{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=392241", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 9.1.14", "2014-09-01", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Leading from BehindCivilized people are appalled by the barbaric murder of American journalist Jim Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).\u00a0 A week after ISIS distributed video of Foley\u2019s tragic murder, President Obama in a press conference responded to questions about potential plans for action in Syria by saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t have a strategy yet.\u201d Hmmmm.\u00a0 Is this the poker face of a man with a plan, or is it a gaffe?\u00a0 I fear it is the latter. According to the Washington Post, \u201cPolls have increasingly shown that Americans view Obama as a weak commander in chief without much direction or heft to his foreign policy.\u201d\u00a0 Reviewing the situation with Russia and Ukraine, Iran, the Boko Haram in Nigeria, North Korea, the Chinese claiming two international shipping channels in the South China Sea, etc., I agree with those people who regrettably believe the President has a weak foreign policy. The threat posed by ISIS is real and continues to increase.\u00a0 The Russian threat to Ukraine and the chaos generally in the Middle East are real threats to American interests. President Obama cannot continue leading from behind.\u00a0 He and his Administration must have a firm grasp \u2013 a solid strategy \u2013 for exercising leadership and working with our nation\u2019s allies.\u00a0 The President must have a steady hand in managing world affairs.  \n\u00a0   \nThis sometimes means even working with some leaders who may not be our best friends.\u00a0 After all, as the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.\u00a0 Russia must be checked, and ISIS must be defeated.\u00a0 The President is the Commander in Chief, and needs a policy of strength and resolve. If the President needs to take significant military action, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) is right.\u00a0 He must ask Congress for authority. Government Control of Water I often speak and write of overreaching Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.\u00a0 In what appears to be another power grab, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have proposed what is commonly known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which could expand EPA\u2019s jurisdiction. American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the WOTUS rule \u201c\u2026would categorically regulate as \u2018navigable waters\u2019 countless ephemeral drains, ditches and other features across the countryside that are wet only when it rains and may be miles from the nearest truly \u2018navigable\u2019 water.\u00a0 It would also regulate small, remote \u2018wetlands\u2019 \u2013 which may be nothing more than low spots on a farm field \u2013 just because those areas happen to be adjacent to a ditch or located in a floodplain.\u201d What might the WOTUS rule do if it were officially promulgated?\u00a0 It might enable the EPA to dictate to farmers, land owners, economic developers, local governments, and others where they may or may not build fences, where they may or may not dig ditches, and more.\u00a0 When there are heavy rains in the mountains, there are many small streams which may only have water three or four times a year.\u00a0 Under these new regulations, land owners may be forced to chop up pastureland and fence these \u201cdry branches\u201d off, making it difficult to farm. Many coal mines are being shuttered.\u00a0 Now the EPA wants to control use of our land.\u00a0 If we can\u2019t use coal and if we can\u2019t build or dig in the mountains, what are we supposed to do?\u00a0 How are we supposed to transition our economy as envisioned by the progressives? \u201cUnder this plan, there\u2019d be no body of water in America including mud puddles and canals that wouldn\u2019t be at risk from job-destroying federal regulation,\u201d House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) said.\u00a0 \u201cThis dramatic expansion of federal government control will directly impact the livelihoods and viability of farmers and small businesses in rural America.\u201d EPA maps of the country\u2019s waters and wetlands appear to show the EPA\u2019s plans to control significant amounts of property across the 50 States.\u00a0 These concerning maps, recently released by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, can be found at http://science.house.gov/epa-maps-state-2013.  In May, I joined 230 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle in urging the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw their overreaching WOTUS rule.\u00a0 I believe that state and local governments ought to remain in control of decisions of this nature.\u00a0 I remain opposed to the WOTUS rule, and will continue working to fight it and other overreaching EPA actions. As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=392241"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2608380056917667, "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"}