Sixth District Perspectives with Congressman Ben Cline – May 22, 2023

In honor of National Police Week, House Republicans continued to proudly support America’s law enforcement officers by passing legislation to improve officer safety and allow officers to purchase retired service weapons. Additionally, the long-awaited Durham Report confirmed what we knew to be true. The FBI’s investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and “Russia collusion” was nothing more than an illegal, unlawful, and un-American abuse of power. As always, I enjoyed meeting with constituents, businesses, and organizations on the issues most important to them. As we head into another busy week of session, I will continue fighting to make Washington work for families across Virginia’s Sixth District.

BACK THE BLUE
America’s law enforcement officers are the best among us. As we celebrated National Police Week this week, I was proud to honor our brave men and women in uniform in VA-06 and across the Nation by joining my colleagues in passing legislation that shows we have their backs.

Deporting Illegal Immigrants Who Assault Police
President Biden’s border crisis continues with a massive influx of illegal migrants crossing our southern border, and law enforcement agents on the front lines are paying the price. These officers, who are working tirelessly to secure the border and keep our communities safe, are being assaulted by migrants. That is unacceptable.

This week, House Republicans passed H.R. 2494, the POLICE Act of 2023, which makes assaulting a police officer a deportable offense. As the border crisis rages on unchecked and assaults against law enforcement officers continue to rise, House Republicans are committed to doing everything we can to hold accountable those who seek to harm America’s men and women in blue and in brown.

Allowing Federal Law Enforcement to Purchase Service Weapons
Currently, federal law enforcement agencies are required to destroy service weapons after they are retired from official use, resulting in a massive waste of taxpayer dollars since these weapons are paid for both when they go into circulation and when they are retired. This is yet another example of costly regulations and unnecessary red tape.

Federal law enforcement officers should be able to purchase their government-issued handguns when they retire. That is why House Republicans passed H.R. 3091, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act, to give our officers that right and save millions of tax dollars. This commonsense legislation is a win for our federal law enforcement officers and American taxpayers.

Disturbing New Report on Abuses of Government Power by US Intelligence Agencies
In October of 2020, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr appointed Special Counsel John Durham to examine the origins and justifications of the FBI’s investigation against then-candidate Donald Trump and his 2016 campaign for alleged “Russia collusion.”

After nearly four years of investigation, Durham released the report this week that found that the FBI had no actual evidence of collusion to begin investigating. Even worse, individuals at the highest levels of the federal government allowed the investigation to continue, despite any firm evidence of Russian collusion.

Simply put — this was an intentional weaponization of the federal government against a political opponent, and there must be accountability. Rest assured, the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee will get answers.

Constituent Meetings

It was a privilege to welcome students from Rockingham County Public Schools Fulks Run Elementary to the Nation’s Capitol.

It was great to meet with crew members of the Artemis II mission and hear of NASA’s work in ensuring the United States is a leader in space in the 21st Century.

Enjoyed meeting with Portland Cement representatives and concrete & cement industry leaders, including Mark Aguilar from Roanoke, and hearing of their multi-faceted efforts to support America’s cement manufacturers.

Kraft-Heinz is home to a multitude of global food and beverage brands, and I was pleased to meet with representatives of the company, and hear of the operations of their plant in Winchester.

It was a pleasure to meet with Charles Taylor of Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions and Michael Tyree of the Associated Asphalt Partners to discuss the importance of asphalt to infrastructure development across America and right here in Virginia.

Trivium Packaging develops standard and custom shape packaging for an array of products. I was pleased to hear about their industry and their thoughts on U.S. tariff policies.

I welcomed hearing from the Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete Association about its mission and how Congress can best support its industry.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Congressman. If my office can ever be of assistance, please contact my Washington office at (202) 225-5431.

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