2021 Year in Review

Dear Friend, 

As we celebrate the blessings of a new year, I want to share some of the biggest milestones from 2021 as your representative in Congress. I am so grateful to serve our community in Eastern North Carolina and Washington, D.C. and I'm looking forward to another productive and meaningful year on behalf of the Third Congressional District! If you would like to share my e-newsletter with others, please direct them to this link to subscribe.

My number one priority as your Representative in Congress is to serve you, and all of my constituents, in North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District.

In the year 2021, my office aided over 1,070 constituents resolve issues with federal agencies, including helping veterans access delayed VA benefits, assisting families with receiving overdue refunds from the IRS, and helping travelers renew their passports in time for holiday travel. If you or a loved one are in need of assistance with a federal agency, contact any of my district offices. We are here to help!

My team and I worked diligently this year to communicate on the issues that matter most to you. We held numerous telephone town halls, connecting with tens of thousands of constituents, and we proudly completed over 7,400 individual responses to constituent calls, letters, and emails. In addition, following the Biden Administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, my team worked day and night to aid in the evacuation of over 100 Americans and trusted American allies -- an effort that still continues to this day.

I introduced 23 original bills this year, tackling issues in higher education, veterans' affairs, Second Amendment protections, pro-life protections, immigration reform, foreign policy, and reigning in government spending. I am honored to have received significant support from my colleagues in the House on both sides of the aisle.

In fact, just recently, my bipartisan bill, H.R. 4233, the Student Veterans Counseling Centers Eligibility Act passed the House with overwhelming support. If signed into law, this much needed legislation will bridge the mental health resource gap for the 850,000 veterans and beneficiaries who are currently enrolled in a VA education program, and ensure that counseling and mental health support is available through free and confidential Vet Centers.

I also worked alongside dozens of my colleagues in the House throughout the course of the year to advance key legislation on behalf of Eastern North Carolina. In 2021, I cosponsored 147 bills in the House to improve the lives of all Americans, including the HALT Fentanyl Act, the Parents Bill of Rights Act, the Blocking Joseph R. Biden's Overreaching Vaccine Mandates Act, the Countering Communist China Act, and the Save Small Businesses Act.

This past year, I was honored to be named Ranking Member of the Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee, where I have been leading the charge to address the many pressing issue areas in the subcommittee's jurisdiction, including the cost of tuition, campus free speech, and student athlete protections.

In November 2021, I hosted the first ever Campus Free Speech Roundtable in the U.S. Capitol to provide teachers and students with a venue to discuss the importance of free speech violations and necessary First Amendment protections in higher education.

Following the event, I introduced a Free Speech protections resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives with strong Republican support. I also led a House Education and Labor Committee letter to Democrats pressuring them to hold a hearing to address the short and long term implications of pandemic school closures on childhood development and academic learning and address parent concerns regarding Critical Race Theory and other inappropriate and divisive liberal teachings.

Additionally, in 2021 I was proud to be named Vice Chair of the Congressional GOP Doctors Caucus in only my second year in Congress. The Doctors Caucus provides unique, expert insight and real-world experience to inform policy making decisions that affect patients and patient care. As a lawmaker and a physician of over 30 years, I am committed to protecting patient access to care, fostering medical innovation, and strengthening pandemic preparedness for years to come.

I promise that as your representative, I will always put your best interests and concerns first when I consider legislation in Congress. Please always feel free to contact my office with any thoughts or concerns on the biggest issues facing our community, and our nation!

In 2021, I had the privilege of meeting with hundreds of Eastern North Carolinians to discuss some of the most important issues facing our country and learn about all of the wonderful ways that our community members are leading the nation in education, innovation, business, energy, waterway management, technology, and more.

Meeting with constituents is one of the most important ways that I can learn about our community needs, develop meaningful legislative solutions to those needs, and bring your priorities to the halls of Congress. I am so grateful to everyone who took the time to meet with me over the course of the past year to advocate on behalf of the Third Congressional District.

This past fall, my team and I hosted the first annual bipartisan Water Adaptation to Ensure Regional Success (WATERS) Summit in Greenville, N.C. The purpose of this bipartisan conference was to hear from leading experts about human adaptation strategies to waterway challenges in North Carolina and develop legislative plans to combat these challenges over the next 5, 25, and 100-years. The event was a huge success, and my team and I are very excited about the next WATERS Summit, coming in Fall 2022!

I was honored to have been named a Federal Champion by the American Flood Coalition this year in recognition of the work we have done to bring attention and action to waterway management here in Eastern North Carolina.

In 2021, I was proud to officially dedicate the Farmville Post Office in honor of my late predecessor, Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. After significant COVID-19 delays, it was wonderful to finally see my first bill signed into law come to fruition to celebrate and preserve Congressman Jones' tremendous legacy here in Eastern North Carolina.

Lastly, over the last 12 months, my office has secured tens of thousands of dollars in grants for North Carolina, covering a wide range of areas, including FEMA flood and hazard mitigation, first responder equipment, beach restoration, maritime museum funding, and targeted community infrastructure upgrades.

We have so much more to accomplish this coming year, and I am confident that with your involvement and feedback, we will continue to achieve great things for Eastern North Carolina. I deeply appreciate having the opportunity and responsibility to serve, and I never take your support for granted.

Thank you for taking the time to read some of the highlights from 2021! As always, it remains a true honor to represent you in Congress. As we celebrate the beginning of a new year filled with new challenges and opportunities, I look forward to another strong year of advancing key local and federal initiatives on behalf of our Third Congressional District.

For more information, and to receive real-time updates on my work in North Carolina and Washington, follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to my newsletter.

Happy New Year!