\t\t\t\t11 Crystal Street\n\t\t\t\tSpruce Pine, NC 28777\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 765-0573\n\t\t\t\tHours: M, T, W, F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/q40Fr\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Office\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Health Department\n\t\t\t\t408 Spaulding Road\n\t\t\t\tMarion, NC 28752\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/WmwOm\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tQualla Boundary in Cherokee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tQualla Boundary in Cherokee\n\t\t\t\tGinger Welch Building\n\t\t\t\t810 Acquoni Road\n\t\t\t\tCherokee, NC 28719\n\t\t\t\tPhone: 828-554-6714\n\t\t\t\t4th Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t10:00 AM \u2013 3:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/d9G2R\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Office\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Administration Building\n\t\t\t\t101 Mitchell Street\n\t\t\t\tBryson City, NC 28713\n\t\t\t\t2nd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:30 PM \u2013 4:30 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/iIAz3\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTransylvania County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTransylvania County Office\n\t\t\t\tCommunity Services Building\n\t\t\t\tSecond Floor, Conference Room A\n\t\t\t\t98 East Morgan Street\n\t\t\t\tBrevard, NC 28712\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/tYAVt\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tYancey County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tYancey County Office\n\t\t\t\tBurnsville Town Hall\n\t\t\t\t2 Town Square\n\t\t\t\tDownstairs Board Room\n\t\t\t\tBurnsville, NC 28714\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/vUgIK", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-warns-of-nuclear-mideast", "Pittenger warns of nuclear Mideast", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 20, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER TRAVELS TO MIDEAST TO DISCUSS IRANIAN NUCLEAR PACT WITH WORLD LEADERS \n\u00a0\nOSLO \u2013 This week, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) traveled to the Mideast and Europe, meeting with world leaders and international experts to learn more about unintended consequences of the nuclear agreement with Iran. \u00a0Congressman Pittenger serves as Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.\n\u00a0\nAfter meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the International Atomic Energy Agency, he released this statement.\n\u00a0\n\u201cPresident Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are pursuing a nuclear arms agreement with Iran, a provocative nation with a substantial history of supporting Islamist terrorists. \u00a0Have they fully considered the unintended consequences of the proposal?\n\u00a0\n\u201cThis week I traveled with a Congressional delegation to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign and Defense Ministers, who outlined for me the certain, disastrous outcome that will foreshadow even the best of compliance by Iran. \u00a0The current agreement includes no restrictions on Iran\u2019s nuclear research and development \u00a0 program and no requirements to destroy centrifuges or reduce their current levels of plutonium and uranium.\n\u00a0\n\u201cWe also traveled to Vienna to meet with the International Atomic Energy Commission, which confirmed that under the interim agreement, inspectors are only allowed to visit 17 approved sites in Iran and have no access to the rest of the country and whatever else may be hidden. \u00a0This lack of adequate agreed access voids any credible verification of compliance.\n\u00a0\n\u201cFor Iran\u2019s neighbors and the world, the agreement includes no reasonable assurance that Iran won\u2019t have the ability to continue developing nuclear weapons. \u00a0Mr. Netanyahu shared that other Mideast nations, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, have already stated their commitment to acquiring nuclear warheads to defend against Iran, which will lead to nuclear proliferation in the world\u2019s most volatile region.\n\u00a0\n\u201cWhile much of the world has an innate respect for human life, Islamist extremists are willing to destroy themselves (and innocent men, women, and children) to annihilate the \u2018Great Satan\u2019 or the \u2018rabid dog\u2019 of Israel. \u00a0Civilization may well hang in the balance by the well-intentioned but deathly miscalculated diplomatic efforts of President Obama and Secretary Kerry. \u00a0Nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would be the ultimate \u2018unintended consequence.\u2019\n\u00a0\n\u201cIsrael has faced the threat of annihilation many times. \u00a0During our meeting, we encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to call his nation back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who throughout ancient history delivered Israel from adversaries as they turned back to God. \u00a0Mr. Netanyahu welcomed the suggestion and shared that he and his son, the National Bible Champion, read the Bible together every Saturday.\n\u00a0\n\u201cWe live in a very unique and sobering moment of history. \u00a0President Obama and Secretary Kerry must listen to our Mideast allies, develop a clear recognition of the destructive forces of evil committed to destroy us, and carefully consider the unintended consequences of pacifying Iran while ignoring the very real threat of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.\u201d\n\u00a0\nIn the past week, Congressman Pittenger has traveled to Libya to meet with the President and Prime Minister, to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to Vienna to meet with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to Oslo to meet with the Foreign Minister and counter-terrorism agencies.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301132429/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=478", "Hudson Applauds Introduction of TSA Reform Bill in U.S. Senate", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tDecember 20, 2013\n\t\n\n\tHudson Applauds Introduction of TSA Reform Bill in U.S. Senate\n\n\tWASHINGTON-Today U.S. Representative Richard Hudson released the following statement following the announcement that U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced companion legislation to H.R. 2719, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, a bill authored by Rep. Hudson that unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives, 416 \u2013 0 earlier this month.\n\n\t\u201cSenator Ayotte has continually proven herself to be a leader on issues affecting aviation security as a member of both the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. \u00a0She is a vocal proponent of fiscally responsible, commonsense solutions that ensure the security of our homeland and responsible stewardship of our tax dollars. This bipartisan, bicameral bill introduces transparency for TSA spending decisions while keeping travelers safe and protecting taxpayer dollars. I am proud of the tremendous support this bill received in the House, and I look forward to working with Senator Ayotte and her colleagues to bring it to the Senate floor. \u201d\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364983", "Rep. Foxx Tries to Balance Needy Students, Tax Dollars in Education Debate", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Foxx Tries to Balance Needy Students, Tax Dollars in Education DebateBy: Renee Schoof \n    \n        \n            \n        \n    \n  \n\u00a0WASHINGTON \u2014 Rep. Virginia Foxx says she can empathize with struggling low-income students. She used to be one.\n  \nFoxx describes herself as \u201csomebody who was extraordinarily poor and had a tough time, really tough time, getting my degree.\u201d As an undergraduate, she got married, worked full-time, had a baby, and went to school part-time. She typed other students\u2019 papers at night for 35 cents a page. It took seven years to graduate. As one of the most conservative members of Congress, known for provocative and polarizing commentary, Foxx said she feels she must balance her belief in less government and lower taxes with a desire to channel federal financial aid money to students who need help. Now as Congress prepares to reauthorize the most important law about the federal government\u2019s role in higher education, the Republican lawmaker from Banner Elk, N.C., is playing a major role. In preparation for congressional debates over higher education policy, Foxx has chaired a series of hearings about college affordability as chairwoman of the higher education subcommittee of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. \u201cFrom the beginning of my life I\u2019ve known that education was the key to get out of poverty,\u201d she said in an interview earlier this month, just before the House recessed for the holidays. \u201cAnd so I\u2019ve always been dedicated to helping people like that.\u201d Foxx advised many low-income students while she was an administrator and sociology professor at Appalachian State University in Boone and as president of Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine. \u201cOnce a week some woman \u2013 and it was always a woman \u2013 some woman would come in my office and say to me, \u2018You don\u2019t realize how this has changed my life,\u2019\u201d Foxx said, briefly tearing up. \u201cAnd it would often be women who had dropped out of high school to get married and have a family and then in most cases they lost their jobs and they\u2019d gone back to school.\u201d Foxx was in charge of three programs for disadvantaged students at Appalachian State: Breakthrough, for African-Americans; Upward Bound, for high school students; and Special Services, for college students. The programs helped low-income students who were the first in their families to go to college, but who didn\u2019t meet regular admissions requirements. The early version of the Pell grant, which is now the centerpiece of federal student aid, began when she worked there. Today about 9 million students receive Pell grants, at a cost of about $30 billion annually. The most recent of the affordability hearings, on Dec. 3, was about Pell grants. \u201cI was literally on the front lines with these programs,\u2019\u2019 Foxx said. \u201cSo I know how important Pell is to many, many students. I think it\u2019s appropriate that we focus hardworking taxpayer money\u2026on students who need financial aid and who want to improve themselves and will ultimately \u2013 hopefully \u2013 pay back to the culture through their efforts. But I do think we need more accountability in that area\u201d. What\u2019s needed, she said, is better allocation of the aid and better counseling for students. Molly Corbett Broad, a spokeswoman for higher education as president of the American Council on Education, knows Foxx well from the days when Broad was president of the University of North Carolina and Foxx was a state senator. \u201cWe all see her endeavoring to strike the right balance that fits with her, not only her history and personal experience, but also those in the community where she grew up,\u201d Broad said. \u201cShe tries very hard to balance that knowledge with her own personal political ideology.\u201d Foxx, 70, was born in the Little Italy neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City, but her family moved to the Linville Falls community near the Blue Ridge Parkway when she was 6. Her father was a hairdresser and construction worker, her mother a restaurant cook and hotel maid. The family grew most of their own food. She attended Lees-McRae College, then a junior college, and Appalachian State before she got married during her junior year. Foxx transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned her degree. Her husband, Tom, went to UNC-Chapel Hill in 1961, and they were young and poor together, she said. \u201cHis parents were totally illiterate,\u201d she said. \u201cHis father died when he was 10.\u201d As a student, Foxx worked as a secretary, graded papers, waited tables and was a weaver at the Crossnore Weaving Room, in Crossnore, N.C., where she\u2019d learned traditional weaving at age 12. She went on to receive a master\u2019s degree in teaching and sociology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a doctorate in education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. First elected to Congress in 2004 from North Carolina\u2019s 5th District, Foxx has a rating from the American Conservative Union of 92 percent. The latest annual lawmaking rankings by the National Journal, a nonpartisan monthly magazine that covers government and politics, says that out of 435 members of the House, only 61 have a more conservative voting record than Foxx. The congresswoman has also been known for making divisive comments. In 2009, speaking on the House floor, she said \u201cwe have more to fear\u201d from the health care bill passing \u201cthan we do from any terrorist right now in any country.\u201d Foxx also caused an uproar that same year when she said that Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who in 1998 was tortured, tied to a fence and left to die, was killed in a robbery and not because he was gay. She called the account a \u201choax,\u201d but law enforcement authorities at the time said that Shepard\u2019s assailants had lured him from a bar pretending to be gay. Shepard\u2019s mother was in the House gallery in 2009 when Foxx made her remarks. The congresswoman subsequently apologized. A hate crimes act named for Shepard became law that year. The education hearings, however, haven\u2019t been known for controversy. Foxx has made her views known, but opened the floor to a wide array of other opinions as well. In the first hearing that she chaired in the House college affordability series, Foxx said that faced with the budget deficit and national debt, \u201ccontinuing to increase federal subsidies to supplement the growing cost of education is simply unsustainable.\u201d Topics of the 12 hearings so far have included student loans, Pell grants, and ways colleges have found to reduce costs, such as tests students can take to get credit for past learning in school or on a job. Work on the new higher education law hasn\u2019t started, and it\u2019s too early to say what specific changes may be ahead for Pell grants. Foxx said that Pell grants were a good use of money for \u201cstudents who need financial aid and who want to improve themselves and will ultimately, hopefully, pay back to the culture through their efforts.\u201d But she added that she also wanted to see better procedures in how the funds are allocated and better counseling for students. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa of Texas, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, said Democrats liked the hearings and found them balanced. \u201cWe hope that our Republican colleagues will join us in a shared commitment to passing a bipartisan Higher Education Act reauthorization that keeps students at the center of the conversation and makes a high-quality education more affordable and accessible for all,\u201d he said. \u201cThere has always been a significant bipartisan involvement\u201d in the Higher Education Act\u2019s reauthorization, Broad said. \u201cSo far that\u2019s exactly what we have seen under the leadership of Chairwoman Foxx.\u201d Foxx also has \u201cstood up to resisting unnecessary regulations, and in that sense she\u2019s been a champion for us,\u201d she added. Carrie Warick, director of partnerships and policy at the National College Access Network, an advocacy group, said the hearings had allowed all viewpoints to be aired on how to address college affordability. She said her group hopes the federal government changes rules to allow better data to be kept on Pell grant recipients. Today the government doesn\u2019t track them systematically. Foxx had a hand in that. In 2008, when the Higher Education Act was last revised, her amendment banned the Department of Education from setting up the kind of student recordkeeping that would allow the government to build a database of Pell grant recipients, out of concerns for student privacy, Warick said. She said one of her group\u2019s biggest frustrations was to hear calls for greater efficiency with the Pell program, since it\u2019s impossible to know how efficient it is without the data. Differences aside, Foxx said she\u2019s encouraged by the hearings. \u201cI think it\u2019s been exciting to see some of the innovations that are going on in higher education that will make education more affordable,\u201d she said.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-calls-repeal-cuts-military-retiree-benefits", "JONES CALLS FOR REPEAL OF CUTS TO MILITARY RETIREE BENEFITS", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) cosponsored three measures that would restore military retiree benefits that were reduced by the recently passed \"Ryan-Murray\" Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Two of the bills supported by Congressman Jones would repeal the benefit cuts entirely (H.R. 3790 and H.R. 3788), with one of the bills offsetting the cost by closing a tax loophole for illegal immigrants.\u00a0 The third piece of legislation (H.R. 3789) would exempt medically retired service members and surviving spouses from the\u00a0Ryan-Murray budget's\u00a0reduction to military retirees\u2019 annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).\n\u201cAfter all of the sacrifices that our service members and their families have made for us, it is egregious that we would consider cutting the retiree benefits they have rightfully earned through years of selfless service to our country,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cWe cannot break faith with our men and women in uniform in this manner.\u201d\nBecause of the cuts to military retiree benefits, among many other reasons, Congressman Jones voted against the Bipartisan Budget Act when it was considered in the House last week.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140228094650/http://meadows.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=483", "Meadows Congratulates 11th District Military Academy Nominees", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Mark Meadows", "M001187", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Hendersonville, N.C. \u2013 Representative Mark Meadows (NC-11) released the following statement today after hosting a reception at his Hendersonville office for the 11th District military academy nominees and their families.\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\t\u201cIt is a true honor to nominate 10 students from Western North Carolina for admission to our highly-competitive service academies,\" Meadows said. \"These impressive young people went through a rigorous selection process, demonstrating their leadership in the classroom, extracurricular activities and community involvement. Each nominee would represent the 11th District with distinction, and I commend their strong desire to serve our country.\u201d\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tEvery Member of Congress has the privilege of nominating a limited number of constituents to the United States Service Academies. The honor of attending a service academy comes with a commitment to serve in the military for a minimum of five years upon graduation.\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tNominees:\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tUnited States Military Academy at West Point\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tKyle Church, Weaverville \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\n\tNorth Buncombe High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tT.J. Stewart, Morganton\n\n\tRobert L. Patton High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tUnited States Air Force Academy\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tLogan Mark Lueck, Leicester\n\n\tA.C. Reynolds High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tMichael Silvia, Hendersonville \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\n\tHendersonville High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tJoseph Woody, Hayesville\n\n\tHayesville High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tUnited States Naval Academy\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tMadison Cawthorn, Flat Rock\n\n\tHomeschool\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tTucker Epperson, Saluda\n\n\tHomeschool\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tGregory Lloyd, on active duty in the Pacific \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\n\n\tMurphy High School\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tNathan Rennard, Asheville\n\n\tHomeschool\u00a0\n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\tAbbey Taylor, Nebo\n\n\tMcDowell High School", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=80abfdd9-9c79-f9ec-1506-324ed64ea4e0", "Support for ABLE Act Continues to Grow", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.19.13\n\t\t\t Support for ABLE Act Continues to Grow \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, support continued to grow for the Achieving a Better Life\r\nExperience Act (ABLE Act - S. 313/H.R. 647), introduced by U.S. Senators Bob\r\nCasey (D-PA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), bringing\r\nthe total number of co-sponsors in the Senate to 60 members. Introduced\r\nin the 113th Congress in February, this bill would provide an\r\nimproved quality of life for individuals with disabilities through tax-free\r\nsavings accounts.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"The\r\nABLE Act is a commonsense piece of legislation that allows families of disabled\r\nchildren to have the same access to tax preferred savings accounts as the\r\nparents of college-bound kids,\" Senator Burr said. \"I am very\r\nexcited that we now have 60 Senators on board and can hopefully expect swift\r\nmovement on the Senate floor to send this bill to the President.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"This\r\nis a significant step forward for the ABLE Act and for the families of children\r\nwith disabilities,\" Senator Casey said. \"Now that this bill has 60\r\ncosponsors, I'm urging the Senate to take action on it in the new year. The\r\nfact that only 6 bills in all of Congress have this many cosponsors is a sign\r\nof the overwhelming support for this effort to make a major difference in the\r\nlives of these families.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe\r\nlegislation would amend Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Service Code to\r\n1986 to allow use of tax-free savings accounts for individuals with\r\ndisabilities. The bill, first introduced in 2006, would ease financial strains\r\nfaced by individuals with disabilities by making tax-free savings accounts\r\navailable to cover qualified expenses such as education, housing, medical, and\r\ntransportation. The bill would supplement, but not supplant, benefits provided\r\nthrough private insurance, the Medicaid program, the beneficiary's employment,\r\nand other sources.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://foxx.house.gov/blog/?postid=365197", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx Tours Food Lion Distribution Center in Salisbury", "2013-12-18", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx Tours Food Lion Distribution Center in Salisbury\r\n  \r\n    \n    \n        \n            \n        \n    \nOn Dec. 17 Congresswoman Virginia Foxx visited the Food Lion headquarters facility in Salisbury for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified distribution center.  On a tour led by Distribution Center Manager Tim Overcash, Congresswoman Foxx learned more about the complex path groceries travel on their way to Food Lion stores.\u00a0From Food Lion:\u00a0\"The group began on the salvage dock, where nearly every piece of waste, including plastic bags, cardboard and even splinters of wood from pallets is recycled. The tour then made its way through various areas of the 732,000 square foot facility, including the sub-zero refrigerators, which sit at a cool -5 degrees, and the banana ripening area. \"Quality Assurance Specialist 'Banana' Bob Smith walked the Congresswoman through the ripening process, even breaking a truly green banana in half for her to experience the smell, which, if you\u2019ve not experienced it, is just like a cucumber. \"The visit was part of a series of visits with area businesses Congresswoman Foxx is undertaking...\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364976", "In the Worst Congress Ever, These Few Lawmakers Actually Did Something", "2013-12-18", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In the Worst Congress Ever, These Few Lawmakers Actually Did SomethingBy: Samantha Lachman The 113th Congress is on track to pass just 55 bills in 2013 -- a record low level of productivity. But despite the historic levels of inter-party polarization, some legislators managed to work through the gridlock. We took a look -- with data from Find the Best -- at a handful of members of Congress who succeeded in shepherding bills past the purgatory of \u201creferred to committee.\u201d Each member's efficiency percentage was calculated by dividing the number of bills sponsored by the member that were passed out of committee by the total number of bills he or she sponsored. Efficiency in the Senate | FindTheBest Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.): 76 percent efficiency One example: A bill to modify the requirements under the STOCK Act regarding online access to certain financial disclosure statements and related forms. The one bill sponsored by Reid that was signed into law by President Barack Obama this year reverses some of the STOCK Act-created transparency designed to combat insider trading by members of Congress. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.): 43 percent efficiency One example: Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. In January, Obama signed a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, notwithstanding opposition from House members to expanded protections for Native Americans, undocumented immigrants and LGBT individuals. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.): 37 percent efficiency One example: Women Veterans and Other Health Care Improvements Act. Murray\u2019s bill would give the Department of Veterans Affairs the ability to help ill or injured veterans and their spouses with fertility counseling and adoption. The bill has been reported out by the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee but hasn\u2019t received a floor vote. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.): 34 percent efficiency One example: PEPFAR Stewardship/Oversight Act. Menendez\u2019s legislation, which has been signed by the president, expands oversight over the use of funds to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): 32 percent efficiency Two examples: Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. This comprehensive immigration reform bill passed the Senate. