In the News

The Senate starts at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and will consider three of President Obama's judicial nominations. At 10:45 a.m. the Senate will vote to end debate on the nominations of Andre Birotte to be a U.S. District Judge for Central California, Robin Rosenberg to be a U.S. District Judge for Southern Florida and John deGravelles to be a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Louisiana. If cloture is invoked on those nominations, final confirmation votes are expected after the Senate retu... Read more

It used to be the agricultural lobby was the strongest force in Washington, Congressman Mark Meadows told a group of farmers and contributors Monday during a campaign fundraiser at Burntshirt Vineyards. Today, Meadows said, “there’s a greater probability that the average American knows somebody who’s served (time) in prison than a real-life farmer. So what we have to do is make sure we tell our story.” Meadows told the audience of roughly 90 that no one does a better job of spreading the messag... Read more

ASHEVILLE – A bill requiring that Congress release millions of dollars to Swain County as part of a settlement over the “Road to Nowhere” project advanced through the House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows introduced The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Agreement Act of 2013. His office said the National Park Service is withholding $4 million allocated to Swain County in 2012 as part of a settlement with the federal government. That settlement reached in 20... Read more

English speakers across the globe are getting a real-time glimpse of what it is like to live under the constant threat of terrorist rocket attacks thanks to a hugely popular smartphone app that sends out a “red alert” whenever Israel is targeted. As Israeli citizens struggle to shelter themselves from a near-constant barrage of rockets fired by the terror group Hamas, those living outside of the Jewish state are experiencing the same sense of panic via theRed Alert: Israel app, which “provides ... Read more

Last night, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced theHuman Trafficking Detection Act,H.R. 5116, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). This bill would require Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents responsible for monitoring travelers across U.S. borders and through airports receive training to identify potential victims of human trafficking and report these cases to... Read more

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents responsible for monitoring travelers across U.S. borders, and through airports, would be required to identify potential victims of human trafficking, under legislation introduced by Rep. Mark Meadows. The North Carolina Republican's bill would also require DHS agents to report these cases to local law enforcement officials. The bill will also require the DHS to annually report to Congress the number of potential human trafficking cases reported by it... Read more

You can draw two lessons draw from Tuesday’s 367-55 House vote to authorize and fund transportation programs through May 2015. One is that building off-ramps and overpasses is popular in an overwhelmingly bipartisan way, even if Congress can only manage to authorize and fund infrastructure in increments, in this case 10 months. A second lesson is that when Heritage Action and the Club for Growth speak, Republicans listen. But in this case after listening to the conservative groups call for them... Read more

A new batch of emails released today by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee show former IRS official Lois Lerner was concerned about Congress being able subpoena her online communications. In an April 9, 2013 email exchange with an IRS technology employee named Maria Hooke, Lerner asked if the company's interoffice messaging system was searchable like emails because employees in her division wanted to know if they needed to be as careful with the conversations over the system as... Read more

North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., introduced a bill on Tuesday to allow U.S.-educated foreign doctors to get visas to practice at VA hospitals to ease a shortage of doctors. The bill, called the Doctors Helping Heroes Act, attempts to help fix a widespread problem in the Veterans Administration health care system. Audits have revealed a high percentage of veterans in multiple states who have to wait 30 days or more for appointments with the VA. The legisla... Read more

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Glenville, has teamed up with a Democratic legislator to introduce a bill designed to shorten wait times at Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide. The Doctors Helping Heroes Act would allow foreign doctors trained in the United States to get visas to practice at VA hospitals, according to Meadows’ office. The country has a projected shortage of 63,000 doctors by 2015 and more than 130,000 by 2025, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The shortage ... Read more