{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases/strong-secures-wins-north-alabama-2024", "Strong Secures Wins for North Alabama in 2024", "2024-12-31", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Dale W. Strong", "S001220", "strong.house.gov", "strong", "https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014 As the 118th Congress comes to an end, Congressman Dale W. Strong released the following update on his work for North Alabamians in Congress this year:\n\n\u201cWhen the people of North Alabama sent me to Congress, I knew I wanted to focus on reforming how Washington does business for people. I am proud that my office has assisted nearly 1,200 constituents this year with various issues like delayed tax returns, VA claim denials, and ensuring folks receive the social security benefits they\u2019ve earned.\n\n\u201cI have also put forward a legislative agenda that supports American veterans and seniors, secures our borders, and protects our homeland, and strives to make our federal government smaller and more efficient.\n\n\u201cIn 2025, with President Trump returning to the White House and Republicans proposing a low-tax, pro-growth agenda, I am looking forward to working hard to make life a little easier for working families across the Tennessee Valley,\u201d said Congressman Dale W. Strong.\n\n2024 CONSTITUENT SERVICES\n\n1,172 constituents were served through casework ranging from expedited passports, VA benefits, tax returns, social security benefits, and many other casework issues constituents have had with federal agencies.\n\nOver $3.01 million in constituent benefits was secured and returned to AL-05 by my office.\n\n19,634 individual response letters were mailed to constituents regarding comments sent to my office.\n\n752 visits were made across AL-05 to meet with small businesses, manufacturing plants, organizations, constituents, and elected officials.\n\n20 Mobile Office Hour events were held in communities across North Alabama, including Woodville, Eva, Elkmont, and Triana. Be on the lookout for Mobile Office Hours in 2025.\n\nKEY LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY REP. STRONG\n\nRedivision Northern District of Alabama - H.R. 7177 \u2013 Signed into Law\n\nA bipartisan bill to improve the organization of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. It redraws divisional boundaries and assigns counties to divisions with the closest courthouse.\n\nDHS Biodetection Improvement Act - H.R. 6174 \u2013 Passed the House\n\nWould bolster U.S. biodefense by ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is positioned to combat bioterrorism threats.\n\nSHIELD Against CCP Act - H.R. 9668 \u2013 Passed the House\n\nWould establish a dedicated DHS working group to counter threats from the Chinese Communist Party. Specifically, it would require the group to examine, assess, and report on the spectrum of nontraditional tactics employed by the CCP and the efforts of DHS to counter these malign activities.\n\nNational Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act - H.R. 8590\n\nWould establish a dedicated counter-UAS training program to train authorized personnel to operate counter-UAS detection and mitigation systems, equipment, or technology on measures to address a credible threat that a UAS poses to the safety or security of a covered facility or asset.\n\nDeport Illegal Voters Act of 2024 - H.R. 10081\n\nWould expedite the removal of aliens convicted of voting illegally by adding unlawful voting to the defined list of aggravated felonies under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and provide for the expedited deportation of convicted individuals.\n\nSmall Modular Reactor Demonstration Act of 2024 - H.R. 9710\n\nWould amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support a program to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and micro-reactors in the U.S.\n\nSPACEPORT Act - H.R. 10464\n\nThe Spaceport Project Opportunities for Resilient Transportation (SPACEPORT) Act would modernize the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching (STIM) grants program to address the increased demand for civil, commercial, and national security space launch and reentry activities.\n\nSERVICE Act of 2024 - H.R. 8140\n\nThe Supporting Every At-Risk Veteran In Critical Emergencies (SERVICE) Act would establish a pilot program to allow local law enforcement agencies to use the Department of Justice\u2019s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants to establish dedicated \u2018Veterans Response Teams\u2019 to respond to emergency calls involving veterans in crisis.\n\nSECURING THE HOMELAND\n\n\u201cIn response to complex threats to our homeland, I introduced and secured House passage of the DHS Biodetection Improvement Act to detect and defend against bioterrorism attacks and the SHIELD Against CCP Act to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security has a task force dedicated to countering the Chinese Communist Party. I also worked to establish robust counter-drone measures to combat the increasing threat posed by nefarious drone operators through my legislation, the National Training Center for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, which was included in a comprehensive C-UAS Reauthorization package,\u201d said Congressman Strong.\n\nFurther, the Congressman took strides to maintain American dominance over our adversaries and to protect American interests. He introduced H.R. 3357, Protecting America\u2019s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act to prevent the purchase or lease of U.S. agricultural land by those affiliated with the governments of our adversaries. This legislation was included in the Republican Study Committee\u2019s historic anti-CCP bill this year. Related provisions were also included in the Farm Bill.\n\nAs the greatest nation in the world, the United States must also protect its domestic energy resources from foreign influence. H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, and H.R. 6009, the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act aim to unleash American energy production by streamlining permitting processes, increasing domestic energy output, removing regulatory barriers that delay critical energy projects, and ensuring American assets and resources are secured and protected for the benefit of American families.\n\nTo bolster energy production and security, Congressman Strong worked to accelerate the development of Small Modular Reactors through H.R. 9710, to ensure the country can provide reliable and sustainable base-load power generation.\n\nFurther, Strong\u2019s successful amendment to the NASA Reauthorization bill ensures North Alabama will continue to play a central role in the Artemis and Moon to Mars programs, ensuring U.S. leadership in space and further strengthening our national security in an increasingly contested domain.