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated, however, that the bill would not be taken up in the House. Fix Gun Checks Act. This bill, which got out of committee, would ensure that all individuals banned from buying a firearm are listed in a national criminal background check system and would require a background check for every firearm sale, including those at gun shows. Given skittishness over the concept of a \u201cnational registry\u201d and the National Rifle Association's fierce opposition, prospects don\u2019t look good for the bill. On the other end of the legislative effectiveness spectrum \u2026 Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) Chambliss introduced just one bill this year -- the Fair Tax Act -- which would repeal the federal income tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service. It did not get past the committee stage in the Senate (surprise!). Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) Vitter had the distinction of sponsoring the most bills in the Senate this year: 67. The only bill that Congress agreed to was a resolution \u201crecognizing the goals of Catholic Schools Week and honoring the valuable contributions of Catholic schools in the United States.\u201d Way to go! Efficiency in the House | FindTheBest Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas): 85 percent efficiency One example: Deficit Reduction and Economic Growth Working Group Act. Sessions\u2019 bill, which passed the House, would create a working group composed of members from both chambers of Congress to recommend ways to reduce the deficit and promote economic growth. The Senate has not taken it up. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.): 85 percent efficiency One example: Responsible Helium Administration and Stewardship Act. In an era of do-almost-nothing Congresses, maybe the most the legislative body can be expected to do is pass some gas. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.): 79 percent efficiency One example: SKILLS Act. Foxx\u2019s bill, which the House passed, would reform federal work force development programs. Since this is the GOP-controlled House, it would also eliminate labor representatives from state work force boards. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah): 71 percent efficiency One example: Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act. There appears to be a beef over President Obama's \u201cunilaterally\u201d creating national monuments. The struggle continues. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.): 57 percent efficiency One example: A bill to permit official photographs of the House to be taken while the House is in actual session on a date designated by the speaker. Although Congress hasn\u2019t managed to extend long-term unemployment benefits, it has made sure that citizens won\u2019t go without an equally vital resource: pictures of their representatives.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-defends-enc-tricare-service-centers", "JONES DEFENDS ENC TRICARE SERVICE CENTERS", "2013-12-18", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) spoke out in defense of Eastern North Carolina\u2019s Tricare Service Centers (TSCs) after the Obama administration announced in November that all domestic walk-in TSCs will be closed as a cost-saving measure. \u00a0In a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson, Congressman Jones explained that the TSCs at both Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point have seen above average usage rates in the last two years and therefore should not be closed along with the low usage rate centers.\u00a0 The Obama administration intends to close the TSCs in the spring of 2014.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cThe TSCs at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point provide a variety of critical services for our military personnel, from assistance with medical claims to troubleshooting enrollment issues,\u201d said Congressman Jones. \u00a0\u201cThese valuable resources must remain available to the many service members, veterans, and families who call Eastern North Carolina home.\u201d\nThe text of Congressman Jones' letter is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=0a364cf3-ea62-86cd-ed38-f4eb089c8141", "Senator Burr To Oppose Cloture on the Ryan-Murray Budget Agreement", "2013-12-17", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.17.13\n\t\t\t Senator Burr To Oppose Cloture on the Ryan-Murray Budget Agreement \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\r\n \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) issued the\r\nfollowing statement regarding his intention to oppose cloture on the\r\nRyan-Murray budget agreement.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"While I applaud Chairman Ryan's efforts to prevent\r\nanother government shutdown, I have decided upon further review to oppose\r\nallowing this bill to move forward. After reviewing in detail the significant\r\nchanges made to the Senate budget rules that would allow Senate Democrats to\r\ncircumvent the 60-vote threshold in order to pass a tax increase or increase\r\nspending, I have determined I cannot support cloture on the agreement.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=144820d5-96e2-8bc4-107c-5e26cc4f2cb7", "Burr Cuts Wasteful Spending, Improves Efficiency by Combining Dept. of Labor and Commerce", "2013-12-17", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.17.13\n\t\t\t Burr Cuts Wasteful Spending, Improves Efficiency by Combining Dept. of Labor and Commerce \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) introduced a bill that would consolidate the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce into a single, new agency called the Department of Commerce and the Workforce (DOCW).  The bill would provide cost savings by combining duplicative functions and improve the quality of our country's economic policies by ensuring a consistent, coordinated approach.\r\n \r\n\"Duplicative programs cost the federal government staggering amounts of money every year,\" Sen. Burr said.  \"The president has proposed merging and consolidating federal agencies several times over his two terms, and this bill advances that proposal.  Combining offices with similar functions within these two agencies is a common-sense approach that reduces wasteful spending and would streamline our approach to comprehensive economic policy.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Congress should take every opportunity to consolidate and restrict the power of big government and return control to the individual states,\" said Sen. Inhofe. \"Commerce and Labor began as one agency but has overgrown into two duplicative Departments. I am honored to sponsor this legislation with Sen. Burr that will save the taxpayers money, tame our growing government, and increase the efficiency of its' essential services.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"In Indiana, Hoosiers have worked hard to save taxpayer dollars by streamlining government to make it leaner and more effective,\" said Sen. Coats. \"This bill is one way to apply the Indiana model in Washington. By consolidating agencies, we can eliminate duplicative and wasteful spending and take a step toward fiscal responsibility.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nBy increasing the coordination of federal offices, the newly merged DOCW will be better positioned to promote economic growth and workforce protections.  The Department would preserve the independent functions of both agencies and would not make changes to specific policy.  In addition to combining Commerce and Labor programs and offices with substantially similar missions, the bill would combine the support and administrative offices of the two agencies and would eliminate wasteful and duplicative programs, according to recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB).\r\n\r\n\r\n  \r\nThe bill will also implement the Bowles-Simpson Commission's recommendation to place the Small Business Administration (SBA) with the Department of Commerce in the new consolidated agency and will transfer the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from Commerce to the Department of the Interior.\r\n\r\n\r\nTo read more about the bill, click here.\r\n\r\n\r\nCurrent co-sponsors of the legislation are Senators Dan\r\nCoats (R- Indiana) and James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma). \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-votes-against-ryan-murray-budget-deal", "JONES VOTES AGAINST RYAN-MURRAY BUDGET DEAL", "2013-12-13", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) announced his opposition to the \u201cRyan-Murray\u201d Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (H. J. Res. 59) that purports to trim the deficit by a small margin over the next 10 years but enacts immediate increases in federal spending. \u00a0He issued the following statement regarding his vote against the bill:\n\u201cAmericans are fed up with the tired Washington game of spending more today while promising cuts in the distant future, most of which never materialize,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cSadly, this budget deal is just more of the same, and it will increase federal spending by $63 billion over the next two years. \u00a0At a time when the national debt is an astonishing $17 trillion, our focus should be on eliminating wasteful federal spending now \u2013 particularly overseas spending in countries such as Afghanistan, which will continue unabated under the terms of this bill. \u00a0The bill also breaks faith with our retired service members by cutting the retiree benefits they have rightfully earned through their years of selfless service to our country.\u00a0 Furthermore, the bill imposes an increased \u2018fee\u2019 \u2013 otherwise known as a tax \u2013 on every airline passenger in the country.\u00a0 Given these facts, I cannot in good conscience support this legislation.\u201d\nThe \u201cRyan-Murray\u201d Bipartisan Budget Act has garnered opposition from a wide variety of conservative organizations, including Heritage Action for America, Americans for Prosperity, the Family Research Council, RedState, Tea Party Patriots, FreedomWorks, the American Conservative Union, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Limited Government, The Madison Project, and The Club for Growth.\u00a0 Also opposed to the deal is The Military Coalition, an alliance of uniformed services and veterans associations.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-how-is-preventing-terror-attack-not-essential-video", "Pittenger:  How is preventing terror attack "not essential?" (VIDEO)", "2013-12-13", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 13, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: \u00a0HOW IS PREVENTING A TERROR ATTACK ON THE U.S. \u201cNOT ESSENTIAL?\u201d \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Top political appointees were deemed \u201cessential\u201d and continued work at the U.S. Treasury Department during October\u2019s partial government shutdown, while staff responsible for disrupting terror network financing was deemed \u201cnon-essential\u201d and sent home.\n\u00a0\nCongressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), who Chairs the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, questioned Treasury Secretary Jack Lew about these decisions during a Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday, December 12th.\n\u00a0\n\u201cDuring the government shutdown, according to news reports, Treasury kept top political appointees on the job as \u2018essential\u2019 so they could tell the world you had furloughed almost everyone who is tasked with stopping the funding of terror and stopping people doing business with Iran\u2019s rouge regime. \u00a0By that decision, those jobs were deemed \u2018non-essential.\u2019\n\u00a0\n\u201cThat troubles me,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger, \u201cand leads to a few questions.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u201cFirst, how is preventing a terror attack on the U.S., and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, \u2018not essential,\u2019 and what sort of jobs were more important than that?\u201d\n\u00a0\nIn response, Treasury Secretary Lew stated, \u201cthat\u2019s just a consequence of shutting down the government.\u201d\n\u00a0\nPrior to the shutdown, on September 27th, the Treasury Department announced these critical functions would continue in the event of a shutdown, leading Congressman Pittenger to question if the furloughs were politically-motivated.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://bit.ly/2jAS4VZ", "Congressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "bit.ly", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 12, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After House passage of the Ryan-Murray budget deal, Congressman George Holding released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cI came to Washington to cut spending and tackle the hard issues that are saddling our future generations with unstainable amounts of debt. Unfortunately this budget deal shows just how backwards things are in Washington.\n\u00a0\nIt increases spending by $63 billion over the next two years while promising to make cuts in the future. Congress also promised to cut spending with the Budget Control Act and look at how quickly we have moved to violate those spending caps.\n\u00a0\nWe cannot continue to increase spending when we are already borrowing at an unsustainable rate \u2013 more government spending doesn\u2019t solve the problem, it is the problem.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-budget-a-step-forward", "Pittenger:  Budget a 'step forward'", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 12, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n WORKING TOGETHER: \u00a0CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER JOINS COALITION TO PASS BIPARTISAN BUDGET ACT \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Congressman Robert Pittenger voted in favor of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, which cuts the federal deficit by $23 billion, reduces corporate welfare, and reforms the federal pension program.\n\u00a0\n\u201cThis budget leaves much to be desired, but two additional government shutdowns would be damaging to job growth, disrupt critical services, and imperil national security,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger (NC-09).\n\u00a0\n\u201cWashington still has a major spending problem. \u00a0We cannot continue to spend $3.5 trillion while only taking in $2.5 trillion. \u00a0Medicare will be insolvent in a decade and America will financially collapse if we don\u2019t reduce spending on entitlements. House Republicans remain firmly committed to restoring a fiscally accountable government, but we need cooperation from Senate Democrats. \u00a0Currently, more than 150 pieces of legislation approved by the House are languishing on Senator Reid\u2019s desk.\n\u00a0\n\u201cIn a deeply divided Washington, we won\u2019t fix these problems with a desperate \u2018all or nothing\u2019 approach. \u00a0Success depends on seizing every good opportunity, large or small, and today, working together, we took a step forward.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 enhances national security by restoring critical funding for our military and domestic law enforcement agencies, replacing arbitrary sequester cuts with smarter, targeted spending reductions.\n\u00a0\nBy passing a budget, Congress regains the \u201cpower of the purse,\u201d with authority to crack down on wasteful spending, eliminate taxpayer-funded loan programs that benefit politically-connected companies, and support the sanctity of life. \u00a0Without a budget, President Obama\u2019s runaway spending priorities would remain intact and running on autopilot.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364310", "Foxx Statement on Bipartisan Federal Budget Agreement", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today issued the following statement on the passage of H.J.Res. 59, a bipartisan federal budget agreement:\n\n\"For the first time in years the federal government is on its way to having a budget. It\u2019s not the budget I would write myself, but it\u2019s a budget much stronger and smarter than the status quo, and it\u2019s a budget that has my support.\n\n\"Trust me. As a proud fiscal conservative, I was skeptical of this agreement before the details emerged. Too many government budgets are filled with creative accounting, gimmickry and faux savings. However, the agreement reached by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray is an exception.\n\n\"Their budget agreement provides a framework to reduce the federal deficit an additional $23 billion beyond current law, and it does so without raising taxes. The alternative savings it proposes advance conservative principles by replacing arbitrary, defense-heavy sequestration cuts with permanent savings found by targeting real waste and fraud, unsustainable federal employee pensions and other auto-pilot spending. And whereas today\u2019s sequestration spending levels will eventually expire, leaving discretionary spending to be re-negotiated each year, the mandatory \u2018Ryan-Murray\u2019 savings will be written into law without any sunset date.\n\n\"It is a step forward that in this divided government House Republicans were able to have a budget debate framed by our principles \u2013 that Washington must live within its means and spend less, not that Americans must surrender to government more of their hard-earned money. With this President and this Senate, that is a real achievement.\"\n\nTo read the legislation, click here.\n\nFor information about the savings included in this proposal, click here.\n\nFor a detailed summary of the budget proposal, click here.\n\nFor a section-by-section analysis of the legislation, click here.\n\nFor explanatory charts, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:40:02Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=118", "Congressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington, DC,\r\n        December 12, 2013\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      For Immediate Release: December 12, 2013\r\r \r\r \r\rCongressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal\r\r \r\rWASHINGTON, D.C.  After House passage of the Ryan-Murray budget deal, Congressman George Holding released the following statement:\r\r \r\rI came to Washington to cut spending and tackle the hard issues that are saddling our future generations with unstainable amounts of debt. Unfortunately this budget deal shows just how backwards things are in Washington.\r\r \r\rIt increases spending by $63 billion over the next two years while promising to make cuts in the future. Congress also promised to cut spending with the Budget Control Act and look at how quickly we have moved to violate those spending caps.\r\r \r\rWe cannot continue to increase spending when we are already borrowing at an unsustainable rate  more government spending doesnt solve the problem, it is the problem.\r\r \r\r \r\r \r\r###\r\r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221040349/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-statement-on-budget-deal", "Congressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 12, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement on Budget Deal\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After House passage of the Ryan-Murray budget deal, Congressman George Holding released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cI came to Washington to cut spending and tackle the hard issues that are saddling our future generations with unstainable amounts of debt. Unfortunately this budget deal shows just how backwards things are in Washington.\n\u00a0\nIt increases spending by $63 billion over the next two years while promising to make cuts in the future. Congress also promised to cut spending with the Budget Control Act and look at how quickly we have moved to violate those spending caps.\n\u00a0\nWe cannot continue to increase spending when we are already borrowing at an unsustainable rate \u2013 more government spending doesn\u2019t solve the problem, it is the problem.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140308222747/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=477", "Hudson Supports Bipartisan Budget Act that Cuts $85 Billion in Spending", "2013-12-12", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tDecember 12, 2013\n\t\n\n\tHudson Supports Bipartisan Budget Act that Cuts $85 Billion in Spending \n\n\tWASHINGTON- U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released the following statement after voting in favor of the two year budget agreement that includes $85 billion in spending cuts and savings:\n\n\t\u201cToday the House passed a budget that reduces the deficit without raising taxes. This budget resolution is a step towards achieving economic security for hardworking Americans. It eliminates waste, provides real reforms, and protects our defense community by replacing sequestration\u2019s indiscriminate across-the-board cuts with responsible cuts in mandatory spending programs. This budget saves money and provides stability-- something our country desperately needs. While the resolution is far from perfect, it is responsible governance and enables us to return to a regular appropriations process where we can negotiate bills and get real, conservative policy enacted.\u201d\n\n\tAdditional Information:\n\n\tThe Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 would set overall discretionary spending for the current fiscal year at $1.012 trillion. The agreement would provide $63 billion in sequester relief over two years, split evenly between defense and non-defense programs. In fiscal year 2014, defense discretionary spending would be set at $520.5 billion, and non-defense discretionary spending would be set at $491.8 billion.\n\n\tThe sequester relief is fully offset by savings elsewhere in the budget. The agreement includes dozens of specific deficit-reduction provisions, with mandatory savings and non-tax revenue totaling approximately $85 billion. The agreement would reduce the deficit by between $20 and $23 billion.\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-calls-senate-oppose-yellen-confirmation", "JONES CALLS ON SENATE TO OPPOSE YELLEN CONFIRMATION", "2013-12-11", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) issued a statement urging the Senate to oppose Janet Yellen\u2019s confirmation as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve.\u00a0\n\u201cAs the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen has routinely advocated for the irresponsible, easy-money policies that have characterized current Chairman Ben Bernanke\u2019s tenure,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cOpen-ended money printing is the wrong choice for the long-term health of our economy.\u00a0 Furthermore, Ms. Yellen\u2019s confirmation would be particularly worrisome given that the Federal Reserve is not held accountable to any government entity.\u00a0 The naming of a new chairman represents a rare opportunity for Congress to exercise its authority, and I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to voice their disapproval with the current Federal Reserve policies by opposing Janet Yellen\u2019s confirmation.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://mchenry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=364031", "McHenry Statement on Watt Confirmation", "2013-12-10", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Patrick McHenry", "M001156", "mchenry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued the following statement today regarding Congressman Mel Watt's confirmation as the next Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA):\"I congratulate my colleague and fellow North Carolinian on his confirmation.\u00a0 He\u2019s had an honorable and distinguished career in public service, and this is quite the capstone.\u00a0 While Mel and I fundamentally disagree on the correct path for our nation's housing policy, I am hopeful we can work together to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure American taxpayers are not stuck footing the bill for another multi-billion dollar bailout.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=128", "Congressman Holding Statement Following Secretary Kerrys Testimony on Iran", "2013-12-10", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Holding Statement Following Secretary Kerrys Testimony on Iran \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington, DC,\r\n        December 10, 2013\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      For Immediate Release: December 10, 2013\r\r \r\r \r\r \r\rCongressman Holding Statement Following Secretary Kerrys Testimony on Iran\r\r \r\rWASHINGTON, D.C.  After the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Iran nuclear agreement, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) issued the following statement:\r\r \r\rAfter todays testimony from Secretary Kerry, I remain unconvinced that the administrations Iran interim nuclear agreement is in our national security interest. The interim agreement eases too many of our sanctions that have proven effective while allowing the regime to continue enriching uranium.\r\r \r\rFurther, it fails to do enough to disrupt their capability to produce nuclear weapons in the future by allowing the Arak reactor to remain intact and the centrifuges to keep spinning. A nuclear-armed Iran would throw the region into an arms race and poses a grave threat to our national security and the security of our allies.\r\r \r\r \r\r###\r\r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/media-advisory-jones-and-speier-hold-press-conference-afghanistan-resolution", "***MEDIA ADVISORY*** JONES AND SPEIER TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN RESOLUTION", "2013-12-09", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 On Tuesday, December 10, Representatives Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and Jackie Speier (CA-14) will hold a bipartisan press conference on H. Res. 430, a resolution they have introduced calling for President Barack Obama to ensure Afghanistan is making progress in fulfilling the requirements of the 2012 Tokyo Conference Agreement before receiving further financial assistance from the United States.\u00a0 The resolution is particularly significant given that the United States and Afghanistan are in the process of finalizing a bilateral security agreement that would commit both American troops and American financial assistance to Afghanistan for at least the next 10 years.\u00a0 Also attending the press conference will be representatives from the Coalition to Reduce Spending, National Taxpayers Union, and Win Without War.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\nTuesday, December 10th at 1:00 pm:\nWHAT: Press conference on recently-introduced H. Res. 430, which calls for Afghanistan to meet certain requirements before receiving further financial assistance from the U.S.\nWHO: Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3); Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14); representatives from the Coalition to Reduce Spending, National Taxpayers Union, and Win Without War\nWHEN: Tuesday, December 10 at 1:00 pm\nWHERE: The Ways and Means Committee Library, accessed through 1100 Longworth House Office Building", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-unanimously-approves-kilahs-act-video-available", "House unanimously approves Kilah's Act (video available)", "2013-12-09", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 9, 2013\n\u00a0\nVIDEO LINKS PROVIDED BELOW\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n KILAH DAVENPORT CHILD PROTECTION ACT UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED BY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 The Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013 was officially approved by the United States House of Representatives on Monday, passing unanimously with full bipartisan support.