116th Congress

This week I was sworn into the 116th United States Congress. Serving the First District of Georgia has been one of the greatest honors of my life and I am excited to continue this great responsibility in the new Congress.

Rep. Carter on Swearing In Day with Members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation

While I am proud of the accomplishments and victories delivered over the last two years, there is still a lot of work to do. First, we must start with ending this unacceptable partial government shutdown. Now that Representative Pelosi has been selected to serve as Speaker of the House by her conference, I hope she and her fellow Democrats will finally come to the table and get to work.

It's extremely disappointing that on the first day Democrats took control of the House, they decided to bring legislation to the House Floor that does not include sufficient funding for border security and the border wall or disaster assistance. Instead of negotiating, they decided to vote on a messaging bill that they know is dead on arrival in the Senate and the White House. It's unacceptable.

We must end this shutdown and also provide critical disaster assistance and funding to secure our border.

This Congress, while leadership has changed, my commitment to serving the First District of Georgia has not. I will work every day with members on both sides of the aisle to push forward our common goals while maintaining my strong conservative principles. Important issues like lowering prescription drug prices and ending the opioid crisis are not partisan.

We must come together in Congress and as a nation to deliver results.

From our Nation's Capitol CXCII

Wednesday, January 2, 2019: With the 116^th Congress starting tomorrow, I travel to Washington today to prepare for what will surely be a busy next couple of days. As I mentioned in previous columns, I have a new office in the Rayburn building and, while I’m almost finished, I’m still finishing up a few loose ends in the moving process. The partial government shutdown, in effect since December 22^nd, is still going on as no significant progress has been made through negotiations. Early in the afternoon I have a live TV interview with Fox News to discuss the shutdown. A link to my comments can be found here.

Rep. Carter on Fox News

Most of my afternoon is spent conversing with colleagues to find out the most recent news concerning the shutdown. My only other organized meeting is late in the afternoon as we have a GOP Conference meeting where we are brought up to date on the progress- or lack thereof- of the negotiations to end the partial government shutdown. Because we are now in the minority we are in a different meeting room in a different part of the Capitol. We have a number of new faces in our conference as we have 44 new Republicans join us. Along with 67 new Democratic members we will have a total of 101 newly elected representatives in the 116^th Congress. Of the 101 newly elected representatives, 42 are women, 22 have worked for the C.I.A. or have been in the military and 24 are people of color, making us one of the most diverse ever. Unless the results of the 9^th District in North Carolina are overturned, the final ratio for the 116^th Congress will be 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans.

Thursday, January 3, 2019: Today is a very special day for all of us taking the oath of office, but it is particularly special for those taking it for the first time. The Capitol is full of friends and family members who are in town to share in this special moment. Although this is my third session, I am still excited beyond belief as the honor and privilege of representing the area where I was born and bred and have lived all my life means so much to me. My first job this morning is to head to the Speaker’s Lobby outside of the House Chamber to pick up my new voting card, lapel pin, Capitol license plates and other items. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives and we are each numbered as to seniority of when we became members. Because of the high turnover this session, I am now the 257^th ranking member of the House after only four years. While I’m obviously glad to be moving up, I am already missing many of my friends who will not be returning. Afterwards, I head back to my office for our first staff meeting of the year. As I have said repeatedly, one of the first lessons I learned in Congress was that it is a team sport and you have to surround yourself with good people. I am very blessed to have some of the most dedicated, talented and smart people anywhere serving on our team in Washington and in the District. Next, I head to the Russell Rotunda on the Senate side where I have a TV interview with WSAV in Savannah to discuss the upcoming Congress as well as the partial government shutdown followed by another interview with WJCL in Savannah on the same subjects. A link to the interviews can be found here and here. Afterwards, I head to the House Chamber and at 11:00 a.m. the 115^th Congress gavels in for the final time in order to adjourn sine die. At 12:00 p.m. the Clerk calls the House to order to proceed through Opening Day for the 116^th Congress. At 12:05 we have a Call by States or Quorum Call where members of the 116^th Congress vote present. Next, we have nominations for Speaker where the Democrats nominate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as their nominee and we Republicans nominate Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as our nominee. After the nominating speeches, we have a manual roll call on the election of the speaker where each member’s name is called and each member states their vote. The Speaker is second in line of succession to the President after the Vice President and does not have to be a member of the House of Representatives, although every Speaker thus far has been. It is not unusual for people outside of the House to be nominated for Speaker and some of the more interesting nominees today are former Vice President Joe Biden and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. After over an hour of votes, the results are tabulated and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is declared the Speaker-elect and, after the gavel is given to her by the Minority Leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), gives her acceptance speech and is sworn in by the Dean of the House, Rep. Don Young (R-AK). Next, Speaker Pelosi administers the oath of office to the other members and delegates of the House and the 116th Congress is set. Immediately after being sworn in, I head to Statuary Hall where I do a live TV interview with MSNBC to discuss the new Congress and the partial government shutdown.

Rep. Carter on MSNBC

A link to my interview can be found here. Next, I head to my office where we have been having an open house this afternoon to show off our new digs before heading back to the House Chamber for our first vote series of the day. Afterwards, I head to the Library of Congress to have my picture taken with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and then return to the House Chamber for another vote series. After a break for dinner, I return to the House Chamber for our final vote series of the day.

Friday, January 4, 2019: I’m in Statuary Hall this morning for a live interview on Fox Business to discuss the events of yesterday and comment on the partial government shutdown.

Rep. Carter during an interview with Fox Business

A link to my interview can be found here. Next, I head to the Capitol Plaza steps where I meet up with Kingdom Builders, a homeschool Co-Op from the Savannah area, to visit and take a picture before heading back to the House Chamber for our first and only vote series of the day.

Rep. Carter meeting with Kingdom Builders Homeschool cooperative students

After a meeting with my chief of staff and scheduler to review the January schedule I head to the airport for my return trip home.