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Congressman McHenry Weekly Update
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Hosting a Heroin Crisis Workshop for Law Enforcement
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The heroin and opioid epidemic has ended lives, destroyed families, and poses a serious threat to our western North Carolina communities. In mid-May the House passed a number of bills to confront this crisis but ultimately it is the law enforcement in our communities who are on the front lines of this fight. That is why, last week, I hosted a workshop on the opioid crisis for Tenth District law enforcement agencies. At the workshop-- which was attended by twenty Tenth District agencies--participants heard from a Buncombe County resident who lost a loved one to opioid addiction and from the DEA who presented best practices to address the crisis. You can read more about last Friday's workshop here via the Lincoln Times-News or see Time Warner Cable News coverage here. Additionally you can see my full press release on the workshop here or visit my Facebook page for pictures from the event.
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Capital Formation Bills Pass House
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Small businesses and entrepreneurs are America's true job creators, especially in rural areas like ours in western North Carolina. Yet, they face a capital crisis as small business lending is way down and statistics show these communities are losing more jobs than they create. This week, the House passed two bills I introduced to address this problem. On Monday, the House passed both the Supporting America's Innovators Act and the Fix Crowdfunding Act with bipartisan support. Each of these utilizes innovative new forms of capital formation--angel investing and crowdfunding respectively--to help small business grow and create jobs.
Each of these bills were passed as part of the House's Innovation Initiative which I launched with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. You can read more about these bills passing via The Hill, Crowdfund Insider, or Entrepreneur.com. Click on the image below to see my floor speech in support of the Fix Crowdfunding Act. You can also see my full press release on the passage of these important, job-creating bills here.
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Eugenics Compensation Legislation Passes
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North Carolina's forced sterilization laws of the early 20th century mark a sad part of the history of our great state. In 2013 our state legislature worked to right this wrong by passing legislation that compensates victims of this program. Regrettably, those payments led to the victims losing access to vital federal benefits. To fix this unintended consequence, I joined with our Senators to introduce the Eugenics Compensation Act which exempts these compensation payments from being used when calculating eligibility for federal benefits. This week, that bill passed the House as part of larger legislation. You can read more about its passage here via the Gaston Gazette. Additionally, you can click on the image below to see my full press release on passage.
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What I Have Been Reading |
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5 police officers killed in Dallas ambush: What we know
USA Today
I was horrified to learn about the ambush and killing of five Dallas police officers Thursday night. This despicable attack is so tragic and my prayers go out to those officers killed, the officers injured, all of their families, and the entire Dallas law enforcement community. Please join me this weekend in saying a prayer for all of our law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line each day to keep us safe.
House passes mental health bill
The Hill
Mental illness effects thousand of Americans and their families including many in our area. It is as serious medical issue but for years it has not been treated as such. This week, the House took an important step towards changing that with passage of H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. This bill, which I'm proud to cosponsor, makes common sense reforms to help those suffering from mental illness. You can read my full statement on its passage here.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE
2334 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone: 202.225.2576
Fax: 202.225.0316
GASTONIA DISTRICT OFFICE
Suite 115
Gaston Co. Administrative Bldg
128 West Main Avenue
Gastonia, NC 28053
Telephone: 704.833.0096
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HICKORY DISTRICT OFFICE
1990 Main Ave. SE, PO Box 1830
Hickory, NC 28603
Telephone: 828.327.6100
Toll-Free in NC: 800.477.2576
Fax: 828.327.8311
BLACK MTN. DISTRICT OFFICE
160 Midland Avenue
Black Mountain, NC 28711
Telephone: 828.669.0650
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