releases: https://woodall.house.gov/media-center/e-newsletter-archive/washington-watch-92820
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://woodall.house.gov/media-center/e-newsletter-archive/washington-watch-92820 | Washington Watch - 9/28/20 | 2020-09-28 | 2020 | 2020-09 | Republican | Senate | GA | Rob Woodall | W000810 | woodall.house.gov | legacy | OBSERVING YOM KIPPUR G'mar Chatima Tova! To all those in our Jewish community observing Yom Kippur today, may you have an easy fast and a day of meaningful reflection. JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT ANNOUNCED AS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE As many of you may have heard, President Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to succeed the late Justice Ginsburg as an Associate Justice ofthe Supreme Court. Judge Barrett currently serves as a federal judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals serving Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. She has an established history as a scholar of the law, serving as a judicial law clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia and as a professor at the University of Notre Dame for 15 years, teaching federal courts, constitutional law and statutory interpretation, before being confirmed to the federal judiciary by the Senate in October 2017. Now that President Trump has named his nominee to serve on our nation's highest court, as you know, the Constitution vests the Senate with the responsibility of vetting and confirming Article III judicial nominees in carrying out its advice and consent role under the Constitution. As I said back in 2016 when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to succeed Justice Scalia on the Supreme Court, I disagree with those who argue that there is a Presidential responsibility to refrain from nominating a new Supreme Court justice in an election year. As elected officials, our responsibility is to the Constitution, and I remain in the Constitutionalist camp that says the President's job is to name nominees and the Senate's job is to have hearings on those nominees. With an election on the horizon, I certainly understand there is abundant debate among folks about who they would like to see succeed a long-tenured Justice like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But I worry that we have become so focused on the politics that we are ignoring the Constitutional responsibilities that our elected officials have taken an oath to uphold. Let's return our confirmation process to one grounded in the framework that the Constitution has set in place.The President made his nomination. Now the next steps rest wholly with the United States Senate. HOUSE PASSES SHORT-TERM FUNDING BILL AFTER DELAY Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin agreed to avoid a government shutdown and planned for a clean continuing resolution to provide short-term funding for the government. All parties held to the agreement until last week when Speaker Pelosi, pressured by the more liberal factions of her party, decided to renege on her side of the deal by excluding an important and previously debated farm provision from the final bill. Though this political stunt delayed the bill, after hearing from frustrated members of her own party who represent farmers, the Speaker returned to the previously agreed upon deal, which was swiftly passed on the House floor. It is disappointing to see yet again how divisive politics can get in the way of common-sense policymaking, as demonstrated by this needless delay in government funding. While I prefer to vote on twelve separate appropriations bills that have gone through regular order, I recognize the need to avoid any scenario that would deny veterans their healthcare, limit children's access to nutritious food, or jeopardize our nation's national security especially in the midst of a global pandemic. I am pleased we were able to come together in the end, but Congress must do better and get back on track to deliver for the American people. MODERNIZATION COMMITTEE MEETS FOR FINAL TIME Over the past two years, I have had the pleasure of being a member of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, a truly bipartisan group tasked with putting forward recommendations to bring this institution into the 21st Century. On Friday, we met for our last business meeting to vote on our remaining recommendations to the House. These included recommendations to reclaim Article I responsibilities that empower Congress and increase accountability; improve the Congressional schedule and calendar so that we have more working days in Washington; reform the budget and appropriations process to make it function as intended; and enhance Congressional capacity through changes in staff recruitment and retention. In all, the Modernization Committee has issued 97 recommendations to the House. It was the first committee of its kind to issue its findings on a rolling basis, and I was pleased to see some of those reforms already taken up by the Chamber. That said, there is still so much work to be done, and I am hopeful that the 117th Congress will pick up where we left off to provide lasting improvements to the Legislative Branch. To watch the Modernization Committee business meeting, click HERE. EXAMINING THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM Last Wednesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing entitled Driving Equity: The U.S. Department