This past week, I had the opportunity to meet with nearly 300 local elected officials who join me in representing the two cities, 21 counties, and 39 towns that make up Virginia’s Fifth District.
It is an honor to work alongside these state Senators, Delegates, Board of Supervisors members, City and Town Council members, School Board members, First Responders, Local Law Enforcement Officers, and other Constitutional Officers to serve the fine people we represent, and I am grateful that I once again had the opportunity to thank our dedicated public servants for all that they do.
Virginia’s Fifth District spans across 10,000 square miles from the North Carolina line up to Fauquier County, and consistent cooperation with state and local officials ensures that we address the wide variety of issues our constituents from Southside to the Northern Piedmont encounter. It is vitally important that all levels of government work together closely, particularly to identify issues where the federal government is overstepping its authority or handing down burdensome unfunded mandates, making it harder for state and local governments, first responders, and law enforcement to provide the services for which they are responsible. As we have recently witnessed with the tragedy in San Bernardino, it is our local law enforcement and first responders that are always the first to the scene, running toward the danger and selflessly putting the safety of our communities ahead of their own. Our Fifth District localities are in great hands with the leaders we have in place to ensure the safety of our schools, our workplaces, our places of worship, and neighborhoods.
As has been the case for far too long, it is clear that Washington is still too often standing in the way of a robust economic recovery. Every day, our local leaders see first-hand how top-down policies, like the Dodd-Frank Act, harm our Main Street businesses and family farms. They continue to see, now six years after its passage, the President’s healthcare law forcing employers to cut working hours and negatively impacting small businesses, working families, and the emergency service volunteers who many of our communities rely on to keep us safe. Our local leaders balance their budgets, knowing that they cannot spend more than what they take in, yet they watch Washington fail to come together to make the difficult choices necessary to bring about fiscal responsibility and fear that state and local services will suffer the consequences of Washington’s recklessness.
I remain committed to taking these concerns back to Washington and advocating for policies that follow the example set by of our state and local officials in working for commonsense solutions and balanced budgets. That is a spirit of cooperation – acting on common sense for the common good – that our shared constituents expect and deserve.
I look forward to continuing to work in a bipartisan way to initiate policies that make life easier for our small businesses and family farms, as well as ensuring or local law enforcement and first responders are afforded the necessary means to continue to keep our communities safe.
If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Robert Hurt represents the Fifth District of Virginia in Congress.
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