\n\u00a0\n\u201cSweet Kilah should never have become the face of child abuse legislation,\u201d said Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), \u201cbut I admire her family for working tirelessly to bring much good out of great evil, using Kilah\u2019s horrific abuse as a rallying cry to strengthen child abuse penalties across America.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act (H.R. 3627) directs the Attorney General to issue a report within six months detailing the penalties for child abuse in each state, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories, including whether or not the laws provide enhanced penalties in cases of severe child abuse. \u00a0A follow-up report will be issued within three years.\n\u00a0\n\u201cThis report will show which states take child abuse seriously, and which states would give child abusers a slap on the wrist,\u201d said Leslie Davenport, Kilah\u2019s grandmother. \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOur hope is that states with lenient penalties will be embarrassed into action by this legislation.\u201d\n\u00a0\nKilah Davenport was just three years old when she was severely beaten by her caregiver, leaving her with serious and permanent mental and physical disabilities. If convicted, Kilah\u2019s alleged abuser will spend only four to six years in prison. \u00a0The Kilah Davenport tragedy highlighted North Carolina\u2019s inadequate child abuse laws, which were significantly strengthened earlier this year.\n\u00a0\nEarlier Monday, Senator Richard Burr (NC) introduced Senate legislation which mirrors H.R. 3627. \u00a0Following Senate approval (schedule TBD), the Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act will be sent to the White House for President Obama\u2019s signature.\n\u00a0\nThe Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act (H.R. 3627) is the first legislation written, sponsored, and passed by Congressman Robert Pittenger.\n\u00a0\n###\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nVIDEO:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=d9181e7f-f3ae-665c-86db-9f4cd1e26fec", "Senator Burr Introduces Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013", "2013-12-09", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.09.13\n\t\t\t Senator Burr Introduces Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013 \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced the Kilah\r\nDavenport Child Protection Act of 2013, which mirrors H.R. 3627 that was passed\r\nby the House Judiciary Committee last week.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"What happened to Kilah Davenport is tragic and should never\r\nhappen to any child. My heart goes out to the Davenport family, and I\r\nhope that this legislation will play at least a small role in ensuring the care\r\nand protection of our children,\" said Senator Richard Burr.\r\n\r\n\r\nNamed after Kilah Davenport, a young girl born and raised in\r\nNorth Carolina who was the victim of severe abuse, this bill would require the\r\nU.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue a report detailing penalties for\r\nchild abuse in each state, the District of Columbia, and U.S.\r\nterritories. Additionally, this bill addresses child abuse in areas where\r\nthe federal government has responsibility by clarifying that previous\r\nconvictions of child abuse can lead to criminal penalties for the offense of\r\ndomestic assault by a habitual offender. \r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-defends-enc-base-commissaries", "JONES DEFENDS ENC BASE COMMISSARIES", "2013-12-06", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) defended the commissaries at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Stations Cherry Point and New River after receiving word that the Department of Defense (DoD) may be considering closing all stateside commissaries.\u00a0 In a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Congressman Jones expressed his opposition to the prospect of closing the commissaries at a time when equal or greater cost savings could be achieved through reforms to the military acquisition system and cuts to the financial aid being sent to Afghanistan.\n\u201cBefore denying our military communities a valuable resource, the Department of Defense should exhaust all other options to reduce spending,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cNot only will this save more taxpayer money over the long term, but it demonstrates our appreciation for the sacrifices that our service members and their families make on a daily basis.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\nThe DoD is reportedly looking at closing stateside commissaries in order to comply with the automatic budget cuts required by S. 365, the 2011 sequestration law.\u00a0 Congressman Jones voted against S. 365 because of his concerns about the impact of sequestration on our military, among other reasons. Furthermore, since 2011, he has been a strong advocate for a variety of legislative proposals to replace sequestration with cost-saving measures that do not unfairly harm the military.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140329174136/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=476", "Hudson Statement on November Jobs Report", "2013-12-06", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tDecember 6, 2013\n\t\n\n\tHudson Statement on November Jobs Report\n\n\tCONCORD-U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released the following statement on the November jobs report:\n\n\t\u201cWhile today\u2019s jobs report is encouraging, there are still too many Americans who can\u2019t find full-time work. Fortunately, we have a solution to that problem in nearly 150 House-passed jobs bills that are awaiting Senate consideration. It\u2019s time for Senate Democrats to actually do their job so even more Americans can have the opportunity to earn a living. I implore the President and Senate to act on their so-called eagerness to create jobs and urge swift passage of these common-sense bills.\u201d\n\n\t*See Rep. Hudson\u2019s plan to bring jobs back to North Carolina\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-let-us-pray-for-a-new-generation-of-nelson-mandelas", "Pittenger:  Let us pray for a new generation of Nelson Mandelas", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nDecember 5, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER\u2019S STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) reflected today on the life and legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and the continuing struggle for freedom around the world.\n\u00a0\n\u201cToday, the world lost one of our greatest champions for freedom. \u00a0Nelson Mandela\u2019s dignity, decency, and acts of forgiveness in the face of unspeakable oppression helped topple apartheid and heal a deeply divided nation.\n\u00a0\n\u201cAs we reflect on the life and legacy of President Mandela, I can\u2019t help but think of the Congressional hearing I participated in earlier today, where I listened to five young women share heartbreaking stories about their fathers, currently imprisoned in China for promoting democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion.\n\u00a0\n\u201cSadly, the fight for freedom and justice is not yet over, and many of our neighbors around the world remain oppressed. \u00a0Let us pray for a new generation of Nelson Mandelas to continue the fight.\u201d\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=117", "Congressman Holding Introduces Bill to Deter ID Theft on Healthcare.gov", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 5, 2013\rContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\r \r \r \rCongressman Holding Introduces Bill to Deter ID Theft on Healthcare.gov\r \rWASHINGTON, D.C.  Yesterday, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) introduced H.R. 3652, the No Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013 which would increase penalties for navigators or other agency employees who commit identity theft by using information submitted for the purposes of signing up for Obamacare. Congressman Holding released the following statement:\r \rSince Obamacare enrollment began in October, healthcare.gov has been a disaster. Between countless crashes and glitches, the website is unworkable  only about 26,800 Americans were able to enroll in the first month, in a country of over 300 million people.\r \rHowever, its more than just technical glitches  the website is susceptible to security breaches, fraud, and identity theft. When Americans go to healthcare.gov to sign up for Obamacare, they are required to enter a lot of personal information, including their social security numbers. Many of those who have been hired to implement the law and process our sensitive personal information have not been thoroughly screened or undergone background checks. H.R. 3652, the 'No Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013' will deter navigators, and others with access to information through Obamacare, from stealing the identities of Americans who are simply trying to use the website to pick a healthcare plan.\r \rIdentity theft can completely shatter someones life  someone who has been a victim of identity theft can lose money, their job, and their sense of security. The lack of integrity in the healthcare.gov security system and the failure of the administration to vet the people that have been employed to handle our most sensitive information makes this law necessary.\r \rIn the end, the problems with Obamacare go far beyond an unworkable website  many Americans are seeing cancelled plans, increased costs, and less coverage choice. I will continue to support a full repeal of this law in favor of patient-centered reforms.\r \rBackground: In late October, a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services memo showed that administration officials were concerned that due to a lack of testing, healthcare.gov had potential high security risks. H.R. 3652, the No Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013 was introduced by Congressman George Holding on December 4, 2013 and increases federal aggravated ID theft penalties from a term of two years imprisonment to a term of 5 years for those who abuse their position as navigators, or other implementing officials, for Obamacare. H.R. 3652 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.\r \r \r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221040418/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-introduces-bill-to-deter-id-theft-on-healthcaregov", "Congressman Holding Introduces Bill to Deter ID Theft on Healthcare.gov", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 5, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Introduces Bill to Deter ID Theft on Healthcare.gov\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) introduced H.R. 3652, the \u201cNo Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013\u2019\u2019 which would increase penalties for navigators or other agency employees who commit identity theft by using information submitted for the purposes of signing up for Obamacare. Congressman Holding released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cSince Obamacare enrollment began in October, healthcare.gov has been a disaster. Between countless crashes and glitches, the website is unworkable \u2013 only about 26,800 Americans were able to enroll in the first month, in a country of over 300 million people.\n\u00a0\nHowever, it\u2019s more than just technical glitches \u2013 the website is susceptible to security breaches, fraud, and identity theft. When Americans go to healthcare.gov to sign up for Obamacare, they are required to enter a lot of personal information, including their social security numbers. Many of those who have been hired to implement the law and process our sensitive personal information have not been thoroughly screened or undergone background checks. H.R. 3652, the 'No Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013' will deter navigators, and others with access to information through Obamacare, from stealing the identities of Americans who are simply trying to use the website to pick a healthcare plan.\n\u00a0\nIdentity theft can completely shatter someone\u2019s life \u2013 someone who has been a victim of identity theft can lose money, their job, and their sense of security. The lack of integrity in the healthcare.gov security system and the failure of the administration to vet the people that have been employed to handle our most sensitive information makes this law necessary.\u00a0\n\u00a0\nIn the end, the problems with Obamacare go far beyond an unworkable website \u2013 many Americans are seeing cancelled plans, increased costs, and less coverage choice. I will continue to support a full repeal of this law in favor of patient-centered reforms.\u201d\n\u00a0\nBackground: In late October, a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services memo showed that administration officials were concerned that due to a lack of testing, healthcare.gov had potential high security risks. H.R. 3652, the \u201cNo Identity Theft in Health Care Act of 2013\u201d was introduced by Congressman George Holding on December 4, 2013 and increases federal aggravated ID theft penalties from a term of two years imprisonment to a term of 5 years for those who abuse their position as navigators, or other implementing officials, for Obamacare. H.R. 3652 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=c5001ed5-0257-f4b9-3736-950fbb32c077", "Senator Burr Statement on the Passing of Nelson Mandela", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.05.13\n\t\t\t Senator Burr Statement on the Passing of Nelson Mandela \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) released the\r\nfollowing statement in reaction to the passing of Nelson Mandela:\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Nelson Mandela's\r\ncompassion and humility in the face of overwhelming adversity remains an\r\ninspiration. The people of South Africa will forever be in debt for his role in\r\nending apartheid, and the rest of the world inspired by his leading a divided\r\nnation into a new, prosperous era. Today, we all mourn his passing, but take\r\ncomfort in the enduring lessons of his life that will live forever.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://mchenry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363410", "Congressman McHenry Announces Service Academy Nominations", "2013-12-04", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Patrick McHenry", "M001156", "mchenry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) announced ten young men and women from North Carolina's 10th Congressional District have been nominated to our nation's military service academies for the Class of 2018.\u00a0 Each of these students applied through Congressman McHenry's office and were interviewed by the Congressman and his Military Advisory Committee before receiving the nominations.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \n\"I would like to congratulate each of these students on their nominations,\" Congressman McHenry said.\u00a0 \"The young men and women who attend our nation's service academies are the best that this country has to offer and I am proud to have nominated these fine candidates to represent the 10th District at the service academies.\"\u00a0 \nThe ten students have been nominated by Congressman McHenry to attend either the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York; the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; or the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado.\u00a0 The ten students are listed below based on the service academy to which they have been nominated.\nUnited States Military Academy at West Point  \nJohn Biondi of Denver, NC  \nBear Naisang of Fairview, NC  \nWill Whisnant of Shelby, NC\nUnited States Naval Academy at Annapolis  \nMegan Lauterer of Denver, NC  \nWilliam Hoppe of Kings Mountain, NC  \nHannah Teo of Montreat, NC  \nRachael Hamm of Conover, NC\u00a0 \nUnited States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs  \nCole Matolka of Gastonia, NC  \nKatie Ellis of Kings Mountain, NC  \nAndrew Beard of Maiden, NC\nThe United States Department of Defense operates five service academies across the country, one representing each branch of the military.\u00a0 Men and women between the ages of 17 and 23 are eligible for nominations to four of the five service academies.\u00a0 Nominations can come from the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress and those accepting an appointment must serve at least 5 years active duty following completion of their studies.\u00a0 Those interested in being considered for a future nomination by Congressman McHenry should visit the service academy nomination page on his website here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/jimmiejohnson", "Honoring Jimmie Johnson", "2013-12-04", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Honoring Jimmie Johnson \nWednesday, Congressman Robert Pittenger honored six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson during a speech to Congress. \u00a0\u201cMore importantly, Jimmie Johnson is a champion off the track. \u00a0Since 2006, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has contributed more than $5 million to charity, with a special focus on improving K-12 education in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and California.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger also plans to invite Jimmie Johnson and his #48 Lowe\u2019s team to a special Congressional reception in their honor, which will be scheduled for early next year.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/judiciary-committee-unanimously-approves-kilah-act", "Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Kilah Act", "2013-12-04", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 4, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES KILAH DAVENPORT CHILD PROTECTION ACT \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Wednesday afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013 (H.R. 3627), sending it to the full U.S. House of Representatives for final passage.\n\u00a0\n\u201cAs a father and grandfather, what happened to little Kilah sickens me,\u201d said Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), who wrote and sponsored the legislation. \u00a0\u201cSadly, many states would give Kilah\u2019s abuser little more than a slap on the wrist. \u00a0This legislation will highlight those inadequate penalties and prompt reforms at the state level.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act (H.R. 3627) directs the Attorney General to issue a report within six months detailing the penalties for child abuse in each state, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories, including whether or not the laws provide enhanced penalties in cases of severe child abuse. \u00a0A follow-up report will be issued within three years.\n\u00a0\n\u201cWe appreciate today\u2019s quick action by the Judiciary Committee,\u201d said Leslie Davenport, Kilah\u2019s grandmother. \u00a0\u201cWe encourage every Member of Congress to support this legislation. \u00a0Child abuse is not a Republican or Democrat issue, and this new law has the potential to save a child\u2019s life.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe exact timing of a vote by the full House of Representatives will be decided later this week, but is expected to occur in the very near future.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-introduces-resolution-declassify-911-report", "JONES INTRODUCES RESOLUTION TO DECLASSIFY 9/11 REPORT", "2013-12-03", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressmen Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and Stephen Lynch (MA-8) introduced H. Res. 428, a resolution to make public 28 pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001 that were initially classified by President George W. Bush and have remained classified under President Barack Obama.\u00a0 The resolution states that declassification of the pages is necessary to provide the American public with the full truth surrounding the tragic events of September 11, 2001, particularly relating to the involvement of foreign governments.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cTwelve years after the United States suffered a horrendous attack on our own soil, the families of the victims deserve to know all the facts concerning that tragic day,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cFurthermore, the information contained in the redacted pages is critical to our foreign policy moving forward and should thus be available to the American public.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-updates-kilah-act-swift-action-expected", "Pittenger updates "Kilah Act," swift action expected", "2013-12-03", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nDecember 3, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER INTRODUCES UPDATED \u201cKILAH DAVENPORT CHILD PROTECTION ACT\u201d \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) has introduced an updated version of the Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act of 2013, which is expected to quickly clear the Judiciary Committee and possibly be voted on by the full House of Representatives before Christmas.\n\u00a0\n\u201cIn North Carolina, it took the Kilah Davenport tragedy for lawmakers to realize state child abuse laws were inadequate and outdated,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t need to repeat the same mistake across America. \u00a0This legislation will motivate states to address inadequate child abuse laws, while providing an avenue for additional federal action if state lawmakers don\u2019t get the job done.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe Kilah Davenport Child Protection Act (H.R. 3627) now calls on the Attorney General to issue a report within six months detailing the penalties for child abuse in each state, the District of Columbia, and all United States territories, including whether or not the laws provide enhanced penalties in cases of severe child abuse. \u00a0A follow-up report will be issued within three years.\n\u00a0\nBy highlighting lenient sentencing guidelines for cases of severe child abuse, state lawmakers will have the opportunity to adopt stricter standards similar to the new \u201cKilah\u2019s Law\u201d in North Carolina.\n\u00a0\n\u201cLike any mother, I wish my sweet Kilah didn\u2019t have to be the face of this legislation, but those were the cards we were dealt,\u201d said Kirbi Davenport. \u00a0\u201cOur family wanted to take this tragedy and fight for America\u2019s most valuable resource, our children, to make a difference and work toward putting an end to child abuse.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe House Committee on the Judiciary is scheduled to take action on H.R. 3627 on Wednesday afternoon (December 4th). \u00a0The exact timing of a vote by the full House of Representatives will be decided later this week, but is expected to occur in the near future.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=116", "Congressman Holding Statement on Presidential Constitutional Responsibility to Faithfully Execute the Law", "2013-12-03", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 3, 2013\rContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\r \r \rCongressman Holding Statement on Presidential Constitutional Responsibility to Faithfully Execute the Law\r \rWASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine the Presidents Constitutional responsibility to 'faithfully execute' the law. Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\r \rIn our democracy, power is divided among the three branches of our government, to make sure none becomes too powerful. Its one of the first things we learn in civics class. Our Founding Fathers carefully understood this principle  as James Madison wrote, 'the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same handsmay justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.'\r \rIt is troubling that we even need to have this discussion about whether or not the President should faithfully execute laws  this should already be understood, based on our Constitution. Unfortunately, President Obama continues to violate this Constitutional duty  deciding arbitrarily when and where to enforce laws. From immigration, to drug laws, to his own signature healthcare law, President Obama has unilaterally granted himself extra-constitutional authority to change laws he doesnt like or to suspend enforcement of laws he doesnt agree with.\r \rThis is a blatant abuse of power  Congress passes laws, and the President is required by the Constitution to execute them. President Obama continuously ignores our system of checks and balances and chooses to amend or waive laws based on his political preference and beliefs. If the President does not like something, he finds his own way around it through abusing his executive power.\r \rThis simply cannot continue  the President picking and choosing what laws to enforce sets a dangerous precedent. If the President himself does not follow the law, then we have a real problem in our democratic system.\r \r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223082340/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-statement-on-presidential-constitutional", "Congressman Holding Statement on Presidential Constitutional Responsibility to Faithfully Execute the Law", "2013-12-03", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: December 3, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement on Presidential Constitutional Responsibility to Faithfully Execute the Law\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine the President\u2019s Constitutional responsibility to 'faithfully execute' the law. Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cIn our democracy, power is divided among the three branches of our government, to make sure none becomes too powerful.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the first things we learn in civics class. Our Founding Fathers carefully understood this principle \u2013 as James Madison wrote, 'the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands\u2026may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.'\n\u00a0\nIt is troubling that we even need to have this discussion about whether or not the President should faithfully execute laws \u2013 this should already be understood, based on our Constitution. Unfortunately, President Obama continues to violate this Constitutional duty \u2013 deciding arbitrarily when and where to enforce laws. From immigration, to drug laws, to his own signature healthcare law, President Obama has unilaterally granted himself extra-constitutional authority to change laws he doesn\u2019t like or to suspend enforcement of laws he doesn\u2019t agree with.\n\u00a0\nThis is a blatant abuse of power \u2013 Congress passes laws, and the President is required by the Constitution to execute them. President Obama continuously ignores our system of checks and balances and chooses to amend or waive laws based on his political preference and beliefs. If the President does not like something, he finds his own way around it through abusing his executive power.\n\u00a0\nThis simply cannot continue \u2013 the President picking and choosing what laws to enforce sets a dangerous precedent. If the President himself does not follow the law, then we have a real problem in our democratic system.