Lawmaker Dispatches

Featuring: Randy Forbes, Tom Perriello, Robert Hurt, Kaye Kory Randy Forbes: National Dialogue www.forbes.house.gov Ask a teacher, and they will most likely tell you that one of the quickest ways to kill classroom discussion is for one strong-willed student to monopolize the conversation. A long-winded or uncomfortably impassioned monologue inevitably polarizes viewpoints. Conversation shuts down, [...]

Posted February 9, 2010  

Soft sand

  Column by Randy Forbes www.forbes.house.gov If you haven’t personally experienced the situation yourself, you have surely witnessed it at the beach or perhaps in the middle of a snow storm – those people who think their truck or SUV certainly must have more than enough gusto to make it through that batch of soft [...]

Posted January 24, 2010  

Security first

   Column by Randy Forbes www.forbes.house.gov Christmas Day for many Americans was peaceful. The national holiday brought families together as it regularly does, sharing laughter and gifts inside the comfort of their warm homes. But while Americans were enjoying holiday meals and opening gifts under the Christmas tree, a 23-year-old Nigerian man was boarding a [...]

Posted January 14, 2010  

A vision for our veterans

   Column by Randy Forbes www.forbes.house.gov Stay in Washington for a couple of weeks, and you’re bound to hear the phrase “on message.” Generally, the phrase is a reminder when speaking to the press or the public to keep your comments aimed in a singular direction. In the epicenter of national and global political debate, [...]

Posted December 21, 2009  

Forbes votes for unemployment-benefits extension

Congressman Randy Forbes (R-4th) announced today that he voted in favor of H.R. 3548, to allow workers to draw an additional 14 weeks of federal unemployment benefits after exhausting their regular 26 weeks of state compensation. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the bill is revenue neutral and paid for through a number of [...]

Posted November 10, 2009  

What Virginia’s delegation had to say on health-care vote

The House of Representatives voted 220-215 late Saturday night to approve legislation that includes mandates to insurance providers and consumers and creates a public option for the provision of insurance coverage. One Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, joined 219 Democrats in voting for the bill; 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats voted against the legislation, which [...]

Posted November 8, 2009  

Randy Forbes | Contentions on health-care reform

My colleague and fellow Virginian Rep. Eric Cantor e-mailed me Friday with a list of 10 things every person should know about the new healthcare bill that was unveiled last week. At 1,990 pages, the bill was written behind closed doors by a handful of people and the proposals in the bill never debated – [...]

Posted November 6, 2009  

Randy Forbes | Health care

We received notice last night that the House of Representatives could vote on the newest version of the health-care bill, H.R. 3962, as early as Friday evening. The bill is almost 2,000 pages in length and, if passed, will result in a government takeover of our health-care system. Please watch this special video message I [...]

Posted November 4, 2009