JESUP —U.S. Rep Earl “Buddy” Carter, R-Georgia, began a series of town-hall meetings last week in some of the coastal counties that make up Georgia’s 1st District.
On Tuesday, he met with several dozen Wayne and Long county residents at Coastal Pines Technical College.
“It’s always good to be back home,” said Carter, a former Pooler mayor, state representative and state senator. “I’m glad to be here, and I appreciate y’all being here.”
The freshman congressman said he wanted to report to constituents about what the new Congress already has accomplished. He started by explaining his committee assignments, including the Committee on Homeland Security, the Education and Workforce Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“We repealed Obamacare for the 42nd time,” he said, as he listed the bills passed by the House during its first 20 days. “We also approved the Keystone Pipeline, which will create over 40,000 jobs, help our country lower gas prices and, most importantly in my mind, give us energy independence. That means we don’t have to depend on the Middle East for our energy.”
Carter called the Keystone Pipeline a national security issue. He said the House and Senate had passed the bill.
“It is now on the president’s desk,” the congressman said. “He has told us he plans to veto it. I don’t know why the president wants to stand in the way of this. The American people want this. Congress wants this. It seems that the president is the only one who doesn’t want this.”
Other bills recently passed by the House include a bill to ban taxpayer funding of abortion. Carter said no matter how an American may feel about that issue, all should agree that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for procedures. The House also is giving more support to veterans and cutting bureaucratic red tape caused by federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.
He noted that the former Congress funded the Department of Homeland Security through Friday. The House has now passed a bill to fund DHS for the rest of the year. Part of that bill, he said, addresses the president’s executive action on immigration.
If the bill doesn’t pass the Senate or the president vetoes it, DHS will not be funded, but that does not mean it will shut down, he added. About 80 percent of DHS’ responsibilities, like the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service, will continue to operate.