\u201d\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301132630/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=475", "Hudson's Bipartisan TSA Reform Bill Passes U.S. House of Representatives", "2013-12-03", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tDecember 3, 2013\n\t\n\n\tHudson\u2019s Bipartisan TSA Reform Bill Passes U.S. House of Representatives\n\tHudson\u2019s Second Bill to Pass the House in His First Year\n\n\tWASHINGTON-Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2719, the Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act, a bill authored by U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08).\n\n\t\u201cAs Chairman of the Transportation Security Subcommittee, my goal is to hold TSA accountable while ensuring the safety of the American people and responsible stewardship of our tax dollars,\u201d said Rep. Hudson. \u201cThe bipartisan passage of today\u2019s bill demonstrates that Democrats and Republicans can work together for the common good, despite an unprecedented level of partisan gridlock in Washington.\u201d\n\n\tThe Transportation Security Acquisition Reform Act introduces greater transparency and accountability for TSA spending decisions through a series of commonsense reforms.\u00a0 Specifically, it requires TSA to:\n \n\t\n\t\tDevelop and share with the public, for the first time, a strategic, multiyear technology investment plan,\n\t\n\t\tShare key information with Congress on technology acquisitions, including cost overruns, delays, or technical failures within 30 days of identifying the problem,\n\t\n\t\tEstablish principles for managing equipment in inventory to eliminate expensive storage of unusable or outdated technologies, and\n\t\n\t\tReport on its goals for contracting with small businesses.\n \n\n\t\u00a0\n\n\t*This is Rep. Hudson\u2019s second bipartisan bill to pass the U.S. House during his first year in Congress. \n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363086", "A Grateful Nation Offers its Thanks", "2013-11-28", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Dear Friends,\n\nToday Tom and I will spend Thanksgiving with members of our family in North Carolina. Like so many others, we plan to prepare a traditional Turkey dinner, watch a fair amount of football and enjoy simply being together. We'll give great thanks for these small things, for it is freedom and the benevolence of Almighty God that make them possible.\n\nThe practice of Thanksgiving is a unifying moment in our country. Together we express gratitude as a nation for the richness of our heritage and for the multitude of blessings to which we lay claim, not the very least of which is the legacy of the Republic entrusted to us by great Americans before.\n\nAs households gather across our United States to celebrate with friends and loved ones, we will not forget those who are standing watch. Thousands of troops this year will be separated from their families, deployed throughout the world for our protection. Other men and women, too, will be working at home, patrolling our streets and responding to emergencies - all to ensure our domestic security. These folks don't hear thank you enough, so if you get the chance, tell them.\n\nMay you and your family have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving, and may we continue together to lift up in thanks and prayer our United States of America.\n\nSincerely,\n\nCongresswoman Virginia Foxx\n\nP.S. For those of you looking to share a bit more about the history of America's Thanksgiving celebration, I found the resources from the What so Proudly we Hail Project to be extremely helpful.\n\nRep. Foxx Tries to Balance Needy Students, Tax Dollars in Education Debate\n\nDecember 19, 2013 | Posted in Virginia Foxx in the News\n\nIn the Worst Congress Ever, These Few Lawmakers Actually Did Something\n\nDecember 18, 2013 | Posted in Virginia Foxx in the News\n\nCongresswoman Virginia Foxx Tours Food Lion Distribution Center in Salisbury\n\nDecember 18, 2013 | Posted in Blog\n\nHeroes Among Us\n\nNovember 11, 2013 | Posted in Press Releases", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-cathey-host-911-technology-demonstration", "Pittenger, Cathey host 911 technology demonstration", "2013-11-27", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nNovember 27, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER AND SHERIFF CATHEY HOST STATEWIDE DEMONSTRATION OF NEW 911 TECHNOLOGY \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 This fall, Union County will become the first in America to launch innovative new 911 technology allowing citizens to send pictures or video of criminal activity directly to 911 dispatchers via their mobile phones. \u00a0The technology will give police officers nearly instant access to pictures or videos of suspects, suspicious vehicles, or even kidnapping victims.\n\u00a0\n\u201cWe are very proud to announce the technology of the future is available right now in Union County,\u201d said Union County Emergency Communications Director Larry Brinker. \u00a0\u201cEmergency texting, photo uploads, and video transfers from nearly any phone can be distributed immediately to field units.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) and Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey will host a statewide briefing and demonstration of the new technology on Monday, December 2nd, 10:30 a.m., at the Union County Government Center in Monroe. \u00a0Media is invited to cover the event.\n\u00a0\n\u201cUnion County has turned the smart phone in your pocket into a crime fighting tool, and has launched this new technology at no cost to taxpayers,\u201d commented Congressman Pittenger. \u201cAs a public service, I\u2019m hosting this briefing so more law enforcement agencies can learn from Union County\u2019s forward-thinking experience.\u201d\n\u00a0\nState Senator Tommy Tucker, Representatives Craig Horn and Mark Brody, senior management from North Carolina Emergency Management, and representatives of various 911 systems from across North Carolina plan to attend the demonstration.\n\u00a0\n\u201cThis is something that will benefit every citizen, as well as every public service agency,\u201d said Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey.\n\u00a0\n\u201cNexGen represents nearly real-time intelligence and reporting capability,\u201d said Union County Chief Deputy Ben Bailey. \u00a0\u201cThis service will enable us to be more effective in the field as a result of the rapid exchange of information.\u201d\n\u00a0\nMedia planning to cover the event should contact Jamie Bowers (704-365-6234 or jamie.bowers@mail.house.gov) in order to be included in the technology demonstration.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-continues-opposition-bilateral-security-agreement-afghanistan", "JONES CONTINUES OPPOSITION TO BILATERAL SECURITY AGREEMENT WITH AFGHANISTAN", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) again implored President Barack Obama to oppose the Bilateral Security Agreement that is currently being discussed between the United States and Afghanistan. In a letter to the president, Congressman Jones expressed his opposition to the terms of the agreement, which obligates the United States to continue to send aid to Afghanistan and retain a troop presence for at least 10 years beyond 2014.\n\u201cAfter 12 years, billions of dollars, and President Karzai\u2019s continued disrespect for the United States, many in the House and Senate believe it is time to end our commitment to Afghanistan,\u201d the letter reads.\u00a0 \u201cHowever, despite the risks involved, the agreement will not be brought before Congress for a vote.\u00a0 It is a sad day when the Afghan government has voted on the agreement, but that opportunity has been denied to the United States Congress.\u201d\nThe full text of the letter is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=363026", "Iran Agreement Has the Makings of a Grave Foreign Policy Mistake", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today issued the following statement on President Obama's announced agreement to amend Iranian sanctions:\n\n\"Like our friend Israel, the United States cannot tolerate a nuclear Iranian regime, which is why crippling economic sanctions have been imposed against Tehran.\n\n\u201cThe recent Geneva agreement to relax the very sanctions responsible for bringing Iran to the table has the makings of a grave foreign policy mistake. It undermines the spirit of decades of bipartisan congressional sanctions which required the absolute cessation of Iranian nuclear activity. Now, in return for Iran marginally slowing the pace of its nuclear ambitions, the regime will have access to billions of dollars in economic relief.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s doubtful softening sanctions in this way will deter the Ayatollah, and this Administration should settle for nothing less than a completely dismantled Iranian nuclear program.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-opposes-unnecessary-fishing-restrictions", "JONES OPPOSES UNNECESSARY FISHING RESTRICTIONS", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) took action to halt the enactment of a measure that would create no-fishing zones for speckled hinds and warsaw groupers off the coast of North Carolina.\u00a0 In a letter to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Congressman Jones explained that significant protections are already in place to prevent overfishing of both species.\u00a0 Furthermore, the last stock assessments on speckled hinds and warsaw groupers were completed 13 and 22 years ago, respectively, with new assessments not expected to be finished until 2016.\u00a0 Without updated data, there is no way to determine how effective current regulations have been and whether additional measures are necessary to protect the fish.\n\u201cGiven the lack of data on the current status of speckled hinds and warsaw groupers, implementing new fishing restrictions at this time would be unjustifiable,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cI believe we need to give the regulations that are already in place the opportunity to work before enacting additional measures that will hurt Eastern North Carolina\u2019s fishermen.\u201d\nThe full text of the letter is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-nuclear-agreement-emboldens-iran-and-threatens-allies", "Pittenger:  Nuclear agreement emboldens Iran and threatens allies", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nNovember 25, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSIONAL TERROR TASKFORCE CHAIR EXPRESSES GRAVE CONCERNS OVER IRANIAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), Chairman of the Congressional Taskforce on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, today expressed grave concern over the nuclear agreement signed this weekend with Iran.\n\u00a0\n\u201cIran has been actively engaged in state-sponsored terrorism for thirty years, and more recently involved in the carnage in Syria through its surrogate Hezbollah,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cIran has been unrelenting in their call for \u2018death to America\u2019 and to Israel.\n\u00a0\n\u201cNow, President Obama is subjecting Israel, our Arab allies, the United States, and the world to a severely unbalanced agreement allowing Iran to continue producing enriched uranium, a key ingredient for a nuclear bomb, while reducing sanctions and providing a $7 billion reward for apparently outlasting Washington\u2019s resolve.\n\u00a0\n\u201cPresident Obama\u2019s ambivalent policies in the volatile Middle East frighten our allies. \u00a0While in Israel this August, I asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he believes the United States would stand with Israel at its time of need, such as imminent Iranian nuclear deployment. \u00a0He responded by talking carefully for several minutes and concluding, \u2018I didn\u2019t answer your question, did I?\u2019 \u00a0I responded, \u2018no sir, but I understand.\u2019\n\u00a0\n\u201cIn like manner, a \u2018too eager\u2019 diplomatic agreement with North Korea in 1995 has allowed unrestrained nuclear development in that provocative, unstable, terrorist state.\n\u00a0\n\u201cPresident Obama appears more interested in changing the subject in a currently disastrous political climate than assuring the United States stands strong against the most assertive threat to world peace, feared by Israel and the Arab nations alike.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger, along with other Members of Congress, expressed his concerns over the proposed agreement to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer during a private meeting last Thursday.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=115", "Congressman Holding Statement On Iran Nuclear Agreement", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Holding Statement On Iran Nuclear Agreement \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington, DC,\r\n        November 25, 2013\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      For Immediate Release: November 25, 2013\rContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\r \r \r \rCongressman Holding Statement On Iran Nuclear Agreement\r \rWASHINGTON, D.C.  Today, Congressman Holding issued the following statement regarding the Iran nuclear agreement:\r \rThe agreement - which has repeatedly been praised by the Obama administration - allows Iran to continue enriching uranium while accessing billions of previously sanctioned dollars for the next six months. Nothing in this agreement changes the simple fact we can't trust the regime in Tehran. In the past, Iran has already used every negotiating tactic in the book to move their nuclear program forward. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. We should not relax a single sanction until international inspectors have verified Iran's nuclear program has been entirely dismantled and they are adhering to all UN Security Council Resolutions.\r \r \r \r###\r\r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223215717/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-statement-on-iran-nuclear-agreement", "Congressman Holding Statement On Iran Nuclear Agreement", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 25, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement On Iran Nuclear Agreement\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Holding issued the following statement regarding the Iran nuclear agreement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cThe agreement - which has repeatedly been praised by the Obama administration - allows Iran to continue enriching uranium while accessing billions of previously sanctioned dollars for the next six months. Nothing in this agreement changes the simple fact we can't trust the regime in Tehran. In the past, Iran has already used every negotiating tactic in the book to move their nuclear program forward. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. We should not relax a single sanction until international inspectors have verified Iran's nuclear program has been entirely dismantled and they are adhering to all UN Security Council Resolutions.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140330221223/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=473", "Hudson Co-Authors Letter to Protect the Tobacco Transition Payment Program", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tNovember 22, 2013\u00a0 \n\n\tHudson Co-Authors Letter to Protect the Tobacco Transition Payment Program\n\n\tWASHINGTON-U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and Office of Management and Budget Director, Sylvia Burwell, regarding protection of the Tobacco Transition Payment Program (TTPP) from the proposed FY2014 sequester cuts.\n\n\t\u201cTobacco is an integral part of North Carolina\u2019s agriculture and economy, and I am proud to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues urging Secretary Vilsack and Director Burwell to take necessary steps to ensure that this user-fee funded program is not confiscated under the guise of FY2014 sequestration cuts,\u201d said Rep. Hudson.\n\n\t\u201cThe Tobacco Transition Payment Program came at a pivotal time when our growers needed certainty most. A few years ago, tobacco faced many challenges including diminishing demand, escalating production costs, and competition from cheaper foreign-grown tobacco, and the TTPP was a 10-year commitment of private money to our farmers and their families to help them reduce their dependence on tobacco and transition to the free market.\u201d\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-1-of-3-to-attend-congressional-hearing-in-gastonia", "Pittenger 1 of 3 to attend Congressional hearing in Gastonia", "2013-11-22", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 22, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n AWAY FROM THE NOISE: \u00a0CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER LEAVES WASHINGTON TO LISTEN TO CONCERNS OF ORDINARY AMERICANS \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 Leaving the crowd of Washington pundits and activists behind, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) today traveled to Gastonia, N.C. to focus on the stories of ordinary Americans personally impacted by Obamacare.\n\u00a0\nJoined by Congressmen Darrell Issa (CA-49) and Patrick McHenry (NC-10) for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee field hearing, Congressman Pittenger listened to the testimony of five witnesses, including a small business owner, the director of a non-profit, the CEO of a staffing agency, and an independent insurance agent.\n\u00a0\n\u201cToday we heard firsthand the conflicts and challenges facing both individuals and businesses struggling with the momentous costs and compliance issues of Obamacare,\u201d commented Congressman Pittenger following the hearing. \u00a0\u201cWe will take today\u2019s concerns back to Congress and fight to make sure President Obama pays attention to the people of North Carolina.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger is co-sponsor of the American Health Care Reform Act (H.R. 3121), a common-sense package of health care reforms that will lower costs, protect those with pre-existing conditions, and provide health insurance for the needy. \u00a0The American Health Care Reform Act does not include a government takeover of healthcare and allows Americans the freedom to choose the health insurance best suited to their individual needs.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-calls-end-taxpayer-subsidies-wind-energy", "JONES CALLS FOR END TO TAXPAYER SUBSIDIES OF WIND ENERGY", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and a bipartisan coalition of 52 representatives called for an end to the wind production tax credit (PTC) in 2013.\u00a0 In a letter to Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, Congressman Jones and his colleagues explained that the PTC \u201cis now more valuable than the price of the electricity the plants actually generate\u201d and costs the American taxpayers roughly\u00a06 billion dollars per year.\u00a0 Furthermore, there are significant concerns with wind energy\u2019s effects on military operations and aviation \u2013 particularly troubling given the location of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point \u2013 as well as concerns over potential health problems for individuals living in the vicinity of a wind turbine.\u00a0 The wind tax credit is currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2013, and Congressman Jones and his colleagues are advocating against extending it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cIt is long past time for the federal government to stop forcing American taxpayers to spend billions of dollars to prop up a now-mature energy source,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cCombined with my concerns about the effects of wind turbines on the military installations and residents of Eastern North Carolina, I fully support the expiration of the PTC at the end of this year.\u201d\nCongressman Jones is also a cosponsor of H.R. 259, the 2013 Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act (EFEPA), which would repeal a variety of taxpayer subsidies for energy activities, including wind, solar, oil, and gas.\u00a0 The bill has garnered support from the American Energy Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, the Club for Growth, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Freedom Action, Heritage Action, National Taxpayers Union, 60 Plus Association, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.\nThe full text of the letter to Chairman Camp is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-joins-congressional-hearing-in-gastonia", "Pittenger joins Congressional hearing in Gastonia", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 21, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER INVITED TO JOIN FRIDAY\u2019S CONGRESSIONAL HEARING IN GASTONIA \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 To better understand how Obamacare is impacting hardworking Americans, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) will participate in Friday\u2019s Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Gastonia, N.C.\n\u00a0\nAt the invitation of Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), Congressman Pittenger will deliver an opening statement and join the committee in questioning witnesses.\n\u00a0\n\u201cFor every Obamacare success story, there are three or four dozen stories of cancellation notices, lost jobs, reduced hours, or small businesses unable to expand due to crushing costs,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cThese are real people with real stories of suffering caused by a misguided law sold to the American people as a panacea.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe hearing is scheduled for Friday, November 22nd, 10 a.m., at the Gaston County Courthouse in Gastonia, N.C.\n\u00a0\nOn Thursday afternoon, Congressman Pittenger participated in a Google Hangout with several constituents who shared their concerns about cancelled insurance, exploding premiums, and job losses created by Obamacare\u2019s medical device tax. \u00a0To view a replay of the Hangout, click here.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=114", "Congressman Holding Supports the Innovation Act", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 20, 2013\rContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\r \r \rCongressman Holding Supports the Innovation Act\r \rWASHINGTON, D.C.  After the House Judiciary Committee approved a patent reform bill, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\r \rPatent litigation abuse jeopardizes the integrity of our legal system and the vibrancy of our economy. Companies large and small are consistently faced with the threat of abusive patent suits - costing them money that could be used to create jobs. Simply put, these abusive suits are a burden on our economy and lead to tens of billions of dollars a year in settlements and litigation costs - money that could be better spent creating new jobs and solving problems.\r \rOur nation's innovators boost our economy, and it is wrong for patent trolls to take advantage of them. The money companies have to use for settlements and litigation with patent trolls could instead be put towards research, technology, and hiring. That's why I cosponsored the Innovation Act, to defend our patent system against fraud and abuse. It contains reforms that will help business large and small, while preserving the integrity of America's patent system. The Innovation Act offers security for our innovators and job creators, and consequentially, our economy as a whole.\r \rBackground: H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act was introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-06) and cosponsored by Congressman Holding. H.R. 3309 reduces patent litigation abuse and was approved by the Judiciary Committee on November 20, 2013.\r \r \r \r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140330210500/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-supports-the-innovation-act", "Congressman Holding Supports the Innovation Act", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 20, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Supports the Innovation Act\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After the House Judiciary Committee approved a patent reform bill, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cPatent litigation abuse jeopardizes the integrity of our legal system and the vibrancy of our economy. Companies large and small are consistently faced with the threat of abusive patent suits - costing them money that could be used to create jobs. Simply put, these abusive suits are a burden on our economy and lead to tens of billions of dollars a year in settlements and litigation costs - money that could be better spent creating new jobs and solving problems.\n\u00a0\nOur nation's innovators boost our economy, and it is wrong for patent \u2018trolls\u2019 to take advantage of them. The money companies have to use for settlements and litigation with patent trolls could instead be put towards research, technology, and hiring. That's why I cosponsored the Innovation Act, to defend our patent system against fraud and abuse. It contains reforms that will help business large and small, while preserving the integrity of America's patent system. The Innovation Act offers security for our innovators and job creators, and consequentially, our economy as a whole.\u201d\n\u00a0\nBackground: H.R. 3309, the \u201cInnovation Act\u201d was introduced\u00a0 by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-06) and cosponsored by Congressman Holding. H.R. 3309 reduces patent litigation abuse and was approved by the Judiciary Committee on November 20, 2013.\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=7bda4a19-c9e8-e396-eda8-83ebf24d29b7", "Burr: Exercise of 'Nuclear Option' Threatens Bipartisanship and Paves Way for More Laws Like Obamacare", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.21.13\n\t\t\t Burr: Exercise of \u2018Nuclear Option\u2019 Threatens Bipartisanship and Paves Way for More Laws Like Obamacare  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr\r\n(R-NC) made the following statement in reaction to Majority Leader Harry Reid's\r\nmove to invoke the 'nuclear option' to make major changes to the longstanding\r\nrules of the Senate:\r\n\r\n\r\n\"The American people know what\r\nthey get when the Senate removes the 60-vote threshold and the minority is\r\nstripped of its rights: they get unchecked power by the Executive Branch.\r\nThe President and Harry Reid might not like the American people playing a role\r\nin outcomes through the minority, but it has worked well for over 200\r\nyears. This change is a blatant attempt to change the debate about the\r\nDemocrats' health care plan as the consequences of this disastrous law are felt\r\naround the country, but it has ramifications far beyond the debate surrounding\r\nObamacare.\r\n\r\n\r\nRather than advance legislation\r\nand nominate judges that are capable of receiving bipartisan support in the\r\nUnited States Senate, the President and the Democrat majority want their\r\nlegislation, their way\u2014and they want to change the Senate rules to pack the\r\ncourts with judges who agree with them. Make no mistake; these actions\r\npave the way for more laws like Obamacare and will do lasting damage to\r\nbipartisanship, the Senate, and the nation.