Does Congress look broken to you?  If so, then you’re not alone.

·       The Republican-controlled House can barely keep a speaker in office, let alone legislate.

·       A bill to provide badly needed aid to Ukraine suffered an agonizing months-long delay when Republicans refused to bring it up for a vote in the House. Meanwhile, Russia took advantage of the situation and seized more Ukrainian territory.

·       A widely hailed bipartisan border security bill negotiated in the Senate earlier this year looked like it was going to score a victory for good government – until it died a sudden death at the hands of Republicans so that Trump can use it as a political issue. In other words, what’s good for the country is bad for the GOP.

 In their free time, Republicans are cooking up ways to make it harder for average Americans to live a decent life, plotting to hack away at our freedoms and paying blind homage to someone who’s planning to dismantle our democracy piece by piece.

 Republicans want to cut Social Security, pass a nationwide abortion ban, and overturn monumental Democratic achievements in clean energy and affordable health care (I’ll never forget: Not. One. Single. Republican voted to cap insulin at $35/month for struggling seniors on Medicare).

All of this brings us to why a blue wave in 2024 is so imperative, including who we elect to represent us in the House. Right now, before the 5th District Congressional Primary on June 18, get to know the three Democratic candidates and choose a strong contender to run against a likely MAGA nominee in November (find information on the Democratic candidates here and on our May 31 candidate forum here).

Flipping that seat from deep, deep red to blue could be key to achieving a Democratic majority in the House and would give those of us in the 5th District the representation we deserve.

Line of Duty Act and Wintergreen Officers

On the state level, in the Virginia General Assembly, it was very disappointing that the Line of Duty Act as originally written failed to advance in the House of Delegates this year. The bill would have expanded benefits to the families of officers employed by private police departments who are killed in the line of duty (private police forces would contribute to the fund and there would be no cost to the state or counties). The need for this legislation was tragically driven home last year when Wintergreen Officer Mark Christopher Wagner II was fatally shot while responding to a violent attack.

We’re grateful to our Senator, Creigh Deeds, and Sen. Mark Obenshain, patrons of the measure in the Senate, and to Del. Amy Laufer, a co-patron in the House. The police force in Wintergreen deserves better and I can assure you this bill will again be a priority for us in the next General Assembly session.