News From Washington and Across West Texas

Dear Friend,

I hope you and your family had a fun and festive Independence Day! It was great to be back home to celebrate our nation’s founding, and being with the good, patriotic people of West Texas on the Fourth reminded me what makes our country so special, and how lucky we are to live in America.

In addition to celebrating the Fourth with my family alongside the folks in Graham, I had a productive time last week meeting with community leaders as well as hearing directly from constituents across District 19 about the most pressing issues facing our country, from securing our border, to passing better, fairer trade agreements, to ensuring our rural communities in West Texas have access to quality health care so they can continue to thrive.

Cotton is King
Cotton is king on the plains of West Texas, and this will now be truer than ever thanks to a new partnership between Texas Tech University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a brand new cotton classing facility on the campus of Texas Tech. The decision to build this facility on Tech’s campus only validates our region’s status as the leader in all things agriculture; not just agriculture production, but also agriculture education, research, and technology development. I was honored to speak at the signing and groundbreaking ceremony for this new facility last week, and to be present for the start of a partnership that will be a huge win for Texas Tech, the cotton industry, and West Texas. Learn more about this historic partnership, the first ever between a university and a USDA cotton classing facility, from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal here.

Town Halls
Gathering your thoughts on how the policies being put in place in Washington are having an impact on your everyday lives is one of the most rewarding as well as one of the most important parts of my job. To that end, I held a series of town halls while back in West Texas so I could hear directly from you about how I can best represent you and your families in Washington. Click here to watch a recap of my town hall meetings last week in Dimmitt, Post, Roby, and Anson. 

Ensuring Equal Retirement Treatment for Texas Teachers and Public Servants
One of the topics that came up during my town hall in Dimmitt was the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which adversely affects tens of thousands of Texas teachers, firefighters and other public servants who have paid into Social Security for some, but not all, of their working careers. Unfortunately, the outdated, one-size-fits-all WEP formula unfairly reduces Social Security benefits for folks who have paid into Social Security from a private sector job and who also receive a public-sector pension, and the inequity that results from this disparate treatment is creating confusion and deep concern for many West Texans who are at or near the retirement age. It’s past time we end this mistreatment and move to a system that's fair and which ensures those who teach our children and protect our communities have clear information about their Social Security benefits so they can properly plan for retirement. As a member on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, I will be working with my colleagues to make sure we do right by our seniors and vote on legislation that resolves the WEP disparity this Congress. Click here to watch my remarks on the need for us to reach a bipartisan solution on the Windfall Elimination Provision from a Ways and Means subcommittee hearing earlier this year.

Talking Points
In addition to meeting with folks at our town halls, I also enjoyed the opportunity to join Bryan Mudd in the KAMC studios to talk about my recent trip to the southern border, ongoing Congressional negotiations on USMCA, and legislation I recently introduced to provide our seniors on Medicare with greater price transparency and choice when it comes to prescription drugs, a pillar of any free-market system that allows consumers, not the government, to choose the best option for their needs and their budget. Click here to watch my conversation with Bryan.

Culture of Ownership
While in Lubbock, I had the opportunity to visit with the great folks from Inland Truck Parts, an employee-owned company that services and provides parts to big rigs and other trucks. They reminded me of the power of ownership and how it changes behavior. When our policies reward hard work and expect every American to contribute to society, we create a stronger sense of ownership and responsibility among our citizens.

Servant Hearts
During our West Texas Road Trip, we made a stop in Post to meet with folks from the Post Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is a great example of what French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville first observed as the uniquely American tendency to join civic associations in order to advance the public good. Visiting with the Rotary Club only reinforced my belief that we need less Washington and more West Texas, less government and more community, less top down solutions and more bottom up leadership. Thanks to Judge Norman, President Chris Atkinson, and all Rotary Club members for the important work you do for our community and your West Texas-sized, servant hearts!

North American Energy Dominance
Oil and gas is America’s foundation for energy dominance, but growing renewable sources of power and diversifying our energy sources, such as wind, is smart energy policy. Nobody produces more fossil and renewable energy than West Texas, and the town of Sweetwater – the epicenter of our region’s wind energy production – is a great example of an “all the above” energy strategy. Thanks to CJ and the Leeward Renewable Energy, LLC team for the tour!

Timeless Texas Tradition
For nearly ninety years now, the Texas Cowboy Reunion (TCR) in Stamford has been preserving the heritage of the American cowboy and the West. Not only is the TCR the world’s largest amateur rodeo, they are also recent inductees into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame, and this year I was very proud to kick off the rodeo festivities and serve as the parade’s Grand Marshal. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s rodeo so special and successful, and I look forward to being back next year!

Booming Economy
Our country’s economic engine continues to fire on all cylinders without any signs of slowing down. We saw this once again when the Labor Department released the latest jobs numbers last week, which showed the economy added 224,000 jobs in June, surging past economists’ expectations and putting the U.S. unemployment rate at a near 50-year low! While Democrats running for President are proposing policies that would do great damage to the economic prosperity we’ve experienced because of tax reform and regulatory relief, it is essential that we continue to build on the progress we’ve made, reject proposals that would bankrupt our country and put us on a road to economic ruin. Read more about the report from the Wall Street Journal here.

Please know, it is an honor to be your Representative. Feel free to reach out to my office and let me know how I can best serve you.

Your friend and fellow West Texan,

Jodey C. Arrington
Member of Congress