Byrne: Time for Democrats to remove their ‘gone fishin’ sign

There is an old expression that goes: “The worst day of fishing beats the best day of working.”

As an avid fisherman myself, I can certainly understand the feeling behind that saying.

But, sometimes, fishing is the worst thing to be doing, especially when there is important work to be done.

This past week, in the wake of the Mueller report finally being completed, Democrats hung the “Gone Fishin’” sign outside the Capitol.

Not satisfied that special counsel Robert Mueller had reported that there was no collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, Democrat leadership dug-in on their calls for more investigations by Congress, fishing for more evidence even though years of looking found nothing.

After the first fishing expedition led by Mueller failed to bring in the “big catch” that Democrats hoped for, they are doubling down, somehow expecting different results.

According to Mueller, no additional indictments are expected and Mr. Mueller will soon be leaving his position.

It is over.

This fishing trip was started all the way back in the Summer of 2016 and lasted until this March. It cost American taxpayers millions of dollars, the time of 40 FBI agents and 500 witness interviews, 22 months of unsubstantiated lies about President Trump from the liberal media and a lifetime of divisiveness.

It seems like the worst two years of fishing would have been much better spent focusing on working for the American people.

We have heard for years from Democrats that the American people want answers. Finally, we have one: There was no collusion. The Democrats are not satisfied with this answer and they never will be. I think the American people deserve to know answers, just not the false ones my Democrat colleagues want.

What I want to know now is what was known by the previous administration when calls for this investigation began. What did President Obama and his officials know when the FBI investigation was authorized all the way back in Summer 2016? Why did Democrats promise to deliver evidence of collusion when, after two years, nothing has been found?

Attorney General William Barr will be releasing a version of the report compiled by special counsel Mueller to Congress soon.

I very much look forward to reading it.

But I will continue to ask the tough questions the people of Alabama really want asked. We stand by our president, and we still want answers.

For now, I call on my Democrat colleagues to take down the “Gone Fishin’” sign, listen to the American people, listen to the truth and let’s get back to work.

There are a lot of real things to worry about right here in our own country, not made up stories about spies and espionage.

Instead of fishing, let’s work on fixing our broken immigration system. We have thousands of foreign nationals pouring over our Southern Border every week. We have senseless murders at the hands of immigrants in our country illegally. We have violent crimes that can be prevented, if only Congress were to act.

Let’s work on taking better care of our nation’s veterans. Let’s work on improving educational opportunities and choices for our young people. Let’s focus on the people we were elected to represent: the hardworking citizens of the United States of America.

President Trump and conservative policies have spurred American economic growth to amazing new heights in the last two years, and through the national emergency declaration, we are in the starting phases of getting the border under control.

There is still much work to be done for our country, and I’m ready to work. For the people of Southwest Alabama, “The Congressman is IN.”

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne is a Republican from Fairhope.