Despite what author Thomas Wolfe wrote, U.S. Rep. Dale Strong proved you can go home again.
The freshman congressman was greeted by a full house Wednesday in Huntsville’s Von Braun Center for the Washington Update luncheon.
Strong (R-Monrovia) spoke In front of a crowded room at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, U.S. Rep. Dale Strong spoke about his time, so far, in Washington D.C., reflecting on challenges and accomplishments.
Strong began by touching on his committee assignments.
“While other freshmen were finding their offices, I was already working with leadership and the steering committee for my assignments and it worked,” he said. “Job one for my team was to secure committee assignments that matched my priorities and that put me in the right place to fight for the issues most important to North Alabama.”
He then spoke about something his wife, Lauren, noticed while watching the contentious votes for House Speaker play out.
“You may remember that we spent a few days voting for Speaker … Only about 15 times,” he said. “My wife Lauren asked during this process, during most of those votes that were on C-SPAN, from the gallery she watched and said later every time she saw me that I was sitting beside someone else. Two words: Committee assignments.”
And his game of musical chairs paid off.
“I was one of just a few freshmen to secure three top committee assignments: Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Science Space and Technology,” Strong (R-Huntsville) said. “These committees put me in the center of the fight for both the security of our nation and to protect the programs at Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center that are critical to our local economy.
“House Armed Services works everyday to ensure that our war fighters have what they need to protect our nation and prepare to face any adversary. Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Saks) and I have been able to ensure that the programs here at Redstone remain strong and continue their mission to serve our soldiers.”
The congressman then turned his attention to the subject of Space Command.
“Let me be clear, while I support Redstone and Huntsville, the most important factor in making a decision about a location for Space Command needs to be what is best for our nation and our national security,” Strong said. “The Air Force conducted a very detailed study. Our community and many others participated in it. All of those studies led to the same conclusion: Redstone Arsenal was the best choice in a 21-category evaluation.”
“Why did he pick Colorado? It’s clear. The only category Colorado wins is the number of votes for Joe Biden.”
The Southern Border, a hot topic amongst congressional Republicans, was another topic of discussion.
“I knew it was bad, but when I was able to visit the southern border I was blown away by just how bad it is,” Strong said. “I saw hundreds of people crossing the border illegally, a huge drug shipment was confiscated right before my eyes, and I learned that many of the people coming across the border were from places like Iran and China that are our enemies and hate America.
“We have to do more.”
The growing threat from China, according to Strong, is also a major topic in committee meetings.
“As I continued to ask questions about this threat I discovered that China and entities controlled by the Chinese Communist Party owns or leases more than 380,000 acres of land across America,” he said. “We’ve already found several cases where this land is close or adjacent to military installations and sensitive facilities.
“We can not allow this to continue and so I’ve introduced legislation to prohibit this and I now have more than 32 cosigners from both sides of aisle.”
Overall, Strong said he is proud to represent the area and you can take the congressman out of Alabama but you can’t take Alabama out of the congressman.
“As you can see I have been busy these last eight months,” Strong said. “Yes, I sometimes miss the slower pace of Alabama.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
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