This Week in Washington (May 18)

Dear Friends,

I’m back in Washington this week voting on important legislation to give law enforcement tools to investigate and prosecute domestic terrorism, help ease the baby formula shortage, address corporate price gouging, and reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) — legislation that will help unleash the full potential of Georgia’s workforce by ensuring Georgians have the skills they need to succeed.

Our country and community are in deep mourning following the horrific domestic terrorism incident that occurred in Buffalo last weekend. We must directly confront the conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric that helps fuel violence across this country. Law enforcement must have all the tools necessary to prevent, investigate, and prosecute domestic terrorism, while protecting our civil rights.

H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, which I supported when it passed the Judiciary Committee, creates reasonable, meaningful steps to address the rising menace of organized intolerance and hate-fueled violence. This bill creates three offices — one each within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI — to monitor, investigate, and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism. These newly created offices would issue joint biannual reports to Congress assessing the state of domestic terrorism threats, with a specific focus on white supremacists. There were initially some concerns that this bill could be used to over-police Black and Brown communities, but the version of the bill that is being brought to the floor this week has been cleared by civil rights groups.

I proudly voted for H.R. 7309, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), to invest in Georgia’s workforce – our state’s greatest asset and the backbone of our economy. By fully funding our federal workforce development system, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act will deliver high-quality job training and empower Georgians to take advantage of record job growth.  By getting more people back to work in good-paying jobs, this legislation will help increase production and bring down kitchen table costs for Georgia families. We remain laser focused on Building a Better America by strengthening our economy, bolstering American manufacturing, and fixing our supply chains.

It is unconscionable that many families cannot find safe and affordable baby formula, particularly those in underserved communities who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or WIC – which is why we are taking action to ensure that all babies have the nutrition they need to be healthy and grow. This week, we introduced an Emergency Supplemental Appropriation providing $28 million to give the FDA the resources needed to address this shortage and prevent it from ever happening again.

The House will also consider two bills in recognition of National Police Week, which I used to honor fallen Rockdale County Sheriff's Deputy Walter Jenkins, 54, who was tragically killed last week while in the line of duty. His funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at World Changers Church, 2500 Burdett Road in Atlanta.

I’m pleased to report that last week, my bill – H.R. 7647, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act – was marked up and passed out of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill requires justices of the Supreme Court to adopt and follow a code of ethics, places transparency standards on gifts and travel, codifies recusal standards and requires the court to disclose lobbying and dark money interests before it. It now goes to the full House for a floor vote, possibly as soon as next month.

Also, throughout this week, I participated in Judiciary Committee hearings on emergency powers, corporate profiteering and today on abortion rights. I also participated in a Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (T&I) Aviation subcommittee hearing on efforts to address climate change at U.S. airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson.

Later today, I expect to vote on The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act. While families are struggling to pay higher prices at the pump, oil and gas companies are announcing record profits – with the largest seven oil companies announcing buybacks that could total $41 billion this year alone.  Again and again, we have seen gas prices rise as oil prices drop.  Our bill will address this price gouging – enabling the President to issue an Energy Emergency Declaration making it unlawful to increase gas and home energy prices in an exploitative or excessive way.

As always, I appreciate your time and feedback. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Congress. If you have an issue with a federal government agency, please don’t hesitate to call my district office at 770-987-2291.