Alabama’s Congressional Delegation on what to expect in the new Congress
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Some members of Alabama’s Congressional Delegation are boarding planes on Thursday to get back to Washington, D.C. Both the House and Senate will gavel in to start a new session of Congress on Friday.
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) said voting on a new Speaker of the House is one of the first orders of business. He said Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), who was voted as Speaker during the last session, has his support.
“Eyes will be on Mike Johnson tomorrow as we elect a new speaker. I have been supportive of Mike Johnson. He is a true conservative,” Aderholt said.
Besides the Speaker race, Congressman Aderholt said he wants to bring more jobs to rural Alabama in the new Congress.
“Most of the rural areas don’t have a big tax base. And so, therefore, they’re limited in what they can do in their infrastructure,” Aderholt said. “If you don’t have infrastructure, you’re not gonna get new companies to locate. So, it’s a good investment.”
Border security is also a priority for Rep. Aderholt. This is also a top priority for Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL). Rep. Palmer said he would also like to see the U.S. become more energy independent.
“We’re so dependent on China for critical minerals. And you can’t make batteries, you can’t make high tech devices without the critical minerals in rare Earth elements,” Palmer explained. “We have a lot of that here, but we’re not mining it in sufficient amounts.”
For the State of Alabama, Palmer wants to get a few projects done, like completing the Northern Beltline and working on I-65. But there’s one project that has united every member of the delegation.
“On this issue of bringing the Space Force Command to Huntsville- I think that’s going to happen,” said Palmer. “And hopefully that will happen fairly soon once President Trump takes office.”
Both Congressmen said they are praying for and fighting for a stronger country. Especially after the horrific events in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
“People will be looking at the United States and making sure that they think twice before they attack the U.S.,” Aderholt said.
“You’re not defeating an enemy. You’re defeating an ideology,” Palmer added. “And it takes a long, long time to get there, if you can ever get there, to fight an ideology like we’re seeing.”
Shomari Figures will be joining the Alabama Delegation after his win in Congressional District Two, making for two democrats and five republicans representing the state in Washington.