Last night, I hosted a very successful telephone townhall meeting with citizens in Cobb County.  Tele-townhalls are a new way I’m working to communicate with residents of Georgia’s 11th District and hear their thoughts on today’s pressing issues. Here’s how it works: each month, I choose a county and place phone calls to the residents who live there.  I invite them to join in a live, toll-free tele-townhall meeting, and then conduct the meeting over the telephone.  Those who are listening can ask me questions or share their thoughts on a particular issue.

So far this year, we’ve called Floyd, Chattooga, Bartow, Paulding, Cobb, Polk, Haralson and Carroll Counties.  We’ll continue hosting a tele-townhall meeting each month, so if you missed me the last time I called your county, you can be sure I’ll be calling again in the upcoming months. For those of you who weren’t on the call last night, here are the topics we discussed:

Immigration reform and ending chain migration
Tax relief and the Fair Tax
Gas prices
The War on Terror and our efforts in Iraq
Healthcare reform
Combating drug abuse, especially methamphetamine abuse

I really enjoy these opportunities to hear your thoughts and concerns. But you don’t have to wait for a tele-townhall to let me know what’s on your mind. Feel free to email me by clicking HERE, or click HERE to get contact information for my offices in Washington, Marietta and Rome.

Most of us know that Methamphetamine abuse is having a devastating effect on our citizens and communities.  But did you know that important research into this crisis is taking place right here in Georgia? Kennesaw State University was recently awarded a grant through the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the problem of methamphetamine abuse in our nation’s suburbs.  The researchers won’t have to look far; after all, one of the largest methamphetamine busts in the nation took place in Smyrna. I am proud that Kennesaw State is helping lead the effort to study this problem and how we can fight it.  The battle against drugs is a community-wide effort, and we have to examine ways to reduce abuse through prevention, treatment, supply reduction and law enforcement.

The late C.W. with his son and grandson, both of whom now help run the family business 

Today, I attended the funeral of long-time Cobb County businessman C.W. Matthews. Mr. Matthews passed away on Sunday at the age of 84, and with his passing our nation lost one of its most inspired industrialists. The service was held at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, with Rev. Ernest Easley and Rev. Nelson Price officiating.

In the 1940s, a 23-year old Matthews established the C.W. Matthews Contracting Company, which today is the largest highway contractor in the Southeastern United States. C.W. was a natural businessman, making friends with ease and growing his company the old fashioned way: through hard work. In fact, Mr. Matthews – with only an 8th grade education – created one of the most successful family-run businesses in the nation.

Our entire community shares in the Matthews’ loss. We will always remember C.W. as a man of passion, drive and ingenuity.

You can click HERE to read more about Mr. Matthews, and HERE to watch a video of me delivering a speech before Congress in his memory.

It’s not too often I get to see my friend and Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson here in Washington. But today, he stopped by my office with some very important guests: 8th grade students from Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw.  Glenn’s son, Will, is a student at Mt. Paran, and I appreciated having the opportunity to share a little insight on Congressional life with the students.

Pictured above (from left to right): Will Richardson of Hiram, James Henderson of Dallas, U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey, Darryn Hutchinson of Marietta, Jordan Hoffman of Powder Springs, Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, Jackson Corn of Marietta.

This weekend, the Marietta Daily Journal’s editorial board opined:

President Bush has kept his veto pen in his pocket for nearly all of his presidency, but has promised to use it when a bill arrives on his desk passed by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate this week that sets an Oct. 1 deadline for us to start retreating from Iraq, whether the war is going well at that point or not.

We urge him to waste no time in vetoing that emergency supplemental spending bill, if he has not already done so by the time you are reading this. There are numerous good reasons for doing so. It would put Congress in the position of micromanaging the war; it was larded with pork by Democratic leaders in hopes of picking up more votes; and most important of all, it would tell al-Qaida and our other enemies that we lack the stomach to stand up to a determined enemy. The people of this country are disgruntled with the way the war has been fought, but most of them - at least those who are not members of the Democratic caucuses on Capitol Hill - are not yet ready to surrender.

It’s already abundantly clear that the Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill lack the will to fight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada even went so far as to proclaim the war is lost and to call new U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus a liar when the general accurately said things there were beginning to improve.

