Bob Goodlatte: Student Success Starts Locally

Nothing is more important to America’s future than ensuring a high-quality education for our nation’s children. While the basic goals of our current education law, the No Child Left Behind Act, are well-intentioned, the law is not working effectively and ultimately lacks critical flexibility and decision-making power for the individual states, parents, and teachers.

Earth Talk: Global warming and mosquito-borne disease

Roddy Scheer

If by pollution you mean greenhouse gas emissions, then definitely yes. According to Maria Diuk-Wasser at the Yale School of Public Health, the onset of human-induced global warming is likely to increase the infection rates of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus by creating more mosquito-friendly habitats.

Tempur Sealy to invest $13.3 million in Virginia expansion

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today that Tempur Sealy International, Inc., the world’s largest bedding provider, will invest $13.3 million in facility development and improvements at its manufacturing operation at Duffield Industrial Park in Scott County. The expansion project will create 42 new jobs. Virginia successfully competed against New Mexico for the project.

president obama

Earth Talk: Barack Obama’s climate change initiative

Roddy Scheer

In what’s being billed as the greatest environmental initiative of his presidency, Barack Obama announced on June 25, 2013 that his administration is instituting stringent mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions by power plants, factories and other industrial sources. These sources combined account for roughly 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. The goal is to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions nationally by four percent below 1990 levels within the next seven years.

Senate passes comprehensive immigration reform

Chris Graham

The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 today to pass an immigration reform bill that among other things will offer millions of undocumented immigrants a path to legal status. Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, joined the majority vote in favor of the legislation, which will also step up the enforcement resources to be sent to the nation’s southern border.