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://foxx.house.gov/blog/?postid=365199", "Rep. Graves, Rep. Foxx & 22 Cosponsors Introduce Bill To Save U.S. Textile Jobs", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) and 22 cosponsors introduced the Textile Enforcement and Security Act (TESA), a bipartisan bill to save U.S. textile jobs by providing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with more tools to enforce trade laws and better target fraudulent textile and apparel goods coming into the United States.  \u201cWhen trade violators sneak illegal goods into the United States it\u2019s a direct threat to our textile workers,\u201d said Rep. Graves. \u201cThe hardworking people in communities like Trion, Georgia, shouldn\u2019t have to worry about fraudsters in China stealing their livelihoods. Our bipartisan bill will modernize Customs and Border Protection so it has the enforcement tools necessary to crack down on illegal activity, collect more duties and penalties and protect 600,000 American jobs in the textile industry.\u201d Original cosponsors of TESA are Reps. Howard Coble (R-NC-6), Mike McIntyre (D-NC-7), Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA-3), Mike Michaud (D-ME-2), Renee Ellmers (R-NC-2), Jim McGovern (D-MA-2), Richard Hudson (R-NC-8), Charles Rangel (D-NY-13), Walter Jones (R-NC-3), Sanford Bishop (D-GA-2), Mark Meadows (R-NC-11), Hank Johnson (D-GA-4), Robert Pittenger (R-NC-9), Linda Sanchez (D-CA-38), George Holding (R-NC-13), David Scott (D-GA-13), Trey Gowdy (R-SC-4), Joe Wilson (R-SC-2), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ-9), Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10), Doug Collins (R-GA-9), and Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5). The Textile Enforcement and Security Act\r\n  \r\nHow It Works:  \r\n\u2022\tProvides More Tools To Combat Fraud  \r\no\tIncreases the number of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) specialists in the Textile and Trade Agreements division and at over a dozen U.S. ports. Also assigns staff to train trade partners.  \r\no\tClarifies that CBP has the authority to seize fraudulent textile and apparel goods imported under Trade Preference Area and Free Trade Agreement rules.   \r\no\tEstablishes centralized databases so CBP can more effectively and efficiently identify high risk importers and supply chains.  \r\no\tEstablishes an Electronic Verification Program to track yarn and fabric inputs in free trade agreements. Currently, inputs are tracked through paper documentation, a process that can easily be exploited.  \r\no\tUses revenue from fines and penalties to reward informants who expose import violations.  \r\no\tRequires the U.S. Government to publish names of companies that intentionally violate the rules of textile and apparel trade agreements.   \r\n\u2022\tDirects the Homeland Security and Treasury Departments to use revenue from fines and penalties collected from textile and apparel import violations to pay for expenses directly related to customs enforcement and training. What It Does:\r\n\u2022\tProtects 45,000 textile jobs in Georgia and 600,000 jobs across America in the textile industry.  \r\n\u2022\tPromotes growth in U.S. manufacturing.  \r\n\u2022\tModernizes CBP\u2019s enforcement capabilities, with an emphasis on efficiency.  \r\n\u2022\tPays for itself. Already the second largest revenue generator for the federal government, CBP\u2019s enhanced capabilities will yield even more revenue through fines and penalties on trade violators.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-continues-push-flood-insurance-rate-reform", "JONES CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR FLOOD INSURANCE RATE REFORM", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) continued his push to bring relief to Eastern North Carolina homeowners suffering skyrocketing flood insurance rates under last year\u2019s Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which significantly altered the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and is causing large rate increases.\u00a0 In a letter to Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, Congressman Jones emphasized the need to quickly move flood insurance reform legislation through the committee and to the House floor.\nIn addition, Congressman Jones yesterday attended a hearing of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee regarding the implementation of Biggert-Waters.\u00a0 He has supported numerous efforts to delay the implementation of the rate increases until the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) completes a previously-mandated affordability study and adjustments are made to the Biggert-Waters legislation to ensure that flood insurance remains affordable.\u00a0\n\u201cEastern North Carolinians are looking for solutions to their rising flood insurance costs, and ensuring that reform legislation makes its way quickly through committee and to the House floor for a vote is the first step in bringing homeowners the relief they need,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cI was pleased to see the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee take the initiative to hold a hearing on the implementation of Biggert-Waters, and I will continue to work toward a solution that allows both the NFIP to remain financially sustainable and flood insurance to remain affordable.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-receives-constitution-award-perfect-score-freedom-index", "JONES RECEIVES CONSTITUTION AWARD FOR PERFECT SCORE ON FREEDOM INDEX", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) has been chosen as a recipient of the Constitution Award by The New American in honor of his perfect score on the magazine\u2019s Freedom Index.\u00a0 The Freedom Index is a congressional scorecard based on 10 votes chosen by the editorial board that reflect a representative or senator\u2019s \u201cadherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements.\u201d \u00a0Congressman Jones was one of only 12 members of the House and Senate to earn a score of 100 percent.\u00a0\n\u201cI am honored to receive the Constitution Award from The New American,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cOur Constitution is under constant attack, and defending America\u2019s principles of freedom is my greatest privilege and responsibility as a member of the House of Representatives.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-to-host-google-hangout", "Pittenger to host Google Hangout", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 20, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER TO HOST GOOGLE HANGOUT EXPLORING OBAMACARE IMPACT IN NORTH CAROLINA \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 On Thursday, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) will host a Google Hangout with constituents who contacted him about their struggles with Obamacare.\n\u00a0\nSimilar to an informal hearing, Congressman Pittenger will use the Hangout to more fully explore how Obamacare is impacting the people, jobs, and economy of North Carolina\u2019s 9th District. \u00a0Invited participants include a local small business owner, a financial planner, an IT expert, and a nurse.\n\u00a0\n\u201cAlmost 500,000 North Carolinians have seen their health plan cancelled due to Obamacare,\u201d commented Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cFrom massive cost increases to lost jobs and reduced hours, Obamacare is having a negative impact on our economy. \u00a0During the Google Hangout, I want to listen to real people and their real stories and opinions, and take their ideas back to my colleagues.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongresswoman Renee Ellmers of Raleigh will co-host the Hangout.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-wolf-write-mccrory-about-fighting-hunger", "Pittenger, Wolf write McCrory about fighting hunger", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 20, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMEN PITTENGER AND WOLF WRITE GOVERNOR McCRORY ABOUT FIGHTING HUNGER \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 America is the world\u2019s most prosperous nation, and none of our friends and neighbors should go hungry.\n\u00a0\nYet 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, do go hungry. \u00a0Officially termed \u201cfood insecure,\u201d they often don\u2019t know where their next meal will come from.\n\u00a0\nToday, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) and Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) sent a letter to Governor Pat McCrory outlining several ideas on how to combat hunger at no cost to taxpayers.\n\u00a0\n\u201cCongressman Wolf has led efforts to fight hunger for several years, and I wanted leaders in North Carolina to benefit from his experience,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cCommunity problems are best solved through community action, and this letter provides new ideas on how to involve more of the community in fighting hunger in North Carolina.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe joint letter describes several successful initiatives that Congressman Wolf has been involved with in Virginia, highlights an innovative partnership between school cafeterias and food banks in Kansas City, and discusses the need for more public-private partnerships to combat hunger.\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u201cThere are so many ways we can combat the pervasive yet solvable hunger problem that exists all over the country,\u201d wrote Congressman Wolf. \u00a0In 2009, Congressman Wolf launched an annual federal employee food drive which has collected 15.2 million pounds of food donations to date.\n\u00a0\nThis fall, Congressman Pittenger partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Billy Graham Library, WCNC-TV, and WSOC 103.7 FM for a food drive which he hopes will become an annual, community-wide event.\n\u00a0\nA copy of Congressman Pittenger\u2019s letter to Governor McCrory is attached.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=76d491e0-afcd-0683-f7fc-7b93e920a82b", "Senators Burr, Casey, and Fellow Supporters Urge Passage of ABLE Act", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.20.13\n\t\t\t Senators Burr, Casey, and Fellow Supporters Urge Passage of ABLE Act \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nWith more than half of the United States Congress supporting the\r\nAchieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act - S. 313/H.R. 647), U.S.\r\nSenators Richard Burr (R-NC), Robert Casey (D-PA), and a bipartisan, bicameral\r\ngroup of bill co-sponsors and supporters called on Congress to pass the ABLE\r\nAct and provide an improved quality of life for individuals with disabilities\r\nthrough tax-free savings accounts.\r\n\r\n\r\nIntroduced in the 113th Congress in February, the ABLE Act has\r\nearned 50 Senate co-sponsors, 305 House co-sponsors, and is backed by more than\r\n50 local, state, and national disability advocacy groups, including the\r\nNational Down Syndrome Society, Autism Speaks, and The Arc.\r\n\r\n\r\nBurr, the lead Republican sponsor in the Senate, said: \"The\r\nABLE Act is a commonsense piece of legislation that provides individuals with\r\ndisabilities and their families with the resources to plan for a sound\r\nfinancial future while continuing to improve the quality of their lives\r\ntoday. I am pleased to see such overwhelming bipartisan, bicameral\r\nsupport for this important bill and look forward to its consideration in the\r\nSenate.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCasey, the lead Democratic sponsor in the Senate, said:\r\n\"The\r\nABLE Act is commonsense bipartisan legislation that will help make it easier\r\nfor those families to save for their children's future care, and we should pass\r\nit immediately. Individuals with disabilities and their families face\r\nchallenges many of us can't even begin to imagine. They deserve some\r\nassurance that they will be able to adequately plan for expenses. \"\r\n\r\n\r\nCongressman Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) said: \"Support\r\nfor tax-free savings accounts for individuals with disabilities stands at its\r\nhighest level ever - testament to the tireless dedication of those who\r\nbelieve that ALL Americans deserve equality when it comes to financial planning\r\ntools. It's time to pass this legislation and create a brighter future for\r\nthose in need. \"\r\n\r\n\r\nCongressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) said: \"The\r\nsupport we've seen in the 113th Congress for the ABLE Act is encouraging, and I\r\nwill continue to work with my colleagues on moving this important legislation\r\nforward. As the father of a young man with Down syndrome, I am committed to\r\nfinding ways to enhance the quality of life and maximize the potential for all\r\nindividuals with disabilities. I strongly believe that allowing families to\r\nform tax-free savings accounts to cover certain expenses like education and\r\nhousing will create a brighter future for our loved ones with disabilities.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCongressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said: \"With\r\n305 Members of the House of Representatives co-sponsoring the bipartisan ABLE\r\nAct, the time for action is now. This legislation will give people with\r\ndisabilities and their families the opportunity to take charge of their own\r\nlives and their futures. We live in a nation where everyone has the right to\r\nreach for their full potential. The ABLE Act is a commonsense step forward for\r\nthese hardworking Americans.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCongresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodger (R-WA) said: \"As\r\nthe mom of a son with Down syndrome, I know that too often, federal policies\r\nlimit those with disabilities and make them dependent on the government.\r\nWhen my son Cole was born, my husband and I were advised not to put any assets\r\nin Cole's name because it would penalize him if he needed to qualify for a\r\ngovernment program someday. There are millions of other parents in the\r\nsame situation - parents who would like to help their children improve their\r\nquality of life without jeopardizing their access to benefits. That's why\r\nwe must pass the ABLE Act. This commonsense bill would allow parents to\r\nsave for their children's future and give kids with disabilities a chance to\r\nlive the American Dream. I hope Congress acts swiftly to pass this\r\nlegislation and get it to the President's desk.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nSara Weir, National Down Syndrome Society Vice President of\r\nAdvocacy & Affiliate Relations, said: \"There is no other\r\nbill in the U.S. Congress that has as much bipartisan, bicameral support as the\r\nABLE Act. People with disabilities can't wait any longer for the passage of the\r\nABLE Act. Passing this landmark legislation will go a long way to help people\r\nwith Down syndrome and other disabilities realize and achieve their own hopes,\r\ndreams, and aspirations.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nStuart Spielman, Senior Policy Advisory and Counsel for Autism\r\nSpeaks, said: \"In the next 10 years, a half-million children with autism will\r\nage into adulthood. The staggering level of housing, transportation, and other\r\nsupport services that will be required for this population demand common sense\r\nsolutions such as ABLE.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nMarty Ford, Senior Executive Officer, Public Policy, The Arc,\r\nsaid: \"The Arc has long supported the ABLE Act, and we will continue to\r\nstand behind this important piece of legislation until it is finally\r\npassed. This bill will give individuals with intellectual and\r\ndevelopmental disabilities and their families a planning tool that can guide\r\ntheir path to financial security. Most importantly, it does so without jeopardizing\r\ntheir access to other necessary services provided by federal programs.\r\nWith more than half of Congress supporting this bill, we are hopeful that the\r\n113th Congress will pass the ABLE Act so that people with disabilities and\r\ntheir families can begin using this important tool.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe legislation would amend Section 529 of the Internal Revenue\r\nService Code to 1986 to create tax-free savings accounts for individuals with\r\ndisabilities. The bill, first introduced in 2006, would ease financial strains\r\nfaced by individuals with disabilities by making tax-free savings accounts\r\navailable to cover qualified expenses such as education, housing, medical, and\r\ntransportation. The bill would supplement, but not supplant, benefits provided\r\nthrough private insurance, the Medicaid program, the beneficiary's employment,\r\nand other sources.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-cosponsors-bill-ease-fishing-vessel-discharge-regulations", "JONES COSPONSORS BILL TO EASE FISHING VESSEL DISCHARGE REGULATIONS", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) cosponsored legislation to exempt owners of fishing vessels from burdensome regulations requiring them to obtain an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit for discharges incidental to normal vessel operation. \u00a0The Commercial Vessel Discharges Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 3464) would put a permanent moratorium on the EPA requirements, which will necessitate a permit for discharging things as simple as deck wash, bilge pump discharge, fish hold water, and laundry and shower water.\u00a0 Failure to obtain the permit could result in lawsuits and fines of over 32,000 dollars.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cWith an economy that is already struggling to recover, the last thing that Eastern North Carolina fishermen need is another costly federal regulation,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cWe need federal policies that encourage \u2013 not stifle \u2013 economic growth and job creation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\nIn 2006, a federal court in California ruled that the EPA was required under the Clean Water Act to issue permits for incidental discharges.\u00a0 Congress permanently exempted the 13,000,000 recreational vessels that were affected by the ruling but gave only a temporary exemption, until December 2014, to the affected 65,000 commercial and charter fishing boats and 15,000 commercial-use vessels.\u00a0 The EPA has since notified Congress that it is not equipped to process the vast number of permits that will be required once the temporary exemption has expired.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-praises-navy-decision-cancel-camden-county-olf", "JONES PRAISES NAVY DECISION TO CANCEL CAMDEN COUNTY OLF", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) issued the following statement following the United States Navy\u2019s announcement that it has decided to cancel the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in Camden County, North Carolina.\n\u201cGiven the overwhelming local opposition to an OLF in Northeastern North Carolina, the Navy\u2019s decision is entirely appropriate,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cI have been and will continue to be a strong advocate for the effort to bring an additional OLF to the Cherry Point area, which the surrounding community fully supports, but the field should not be located in Northeastern North Carolina against the wishes of the local residents.\u201d\nA copy of the press release from the Navy is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-jimmie-johnson-a-champion-on-and-off-the-track", "Pittenger:  Jimmie Johnson "a champion on and off the track"", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 19, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: \u00a0JIMMIE JOHNSON \u201cA CHAMPION BOTH ON AND OFF THE TRACK\u201d \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 On Sunday, Ninth District resident Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, his sixth championship in just eight years.\n\u00a0\n\u201cJimmie Johnson is a remarkable race car driver, but I\u2019m even more impressed with his work off the track,\u201d commented Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09). \u00a0\u201cSince 2006, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation has contributed more than $5 million to charity, with a special focus on improving K-12 education in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and California.\n\u00a0\n\u201cJimmie Johnson is a champion both on and off the track, and while his racing exploits will one day be memorialized in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, his quiet, off-the-track efforts to improve education will be his most significant, lasting legacy.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger will soon give a speech on the House floor to honor Jimmie Johnson\u2019s community involvement, and also plans to extend an invitation to Jimmie Johnson and his #48 Lowe\u2019s team to attend a special Congressional reception in honor of their championship season.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=7197f74e-fb90-c507-6879-5054bf4e2c79", "Coats Bill to Protect Integrity of National Cemeteries Clears the Senate", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.19.13\n\t\t\t Coats Bill to Protect Integrity of National Cemeteries Clears the Senate \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Senate passage of Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act one step closer to law\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nSenator\r\nDan Coats (R-Ind.) today praised the Senate's passage of the Alicia Dawn\r\nKoehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act, (S.1471), legislation he\r\nintroduced that would give the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the\r\nU.S. Department of the Army the authority to disinter veterans buried in\r\nnational cemeteries who have committed a Federal or State capital crime. The\r\nbill passed the Senate unanimously on Monday evening.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"I\r\ntruly wish the events that prompted the need for this legislation never\r\noccurred in the first place,\" said Coats. \"My office and I have been working\r\nfor more than a year with the Koehl family and the VA to remedy this\r\nunacceptable mistake. I am pleased the Senate unanimously passed my bill to\r\nhelp give the Koehl family a sense of closure and to protect the integrity of\r\nour national cemeteries.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"The\r\nmen and women who have served our country are heroes and deserve to be honored\r\nwhen they pass; however, veterans who have committed a capital crime should not\r\nbe allowed to be laid to rest in one of our national cemeteries among these\r\nbrave individuals,\" said Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member\r\nof the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and a cosponsor of the bill. \"A\r\nmilitary burial is one of the greatest honors we can bestow on our men and\r\nwomen in uniform and should not include those who have committed such heinous\r\nacts.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nSpecifically,\r\nthe bill would give the VA the authority it needs to exhume the remains of\r\nMichael LaShawn Anderson, who shot and killed Indianapolis resident Alicia Dawn\r\nKoehl on May 30, 2012. After learning that Anderson was buried at Fort Custer\r\nNational Cemetery, the Koehl family requested that the VA disinter his remains.\r\nThe VA rejected the request, claiming it does not have the authority to exhume\r\nthe remains of an ineligible veteran who is mistakenly buried in one of their\r\ncemeteries.\r\n\r\n\r\nCurrent\r\nlaw prohibits persons who \"have committed a Federal or State capital crime but\r\nwere unavailable for trial due to death\" from being given the honor of a burial\r\nin a national cemetery.\r\n\r\n\r\nCoats\r\nadded,\r\n\"As a veteran myself, I have the deepest respect for those who have worn the\r\nuniform to serve our country, but no veteran who commits a state or federal\r\ncapital crime should be given the honor of a military burial and be laid to\r\nrest next to our nation's heroes. That is the law today and my bill allows the\r\nVA and Defense Department to ensure the law is followed.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCoats\r\nintroduced the Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act on August\r\n1, 2013. Representative Susan W. Brooks (R-Ind.) introduced companion\r\nlegislation in the House of Representatives.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nClick\r\nhere for a copy of the\r\nlegislation.\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-opposes-bilateral-security-agreement-afghanistan", "JONES OPPOSES BILATERAL SECURITY AGREEMENT WITH AFGHANISTAN", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) implored President Barack Obama to reconsider the Bilateral Security Agreement that is currently being discussed between the United States and Afghanistan.\u00a0 Under the agreement, the United States would continue to send aid to Afghanistan and would retain a troop presence for 10 years beyond 2014. \u00a0In a letter to President Obama, Congressman Jones outlined his concerns regarding the agreement \u2013 namely, the possibility of further loss of American life overseas and the expenditure of taxpayer money without congressional approval.\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cParticularly at a time when the national debt is an astonishing 17 trillion dollars and we have been forced to make deep budget cuts here in the United States, we cannot afford to continue to send trillions of dollars overseas to support a corrupt Afghan government,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cMost importantly, allowing our troops to remain in Afghanistan exposes them to considerable danger and risks the loss of precious American lives \u2013 all without so much as a vote in Congress.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/icymi-pittenger-stuart-varney-discuss-fate-of-obamacare", "ICYMI:  Pittenger, Stuart Varney discuss fate of Obamacare", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 18, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: \u00a0OBAMACARE IS COERCIVE \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 Monday morning, Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney turned to Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) for analysis of the continuing meltdown of Obamacare. \u00a0Almost 500,000 North Carolinians have already had their health insurance cancelled due to Obamacare, while only 1600 have been able to sign up for plans on Healthcare.gov.\n\u00a0\nStuart Varney asked if Obamacare was now more likely to be repealed. \u00a0Congressman Pittenger replied that Americans would start demanding repeal, explaining that Obamacare is \u201ca coercive plan, one that\u2019s mandated and required, and yet the failure of it is so evident. \u00a0In North Carolina, we have a half-million people who can\u2019t keep their own plan.