of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, to evaluate the program's success and identify ways we can make improvements. For those who are unfamiliar with the DBE program, it was established 37 years ago as a way to give a hand up to women and minority-owned small businesses that had been shut out of the transportation construction and airport concession industries. During this hearing, we heard from experts who shared data with us that demonstrated the continued need for the DBE program, and business owners who shared personal stories about how the DBE program gave them access to contracts that they would be traditionally overlooked for. I'm pleased that my colleagues took the time to ask thoughtful questions about what the future of the program should look like. I also had a chance to ask the panel about their metrics for success in graduating DBE program participants. You can watch my line of questioning by clicking HERE. HARTSFIELD-JACKSON AIRPORT TO HOST COMMUNITY BRIEFINGS As you may know, with over 100 million passengers typically coming through the airport each year, Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been the world's busiest airport and one of Georgia's largest employers for years. Not only does the airport provide work for roughly 63,000 employees, including many hardworking members of our community, it also supports roughly half a million jobs throughout the southeastern United States and produces $50 billion annually for the Metro Atlanta region. Unfortunately, like so many of our great American industries, those across the aviation sector including airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and contractors - have seen significant revenue losses since the public health emergency began in March, and even now, as rates of air travel remain at significantly lower levels compared to 2019. A resurgence in air travel is dependent on our ability to keep travelers both safe amid continual spread of the virus and confident in the protocols that facilities have in place. That is why I appreciate that the Department of Aviation at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is hosting a series of briefings to keep the public updated on its safety protocols so that passengers can be best informed when traveling. This series of weekly 60-minute briefings will be held virtually to address concerns related to traveling and will include input from Hartsfield-Jackson's leadership, as well as from representatives of partnered airlines. The first briefing will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29th, from 10-11 a.m., and I encourage those of you who have questions, concerns, or ideas about creating conditions for safe air travel to register HERE. And don't worry if you can't make it to this first briefing session, there will be more briefings held on October 6th, October 13th, and October 20th. CONSTITUENT SPOTLIGHT: ADDRESSING PARTISANSHIP IN CONGRESS In a divided government in which Republicans control the Senate and Democrats control the House, it is all the more true that Congress only works when both parties work together. Here is what some of you had to say about partisanship in Congress: William from Grayson: Being a Republican or a Democrat shouldn't matter to your representation of all your constituents. This partisan mess must stop as the country is too divided. I urge you to work with your colleagues to better our nation. Kathleen from Suwanee: Americans are looking for leadership from Washington, but with a few notable exceptions, they are getting finger-pointing,partisangamesmanship, and a legislative debate dominated by arguments over the price tag of competing bills, as if money alone can solve the problem, instead of actual solutions. It's time for Congress to get its act together. I urge you to focus on solutions that could actually help our country. ______________________________________________________________________________ I share William and Kathleen's sense of frustration. As a legislator, what is perhaps the most disappointing for me are the times when we miss opportunities to come together to act on those things that unite us in favor of political messaging bills that divide us. As I mentioned earlier, divided government requires that we be successful in working across party lines to move forward good ideas and, when we disagree, engage in good faith efforts to reach a compromise. While opportunities were missed this week to move forward larger reforms, including a bipartisan energy package that acts on our shared goals to support alternative energies while also decreasing American reliance on foreign energy sources, there were successes in moving a number of smaller, bipartisan reforms that I hope we will soon see on the President's desk. Passage of these bills often don't make the front page, but they are indeed an important part of our work in Congress to enact targeted reforms, where often a simple fix or idea can stand to serve Americans in a meaningful way. Among the roughly 60 bills passed by the House this week, which you can find HERE, were a series of bills aimed at combatting suicide among both our veterans and individuals nationwide. Those include S. 785, which creates new requirements and grants at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address veteran suicide and mental health, and S. 2661, which I heard from many of you on, designates the 9-8-8 dial code nationwide as the number to reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. I