Newsletter: 7/3/15

No Summer Vacation

This week, there were no votes taken in the House -- so I criss-crossed the First District meeting with West Virginians and listening to their concerns.

We began in Hancock County on Monday with the Weirton Chamber of Commerce discussing the regulations on coal and natural gas that are burdening our local economy. In the afternoon, we headed south and held a veterans roundtable at the American Legion in Wellsburg. The strong bonds among veterans are always an inspiration, and we talked about their treatment from the VA.

On Tuesday, the day began with breakfast at the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce - you can watch WBOY's coverage of the breakfast here. After the breakfast, we held a roundtable with women in business. These women simply want to achieve the American Dream, and there is a lot more we could do to get government out of their way and encourage entrepreneurship. I look forward to working with leaders like them and taking their ideas to Washington.

On Wednesday, I joined the Grafton Rotary luncheon and delivered an update on our initiatives in Congress and listened to their feedback. That afternoon, we had another roundtable with veterans at the Taylor County Library.

In Tyler County on Thursday I met with our local first responders and learned about the challenges they face from federal and state regulations. We need to work on ways to maintain safety while ensuring our first responders are not paying out of their own pockets for equipment.

Supreme Court: EPA Must Do Cost-Benefit Analysis on Power Plant Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency is an agency run amok -- writing overreaching regulations, ignoring the law, and decimating West Virginia. This week, the Supreme Court rebuked the EPA and put the brakes on a destructive regulation that has already shut down dozens of coal-fired power plants.

The Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule was pushed through by the Obama Administration without ever taking account of the enormous burdens it placed on our economy. While this decision is a step in the right direction, there are a number of regulations still being pushed by the EPA which could be just as disastrous. The EPA should go back to the drawing board on ALL their costly regulations. They must put hardworking West Virginia families before their radical environmental agenda.

Happy Birthday, America

On behalf of Mary and our entire staff, I want to wish you a Happy Fourth of July! Let us never forget the unique freedoms our nation has enjoyed and have the courage to stand up for them. Take a moment to read the Declaration of Independenceand reflect on the courage of our Founding Fathers and the risks they took for what they believed in.

According to Matt Spalding at The Heritage Foundation, eleven of the Declaration signers had their homes and property destroyed. Francis Lewis's New York home was destroyed and his wife was taken prisoner. John Hart's farm and mills were destroyed when the British invaded New Jersey and he died while fleeing capture. Carter Braxton and Thomas Nelson (both of Virginia) lent large sums of their personal fortunes to support the war effort, but were never repaid.

I will sign off with the toast John Adams delivered on the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Independence Forever,

David McKinley

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