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301132833/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=472", "Hudson Statement on Memorial Service for TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2013   Hudson Statement on Memorial Service for TSA Officer Gerardo Hernandez  WASHINGTON- U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08), Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, released the following statement after attending a memorial service for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Officer Gerardo Hernandez:  \u201cI was honored to join the family and friends of Officer Hernandez to commemorate his life and service to our country. We owe a debt of gratitude to Officer Hernandez and our transportation security officers who put themselves in harm\u2019s way for our safety. Officer Hernandez will be remembered as a true American hero, one who valiantly dedicated his life to protecting our air-travelers. I will continue to work with my colleagues and the transportation security community to investigate the senseless attack that occurred to ensure TSA and our airports have the tools to keep all Americans safe.\u201d  ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=6cbec278-a65f-bee7-0b68-cb62b47c37bc", "Senate Health Policy Leaders Hail Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Safety of Compounded Drugs, Track All Prescription Drugs; Bill Now Heads to the President's Desk", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.18.13\n\t\t\t Senate Health Policy Leaders Hail Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Safety of Compounded Drugs, Track All Prescription Drugs; Bill Now Heads to the President\u2019s Desk \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Bipartisan, Bicameral Drug Quality and Security Act Endorsed by Community Pharmacists, State Health Officials, and Dozens of Other Stakeholder Groups\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nSenate\r\nHealth, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin\r\n(D-IA), Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and HELP Committee members\r\nSenator Al Franken (D-MN), Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Senator Michael Bennet\r\n(D-CO), and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) today hailed Senate passage of\r\nlegislation to help ensure the safety of compounded drugs and to track all\r\nprescription drugs from the time they are manufactured to the moment they are\r\npicked up at the drugstore. The Drug Quality and Security Act\r\nreflects a bipartisan, bicameral effort to address these drug safety and\r\nsecurity issues. It is aimed at helping prevent a future public health\r\ncrisis like the 2012 meningitis outbreak tied to the New England Compounding\r\nCenter and securing the pharmaceutical supply chain. The bill has now cleared\r\nboth houses of Congress and will go on to the President to be signed into law.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Just\r\nover one year ago, a widespread fungal meningitis outbreak brought attention to\r\nthe legal and regulatory gaps that allowed owners and managers at the New\r\nEngland Compounding Center to disregard basic procedures to ensure that the\r\nproducts they were manufacturing were sterile. This gross negligence had\r\nheartbreaking consequences for families nationwide,\" Harkin said. \"And\r\nthe contamination at the NECC was not an isolated incident: over the last\r\ndecade, patients have suffered a range of grievous\u2014even fatal\u2014infections as a\r\nresult of compounded drugs that were contaminated or improperly formulated.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"This bipartisan bill represents a monumental step forward\r\nfor drug safety and is a testament to what Congress can achieve when Democrats\r\nand Republicans work together,\" Harkin continued. \"This legislation will\r\nimprove the safety of compounded drugs as well as establish an unprecedented\r\ntracing system that will, for the first time ever, track prescription drugs\r\nfrom manufacturing to distribution, thereby thwarting drug counterfeiters.\r\nAmericans must have the confidence that their drugs\u2014 whether obtained at a\r\nhospital, at a doctor's office, or at the pharmacy counter\u2014are safe, and that\r\nis exactly what this bill does.\" Alexander said: \"We have worked for a year to find a solution that would\r\nhelp prevent a repeat of the tragic meningitis outbreak that has killed 16\r\nTennesseans and made so many others so sick. Those Tennesseans deserve this\r\nbill, which will make it clear exactly who is in charge of overseeing each\r\ncompounding facility, so there will be no questions about who's on the\r\nflagpole.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Patients\r\nin Minnesota and around the country should be able to trust that the\r\nmedications they are taking are safe, but we've seen that hasn't always\r\nhappened. But I'm pleased that with the passage of this bipartisan legislation,\r\nwe've taken an important step forward in helping give patients a little more\r\npeace of mind about their prescriptions,\" Franken said. \"While we still\r\nhave more work to do, the passage of this legislation marks real progress in\r\npreventing another outbreak like the one that happened last year.\" \r\n\r\n\r\nRoberts\r\nadded, \"I became involved in this issue after a Kansas City pharmacist\r\nrisked thousands of patient lives with illegal practices. After the deadly\r\nmeningitis outbreak caused by contaminated medication, a bipartisan, bicameral\r\ngroup of lawmakers came together with industry stakeholders and made a\r\nconcerted effort to prevent tragedies like these from ever occurring again.\r\nThis legislation protects traditional pharmacies, while giving patients more\r\nconfidence in the quality and safety of their compounded drugs.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"After\r\nyears of bipartisan work in Congress and feedback from business and\r\nstakeholders, we're glad that this bill has passed and is on its way to the\r\nPresident's desk for his signature,\" Bennet said. \"We know more from a\r\nbarcode on a gallon of milk than on a bottle of prescription drugs, which could\r\nmean the difference between life and death. Whether it is through a stronger\r\ndrug supply chain that strengthens our national security or better oversight\r\nfor compounded drugs, this commonsense bill will help restore confidence in our\r\nprescription drugs and protect our families from any potential health risks.\" \r\n\r\n\r\nBurr\r\nsaid: \"After years of hard work, I am very proud to see this bill sent to\r\nthe President to be signed into law. This bipartisan bill reflects a\r\ncollaborative effort to produce balanced legislation that appropriately\r\nresponds to the tragic meningitis outbreak over the past year and proactively\r\nputs in place uniform, workable standards that will provide stakeholders with\r\ncritical regulatory certainty and give patients renewed confidence in the\r\nsafety and security of our nation's pharmaceutical drug supply chain. I\r\nwant to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their hard work and\r\nsteadfast commitment to seeing this process through to the end.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nA\r\nbroad range of stakeholders, including the American Society of Health-System\r\nPharmacists, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the\r\nNational Community Pharmacists Association, the Federation of American\r\nHospitals, Premier Healthcare Alliance, the American Medical Student\r\nAssociation, the American Public Health Association, the Annie Appleseed\r\nFoundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the\r\nCenter for Science and Democracy, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Center\r\nfor Medical Consumers, Community Catalyst, the Connecticut Center for Patient\r\nSafety, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the\r\nOvarian Cancer National Alliance, Trust for America's Health, the Healthcare\r\nDistribution Management Association, the Pharmaceutical Distribution Security\r\nAlliance, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the Pharmaceutical Research\r\nand Manufacturers of America, PharMEDium, the Biotechnology Industry\r\nOrganization, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Pfizer, UPS, and\r\nRichie's Specialty Pharmacy endorsed the Drug Quality and Security Act.\r\nExcerpts from their endorsements can be seen\r\nhere. \r\n\r\n\r\nA\r\nsummary of the bill follows. Title I\r\n\r\n\r\nOne\r\nyear ago, the meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated compounded drugs from\r\nthe New England Compounding Center alerted the nation that providers and\r\npatients need sources of safe compounded drugs. Following the outbreak, a\r\nbipartisan group of HELP Committee Senators\u2014 led by Chairman Harkin, Ranking\r\nMember Alexander, Sen. Franken, and Sen. Roberts\u2014developed legislation to help\r\nensure that quality compounded drugs are available to patients and providers\r\nwho need them.\r\n\r\n\r\nAmong\r\nother highlights, the legislation:\r\n\r\n \r\n\tDistinguishes compounders engaged in traditional\r\n\tpharmacy practice from those making large volumes of compounded drugs\r\n\twithout individual prescriptions. Compounders who wish to practice outside\r\n\tthe scope of traditional pharmacy practice can register as outsourcing\r\n\tfacilities, but those who choose to remain traditional pharmacies will\r\n\tcontinue to be primarily regulated by State Boards of Pharmacy as they are\r\n\tin current law.\r\n\tDefines the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) role\r\n\tin oversight of outsourcing facilities. Outsourcing facilities would\r\n\tbe subject to FDA oversight in much the same way as traditional\r\n\tmanufacturers. FDA will know who these outsourcers are and what they\r\n\tare making, receive adverse event reports about compounded drugs, and have\r\n\tthe authority and resources to conduct risk-based inspections. The\r\n\tlegislation will give providers and patients the option of purchasing\r\n\tproducts from outsourcing facilities that comply with FDA quality standards.\r\n\tOffers providers and patients better information about\r\n\tcompounded drugs. The legislation directs FDA to make a list of\r\n\tFDA-regulated outsourcing facilities available on FDA's website, requires\r\n\tdetailed labeling on compounded drugs, and prohibits false and misleading\r\n\tadvertising.\r\n\tClarifies current federal law regarding pharmacy\r\n\tcompounding. The legislation strikes unconstitutional provisions in\r\n\tcurrent law, resolving the patchwork of current federal regulation and\r\n\tapplying a uniform standard nationwide.\r\n \r\n\r\nTitle\r\nII\r\n\r\n\r\nChairman\r\nHarkin, Ranking Member Alexander, Sen. Bennet, and Sen. Burr have developed\r\ntrack and trace legislation that improves patient safety by replacing today's\r\npatchwork of state product tracing laws with a strong, uniform standard that\r\nwould ultimately result in electronic, interoperable unit level product tracing\r\nfor the entire country. The last comprehensive effort to establish\r\nsafeguards for the drug distribution supply chain was twenty-five years\r\nago. This bipartisan, bicameral draft is the result of several years of\r\nwork to address the growing problem of pharmaceutical theft, counterfeiting,\r\nand diversion. \r\n\r\n\r\nAmong\r\nother highlights, the legislation:\r\n\r\n \r\n\tDevelops a workable pathway to unit-level tracing in a\r\n\tdecade. Over the course of seven years, the major sectors of the\r\n\tpharmaceutical supply chain, such as manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale\r\n\tdistributors, and dispensers will all be passing and holding onto key\r\n\tinformation about each drug's distribution history. Within ten\r\n\tyears, supply chain stakeholders will participate in electronic,\r\n\tinteroperable product tracing.\r\n\tStrengthens licensure requirements for wholesale\r\n\tdistributors and third-party logistics providers. Wholesale\r\n\tdistributors will have higher standards for their licenses nationwide, and\r\n\tthird-party logistics providers will be recognized for the first time as a\r\n\tpart of the drug supply chain. FDA will also keep a database of\r\n\twholesalers that will be available to the public through the FDA's\r\n\twebsite, allowing consumers and members of the drug supply chain to\r\n\tidentify appropriately licensed wholesalers.\r\n \r\nEstablishes nationwide drug serial numbers. Four\r\nyears after the date of enactment, manufacturers will serialize drugs in a\r\nconsistent way across the industry. This will allow for efficient tracing\r\nto respond to recalls and notices of theft and counterfeiting.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=6ccbb9f9-0b61-c546-141a-e7bffce57c70", "Senate Education Committee Members Announce Task Force to Review Higher Ed Regulations and Reporting Requirements", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.18.13\n\t\t\t Senate Education Committee Members Announce Task Force to Review Higher Ed Regulations and Reporting Requirements \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Task force of higher ed officials and experts will identify ways to reduce and streamline confusing or costly regulations\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nSenate education committee Ranking\r\nMember Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and members Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.),\r\nRichard Burr (R-N.C.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) today announced the\r\nformation of a task force to examine burdens on institutions of higher\r\neducation.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Task Force on Government\r\nRegulation of Higher Education will conduct a comprehensive review of federal\r\nregulations and reporting requirements affecting colleges and universities and\r\nmake recommendations to reduce and streamline regulations, while protecting\r\nstudents, institutions and taxpayers.\r\n\r\n\r\nAlexander said: \"Let's face it: the federal government has become one of\r\nthe greatest obstacles to innovation in higher education. The stack of federal\r\nregulations on colleges and universities today is not the result of evil doers,\r\nit is simply the piling up of well-intentioned laws and regulations without\r\nanyone spending an equal amount of time weeding the garden first. This task\r\nforce will help Congress weed the garden.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nMikulski said: \"In order for America to out-build and out-innovate the\r\nrest of the world, we must first out-educate. And part of out-educating\r\nis making sure that we are supporting our institutions of higher education -\r\nhelping them be them as they work to educate our next generation. Over the\r\nyears, I have heard concerns from these institutions regarding federal\r\nrequirements that, while well-intentioned, often end up being duplicative and\r\nburdensome.I have committed to seeing what can be done. We need to\r\nregulate, not strangulate. As this Task Force works on a path forward, it will\r\nbe well-served through the leadership of the University System of Maryland's\r\nown Dr. William 'Brit' Kirwan, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and\r\nexperience.\" \r\n\r\n\r\nBurr said: \"The tidal wave of regulations and reporting requirements\r\nfaced by colleges and universities today is stifling innovation and, worse,\r\nraising college tuition price tags as schools pass on these compliance costs to\r\nstudents. This task force will assemble experts and stakeholders to help\r\nstreamline regulations and reduce the unnecessary burdens on institutions of\r\nhigher education.\r\n\r\n\r\nBennet said: \"We must create an environment where our colleges and\r\nuniversities are focused on doing what they do best, and that's educating\r\nstudents to succeed in the 21st century economy. To do that, we must\r\nto take a step back and consider how the current requirements are helping or\r\naffecting that goal. This task force offers the opportunity to take a broad\r\nlook at federal regulations and requirements in order to inform our\r\nreauthorization of the Higher Education Act. What we need is a system that\r\nmakes sense for students and for colleges and universities.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe task force is co-chaired by\r\nNicholas Zeppos, chancellor of Vanderbilt University, and William Kirwan,\r\nchancellor of the University System of Maryland. It will comprise 14 college\r\nand university presidents and higher education experts. The American Council on\r\nEducation will provide organizational assistance.\r\n\r\n\r\nIn letters to request\r\nparticipation in the task force, the senators wrote: \"Our higher education\r\nsystem remains the best in the world and is often credited for its breadth of\r\nchoice and commitment to institutional autonomy. Over the past decade, however,\r\nCongress and the U.S. Department of Education have added more mandates,\r\nreporting requirements and regulations with which institutions must comply.\r\nThis Task Force creates an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of\r\nfederal regulations and reporting requirements affecting colleges and\r\nuniversities and make recommendations to Congress and the Administration to\r\nstreamline and reduce federal regulations, while at the same time maintaining\r\nstudent and taxpayer protections.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nSenator Alexander earlier this\r\nyear discussed the creation of the task force with Health, Education, Labor and\r\nPensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin as a means to provide the HELP Committee\r\nand Chairman Harkin with information and recommendations as part of the ongoing\r\nhearings and discussions about the 10th reauthorization of the Higher Education\r\nAct.\r\n\r\n\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-cosponsors-bill-improve-nsa-accountability", "JONES COSPONSORS BILL TO IMPROVE NSA ACCOUNTABILITY", "2013-11-15", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) cosponsored legislation to improve accountability at the National Security Agency (NSA) by requiring the inspector general (IG) of the NSA to be appointed by the president and formally confirmed by the Senate.\u00a0 Currently, the NSA director is responsible for appointing the IG \u2013 a situation which discourages the type of meticulous oversight the agency needs. \u00a0By requiring independent appointment of the IG, the NSA Inspector General Act of 2013 (H.R.\u00a03436) would hold the agency to the same standard as the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security.\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cThe NSA is vested with the responsibility to protect our national security, and with that responsibility comes a great amount of power,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cUnfortunately, the NSA has a history of abusing its power and violating the privacy of millions of Americans.\u00a0 This bill would improve accountability at the NSA by instituting a new structure of oversight and discontinuing a system in which the IG is required to report on the very individuals who appointed him or her to the position.\u201d\u00a0\n\u201cAs former CIA Inspector General Britt Snider wrote in a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, the decision to require an independently-appointed IG at the CIA in 1989 created an environment in which the IG\u2019s office \u2018no longer had to worry about the potential effect on their careers if their findings and conclusions were critical of the agency\u2019 and could freely decide \u2018which of the CIA\u2019s activities would be investigated, inspected or audited without waiting for direction or approval from agency management.\u2019\u00a0 This is exactly the type of oversight that the NSA needs in order to prevent it from further engaging in inappropriate activities that infringe on the privacy rights of U.S. citizens.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://mchenry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361767", "If You Like It, You Should Be Able to Keep It", "2013-11-15", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Patrick McHenry", "M001156", "mchenry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "While much of the focus on Obamacare's rollout has centered on the struggling Healthcare.gov website, another more disturbing reality has emerged since the October 1st launch.\u00a0 It was around then I began hearing from constituents who received cancellation notices from their insurance companies.\u00a0 These folks liked their policies.\u00a0 The policies worked for them.\u00a0 Yet the notices informed them their chosen policy was not good enough under Obamacare. \r\n\u00a0\r\nI've heard from folks like Tom, a retiree in Hickory.\u00a0 He and his wife had worked for years and enjoyed coverage through their employers.\u00a0 Following retirement, they found a policy that worked for them on the private market costing around $450 a month.\u00a0 However, that plan was not good enough under Obamacare.\u00a0 The alternative, Obamacare-compliant policy would cost Tom and his wife over $1200 a month.\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nThere is Roberta in Gastonia.\u00a0 After she gave up her teaching job to care for her ailing mother, she was able to find a policy for her and her husband that cost less than $150 a month.\u00a0 Unfortunately that policy was cancelled because of Obamacare.\u00a0 The replacement's cost? $510 a month.\u00a0\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nI also heard from Myron in Denver.\u00a0 He was on a family plan with his wife and two college-aged sons that cost just over $600 a month.\u00a0 That was until he received his cancellation notice in the mail.\u00a0 The cheapest alternatives available to Myron's family would cost over $1500 a month and double his deductible.\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nThese are only a few of the stories I have heard from constituents across the 10th District.\u00a0 I am sure there are more stories of folks losing their insurance that have not yet been shared.\u00a0 Media estimates of those losing health coverage have been as high as 160,000 in North Carolina and 3.5 million nationally.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nWhat makes this worse?\u00a0 This is not how Obamacare was sold to the American people.\u00a0 From the time the law was introduced, through last year's election, and as recently as this September, President Obama has reiterated that if you like your current insurance, you could keep it under Obamacare.\u00a0 Instead, millions of Americans received a cancellation notice as a daily reminder of this broken promise.\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nThis week, in an effort to hold President Obama to his word, the House passed H.R. 3350, the Keep Your Health Plan Act.\u00a0 This one-page legislation, which I cosponsored and voted for, allows Americans to keep plans available on the individual market now through 2014.\u00a0 Additionally, this legislation ensures those keeping their current plans are not penalized by the Obamacare tax on those who fail to sign up through the exchanges. \r\n\u00a0\r\nI remain opposed to Obamacare.\u00a0 I think it is bad policy that takes healthcare decisions away from the consumer and puts them in the hands of government bureaucrats.\u00a0 I have joined as a cosponsor of the American Health Care Reform Act which would increase competition among insurance companies and lower costs for all Americans.\u00a0 \r\n\u00a0\r\nHowever, Obamacare is still the law of the land.\u00a0 As long as that is true, I will work to hold President Obama accountable.\u00a0 H.R. 3350 does this.\u00a0 Now it is up to the Senate to act.\u00a0 They must support this legislation to protect Roberta, Myron, Tom, and countless other Americans from Obamacare's unaffordable premiums.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-joins-bipartisan-majority-to-keep-your-health-plan", "Pittenger joins bipartisan majority to "Keep Your Health Plan"", "2013-11-15", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 15, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER JOINS BIPARTISAN MAJORITY TO PASS \u201cKEEP YOUR HEALTH PLAN ACT\u201d \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Believing that a promise made should be a promise kept, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) today joined a strong bipartisan majority, including 39 Democrats, in passing the Keep Your Health Plan Act (H.R. 3350). \u00a0This simple, one-page bill provides insurance companies with the legal authority to continue offering existing health plans that don\u2019t meet the minimum standards set by Obamacare.\n\u00a0\n\u201cSo far, 3.5 million Americans have lost their health insurance due to Obamacare, while only 106,000 have been able to sign up for Obamacare policies. \u00a0Millions of hardworking Americans are scrambling to find new coverage and facing sticker shock, all because President Obama put politics above common sense,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger.\n\u00a0\n\u201cUnfortunately, that pattern continues. \u00a0Just hours after announcing that Americans should be allowed to keep their health plans, President Obama actually threatened to veto today\u2019s bipartisan legislation, which provides the legal authority to make the changes he announced to the American people!\n\u00a0\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t a game. \u00a0Real people are losing their full-time jobs due to Obamacare, real people are seeing their much-needed hours cut due to Obamacare, real people are having their health insurance cancelled, and real people are facing unaffordable increases in their health insurance premiums due to Obamacare.\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u201cHardworking Americans don\u2019t need another apology or press conference. \u00a0They need results.\u201d\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger is a strong supporter of common sense, market-based health care reform. \u00a0In June, he became the first North Carolina Congressman to co-sponsor H.R. 2300, which would provide health insurance for the needy without forcing you to give up your plan, provide coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, and lower costs by modernizing the insurance marketplace and reforming costly abuses of the malpractice system.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361659", "Foxx Shares North Carolinians' Health Care Stories on House Floor", "2013-11-15", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "*Video/Audio Below*\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released the following statement on the personal impact the Affordable Care Act is having on 5th District residents and the Keep Your Plan Act:\n\n\u201cFifth District residents contact me every day to share how the President\u2019s Affordable Care Act is impacting them. Insurance policies are being cancelled \u2013 policies families liked and thought they could keep; premiums are increasing beyond what family budgets can handle; people\u2019s personal health coverage choices are being belittled by central government planners. Washington Democrats can\u2019t ignore their stories.\n\n\u201cThough Obamacare is the absolute wrong solution to America\u2019s health care challenges and won\u2019t be truly \u2018fixed\u2019 without full repeal, we should do all we can to protect Americans from the President\u2019s broken promises within the law \u2013 especially the central broken promise, that if Americans liked the health care plans they had, they could keep them.\n\n\u201cToday I voted in favor of the Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013. We are a nation of laws, not of \u2018administrative fixes.