The last two weeks traveling around North Carolina have been busy, but very informative. Last week, I traveled throughout eastern and central North Carolina visiting Carteret, Cumberland, Wayne, Guilford, Lenoir, Craven, Wake, and Orange counties, speaking with small business owners, touring health care centers, and I even had the opportunity to visit with our brave men and women in uniform at Cherry Point. This week I made visits to Durham, Catawba, Lincoln, and Gaston counties. Input from entrepreneurs and employees has been vital to my efforts in Washington. These conversations are critical for making democracy work, and what I have taken away from these meetings is that we must pursue fiscally responsible and less burdensome policies to encourage job creation and economic growth in our state and across the country. Visiting health care facilities allows me to speak directly with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals about our nation’s health care system.
My travels next week will take me across the state from the mountains to the east. My schedule will be updated every Friday on my website until Congress returns to session on September 13, and you will find a link to my upcoming events on the homepage.
On Wednesday, I was pleased to announce the formation of the Military Families Caucus, a bipartisan group of 20 senators that will focus on issues facing the families of active and veteran service men and women. The families of America’s men and women in uniform are the backbone of our military. They sacrifice of themselves to offer the support and motivation our servicemembers need to accomplish their mission, all while living with the reality that their loved one may be in harm’s way. This caucus signifies that we recognize a need to support military families and provides an avenue to push for legislation that will benefit these families. I am honored to serve as a Co-Chair of this caucus. To read an article from the Fayetteville Observer about this, click here.
Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its mid-year budget outlook, which contained more disappointing news about our country’s fiscal situation. According to the CBO, the federal budget deficit – the annual difference between what the federal government collects in tax revenue and what it spends -- will be $1,300,000,000,000 (or $1.3 trillion) for this fiscal year alone. For Fiscal Year 2011, the deficit will be nearly $1.1 trillion -- $71 billion more than CBO projected in March. Even more disturbing, CBO estimates that the cost of legislation that Congress has enacted since March – in just five short months – will increase federal spending by $400 billion over the next decade. This report just proves what we already knew – that Congress is spending our country into unsustainable debt that will burden our children, grandchildren, and future Americans for generations to come. I will continue to promote and vote for sound, fiscally responsible legislation to stop out-of-control spending and get our economy back on track.
You’ve probably seen in the news that the last combat brigade has left Iraq, and is on its way home. The counterinsurgency and counterterrorism strategies initiated in 2006 and sustained from 2007 until the present day have successfully enabled the Government of Iraq to reach major milestones in critical areas of security, governance, and rule of law. The United States commanders, their troops, and their civilian partners in the Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, federal contractors, and the Provincial Reconstruction Teams should be commended for their ingenuity, resourcefulness, courage, commitment, and sacrifice and their continued dedication and service to the Nation.
I have included several news stories below relating to my travel in North Carolina. I also encourage you to check my website for my upcoming travel schedule, and as always, don’t hesitate to contact my office with any questions.
NBC17 – Senator Burr Making the Rounds on Recess
WITN - Senator Burr Visit Eastern Carolina
New Bern Sun Journal - Burr Visits Lenox
Havelock News - Burr to Make Stop at Cherry Point
New Bern Sun Journal - Touring Burr Offers Hope and Cautions
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Richard Burr