\n\nDEFENDING NATIONAL SECURITY\n\n\u201cOur adversaries are constantly pushing boundaries to undermine U.S. leadership. Unfortunately, American defense stockpiles and many key programs are not where they need to be. As a staunch supporter of our men and women in uniform, I look forward to a new Commander in Chief bringing direction and strength back to our armed forces,\u201d said Congressman Strong.\n\nAs a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Strong played a key role in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) \u2013 which authorizes funding and policy for the Department of Defense (DoD), nuclear weapons programs within the Department of Energy, and other defense-related activities.\n\nThrough the NDAA process, Congressman Strong successfully championed hundreds of millions of dollars for military construction, RDT&E, operations & maintenance, and procurement for Redstone Arsenal and North Alabama defense stakeholders. Space-based capabilities, offensive and defense missile capabilities, and aviation, particularly UAVs, are pillars of the fight of the future\u2014 and happen to be what North Alabama is best at.\n\nCongressman Strong advocated for provisions in the FY25 NDAA to enhance the quality of life for our service members and their families. The FY25 NDAA includes a 14.5% pay raise for lower enlisted service members, codifies the Military Spouse Career Accelerator, and expands the DoD SkillBridge program to help service members with their transition into civilian life.\n\nThe FY24 NDAA included Congressman Strong\u2019s FINISH IT Act, H.R. 5130, which overrode the Biden administration\u2019s decision to allow millions of dollars\u2019 worth of U.S.-Mexico border wall materials to go to waste.\n\nADVOCATING FOR SPACE COMMAND\n\n\u201cI refuse to sit back and allow such a blatantly political decision to put our national security and key space programs at risk,\u201d said Congressman Strong. \u201cThrough an objective, fact-based, process, Huntsville demonstrated that North Alabama is the best location to permanently house Space Command. I look forward to new leadership in the White House, who will put America\u2019s national security needs before politics.\u201d\n\nThroughout a multi-year Strategic Basing Process led by the U.S. Air Force, Redstone Arsenal consistently ranked the #1 location for the nation\u2019s newest combatant command headquarters. However, despite the facts, President Biden attempted to override the Air Force\u2019s preferred location of Huntsville and locate USSPACECOM headquarters in Colorado.\n\nCongressman Strong fought back and requested the House Armed Services Committee hold an oversight hearing into President Biden\u2019s decision. Through that investigation, it was discovered that there would be no interruptions to readiness should the combatant command move to North Alabama. Additionally, Congressman Strong successfully worked to include a provision in the FY24 NDAA to put a full stop to all military construction and expansion efforts for USSPACECOM headquarters in Colorado until the completion of a DoD Inspector General and GAO report looking into the Biden administration\u2019s decision.\n\nCongressman Strong also fought for key provisions in the FY24 and FY25 NDAAs which would restore our military\u2019s focus on lethality, stop woke policies within the DoD and service academies, and increase military recruitment and retention.\n\nHONORING OUR VETERANS\n\n\u201cOur nation\u2019s commitment to service members of the U.S. military doesn\u2019t stop when they retire but is a lifelong partnership. To honor the men and women who fought for our country, I\u2019ve sought to be an advocate for the almost 60,000 veterans and their families who call North Alabama home,\u201d said Congressman Strong.\n\nCongressman Strong was proud to introduce and support legislation to improve the quality of life for veterans and their families and implement robust oversight over the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This includes his legislation, H.R. 8140, the SERVICE Act, which would create a pilot program to provide grants for law enforcement to establish dedicated \u201cVeterans Response Teams\u201d within departments to respond to emergency calls involving veterans in crisis.\n\nCongressman Strong is committed to holding the VA accountable. Following several reports from constituents of the shortfalls within the VA\u2019s Beneficiary Travel Self-Service System (BTSSS), Congressman Strong penned a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough highlighting technical glitches, processing delays, and the discouragement of the use of paper reimbursement claims, all of which were hindering veterans and their families from receiving timely reimbursement of their travel expenses to VA appointments.\n\n9.8% of the residents within AL-05 hold veteran status, which is a higher rate than both Alabama at large and the majority of Congressional districts around the country. A community of veterans this large deserves robust VA healthcare options. While Congressman Strong is thankful for the exceptional service provided by the Huntsville VA Clinic and Fox Army Medical Center, they need more help providing care to such a large veteran population without subjecting those veterans to a drive to Birmingham or Nashville for a routine doctor\u2019s office visit. This is why Congressman Strong has begun advocating for a dental clinic and VA Health Care Center.\n\nSTRENGTHENING THE ECONOMY\n\nThroughout the 118th Congress, Congressman Strong consistently voted in support of legislation to strengthen our economy, lower costs for American families facing inflation and high interest rates and incentivize American companies to keep jobs and investments here at home.\n\nNORTH ALABAMA INVESTMENTS\n\nOver the last two years, the Congressman has worked tirelessly to send as much of your taxpayer dollars directly back to the fifth district as possible; securing over $18 million in funding for projects to improve the safety and infrastructure in your communities in a single fiscal year. When complete, the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriation bills stand to send tens of millions in additional funding for similar projects back to North Alabama.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "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"], "primary_key_values": ["https://strong.house.gov/media/press-releases/strong-secures-wins-north-alabama-2024"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3999919649213552, "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"}