By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
IRS commissioner should step down
Carter Buddy new
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter

Last week, I joined colleagues on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in calling on President Obama to immediately remove Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen from his position.

Congress has been investigating the IRS’s treatment of conservative tax-exempt groups for over two years. So far, Congress has reviewed more than a million pages of documents, conducted more than 50 transcribed interviews and held several public hearings. Despite this, the IRS has still not provided the answers to what happened to the Lois Lerner emails that were destroyed after a preservation order was given.

The IRS could have prevented the destruction of up to 24,000 relevant emails. Instead, IRS Commissioner Koskinen has been unwilling to provide assistance, and has provided only misleading statements to Congress. It is time for new leadership at the IRS.

The American people deserve to have confidence in the IRS. We can only move forward with new leadership.

I want to hear from you. Do you agree that it is time for new leadership at the IRS and President Obama should remove Commissioner Koskinen from his position? Click on buddycarter.house.gov to take my poll and let me know.

Reining in regulations

The House overwhelmingly passed legislation this week, with my support, to limit the federal government’s ability to enact new regulations without congressional approval. The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act would require congressional approval for any federal regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more.

America’s hardworking job creators are under attack by federal regulations. Since President Obama took office in 2008, more small businesses have closed than opened. Having owned and operated a small business myself, I can tell you overregulation is a direct cause.
Small businesses are the backbone of our nation and the cost of complying continues to increase. In Georgia alone, 1.5 million workers are employed by small businesses and it is past time to cut the regulatory red tape. The REINS Act will work to change the trajectory of America’s job creators to build them up instead of bringing them down.

From our nation’s Capitol

Monday, July 27: As the only pharmacist currently serving in Congress, I am often invited to speak to different pharmacy groups around the nation. This past weekend, I had the honor of traveling to Williamsburg, Va., to speak to the Virginia Pharmacist Association at their 134th annual meeting.

After speaking to the Academy of Independent Pharmacists in the morning, I addressed the full conference at lunch and brought them up to date on the current events in Washington as well as stressing to them the importance of their participation in the political process.

After fighting the Washington area traffic yesterday afternoon and turning a two and a half hour commute from Williamsburg back to the Capitol into a four-hour nightmare, I start my day with our weekly staff meeting to review last week and preview what will surely be a very busy week coming up.

I also have the opportunity today to visit the AstraZeneca/MedImmune Research and Development campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. AstraZeneca is one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world and their impressive facility in Gaithersburg is surpassed only by the talented and dedicated scientists that they have working at the site. MedImmune, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, manufactures and markets the drug FluMist, a nasal spray flu vaccine introduced in 2004 that helped revolutionize the industry.

After returning to my office, I spend some time meeting with one of our interns for the summer, Michelle Sindyuukov. Michelle, whose father is Russian and mother is from Israel, is currently a student at American University in the Washington area and lived in Israel for over 10 years. She shares with me her experiences of living in Israel and her thoughts of the current situation and the proposed Iran nuclear agreement.

Next, I meet with Andrew Fishbein and Sarah Stephens from the Democracy in Americas group who I traveled to Cuba with a month ago for a follow up discussion on the trip. Since our trip, President Obama has reestablished the embassies in both countries in an attempt to try to normalize relations between our countries.

Afterwards, I head to a press conference of members of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as we call on the President to remove IRS Commissioner Koskinen from his post as the agency has been unable to produce over 24,000 emails dealing with the targeting of conservative groups.

Following our weekly Whip Team meeting where we review the legislative agenda for the upcoming week, I head to the House chamber for first votes of the week.

Tuesday, July 28: I am excited to welcome members of Gulfstream’s Student Leadership Program to the Capitol this morning. The SLP is a partnership between Gulfstream and the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System with the goal of preparing students to be future leaders. These are some of our areas’ finest young people, and I am excited to welcome them to our nations’ Capitol.

After our weekly Republican conference meeting, I head to a meeting of the Committee on Education and the Workforce where we hear from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Slyvia Burwell, on the policies and priorities of the Department. Later, I attend a briefing on the Iran Nuclear agreement as we discuss the pros and cons of this extremely important decision.

I have the honor of presiding as Speaker Pro Tem during our second and final vote series of the day.

Wednesday, July 29: Things get off to a fast start this morning as I begin with a phone call with the Southeastern Regional Director of the National Park Service, Stan Austin, to discuss the ongoing lease negotiations between the NPS and the Savannah Bar Pilots.

After attending a meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to discuss EPA mismanagement, I head over to the Committee on Homeland Security for a meeting with DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson before our committee hearing with the new Administrator of TSA, Admiral Peter Neffenger , to discuss the readiness of TSA to meet the threats of today. Afterwards, I head over to the Senate where, along with Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, I meet with Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy regarding funding for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Following this productive meeting, I head to a Republican Study Committee meeting before heading to a subcommittee meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform where we have a hearing on the DATA Act implementation.

Our first vote series of the day is next where I once again serve as Speaker Pro Tem and preside over votes. Afterwards, I meet with Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Hass Freesemann and newly-appointed Juvenile Court Judge Tom Cole and other alternate court team members to hear of the great work they are doing back home.

Our second and final vote series of the day is next and after returning from the House chamber, I stop by the Child Prevention Heroes of Safe Kids Worldwide Award Reception where Georgia’s first lady, Sandra Deal, is being honored.

After stopping by the Georgia State Society Congressional annual meeting, I enjoy meeting with my good friend and colleague from Georgia’s 12th District, Rick Allen.

Thursday, July 30: We have been very blessed this summer to have a number of great interns working in our office and since many of them will be leaving before I get back to Washington, I spend some time with them this morning visiting and taking pictures. Interning in Washington is a great experience for these young people and getting to know them has helped to reassure me that our country is in good hands with the next generation.

Following a meeting with Clint Robinson from Capitol Counsel, I return to my office where I have the opportunity to read the Office of Management and Budget report regarding the proposed location of the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center. Currently, the State Department is recommending that FASTC be built at Fort Pickett in Virginia, even though it could be incorporated at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick at half the cost. The OMB report is an inter-agency document that is not being released to the public and after reading it, I am even more convinced that locating FASTC at FLETC is without question the best option.

After spending over an hour reviewing the OMB document, I rush to the airport to make my flight back home, only to get to the gate and discover it has been delayed for one hour. Once we finally are allowed to board our flight, things get much worse as we are forced to sit on the runway for one and a half hours before being allowed to take off. Flying can be so much fun!