\u2019 In spite of the President\u2019s veto threat and the challenges to enact such a policy in the health care market with sufficient time, Americans deserve to have a legislative safeguard that says the plans they like and want to keep are not illegal under the law. It\u2019s not enough to take the President at his word.\u201d\n\nCongresswoman Foxx shared the personal health care stories of constituents from North Carolina\u2019s Fifth District whose health insurance policies have been deemed non-compliant with Affordable Care Act regulations. Video is below:\n\nBroken Obamacare Promises Hurt NC Families (Dawn from Wilkes County)\n\nFrom Dawn\u2019s letter to Congresswoman Foxx: \u201cThe Affordable Care Act has eliminated my current HSA with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina\u2026The ACA-compliant replacement policy which I have been offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield will have a $5,500 annual deductible and will cost $478.60 per month. Even with a 10% higher deductible, this new plan will cost $318.30 per month more than what I can now afford.\u201d\n\nFor Ruthann, How is this Affordable Care? (Ruthann from Hickory, NC)\n\nFrom Ruthann\u2019s letter to Congresswoman Foxx: \u201cIn effect, I am now relegated to a policy that will only be helpful in case of a catastrophic illness resulting in hospitalization.\u201d\n\nBroken Obamacare Promise Hurts Don (Don from Lexington)\n\nFrom Don\u2019s letter to Congresswoman Foxx: \u201cMy individual health plan\u2026cancels Jan 1st. What is being offered by\u2026Healthcare.gov is triple the cost. I'm unemployed and desperately trying to keep healthcare until I reach 65 late next year. The president said, \u2018If you like your health care plan, keep it.\u2019 Please do whatever you can to make that a reality and not another empty statement...\u201d\n\nMidge Wants to Keep the Insurance Plan She Likes (Midge from Alexander County)\n\nFrom Midge\u2019s letter to Congresswoman Foxx: \u201cI am one of the many\u2026policy holders whose policy was cancelled due to Obamacare mandates\u2026My policy was great, affordable, and I liked it. The most similar policy Blue Cross can put me on has higher deductibles, higher coinsurance, and coverage that I don't need.\u201d\n\nObamacare: Promises Matter (Michael from Davie County)\n\nFrom Michael\u2019s letter to Congresswoman Foxx: \u201cIt is now impossible for our family to afford private health insurance.\u201d\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301162219/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=471", "Hudson Defends Right of North Carolinians to Keep Their Health Plan", "2013-11-15", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2013   Hudson Defends Right of North Carolinians to Keep Their Health Plan  WASHINGTON- Today U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released a statement following the successful passage of the Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013 (H.R. 3350) in the U.S. House of Representatives.  \u201cThere is no doubt that Obamacare is a failure, and the latest dismal enrollment numbers only reaffirm that fact. But even more than the numbers is the fact that our families and small businesses are suffering under increased premiums, fewer health care options, and canceled plans. In North Carolina alone, 160,000 plans have been cancelled, forcing hard-working families to find new plans that they don\u2019t want and can\u2019t afford. I will continue to do anything I can to protect my constituents from the harmful effects of this terrible law.\u201d  H.R. 3350 allows providers to continue to offer in 2014 those health insurance plans in effect in the individual market as of January 1, 2013.\u00a0  ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361854", "Democrats Break Ranks to Support Change", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In all, 39 Democrats broke ranks and supported the legislation, a total that underscored the growing importance of the issue in the weeks since millions of cancellation notices went out to consumers covered by plans deemed inadequate under government rules.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nVirginia Foxx (R-5)and Howard Coble (R-6) were among the North Carolina representatives who voted for the legislation. Mel Watt (D-12) voted against the change.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe final vote was 261-157 as lawmakers clashed over an issue likely to be at the heart of next year\u2019s midterm elections. The measure faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where Democrats seeking re-election in 2014 are leading a move for generally similar legislation.\r\n\u201cFor the last six weeks, the White House stood idly by, ignoring the pleas of millions,\u201d said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and lead sponsor of the legislation.\r\n\u201cOur straightforward, one-page bill says, if you like your current coverage, you should be able to keep it. The president should heed his own advice and work with us, the Congress, as the founders intended, not around the legislative process.\u201d\r\nBut Democrats said the measure was just another in a long line of attacks on the health care bill from Republicans who have voted repeatedly to repeal it.\r\n\u201cIt would take away the core protections of that law. It creates an entire shadow market of substandard health care plans,\u201d said Rep. Henry Waxman of California.\r\nThe vote came shortly before President Barack Obama welcomed insurance company CEOs to a White House meeting, and one day after he announced a shift toward making good on his oft-repeated promise that anyone liking his pre-Obamacare coverage would be able to keep it.\r\nIn brief opening remarks, he did not refer to the House vote and showed no give in his commitment to the program known by his name.\r\n\u201cBecause of choice and competition, a whole lot of Americans who have always seen health insurance out of reach are going to be in a position to purchase it,\u201d he said.\r\nThe events capped a remarkable series of politically inspired maneuvers in recent days. The president and lawmakers in both parties have sought to position themselves as allies of consumers who are receiving cancellation notices \u2014 yet have made no move to cooperate on legislation that could require those consumers\u2019 coverage to be renewed if they wanted to keep it.\r\nNeither Obama\u2019s new policy nor the bill passed in the House would ensure that anyone whose policy is canceled will be able to keep it. Instead, both would permit insurance companies to sell coverage renewals if they wish \u2014 subject to approval by state insurance commissioners.\r\nThe White House meeting came as the industry and state commissioners began adjusting to the president\u2019s one-day-old change in policy.\r\nUnder the shift, Obama said insurers should be permitted to continue to sell to existing customers individual coverage plans that would be deemed substandard under the health care law. Without the change, many existing plans would have been banned beginning next year, and the president\u2019s announcement was an attempt to quell a public and political furor triggered by millions of cancellation notices.\r\nThe House measure went one step further. It would give insurance firms the ability to sell individual plans to new as well as existing customers, even if the coverage falls short of the law\u2019s requirements.\r\nDemocrats sought to substitute a plan of their own that consisted largely of Obama\u2019s new policy, but failed on a party-line vote.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-price-and-scott-introduce-no-political-funds-personal-use-act", "JONES, PRICE, AND SCOTT INTRODUCE NO POLITICAL FUNDS FOR PERSONAL USE ACT", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressmen Walter B. Jones (NC-3), David Price (NC-4), and Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (VA-3) introduced legislation that would make it illegal for candidates or employees associated with federal political committees to use committee funds for personal activities.\u00a0 Federal law already prohibits candidates from using their campaign funds for \u201cpersonal use,\u201d but no such law prohibits conversion of the funds of political committees such as leadership PACs, super PACs, corporate PACs, labor PACs, non-connected committees, and party committees. \u00a0The No Political Funds for Personal Use Act, H.R. 3466, would extend to all of these political committees the prohibition on conversion of campaign funds for \u201cpersonal use\u201d \u2013 which includes things like vacations, cars, clothing, event tickets, and home payments.\nThe text of H.R. 3466 was first proposed by the bipartisan Federal Election Commission (FEC) after witnessing a substantial number of cases in which individuals with access to the funds of political committees abused the funds to pay for personal expenses.\u00a0 The need for the legislation was also highlighted by a 60 Minutes piece that aired in October entitled \u201cWashington\u2019s Open Secrets: Profitable PACs,\u201d which showed how some members of Congress personally benefit from their leadership PAC funds.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cFor too long, candidates and employees of political committees have been able to exploit loopholes in the law to use political committee funds for their own personal items,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cThis bill would put a necessary end to this abuse of the system and ensure that PAC funds are used solely for their intended purpose.\u201d\n\u201cMembers of Congress can\u2019t convert money from their campaign accounts for personal use, and they shouldn\u2019t be able to do it with funds they raise for their leadership PAC either,\u201d said Congressman Price.\u00a0 \u201cAs a matter of public trust, we need to close the PAC loophole so that all funding committees are subject to the same ethics laws.\u201d\n\"I am pleased to co-sponsor the No Political Funds For Personal Use Act,\u201d said Congressman Scott. \u00a0\u201cThis bill simply closes a loophole that presently allows some Political Action Committee funds to be converted to personal use.\u00a0 Most Members of Congress believed this to be current law.\u00a0 It is my hope that Congress will quickly take up this bill.\"\nThe legislation has garnered support from a variety of government watchdog groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Democracy 21, Common Cause, Public Citizen\u2019s Congress Watch, and Americans for Campaign Reform.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-106000-isnt-the-real-problem", "Pittenger:  "106,000" isn't the real problem", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 13, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: \u00a0MORE AMERICANS LOSE EXISTING COVERAGE THAN SIGN UP FOR OBAMACARE \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) reviewed reports on the number of Americans able to purchase Obamacare during October and issued this statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cMany in Washington are focused on the fact that only 106,000 Americans purchased Obamacare during October. \u00a0Yet the number of Americans who lost their existing health insurance due to Obamacare is 3.5 million, 33 times greater than the number of Americans able to purchase new coverage.\n\u00a0\n\u201cFor hardworking American families, the real problem isn\u2019t a clunky website, but broken promises from their Commander-in-Chief and a bloated, politically-motivated government takeover that is hurting the economy and their take-home pay.\n\u00a0\n\u201cSadly, more hardworking Americans lost their full-time jobs due to Obamacare than were able to sign up for coverage! \u00a0In June, 240,000 full-time American jobs were lost as employers scrambled to cut hours in an effort to avoid costly Obamacare mandates. \u00a0The United Food and Commercial Workers Union warns Obamacare is destroying the foundation of the 40-hour work week.\n\u00a0\n\u201cThe American people can\u2019t afford Obamacare. \u00a0Now is the time for President Obama to stop playing political games and work with Republicans on common-sense solutions to lower health care costs, protect the vulnerable, and create desperately needed jobs.\u201d\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361571", "President's Obamacare Decree is Not the Solution America Needs", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) released the following statement in response to President Obama\u2019s plan to once-again enact unilateral changes to Obamacare without Congressional approval:\n\n\u201cCan this tragically-flawed law hold any more band-aids? Waivers for this group; delays for that group; temporary \u2019fixes\u2019 to mask the gravity of Obamacare\u2019s most grievous features. The President is now trying to repackage his broken law. It\u2019s not working.\n\n\u201cNone of the damage control changes the President\u2019s foundational promises about Obamacare. Time and again, he said unambiguously, \u2018if you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it.\u2019 He said Obamacare would save families $2,500 each year. He said Obamacare wouldn\u2019t raise taxes.\n\n\u201cToo many North Carolinians, roughly 160,000, are confronting a very different truth.\n\n\u201cWith the President\u2019s credibility about these promises in shambles, attempting another unilateral end-run around Congress will not give North Carolina families the assurance they need.\n\n\u201cAn executive fiat is not what my constituents Scott, Dawn, Ruthann, Midge, Mark, and John \u2013 who are each facing cancelled plans \u2013 want. And it does nothing to solve the underlying chaos Obamacare is causing. Only full repeal in favor of honest, patient-centered reform can do that.\u201d\n\nCongresswoman Foxx today shared the health care experience of Ruthann from Hickory, North Carolina on the floor of the House of Representatives:\n\nFor Ruthann, How is this Affordable Care?", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["https://holding.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=113", "Congressman Holding Applauds Passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "holding.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Holding Applauds Passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington, DC,\r\n        November 14, 2013\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      For Immediate Release: November 14, 2013\rContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\r \r \rCongressman Holding Applauds Passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act\r \rWASHINGTON, D.C.  After House passage of a bill to reduce lawsuit fraud and abuse, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\r \rLawyers who file baseless lawsuits jeopardize the integrity of our legal system  and the bill passed by the House today ensures they are held accountable. Baseless lawsuits are routinely filed because of the lack of mandatory sanctions  this bill restores mandatory sanctions, guarantying consequences for filing a baseless lawsuit. It is essential that we help protect Americans from the very-real consequences of frivolous lawsuits and advance the cause of justice in this country.\r \rBackground: H.R. 2655, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act was introduced by Congressman Lamar Smith (TX-21) and cosponsored by Congressman Holding. H.R. 2655 restores mandatory sanctions for filing frivolous lawsuits, and passed the House on November 14, 2013 with a vote of 228 yeas to 195 nays.\r \r \r \r###\r\r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140228095337/http://meadows.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=469", "Meadows: \"A one-year delay does not make good on the President's promise\"", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Mark Meadows", "M001187", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Location\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tImage\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMap URL\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWashington D.C. Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWashington D.C. Office\n\t\t\t\t1516 Longworth HOB\n\t\t\t\tWashington, DC 20515\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (202) 225-6401\n\t\t\t\tFax: (202) 226-6422\n\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/bmdwE\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Office\n\t\t\t\tAvery County Sheriff's Office\n\t\t\t\t300 Shultz Circle\n\t\t\t\tNewland, NC 28657\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/aWlVv\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBuncombe County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBuncombe County Office\n\t\t\t\tSkyland Fire Department\n\t\t\t\t9 Miller Road\n\t\t\t\tAsheville, NC 28776\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/E92EQ\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBurke County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tBurke County Office\n\t\t\t\tMorganton City Hall\n\t\t\t\t305 East Union Street, Suite A100\n\t\t\t\tMorganton, NC 28655\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/b4EFo\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCaldwell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tCaldwell County Office\n\t\t\t\t\tHealth and Human Services Bldg.\n\t\t\t\t\t2345 Morganton Blvd.\n\t\t\t\t\tLenoir, NC 28645\n\t\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 426-8701\n\t\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/15e5n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Office\n\t\t\t\tCherokee County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t107 Peachtree Street\n\t\t\t\tMurphy, NC 28906\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 835-4959\n\t\t\t\t3rd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:00 PM - 4:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/JT3GE\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tClay County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tClay County Office\n\t\t\t\tClay County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t261 Courthouse Drive\n\t\t\t\tPaul Jordan Conference Room\n\t\t\t\tHayesville, NC 28904\n\t\t\t\t3rd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 11:30 AM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/Yzu2l\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Office\n\t\t\t\tGraham County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t12 N. Main Street\n\t\t\t\tRobbinsville, NC 28771\n\t\t\t\t2nd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/Cu7ux\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHaywood County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHaywood County Office\n\t\t\t\t285 N. Main Street, Suite 1300\n\t\t\t\tWaynesville, NC 28786\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 452-6022\n\t\t\t\tHours: M, W, Th, F, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/qUVJ1\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHenderson County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tHenderson\u00a0County\u00a0Office\n\t\t\t\t200 N. Grove Street, Suite 90\n\t\t\t\tHendersonville, NC 28792\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 693-5660\n\t\t\t\tFax: (828) 693-5603\n\t\t\t\tHours: M-F, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/6d5aI\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tJackson County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tJackson County Office\n\t\t\t\tSouthwestern Commission Building\n\t\t\t\t125 Bonnie Lane\n\t\t\t\tSylva, NC 28779\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:30 PM - 4:30 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/n6Zcr\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Office\n\t\t\t\tMacon County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t5 W. Main Street, Room 332\n\t\t\t\tFranklin, NC 28734\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/E4AMg\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Office\n\t\t\t\tMadison County Courthouse\n\t\t\t\t1 N. Main Street\n\t\t\t\tGrand Jury Room\n\t\t\t\tMarshall, NC 28753\n\t\t\t\t1st Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 1:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/AKPTF\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMitchell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMitchell County Office\n\t\t\t\t11 Crystal Street\n\t\t\t\tSpruce Pine, NC 28777\n\t\t\t\tPhone: (828) 765-0573\n\t\t\t\tHours: M, T, W, F, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/q40Fr\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Office\n\t\t\t\tMcDowell County Health Department\n\t\t\t\t408 Spaulding Road\n\t\t\t\tMarion, NC 28752\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/WmwOm\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tQualla Boundary in Cherokee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tQualla Boundary in Cherokee\n\t\t\t\tGinger Welch Building\n\t\t\t\t810 Acquoni Road\n\t\t\t\tCherokee, NC 28719\n\t\t\t\tPhone: 828-554-6714\n\t\t\t\t4th Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t10:00 AM \u2013 3:00 PM\u00a0\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/d9G2R\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Office\n\t\t\t\tSwain County Administration Building\n\t\t\t\t101 Mitchell Street\n\t\t\t\tBryson City, NC 28713\n\t\t\t\t2nd Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t1:30 PM \u2013 4:30 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/iIAz3\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTransylvania County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTransylvania County Office\n\t\t\t\tCommunity Services Building\n\t\t\t\tSecond Floor, Conference Room A\n\t\t\t\t98 East Morgan Street\n\t\t\t\tBrevard, NC 28712\n\t\t\t\t1st Tuesday of each month\n\t\t\t\t2:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/tYAVt\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tYancey County Office\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tYancey County Office\n\t\t\t\tBurnsville Town Hall\n\t\t\t\t2 Town Square\n\t\t\t\tDownstairs Board Room\n\t\t\t\tBurnsville, NC 28714\n\t\t\t\t2nd Thursday of each month\n\t\t\t\t9:00 AM - 12:00 PM\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\thttp://goo.gl/maps/vUgIK", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140330210526/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-applauds-passage-of-the-lawsuit-abuse-reduction-act", "Congressman Holding Applauds Passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 14, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Applauds Passage of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After House passage of a bill to reduce lawsuit fraud and abuse, Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement:\n\u00a0\n\u201cLawyers who file baseless lawsuits jeopardize the integrity of our legal system \u2013 and the bill passed by the House today ensures \u00a0they are held accountable. Baseless lawsuits are routinely filed because of the lack of mandatory sanctions \u2013 this bill restores mandatory sanctions, guarantying consequences for filing a baseless lawsuit. It is essential that we help protect Americans from the very-real consequences of frivolous lawsuits and advance the cause of justice in this country.\u201d\n\u00a0\nBackground: H.R. 2655, the \u201cLawsuit Abuse Reduction Act\u201d was introduced\u00a0 by Congressman Lamar Smith (TX-21) and cosponsored by Congressman Holding. H.R. 2655 restores mandatory sanctions for filing frivolous lawsuits, and passed the House on November 14, 2013 with a vote of 228 yeas to 195 nays.\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=58c7b20a-e74b-f2de-4340-54479357081c", "Burr: President Obama's \"Fix\" Will Not Work", "2013-11-14", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.14.13\n\t\t\t Burr: President Obama\u2019s \u201cFix\u201d Will Not Work \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) released the following\r\nstatement in response to President Obama's announced proposal to grandfathered\r\ninsurance plans:\r\n\r\n\r\n\"President Obama's attempt at political damage control today did\r\nabsolutely nothing to provide relief for the damage already inflicted on\r\nindividuals who already had health care coverage and the entire health care\r\nindustry as a result of Obamacare. If anything, the president only dug\r\nhimself further into a hole by putting forth an unworkable proposal that will\r\namount to nothing more than another broken promise.\r\n\r\n\r\nFollowing the president's announcement, both state insurance\r\ncommissioners and insurers themselves rightfully expressed concerns about the\r\nfeasibility of implementing the proposed change, the uncertainty it would\r\ncreate, and its effectiveness at addressing the underlying problems that are\r\ncausing cancellation notices to be sent and premiums to skyrocket. Even\r\nmany Democrats in Congress have come forward saying the president's about-face\r\nis not adequate to reverse the train wreck that is Obamacare.\r\n\r\n\r\nInstead of trying to shift blame and transfer ownership of this\r\ndisastrous law, President Obama should accept reality and work with Congress to\r\nreplace this law with commonsense, patient-centered reforms.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-files-amicus-brief-case-arguing-obamacare-violates-constitution", "JONES FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN CASE ARGUING OBAMACARE VIOLATES CONSTITUTION", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) has joined 39 of his colleagues in filing an amicus curiae brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Sissel v. HHS, a case which challenges the legality of Obamacare on the basis that it violates the Origination Clause of the Constitution.\u00a0 While the Origination Clause states that \u201c[a]ll bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives,\u201d Obamacare\u2019s individual mandate penalty \u2013 ruled a tax by the Supreme Court in 2012 \u2013 originated in the Senate.\u00a0 Thus, the brief argues that the healthcare law should be ruled unconstitutional.\u00a0\n\u201cEven worse than the canceled insurance plans and skyrocketing premiums resulting from Obamacare is the fact that individuals are suffering these ill effects from a law that runs directly contrary to our Constitution,\u201d said Congressman Jones. \u00a0\u201cIt is my hope that the Court of Appeals will recognize the law\u2019s blatant violation of the Origination Clause and rule accordingly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\nSissel v. HHS was decided in June 2013 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a ruling \u2013 made by an Obama-appointed judge \u2013 that upheld the constitutionality of the president\u2019s healthcare law.\u00a0 The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case this fall.\u00a0 Regardless of the outcome, the losing party will likely appeal to the Supreme Court.\nA copy of the brief is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-cloud-of-uncertainty-lifted-from-us-airways", "Pittenger:  "Cloud of uncertainty" lifted from US Airways", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 13, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER REACTS TO US AIRWAYS \u2013 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SETTLEMENT \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) shared these comments after learning of a settlement in the Department of Justice-US Airways/American Airlines merger dispute.