PRESS RELEASE:
During the first 100 days of the 118th Congress, my team and I traveled more than 2,100 miles on the Carolina Cruiser and heard from hundreds of constituents throughout North Carolina’s 11th district.
We’ve held 51 mobile office visits throughout Western North Carolina to listen to your concerns and to help with federal agencies such as the VA, IRS, and others. The Carolina Cruiser improves accessibility by allowing my staff and I to come to those who otherwise face challenges in making it out to my district office in Hendersonville.
We’ve completed 316 constituent cases while continuing to open new cases each week. I’m also excited to report that we’ve helped return nearly $1.2 million dollars in benefits back to its rightful owners. And we are using the full capacity of the office in which you’ve entrusted me to continue living out my motto of being “First in Constituent Services.”
If you or someone you know living in NC-11 needs federal assistance, please contact my office or visit my website at edwards.house.gov/outreach to see when the Carolina Cruiser will be in a town near you.
I’m proud to have helped deliver legislative wins on some of the issues that you’ve told me are most important to you.
I voted for legislation to increase transparency in our children’s education, to take away funding to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, to drive American energy independence, and to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable, just to name a few.
We’ve accomplished important work in the first 100 days, even with a Democrat Senate and president, but we’re just getting started and more good news lies ahead. I will continue to support policies that will create an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future that’s built on freedom, and a government that’s accountable to you.
Bipartisan support for American energy independence and dominance
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House Republicans have carefully developed legislation to strengthen American energy independence, lower energy costs and reduce dependence on foreign dictators for oil.
I’m excited to report that the U.S. House recently passed – with bipartisan support – H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, to help increase America’s domestic energy production, improve the permitting process for energy industries, and reverse the anti-American energy policies put forward by this White House.
High fuel prices have made the cost of just about everything increase. Sky-high inflation coupled with higher prices at the pump and the grocery store have made life even harder on families in Western North Carolina.
The average price for a gallon of gas nationwide was $2.39 the day this president was sworn in. Now, the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.44, a 44 percent increase. Gas prices reached a historic high of $5 a gallon in June 2022.
This cannot continue.
Tapping into American energy and reforming a broken permitting process will help free the United States from being beholden to countries in the Middle East and elsewhere that hate us, and closer toward energy independence.
It is time to put America’s energy dominance first.
H.R. 1 passed with bipartisan support, and with it House Republicans brought solutions to not only help lower rising fuel costs, but also to:
- Disapprove of the president’s cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline that would have provided about 11,000 American jobs
- Repeal the president’s $6 billion natural gas tax that increased energy bills for Americans
- Roll back the $27 billion green-energy slush fund that lacks accountability to American taxpayers
I voted for and argued on the House floor in support of H.R. 1, and you can view my remarks below.
WATCH: Edwards on House floor: Put American energy dominance first
The State of the Fiscal Union is weak
As a member of the House Budget Committee, I am honored to help deliver to the American people a fiscally responsible, fair and balanced budget. President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget is anything but that.
After 15 consecutive months of the highest inflation in 40 years, the price of gas, groceries and basic household necessities continues to increase and families are hurting.
The White House’s irresponsible, multi-trillion dollar budget will add to the already-record-high national debt, raise taxes on the middle class, and cripple the ability of small businesses to grow.
A weak economy puts America at risk. As your congressman and a member of the Budget Committee, I am standing up for hard-working Americans against the president’s new tax proposals, which would increase taxes on working- and middle-class families.
WATCH: Edwards questions OMB Director Shalanda Young on president’s FY24 budget
House votes to override president’s veto of bipartisan, bicameral bill
Farmers, landowners and business owners in Western North Carolina don’t need federal bureacrats to tell them how to manage puddles on their land.
The House voted to override the president’s veto of H.J. Res. 27, a joint resolution that passed with bipartisan and bicameral support, which would overturn the president’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that expands federal government overreach into the livelihoods of Americans, and I’m glad the Senate followed suit last week.
The Supreme Court is reviewing Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, a case dealing with WOTUS. However, Congress overturning the current WOTUS rule will remove confusing and burdensome regulations for Americans who have a body of water on their private land. It should be Congress that writes policy, not the courts.
READ: Edwards applauds Senate’s vote to overturn Biden’s WOTUS rule
Northern Lights spotted in Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina is like nowhere else on earth. Our region’s culture and people are only matched by the breathtaking environments and vistas only seen in southern Appalachia.
Evan Fisher, a metrology student at the UNC Asheville, captured the northern lights, or aurora borealis, as they passed over the region. Kudos to Evan, and thank you for sharing this beautiful scene.
READ: People in Western North Carolina witnessed beautiful Northern lights
Constituent highlights
I’m always excited to see the people of our mountains visit our nation’s capital and engage with our federal government. Following are just a few of the folks from WNC who recently visited my office.
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Mountain Sun Community School students and chaperones with Congressman Edwards |
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Annalisa Sims, Bruce Tretter, and BikeWalkNC members with Congressman Chuck Edwards |
Now accepting entries for the 2023 Congressional Art Competition
Attention: The 2023 Congressional Art Competition is underway! Interested high school students in NC-11 can submit their artwork to my Hendersonville district office on or before May 4. The winning artwork will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year. The two runners-up will have their artwork displayed in my Washington, DC and district offices.
