U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, on Tuesday addressed a crowd of about 50 at the Brunswick Exchange Club following the 2020 election and the start of a new legislative session.
Carter, a four-term Republican from Pooler, spoke at length about a lack of bipartisanship in the house chamber, infrastructure spending proposals and the lack of a strong security policy at the border.
He began, by addressing the lack of urgency coming from the majority party claiming that President Biden has only signed into law 26 bills as of the beginning of this week. "Since coming into power, the majority has mostly brought partisan bills to the floor that they failed to get signed into law before." Carter said. "Joe Biden came into office preaching a need for more bipartisanship. He has done nothing to practice what he has preached."
Carter expressed hope for a bi-partisan deal for infrastructure funding stressing that critical infrastructure investment that included roads, bridges, airports and seaports was attainable. However, he remained cautious that the majority party would tie the passage of the package to more ambitious liberal priorities that would likely be around $3.5 trillion dollars in extra spending.
Carter then addressed what he defined as a "border crisis." Citing that over half a million people have crossed the border since the new administration took over. He was critical of Vice President Kamala Harris and her trip to El Paso, which he stated, was 800 miles away from the epicenter of the crisis in McAllen, Texas.
He mentioned a piece of legislation he introduced to solve part of the issue - the Illegal Immigrant Assistance Prohibition Act - as an example of his work to solve the crisis. "This legislation would prohibit sending federal funds to states that provide assistance to illegal immigrants," said Carter.
Carter ended his remarks on a positive note speaking on protecting the American Dream. He noted how he believed the American Dream was at risk but that he still believes America is the greatest country in the world. "It is the honor and privilege of a lifetime to represent the people of the first district," said Carter.
The congressman also took questions from Exchange Club members.