Now, amazingly, the Democrat-led Congress not only is trying to cut Petraeus (and our troops) off at the knees, he has been deliberately snubbed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who refused to attend a special briefing with him this week in Washington, claiming scheduling conflicts. In other words, Pelosi - who found time to jet halfway around the world to cozy up with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad - can’t find the time to meet with our top general in Iraq. She and Reid are embarrassments not only to this country, but should be considered embarrassments by their party as well.

… The better option is for Bush to veto the bill, and for the Democrats in Congress to shift their focus to finding ways to win the war in Iraq, rather than trying to their level best to find a way to lose it.

To read Phil’s thoughts on the “Democrats’ surrender bill”, click HERE.

If you want to find the 2008 Georgia Teacher of the Year, you don’t have to travel any farther than Marietta. This year, the prestigious award was given to Emily Jennette, a teacher at Sawyer Road Elementary School.

This award could not have gone to a more deserving candidate.  Ms. Jennette is an exceptional educator, praised by fellow teachers for her innovative teaching techniques, a commitment to learning, and an outstanding ability to engage her students.

Another Cobb County teacher, Ms. Jennifer Dawson of Lost Mountain Middle School, was also named a top ten finalist. 

Educators are among our communities’ most valuable assets.  Their gifts impact students in the classroom, and their lessons follow our children throughout life.  Georgia is fortunate to have teachers like Emily Jennette and Jennifer Dawson educating our children, and I know she will make our state proud at the National Teacher of the Year competition.

Believe it or not, the artwork above was created by one of our budding young Georgia artists: Yeo Jin Jung, a student at Kennesaw Mountain High School. Yeo Jin is this year’s 11th District Congressional Art Competition winner, and I’m excited her artwork will be representing Georgia’s student artists at a nation-wide art exhibit in the U.S. Capitol.  The piece is titled “Patriotism,” and it is a powerful tribute to our troops stationed around the world. Yeo Jin created it using oil on canvas.

I also want to thank Yeo Jin’s art teacher, Linda Nicholson, and principal, Sue Gunderman, for submitting the artwork.  Here is a photograph of me awarding Yeo Jin the blue ribbon for her painting:

I know the painting will move many Americans as it hangs in Washington.�

The Campaign for Children’s Health recently honored two 11th District students who showed great insight into the importance of access to health coverage for our children. These students won a state-wide essay contest discussing children’s health. As you may know, Congress is working to reauthorize the S-CHIP program, which in Georgia is known as PeachCare. The state of Georgia has done an exemplary job enrolling children in the PeachCare program, and this essay contest underlines the importance of that effort.

Winning the ages 9-13 competition was Kalley McMuller, a 7th grader from Marietta. Kalley wrote:

“My brother Trent has been very blessed to have a wide variety of doctors available. He has fractured several bones, including his wrist, arm, pinky finger, and thumb…. A broken bone may be a minor injury to Trent, but for numerous children out there, a broken bone is a major and devastating setback…. Around the world, many young people do not have the luxury of healthcare, but every single child is worthy of it.”

Winning the ages 14-18 competition was Casey Butler, a senior from Cartersville. Casey wrote:

“I am a senior in high school and I am doing an apprenticeship at a local medical facility… The problem of a lack of health care compounds itself. A small problem such as a fever or something, if left untreated, could escalate to maybe pneumonia or bronchitis. This is unfortunate because if the problem was treated to begin with and caught by a health care professional them it would not have gone to the extreme of one of these problems.”

Congratulations to Kalley and Casey for their thoughtful insight on the health of our children.

I had a great time speaking with students from Jones Elementary (Bremen, Ga.) and Marietta Middle School today.  The Bremen kids peppered me with questions about Congress and President Bush, and I spoke with the Marietta students about the importance of a strong education in civics and government.

 Jones Elementary Students and Parents

Marietta Middle School

 A student askes me about my job as a U.S. Representative

 Bremen students and parents are all smiles, despite the cold weather.

I know these students are going to have a great time touring Washington this week.

In today’s papers, Phil gives us his take on President Bush’s speech last night. The Associated Press reports on Phil’s appeal for bipartisanship on Iraq:

“It is so important to give this a chance, to give victory a chance,” Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta said of Bush’s plan to send more troops and money in an effort to stabilize Iraq. “The president I think is making a very reasonable request of the Congress.”

In the Cartersville Daily Tribune, Phil calls the President’s comments on Iraq courageous:

President George W. Bush delivered his sixth State of the Union Address Tuesday night to Congress and the country with what has been declared the lowest approval ratings of any president since Richard Nixon.

