Martha Roby: House and Senate take important step to support our military
Thanksgiving is a special holiday because it offers us an opportunity to pause as a nation and thank God for all the ways He has blessed us. With all that is going on across our country and around the world, it can be easy to lose sight of just how much we have to be thankful for. As we gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving, I hope we can all take time count our many blessings. I’m thankful for the gift of family – for my husband Riley and our two wonderful children, Margaret and George; for our parents and all of our dear family and friends. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve my state and country in the United States Congress. It is an honor to be in a position to make a difference on behalf of those I represent and to fight to make this country great for all Americans. Thank you for allowing me to represent you. I am thankful for this great country and all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. I’m abundantly grateful for the men and women of our Armed Forces who have put their lives on the line to defend these freedoms – especially those who are deployed and away from their families at this very moment. Just in time for the holiday season, Congress is saying “thank you” to all service personnel by authorizing the largest military pay raise in more than eight years. It’s part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which has now passed the House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Trump. As you may know, the NDAA is an annual bill authorizing various programs and activities throughout the military, ranging from weapons systems and training to military base construction and the payment of troops. After years of harmful budget cuts, this NDAA aims to rebuild our military by authorizing nearly $700 billion for the Department of Defense, increasing the size of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Army Guard and Reserve, Naval and Air Reserve, and Air Guard. The bill authorizes an additional $4.4 billion to strengthen Missile Defense and an additional $1.9 billion for military facility maintenance over the President’s budget. It also makes permanent the special survivor indemnity allowance (SSIA) payments to more than 60,000 surviving military spouses. The NDAA includes strong funding for Alabama-based military missions, including Army Aviation at Fort Rucker and military education and cyber warfare at Maxwell Air Force Base. One of Congress’ most fundamental duties enumerated in the Constitution is to “provide for the common defense” of the nation. As your Representative in Congress, I take my responsibility to look out for our troops very seriously. It’s no secret that the world has seen increased threats in recent years, from the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and Africa to North Korean hostility. It is imperative that we provide the military with the tools they need to deter these threats, and I am confident this NDAA does just that. It is my great honor to serve a district that is home to two of our nation’s finest military installations in Maxwell Air Force Base and Fort Rucker, thousands of active duty and reserve personnel, and nearly 16,000 military retirees. I have always been a strong and vocal proponent of properly funding the military, and I will continue to fight to ensure that the men and women who protect us have all the tools and resources they need to be safe and successful when we send them into harm’s way. ••• Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama with her husband Riley and their two children.
Alabama’s October unemployment rate falls to all-time record low
Alabama’s unemployment rate figures for October are in, and the state has officially reached the lowest rate it’s ever had. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey made the announcement Friday morning that according to the preliminary, seasonally adjusted numbers, October unemployment rate was 3.6%, down from September’s previous record-tying rate of 3.8%, and well below October 2016’s rate of 6.1%. “We had great news last month, when we announced that Alabama’s unemployment rate had tied its lowest ever. Today, our news is even bigger! Alabama’s unemployment rate has dropped even more, registering a new record low!” Ivey exclaimed in a statement. “What we are doing is working, and as a result, the people of Alabama are working.” October’s rate represents 77,358 unemployed persons, the lowest number ever recorded, compared to 82,562 in September and 133,875 in October 2016. Ivey continued, “Additionally, today’s numbers show that we currently have the fewest number of unemployed people in history, measuring some 77,000; but that means 77,000 Alabamians, men and women, are still without work. I will persist in my efforts to put every Alabamian who wants to work in a good paying job by recruiting high-wage, high-skill industries to Alabama.” “As we continue to see our unemployment rate drop, Alabama’s businesses continue to hire and support real jobs in our economy,” said Fitzgerald Washington, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor. “Our wage and salary employment figures are currently at the third highest level since we began keeping records. There are nearly 30,000 more jobs today than there were in October of last year. Through job fairs and the services provided at our Career Centers located throughout the state, we are helping employers find the employees they are looking for.” Counties with the lowest unemployment rates are: Shelby County: 2.6% Marshall, Madison, Lee, and Cullman Counties: 3.0% Tuscaloosa and Elmore Counties: 3.1% Counties with the highest unemployment rates are: Wilcox County: 8.9% Clarke County: 6.6% Lowndes County: 6.4% Major cities with the lowest unemployment rates are: Alabaster, Homewood and Vestavia Hills: 2.4% Hoover: 2.6% Madison: 2.7% Major cities with the highest unemployment rates are: Prichard and Selma: 6.5% Anniston: 4.9% Bessemer: 4.8%
Mike Rogers: What is the real Russian influence?
As most folks across East Alabama may have seen recently in the news, Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to investigate the alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, has been in the spotlight. Mr. Mueller has a very important job to do and he must do it fairly and in a nonpartisan manner. Details have come out in the past few weeks about Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democrat National Committee (DNC) role in funding a dossier on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The dossier was full of information that was unverified and painted Mr. Trump in a negative light. The dossier was put together by a man named Christopher Steele, a foreign intelligence agent, and is sometimes referred to as the Steele Dossier. The DNC and Clinton campaign hired a company called Fusion GPS, which has very deep ties to Russia, to conduct some of the research. We now know that some of the information used in the dossier may have been the basis of the Obama Administration’s decision to begin spying on members of the Trump campaign – spying on Americans. This should raise more than just eyebrows. It is more than troubling. The liberal media elite is obsessed with Russian meddling and President Trump, but there are real questions about Secretary Clinton and the DNC’s involvement with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. I believe that there should also be an investigation into then-Secretary Clinton’s involvement in the approval of the Uranium One deal and donations made to the Clinton Foundation. Robert Mueller, or another appropriate special counsel, needs to dig deep in to the details of this matter that could be the real heart of Russian influence. The American people deserve to know the truth and learn more beyond what the liberal media elite and the Democrat spin cycle chooses to believe and to report on. I want to hear from you on this or any issue. ••• Mike Rogers is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District. Sign-up for his e-Newsletter by visiting www.mikerogers.house.gov. To stay up to date, you can also like him on Facebook at Congressman Mike D. Rogers, follow him on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram at RepMikeRogersAL, on Tumblr at www.repmikerogersal.tumblr.com.
