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Monday, February 1, 2016: Weekend for Wildlife is an annual event that raises awareness for the conservation of Georgia’s rarest wildlife and habitats and helps raise money for conserving Georgia’s nongame-native wildlife not legally fished or hunted. The event was held this weekend in Glynn County, and Amy and I were honored to attend some of the festivities. This year’s theme was the gopher tortoise, Georgia’s state reptile that lives in the sandy lands of the Coastal Plain and digs long burrows that shelter hundreds of other animal species. Following an early breakfast meeting this morning with my good friend Dick Berkowitz, whose prolific and thoughtful political writings are often carried in local media outlets, I had to leave my truck at the car care center to be worked on. With 340,000 miles, it’s just getting broken in so I hope they will be able to fix it. My first order of business upon arriving to my office is our weekly staff meeting. Because we were snowed out last week, we have a very busy week ahead including a very big hearing on Thursday in the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on price increases in the generic drug market. As the only pharmacist in Congress, I will be expected to carry a big load during this hearing, and staff and I will spend lots of time this week preparing for the hearing. Next, we have our first and only vote series of the day and then I head to Bethesda, Maryland where I am the keynote speaker at the board of directors meeting of the US Pharmacopeia, a group that sets standards for the identity, strength, quality and purity of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements used worldwide.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016: Usually we have our Whip Team meeting the night that we arrive for our first votes, but this week we are having our meeting the following morning. Afterwards, we have our weekly Republican Conference meeting where we review the schedule for the upcoming week followed by a meeting of the Committee on Education and the Workforce where we mark up two bills dealing with protecting access to retirement savings, one of which I am successful in amending. After the meeting, I meet with students with the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) who are visiting the Capitol today before heading to a meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform where we have a hearing with the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Education.
Congressman Carter with ASHP students |
Next, I head back to my office where I meet with the CEO of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Mark Baum, who penned an Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week concerning compounding medications that I found to be very interesting. Later, I have a phone conversation with Assistant Secretary of the Army, Jo-Ellen Darcy, concerning the dredging projects at the ports of Savannah and Brunswick. Next, I head to the House Chamber where we have our first vote series of the day before heading to a Committee on Homeland Security meeting where we mark up a series of bills. Afterwards, I meet with a group from the Independent College Presidents from Georgia before heading to a members-only meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to prepare for our hearing tomorrow on the Flint River water situation in Michigan. After heading to the House Chamber, where we have our second and final vote series of the day, I head back to my office where I spend the evening reading and studying in preparation for the generic drug hearing on Thursday.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016: I start the day back at my office in a meeting with members of my staff where we review for the generic drug price increase hearing tomorrow. Next, I head to a meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform where we have a hearing on the Flint River water crisis. This, of course, has been covered extensively in the media as of late, and the hearing room is overflowing.
Congressman Carter delivers remarks at a Head Start breakfast |
Afterwards, I deliver a welcoming address to a national group representing the Head Start program before heading to a hearing of the Committee on Education and the Workforce where we discuss School Choice programs in our country. A link to my questions can be found here. After meeting with representatives from International Paper including Senior Vice President Tom Kadien, I head to a meeting of the Committee on Homeland Security where we discuss preventing terrorist infiltration through the U.S. refugee and visa programs. Later, I head to the House Chamber where I speak on H.R. 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act. A link to my speech can be found here. After our first vote series of the day, I meet with the Georgia Forest Landowners Association, including Joe Hopkins from Charlton County. After our second and final vote series of the day, I head back to the office for yet another review for the generic drug price increase hearing tomorrow.
Thursday, February 4, 2016: Well it’s finally here. The day my staff and I have been preparing for has arrived, and we start off the morning with one last preparatory session before heading to the hearing room for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform where our witnesses have assembled including “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. As expected, it’s a media circus with cameras everywhere and, also as expected, Mr. Shkreli chooses to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and refuses to answer any questions. After Mr. Shkreli is dismissed, the hearing goes forward and, after a brief break for votes, continues into the afternoon. A link to my series of statements and questions can be found here. Afterwards, I stay at the Capitol as I have television interviews with CNN International and Fox Business Network.
Congressman Carter interviews with Fox Business Network |
A link to those interviews can be found here and here.
Friday, February 5, 2016: After catching a red eye flight back last night, I’m back in the district this morning and at Fort Stewart to deliver the keynote address at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Job Challenge Academy, a preventive program for at risk youths.
Congressman Carter at the Job Challenge Academy ribbon cutting |
There are few programs in our government that involve as many different agencies and work as well as this one. Later in the afternoon, I head to Waycross for the annual Waycross/Ware County Chamber of Commerce Banquet where I have the privilege of presenting the Randy Sharpe Health Hero Award to the husband/wife team of Dr. Mukesh Agarwal and Dr. Nishi Agarwal. I can’t help but sense the irony of having been in Washington the day before participating in a panel investigating the worst in our health care system and being in the district tonight celebrating the best of our health care system.
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