That shows just how much courage he has, according to Rep. Phil Gingrey. Attributing the low poll numbers to the negative news about progress in Iraq, Gingrey said the American people are tired of losing. However, he feels reassured that “the president is committed to victory.”

But in the Marietta Daily Journal, Phil explains he didn’t see eye-to-eye with everything the President had to say – especially on immigration:

“I am concerned the President’s guest worker program amounts to amnesty for illegal immigrants,” Gingrey said. “The state of Georgia has felt the full impact of illegal immigration on our health care, education and social welfare systems, and amnesty would only exacerbate these problems.”

To read more of Gingrey’s comments, click HERE.

Today’s Marietta Daily Journal ran an op-ed from Phil detailing his vision for a way forward in Iraq:

Victory can be defined in several ways: the establishment of a free, stable and democratic nation for the Iraqi people; the development of an Iraqi Army capable of defending its nation; the establishment of a democracy in a region full of tyrants and terrorists.

Phil discusses the idea of embedding U.S. military advisors in Iraqi battalions and sending these Iraqi troops into combat in unstable provinces:

This strategy achieves four important goals: It allows these Iraqi units to become battle-hardened, building combat ability and unit cohesion; it helps us judge where our training has been successful; it allows U.S. troops to redeploy to safer areas as Iraqi troops take their place; and it allows the Iraqi army to build rapport with the Iraqi people. By transitioning control of combat zones to the Iraqi Army, we can achieve our goal of fostering an Iraq that can defend itself.

Finally, Phil reminds us what is at stake in this fight:

[B]oth the Iraqi and American people are counting on us to find a way forward in Iraq. Our goal must remain victory, ensuring the Iraqi people can defend themselves and preserve their hard-earned freedoms.

A free, stable and democratic Iraq will prove a decisive victory over terrorism in the Middle East, and any policy the U.S. implements should be aimed at this goal.

To read the complete op-ed, click HERE.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports this morning on efforts to reduce drug trafficking in the Atlanta area:

White House Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters on Monday named Cobb as one of two metro-Atlanta counties that will benefit from a federal crackdown on illegal drug trafficking.

Walters and Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) made the announcement at Cobb Police headquarters Monday morning as they presented a check for $1.1 million to Jack Killorin, director of the Atlanta-area High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.

Walters explained the critical nature of Atlanta’s drug problem:

“That Atlanta area has become a hub,” Walters said. “It has become a way in which traffic coming across the southwest border comes up and is distributed in the eastern part of the United States. It’s not coming from Miami. It’s coming from Atlanta.”

Phil noted that while the inclusion of Cobb County in this anti-trafficking program was a tremendous step forward, there is still more to be done in the future:

“We felt it very necessary that we expanded the (Atlanta-area program),” Gingrey said. “We want to eventually get into northwest Georgia where there are a lot of clandestine laboratories for the production of methamphetamines, which is ruining a lot of people’s lives.”

For more information on the $1.1 Million grant, click HERE.

I proudly hosted John Walters in our district today. Mr. Walters is the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), also known as our nation’s “Drug Czar”. I have been very impressed with the focus Mr. Walters has given to one of the most detrimental drug afflicting Georgia’s communities: Methamphetamine abuse.

Click HERE to read more about today’s grant announcement that will help law enforcement officials in Cobb County combat illegal drug trafficking.  I also encourage you to click HERE to read more about Methamphetamine abuse and how we can combat it in our communities.  Meth is a very dangerous drug, as ONDCP explains:

Methamphetamine is highly addictive…. Use of methamphetamine can cause damage to the brain that is detectable months after the use of the drug. The damage to the brain caused by methamphetamine use is similar to damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and epilepsy.

Methamphetamine abuse is a growing problem across the nation, and it is endangering the lives of both abusers and innocent bystanders in our communities.  I am incredibly pleased our law enforcement officials are getting the tools they need to stop this crisis and protect our families.

The Georgia National Guard is bringing its headquarters to Marietta.  The old NAS Atlanta site will be the new home to our brave Guardsmen. This site provides an optimal home base for our Guard troops, as the Atlanta Business Chronicle notes:

The NAS property is next to Dobbins Air Reserve Base and its airfield operations, which officials said will be an advantage for the Georgia National Guard and its ability to train for and respond to national and state emergencies. The NAS property will become home base for 1,500 National Guard soldiers. The announcement comes at a time when the Georgia Guard is forecasting growth with plans to form several new units in the coming years.