am pleased that those two bills are on their way to the President for his signature. The House also came together last week to address another critically important public health issue for states like ours: maternal health in rural areas. Georgia unfortunately ranks among the states with the highest maternal mortality rates, which is why I was glad to see the House move forward a bill that helps to address the lack of obstetrics infrastructure in rural areas by directing the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide grant money to train and support physicians and medical professionals to provide care in those areas. And just as important as addressing maternal mortality is the need to address infant mortality. Another bill I have heard from several of you throughout this Congress was H.R. 2271, which provides funding to local governments and entities who are actively working to research and combat Sudden Infant Death Syndromethe tragic death of an infant with no clear cause. Lastly, I was also glad the House voted to move forward my friend Congressman Buddy Carter's (R-GA) bill that ensures that Medicaid continues to cover non-emergency medical transportation for individuals with no other means of transportation so that they can continue to get the care that they need. As you can see, issues like these have broad, bipartisan interest, and I am glad that Members in Congress worked to move them forward. While I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues across the aisle on issues and bills like these, we mustn't stop there. A bipartisan approach to legislating is needed to pass larger reforms as well, most critically a COVID-19 relief package, and I will continue to call on Speaker Pelosi and House Leaders to double down on the commitment to serving the American police and delay that relief no longer. GWINNETT COUNTY IS HOME TO 2020'S GEORGIA HISTORY TEACHER OF THE YEAR We have remarkable schools in our community, with teachers, faculty, and staff who consistently go above and beyond what is asked of them to give our students the best possible education. With such dedicated educators, I'm sure none of us are surprised to hear when those successes are recognized in a big way, including the recent news that this year's Georgia History Teacher of the Year works right here in the Seventh District. Karen Slaten, a U.S. History teacher at Central Gwinnett High School, was selected out of all history teachers across our state in grades K-12 to receive this honor. Ms. Slaten's extraordinary efforts to impart the importance of history and civics education on her students to foster the next generation of leaders caught the attention of students, parents, and her colleagues who nominated her to receive the award. I hope you will all join me in congratulating Ms. Slaten on this well-deserved recognition! SAWNEE EMC ROUND UP PROGRAM FURTHERS SUPPORT FOR LOCAL NONPROFITS AND CLASSROOMS Here in the Seventh District, we have seen countless good works benefiting the most vulnerable among us, particularly over the last few months as our community came together to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. We've seen local charitable organizations work harder than ever to use finite resources to help those who have even less, and we have seen countless examples of schools, businesses and individuals going the extra mile to support service initiatives throughout our district. One such example I mentioned earlier this year, Sawnee EMC's round-up program, has continued to play a critical role in our community, donating over $32,000 to nine classrooms and to five local charitable organizations during the last quarter. With such dedication from those participating in this program to ensure that our district can meet the greatest needs of our community, I am sure that we will continue to grow stronger together as we recover from the negative impacts of the pandemic. THE WEEK AHEAD This week the House will be in session beginning on Tuesday instead of Monday in order for Members and staff to observe Yom Kippur. While all of the measures that we will consider this week are still unclear, we do know that the House will consider H.R. 6270, the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act, and likely a few dozen bills on the suspension calendar. A full list of all the legislation that will be on the floor this week can be found by CLICKING HERE. In addition, you've probably read news reports about the possibility of the House passing another COVID-19 package this week. While many members of Speaker Pelosi's Democratic Caucus are calling on her to pass a compromise COVID-19 bill that can be signed by the President and provide immediate relief to small businesses struggling to make payroll and keep the doors open, the Speaker has yet to come to the negotiating table. My hope is that the more moderate members of the Democratic Caucus will be able to prevail upon the Speaker that it's more important to help American families than to win an imaginary, partisan war with Republicans in the Senate or President Trump. The stakes are too high for the Speaker to recess the House for the entire month of October thinking only about how refusing to compromise across the aisle will help at the ballot box, instead working together this week to make Americans' lives better at their workplaces, schools, and with their families. Sincerely, Rob Woodall Member of Congress | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |