Guest Author
My first 100 days in Congress have brought a few surprises, some hard-earned achievements and a lot of new friends.
Across the district, I’ve heard from Republican and Democratic constituents who are encouraged that I’m following through on my word to vote for new leadership, sponsor bipartisan legislation and fight to bring the North Florida Way to Congress.
In Washington, I’ve been surprised how many good members of Congress there are who actually want to work together to get things done — but outside groups, partisan leadership and a few extremists are continuing to run Congress and create obstruction after obstruction.
It’s more apparent than ever: The only way we’re going to get things done is by working together.
It may surprise many people to learn that last month, 180 Democrats and 212 Republicans came together to pass the first substantial bipartisan legislation to protect and strengthen Medicare in a decade. The bill permanently fixes Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula, which has threatened to drive doctors away from the Medicare system and drop Medicare patients. It also extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Secure Rural Schools funding for North Florida.
Passing this legislation gives me hope we can come together on more issues, like improving education, protecting our veterans and creating jobs.
I’m making it my mission to become friends with every member of the Florida delegation, regardless of party. We’re the third largest state in the country. In the past, some have spent too long working against each other instead of working together for Florida.
I’m proud to serve on the House Armed Services Committee with Rep. Jeff Miller and the Agriculture Committee with Rep. Ted Yoho. Together, we represent the entire Panhandle of Florida. Working together we can help North Florida’s service members, veterans and farmers.
Working with members of both parties, I’ve introduced four major pieces of bipartisan legislation:
•The VETS Act to educate, train and hire more recovery care coordinators to help the most seriously injured veterans.
•The Congressional Travel Perks Elimination Act to ban members from flying first class and spending your tax dollars on long-term personal car leases.
•The US-Israel Anti-Tunnel Defense Cooperation Act to authorize research and development of an anti-tunneling defense system to protect Israel from terrorist attacks.
•And just last week, I introduced the Northwest Florida Jobs Certainty Act to help protect and expand manufacturing jobs in our district. I announced the legislation after performing a work day at the WestPoint Home Factory in Chipley, where 250 jobs are at risk.
On their factory floor, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat: They’re focused on doing their job and making something real, right here in America. That’s the North Florida Way, and 100 days into Congress, I’m more dedicated than ever to bringing that same spirit of work to the House floor.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham represents Florida District 2 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