Phil hailed the decision:

“This development is a tremendous asset to both the Cobb community and our nation,” Gingrey said. “The location offers an ideal site to rapidly respond to natural disasters in the Southeast U.S. It is also essential to maintain a strong military presence at the Marietta complex, especially as other installations in greater Atlanta are closing. The occupants of this site have a long history of serving our nation with distinction, and I know the whole community is honored to have our brave guardsmen headquartered in Marietta.”

To read more, click HERE.

Yesterday, I hosted the first 11th District Listening Session in Cartersville.  It was a great event, with nearly 40 people coming out to discuss today’s pressing issues with me.  I appreciated hearing so many opinions from around the Bartow community.

If you don’t live in Cartersville, don’t worry – there’s a Listening Session coming soon to a town near you.  Click HERE for a complete list.  Next week: Carroll and Paulding counties. I look forward to seeing you there!

Sunday’s Marietta Daily Journal editorializes on the Global War on Terror, noting that when the going gets tough, the tough can’t just bail out:

“I’m not going to say that six months from now or 18 months from now - that I’m not going to be in favor of certain changes if things aren’t going well. Obviously, you want to keep an open mind,” Rep. Gingrey said. “But I see it as World War III, and I don’t think we can afford to bail out when the going gets tough.”

Indeed, Gingrey has it right. Like it or not, and although many on the political left refuse to admit it, we are in the early stages of World War III (or IV, if you count the Cold War as World War III). We did not start this war. The Islamofascists did. And we do not have the option of sitting it out or pretending that we are not at war.

You can quibble all you want about whether the war in Iraq is helping or hurting us in the wider war against Islamic fascism, but the fact is, we are at war, and if we surrender now in Iraq it will be a huge, huge victory for the other side that will do nothing but empower radical Islamists to launch further attacks in our direction. […]

It’s important to remember as well that the Iraqi government is barely 90 days old, and struggling hard to meet the sky-high expectations placed on it.  Even among all the carnage, there are encouraging signs here and there. The Iraqi army is getting bigger and better, and has proven that it is willing to fight - and if necessary, to die - in order to support the new government and democracy. And despite its losses, there is no shortage of recruits for that army.

It remains to be seen how that battle for Baghdad will turn out. But history is full of episodes in which the worst fighting, and bleakest days, came just before a victory or shift in momentum. Let us hope that is the case now as well.

Click HERE for the complete editorial.

The Gingrey office was blessed with a superb group of interns this summer. With the fall semester beginning, we’ve had to say goodbye to our summer colleagues – but don’t worry, we’ll keep in touch.

Today, we profile Wensie Caillet, a stellar intern in our Marietta office this summer:

Hello there! My name is Wensie Caillet. At this point I’m sure you’re wondering about my origins, given my name is quite different. My mother is Chinese (born and raised in Hong Kong) and my father is French (born in Paris, raised in Haiti). I am 18 years old and a recent graduate of Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell. Next year, I will be attending Boston College in Massachusetts. I am an only child, for the most part. (On numerous occasions, my mother has taken the liberty to call our cat my “sister”.)

I am from Marietta, GA, by way of Wichita, KS, which is known for many things among those being the sunflower state, currently housing the world’s largest ball of twine, the Wizard of Oz, and three-legged cows. But I digress. Georgia, I am proud to say is truly a lovely state (and I’m not just sugar-coating this statement). Since moving here, I have felt that I truly understand the meaning of “Southern Hospitality.”

Which leads me to my next point: why I came to intern for the reputable Congressman Phil Gingrey.

(more…)

Phil spent the past week on the U.S./Mexico border examining our immigration and security procedures. The Marietta Daily Journal today takes a look at Phil’s trip:

“It’s going great,” said U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta). “It’s been very informative. What we’re doing is seeing the operation and protection of border security.”

“Nothing will change my opinion that the border needs to be secured first and foremost,” he said. “We need to stop the hemorrhaging.”

Gingrey toured a detention facility near San Diego, Calif., where illegal aliens with criminal intentions are held before deportation.

“The detainees are treated very humanely,” he said.

Gingrey also toured a 61-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border to see fencing being built and to meet with National Guardsmen working there.

“I am very impressed with the dedication of the men and women who are working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol,” he said. “They don’t have enough boots on the ground and they need more.”

Gingrey said the tour would give him a better understanding of the illegal immigration situation in the nation before September, when Congress reconvenes to finalize the immigration bill it will send President Bush.

For the complete article, click HERE.