When I first came to Washington, I kept finding myself getting turned around while driving my car through the unfamiliar city. There are a lot of one-way roads, street names that change based on quadrants, and the city is laid out in a spoke-and-wheel system, rather than a typical grid system. The roundabouts and diagonal streets were a far cry from the rural roads I grew up on in Hampton Roads. I remember a friend once telling me a story about getting lost in Washington, DC. His trick was to look for the Washington Monument. The marble obelisk...

What Americans Can Learn from the Preamble By Congressman Randy Forbes June 13, 2016 The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States is a succinct introduction that establishes our framers’ goals for our government. The Preamble was actually written after our Founders had nearly finalized the text of the Constitution. In many ways, it served as a capstone – a finishing and protecting element. Although it doesn’t grant powers like the rest of the document does, it is nevertheless potent in its declaration of what the Constitution in its en...

Why Hampton Roads Matters to National Security: A Primer By Congressman Randy Forbes June 10, 2016 82,000. That’s the number of military personnel – from all military services – who call the Hampton Roads region home. This comprises one of the highest concentrations in the entire country, with another 43,600 civilian employees of the Department of Defense and thousands more civilians performing more than $8 billion in DoD contracts. These are impressive numbers, and I believe they demonstrate an important truth: not only does Hampton Roads need...

The Price We Pay for Political Correctness By Congressman Randy Forbes June 6, 2016 It was the end of the game. The spirited competition had concluded, the cheering faded to quiet, and the Friday night lights flooded the quiet field. Coach Kennedy walked across the field in his blue wind jacket. When he reached the 50-yard line, he knelt, placing one knee on the marker chalk and grass. He bowed his head. He prayed. Coach Kennedy continued this tradition for years. Over time, other students, including members of the opposing team, joined him – a...

A power struggle. That’s what our Founding Fathers foresaw between individual states and our federal government. So in 1787, they penned the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They wrote, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Like a linchpin holding a machine together, the Tenth Amendment provided assurance for citizens of our budding nation that they wouldn’t face the heavy-handed power of a centralized governmen...

On the Thursday evening before Memorial Day, every available soldier in the U.S. Army’s Old Guard comes together to walk the rows of more than 228,000 headstones in Arlington National Cemetery. With careful precision, they place an American flag one foot in front of each grave marker. For the duration of the weekend, the Old Guard stays in the cemetery, ensuring a flag remains in front of each grave marker. This tradition called “Flags In” has been conducted every year since 1948. The flags add color and a sort of hope to the otherwise subdued ...

I remember stepping out onto the ground and lifting my face up to the warm sun. I remember walking the dirt and sand hills where so much history had been made, seeing with my own eyes the ancient ruins. I remember dipping my fingers into the fresh water of the Sea of Galilea. I've walked the Golan Heights with vantage points of the Syrian border. I've toured an Iron Dome missile battery. Over the years, I’ve had the distinct privilege of visiting the nation of Israel multiple times. It is a beautiful place – words can hardly do it justice – and...

To terrorists, travel documents are weapons. Family-based immigration visas, fiancé visas, and other documents required for entry into our nation can be used as the Trojan horses – the means to destructive plots. Such was the case with a Pakistani visa applicant who entered the United States in 2014 when her soon- to-be husband submitted a petition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). U.S. officials requested more evidence to verify that she and her future husband had actually met in person – a requirement for fiancé visas – but the ev...

Along the Virginia Beach oceanfront, visitors and residents find their way to the sandy beaches, favorite restaurants, concerts, and other activities by street number. Whether heading to the 24th street stage, the 31st street park, the pier by 14th street, or to Grommet Island park at 2nd street, street signs provide orientation for residents and tourists among the sandy embankments and endless waves. For those of us who grew up in Hampton Roads, these street signs are more than just numbers – they bookmark the memories of where we played as ch...

Here’s a question for you to consider: Do you know what your taxpayer dollars are funding at the United Nations (UN)? You probably don’t – and you would have difficulty finding out. The reality is, the federal government doesn’t even have a full grasp on exactly how the UN is using its money. I believe it is unconscionable that the United States (and more accurately the U.S. taxpayer) is the largest contributor to the United Nations, yet we are not confident we can account for how that money is being spent. In the ten year span between 2002 and...