\n\u00a0\n\u201cIn the absence of genuine legal or ethical concerns, consumers should always be the judge of the merits of a business merger, not Washington bureaucrats. \u00a0Considering the Department of Justice has approved several similar airline mergers, it was never very clear why they so strenuously objected to this one.\n\u00a0\n\u201cCharlotte-Douglas International Airport is critical to the continued economic success of the Charlotte region, and I will continue to do everything possible to support the airport, its infrastructure, and the airlines who serve Charlotte. \u00a0This includes strong support for the vital new international intermodal transport facility, which will create thousands of new jobs over the next 20 years.\n\u00a0\n\u201cSince August, I have repeatedly urged the Department of Justice to allow the merger to proceed. \u00a0The cloud of uncertainty which has hung over both airline employees and economic development efforts in Charlotte has been lifted.\"\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140228095551/http://meadows.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=468", "Meadows Questions Healthcare.gov Officials at Oversight Hearing", "2013-11-13", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Mark Meadows", "M001187", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Low Enrollment Numbers Reflect Wide-Reaching Problems with Obamacare  \u00a0  Washington, D.C. \u2013 Representative Mark Meadows (NC-11) questioned White House chief technology officer Todd Park and other administration officials today at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee\u2019s hearing on the flawed Healthcare.gov website.\u00a0  \u00a0  \u201cAt today\u2019s hearing, I questioned Mr. Park and his colleagues about the administration\u2019s responsibility to the American people to fix the disastrous rollout of Healthcare.gov,\u201d Meadows said. \u00a0\u201cAccording to Mr. Park\u2019s testimony, the website can currently only handle 17,000 accounts per hour. \u00a0When I later inquired how many people the website will eventually be able to accommodate at any given time, the officials stated 30,000. \u00a0There is a problem with that number: With 50 million people currently uninsured, the system must actually be able to handle a minimum of 43,000 people per hour if all uninsured Americans plan to enroll by January 1, 2014.  \u00a0  \u201cEnrollment numbers released by the Obama administration today reflect Obamacare\u2019s wide-reaching problems. \u00a0The administration initially projected enrolling 800,000 people in the exchanges within the first two months, a figure that was later scaled back to 500,000. \u00a0In reality, the numbers released this afternoon show that 106,185 people have enrolled in health insurance plans, and only one-fourth of those enrollments have come through Healthcare.gov\u2019s federal exchanges. \u00a0The administration\u2019s enrollment figure also includes people who have selected a plan but not yet purchased it.  \u00a0  \u201cToday\u2019s hearing highlighted the administration\u2019s disappointing decision to once again put politics ahead of the American people by launching the website far before it was ready. \u00a0The fact that Henry Chao, Healthcare.gov\u2019s chief project manager and the man in charge of recommending the website for launch, was not included on a memo by the agency\u2019s chief information officer outlining the site\u2019s high-risk security failures demonstrates just how chaotic the entire Healthcare.gov development process has been. \u00a0As constituents across my district face premium spikes and lost coverage due to President Obama\u2019s broken promises, the last hurdle they should have to face is a broken website. \u00a0They deserve better.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/gop-house-members-oppose-fast-track-trade-promotion-authority", "GOP HOUSE MEMBERS OPPOSE FAST TRACK TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY", "2013-11-12", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) was joined by 21 of his House Republican colleagues on a letter to the president expressing opposition to Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority. The signatories, while representing different parts of the Republican Party, all oppose delegating away Congress\u2019 constitutional authority over trade.\n\u201cSome of us have opposed past trade deals and some have supported them, but when it comes to Fast Track, members of Congress from across the political spectrum are united,\u201d said Congressman Jones. \u00a0\u201cOur nation\u2019s founders wisely gave Congress exclusive authority over trade in the U.S. Constitution.\u00a0 They knew that Congress exercising that authority would provide the best way to grow the economy, create U.S. jobs, and most benefit the American people.\u201d\u00a0\nFast Track is an extraordinary procedure that has been used 16 times since its establishment in the early 1970s. Hundreds of U.S. trade agreements were implemented without Fast Track, notably\u00a0including the controversial deal relating to China\u2019s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2000.\u00a0 Under Fast Track, a president may sign and enter into a trade agreement before Congress gets to vote on it, and then be guaranteed a vote within a set number of days with limited debate and no amendments allowed.\nGiven the constitutional concerns the process raises, Democratic and Republican presidents alike have struggled to convince Congress to delegate Fast Track authority to them. George W. Bush was unable to get a 2002 grant of Fast Track extended when it last expired in 2007. \u00a0Prior to Bush\u2019s 2002 Fast Track delegation, a bipartisan House majority of 71 Republicans and 171 Democrats voted down Fast Track when it was requested by President Bill Clinton.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223215804/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-statement-on-tomorrow-s-hearing-on-iran-nuclear", "Congressman Holding Statement on Tomorrow\u2019s Hearing on Iran Nuclear Negotiations", "2013-11-12", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 12, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement on Tomorrow\u2019s Hearing on Iran Nuclear Negotiations\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 On Wednesday, November 13, 2013, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will convene a hearing on the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. Congressman George Holding (NC-13), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, released a statement in advance of the hearing:\n\u00a0\n\u201cAfter four months on the job, President Rouhani is doing exactly what the Iranian Supreme Leader put him in power to do \u2013 get the Obama administration to weaken international economic sanctions.\n\u00a0\nOur sanctions are working. Instead of delaying and giving Iranian scientists more time, we should be enacting further measures that the House has already passed to show our allies and the world that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable.\n\u00a0\nUnfortunately, Secretary Kerry and this administration have been chasing an agreement with Iran that relaxes current sanctions and allows them to continue enriching material and developing their heavy-water reactor. This is the outcome that the regime in Tehran desires, and they won\u2019t have to make any concessions to get it.\n\u00a0\nI hope the witnesses at tomorrow\u2019s hearing will further highlight how the most recent P5+1 talks failed to stop Tehran\u2019s march towards the bomb and how critical a new round of sanctions is to stopping Iran\u2019s nuclear development.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=4e296bf4-bc9a-1cf1-ffa2-8d090ee7dd4e", "Senators Burr, Coburn, Chambliss Reintroduce Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act", "2013-11-12", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.12.13\n\t\t\t Senators Burr, Coburn, Chambliss Reintroduce Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nToday, U.S. Senators Richard Burr\r\n(R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) reintroduced the\r\nPublic-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act to address long-term liabilities\r\nfacing the federal government. The legislation would end the defined benefit\r\npension portion of the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) for new\r\nfederal government hires starting six months after enactment, leaving fully in\r\nplace the Thrift Savings Plan with the current match (up to 5%) for both\r\ncurrent and future federal workers. The bill would also apply to Members\r\nof Congress.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Right now, federal government\r\nworkers receive far more generous retirement benefits than private sector\r\nemployees. The cost to taxpayers of these benefits is unsustainable and\r\nwe simply cannot afford it,\" said Sen. Burr. \"We cannot ask\r\ntaxpayers to continue to foot the bill for public employee benefits that are\r\nfar more generous than their own.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Generous pension plans for\r\nmembers of Congress have helped turn congressional service into a career rather\r\nthan a calling,\" said Dr. Coburn. \"At the same time, federal\r\nworkers enjoy a better benefits package and higher overall pay than most\r\ntaxpayers - even at a time when many Americans are still simply looking for a\r\njob. This status quo is unsustainable and needs to be reformed.\"\r\n\r\n\r\n\"With America now $17 trillion in\r\ndebt, we simply cannot continue to commit to future government spending,\" said\r\nSen. Chambliss. \"Americans have demanded their leaders make the\r\nnecessary changes to our fiscal policies to put our nation on a track to\r\nsustain economic growth and real job creation. The Public-Private\r\nEmployee Retirement Parity Act is a small change that will have a big impact on\r\nour debt and deficit.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nCurrently, federal workers enjoy\r\nboth a defined benefit pension and a Thrift Savings Plan (equivalent to a\r\n401(k)) with up to a 5% match, paid for by the taxpayers. The average\r\nprivate sector employee gets a 401(k) with a 3% employer match and no pension.\r\nFederal workers also continue to enjoy federal health care benefits\r\n(FEHBP) after they retire, a benefit that is becoming increasingly rare in the\r\nprivate sector.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe legislation will require the\r\nAdministration to make the annual report on the actuarial status of the\r\nfederal retirement system publically available online by January 31st each\r\nyear. According to the most recent Office of Personnel Management's Civil\r\nService Retirement and Disability Fund annual report, the FERS system is\r\ncurrently underfunded by $20.1 billion for fiscal year 2012. In the\r\ncoming years, as more of the retirement burden falls on the FERS system, the\r\nrequired federal government contributions to FERS will skyrocket, especially in\r\ncomparison to what federal workers will put into the system. In 2012, the\r\nFederal government contributed about $22.2 billion to FERS. By 2065, those\r\nrequired contributions will rise to $239.5 billion, with the government paying\r\nout $415.3 billion in benefits.\r\n\r\n\r\nCurrent federal government\r\nemployees and retirees would not be impacted by the changes in the\r\nBurr-Coburn-Chambliss bill.\r\n\r\n\r\nClick here to\r\nlearn more.\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=360977", "Heroes Among Us", "2013-11-11", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement to commemorate Veterans Day:\n\n\"Throughout America\u2019s history, ordinary men and women have donned America\u2019s uniform and offered themselves as a line of defense against tyranny, evil and oppression in this world.\n\n\"Veterans Day belongs to these men and women.\n\n\"Through their honor, courage and commitment to our freedoms and our republic they have earned us the renown as the last best hope of earth.\n\n\"Whether in peacetime or in crisis, liberty requires constant defense. And regardless of the potential cost, be it lost time with family or even the last full measure of one\u2019s devotion, Americans continue to answer freedom\u2019s call. They enlist; they commission; they volunteer to be our protectors. We must never forget the weight or consequence of those decisions. We must never forget the good they have accomplished through their sacrifice.\n\n\"Appreciation is also due to the families who support our troops, past and present. There are brave spouses in every community who serve as anchors for their households while their loved ones are away, often for months at a time. There are grandparents who help share the responsibilities of raising children so military moms and dads can fulfill their duties with peace of mind. So, too, are there spouses, children, and neighbors who tend to the needs of our aging veterans, to ensure our nation fulfills its promises to them.\n\n\"For them, every day is Veterans Day.\n\n\"On this November 11th, our thoughts and prayers will also remain with the men and women deployed throughout the world in service to our Constitution and in pursuit of greater peace. We think of them and celebrate that our country is one set apart from the rest by the heart of our warriors and the resolve of our people for victory.\n\n\"America\u2019s airmen, soldiers, coastguardsmen, sailors, and marines are heroes among us. In their honor, and in gratitude for their selfless intrepidity on this Veterans Day and throughout our history, our nation offers its humble thanks.\"\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140301171800/http://hudson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=25&itemid=468", "Hudson Honors Veterans and Members of U.S. Military", "2013-11-11", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Hudson", "H001067", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\tNovember 11, 2013\n\n\tHudson Honors Veterans and Members of U.S. Military\n\n\tCONCORD-\u00a0Today U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08) released a statement thanking all veterans and members of the military for their dedication and service to our nation.\n\n\t\u201cVeterans Day is one of our most important holidays, a time to honor and celebrate our brave veterans for their commitment and service to our nation. Each and every day, our soldiers risk their lives, devoting themselves fully to defending the United States of America in the face of enemy forces. May we always take time to remember and commemorate the valiant sacrifices of our patriots who have dedicated their lives to defending our freedom, securing our homeland, and protecting our democracy.\u201d\n\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&Type=Press Release&ContentRecord_id=4820dea9-b0b6-86fb-eb9a-8a7bc01de027", "Senator Burr's Statement on Veterans Day", "2013-11-11", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Richard Burr", "B001135", "www.burr.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.11.13\n\t\t\t Senator Burr's Statement on Veterans Day \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \r\nVeterans Day is a time when we look back and reflect on the service and sacrifice of our nation's service-members and veterans. These individuals selflessly give of themselves to defend our freedoms,and we are constantly humbled by their strength and courage. While we may never repay the debt borne by those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, we must never waiver in our commitment to honor their memory by caring for those who continue the fight.\r\n\r\n\r\nThose who have returned from war are forever changed by their experiences. Some return with serious physical injuries, others return with severe invisible wounds, and many continue struggle to reintegrate back into their communities. Veterans Day is an important reminder that much remains to be done on behalf of the warriors who need more than our passing sentiments and our good intentions. We must remind ourselves that their survival and success is not assured, and their toughest days of rehabilitation and re-integration often lie ahead.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-secures-dare-county-public-hearing-fed%E2%80%99s-turtle-proposal", "JONES SECURES DARE COUNTY PUBLIC HEARING ON FED\u2019S TURTLE PROPOSAL", "2013-11-08", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it will hold a public hearing in Dare County \u2013 requested by Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan \u2013 regarding a proposed marine critical habitat designation for loggerhead sea turtles. \u00a0The proposed rule would designate a significant area off the coast of North Carolina\u2019s Outer Banks as critical for loggerhead turtles.\u00a0 If approved, the designation could impact commercial and recreational fishing, dredging activities, and offshore energy development.\u00a0\nNMFS has already held public hearings on the proposal in Wilmington and Morehead City.\u00a0 Congressman Jones requested the additional hearing because he was concerned that the geographic distance from the first two locations prevented Dare County residents from providing their input.\u00a0 The Dare County hearing will be held on Thursday, November 21, at 7:00 pm at the Board of Commissioners Meeting Room in the Dare County Administration Building.\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cI am pleased to hear that Dare County residents will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the critical habitat proposal,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cThis proposal could negatively impact the Eastern North Carolina economy, and it is essential for those who may be affected to voice their concerns.\u201d\u00a0\nA copy of the letter sent by Congressman Jones and Senators Burr and Hagan requesting the Dare County hearing is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-to-particpate-in-veterans-day-weekend-events", "Pittenger to particpate in Veterans Day weekend events", "2013-11-08", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 8, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER TO PARTICIPATE IN TWO VETERANS DAY WEEKEND EVENTS \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09) will participate in Saturday\u2019s dedication of the North Carolina Korean War Veterans Memorial in Mint Hill, followed by the \u201cUS Airways Salute to Veterans Parade\u201d in Uptown Charlotte.\n\u00a0\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s brave veterans are our true superheroes, the ones our children should emulate and admire,\u201d said Congressman Pittenger. \u00a0\u201cThis weekend, I encourage all Americans to pay tribute to our veterans, who risked their lives to defend our freedom and way of life.\u201d\n\u00a0\nThe North Carolina Korean War Veterans Memorial will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 9, at the Mint Hill Veterans Memorial Park (8850 Fairview Rd. in Mint Hill).\n\u00a0\nThe \u201cUS Airways Salute to Veterans Parade\u201d begins at 11 a.m. Saturday on Tryon St. at 11th St. in Uptown Charlotte, traveling through Uptown before ending on Tryon St. at Stonewall St.\n\u00a0\nCongressman Pittenger\u2019s office has helped hundreds of veterans cut through red tape entangling their veterans benefits. \u00a0If you or someone you know needs assistance, please call Congressman Pittenger\u2019s Charlotte office at 704-362-1060.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://jones.house.gov/press-release/jones-defends-enc-data-buoy", "JONES DEFENDS ENC DATA BUOY", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Walter Jones", "J000255", "jones.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) spoke out in defense of a widely-used data buoy located off the coast of Jacksonville, North Carolina, that is in danger of being removed due to a lack of maintenance funding.\u00a0 Buoy 41036 provides meteorological and oceanographic data to the National Weather Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, and local fishermen and boaters.\u00a0 According to estimates by popular North Carolina fishing web site www.FryingPanTower.com, the buoy\u2019s information is accessed as many as 32 million times each year.\u00a0\nThe Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program (CORMP) at the University of North Carolina Wilmington facilitated the original deployment of buoy 41036 in 2005 and has since provided financial support to maintain the buoy.\u00a0 However, CORMP is no longer able to provide the necessary funds after a recent rise in the cost of maintenance \u2013 from 40 thousand to 60 thousand dollars annually.\u00a0 In a letter to National Weather Service Director Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, Congressman Jones requested a meeting to discuss all options for allowing the buoy to remain in its current location.\u00a0\n\u201cThis buoy regularly provides critical information to a wide variety of Eastern North Carolinians,\u201d said Congressman Jones.\u00a0 \u201cThe Marine Corps uses data from the buoy for training activities and flight planning, while fishermen depend on it for information about current sea conditions.\u00a0 I am committed to finding an alternative funding solution that will allow residents of Eastern North Carolina to continue to benefit from the crucial services provided by this buoy.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\nThe full text of the letter is available at the link below.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://mchenry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=360571", "McHenry Statement on Coble Retirement", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Patrick McHenry", "M001156", "mchenry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued the following statement today regarding Congressman Howard Coble's announcement that he will not seek reelection:\r\n\"I am sorry to hear that the Dean, Howard Coble will not be running for reelection in 2014.\u00a0 As North Carolina's longest serving Republican House member, he has had an immeasurable impact on the state he loves so much and its Congressional delegation.\u00a0 Any North Carolinian that has had the pleasure of meeting Howard undoubtedly was witness to his uncanny knowledge of every high school in the state's mascot.\u00a0 Howard is a truly wonderful man and the epitome of an honorable public servant.\u00a0 His good nature and kindness will be dearly missed by all here in Congress.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://pittenger.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/pittenger-nc-the-beneficiary-of-cobles-service", "Pittenger: NC the beneficiary of Coble's service", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Robert Pittenger", "P000606", "pittenger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\u00a0\nNovember 7, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER REACTS TO CONGRESSMAN COBLE\u2019S DECISION TO NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION \n\u00a0\nCHARLOTTE \u2013 Today, Congressman Howard Coble (NC-06), the senior member of North Carolina\u2019s Congressional delegation, announced he will not seek a 16th term.\n\u00a0\n\u201cCongressman Howard Coble is a genuine person, always voting his conscience and staying focused on his constituents, even if it meant turning down \u2018bigger\u2019 opportunities,\u201d said Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09). \u00a0\u201cAs a freshman, Congressman Coble has been a tremendous help to me, gracious with his advice and counsel. \u00a0I will miss our regular chats on the House floor.\n\u00a0\n\u201cAffectionately known as \u2018The Lead-uh,\u2019 Congressman Coble has dedicated his entire life to public service, and all of North Carolina has been the beneficiary.\u201d\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=360973", "Coble's Service Will be Missed", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "Virginia Foxx", "F000450", "foxx.house.gov", "foxx", "https://foxx.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today offered the following statement on the announcement of the 2014 retirement of North Carolina 6th District Congressman Howard Coble:\n\n\"Howard Coble is a dedicated public servant to the people of North Carolina and a champion for honest, effective government. For nearly three decades he has taken great care to represent well the values and concerns of 6th District residents, and push Washington to work better on their behalf. His friendship and leadership in our state delegation will be dearly missed in coming years, but his legacy of service and devotion to our home and to all North Carolinians will continue to be a standard for current and future leaders to follow. It has been a personal joy for me to work alongside Howard in the Congress.\"\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:39:47Z"], ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140330210550/http://holding.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-holding-statement-on-congressman-coble-s-retirement", "Congressman Holding Statement on Congressman Coble\u2019s Retirement Announcement", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NC", "George Holding", "H001065", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "For Immediate Release: November 7, 2013\nContact: Lindsay Hamilton, 202-225-3032\n\u00a0\nCongressman Holding Statement on Congressman Coble\u2019s Retirement Announcement\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman George Holding (NC-13) released the following statement today regarding Congressman Howard Coble\u2019s (NC-06) announcement that he will not seek re-election:\n\u00a0\n\u201cIt is an honor to serve in Congress with our Leader, Howard Coble. A sharp-minded pillar in the House of Representatives, Howard has admirably served the people of North Carolina and his country for almost 30 years. I am extremely grateful for his guidance and thank him for his dedication to public service.\u201d\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 590, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"party\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Republican", "p1": "NC", "p2": "2013"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 590, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=NC&year=2013", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013", "results": [{"value": "House", "label": "House", "count": 590, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013&chamber=House", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013", "results": [{"value": "NC", "label": "NC", "count": 590, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&year=2013", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013", "results": [{"value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 590, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2013-11-07,https~3A~2F~2Fweb~2Earchive~2Eorg~2Fweb~2F20140330210550~2Fhttp~3A~2F~2Fholding~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fmedia-center~2Fpress-releases~2Fcongressman-holding-statement-on-congressman-coble-s-retirement", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?party=Republican&state=NC&year=2013&_next=2013-11-07%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fweb~2Earchive~2Eorg~2Fweb~2F20140330210550~2Fhttp~3A~2F~2Fholding~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fmedia-center~2Fpress-releases~2Fcongressman-holding-statement-on-congressman-coble-s-retirement&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 226.4420511201024, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}