By: Mike Rhodes—
Muncie, IN—On Thursday, August 9th, 80 members of the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and their guests listened to remarks by U.S. Senator Todd Young during a luncheon at the Horizon Convention Center.
Senator Young represents the State of Indiana. He currently serves on the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Previously, in the House, he served on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Budget Committee, and most recently the House Ways and Means Committee.
The senator gave an update on some of the accomplishments of our country, U.S. Congress and specifically the U.S. Senate.
“We’ve gotten a lot done,” he said. “That may contradict some of your impressions. Washington is portrayed as a polarizing place that doesn’t get things done. There’s a measure of polarization—I have to acknowledge that. But we’ve gotten quite a bit done. In fact, a historic amount of work.”
You can listen to the senator’s entire remarks at the end of this article, but here are some of the highlights. He said:
- We may actually pass the 12 spending bills that congress is tasked with passing each year. That has not happened since 1997.
- We’ve reformed the US Tax Code for the first time in 31 years. This puts more money in the pockets of hoosiers. The legislation was passed this year and goes into effect next year.
- We are in the process—at the federal level—of re-making the federal court system. We have filled a breath-taking number of judicial vacancies. 51 in total so far. 24 Circuit Court judges. (The Circuit Court system is a level right beneath the US Supreme Court. Circuit Courts decide thousands of very important cases every year, while the U.S. Supreme Court considers hundreds of cases.)
- Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch was put in place.
- I predict that before the next Supreme Court term convenes on October 1, 2018, we will have another: Brett Kavanaugh.
- We’ve invested in our men and women in uniform. We’ve given them the first pay increase in roughly a decade.
- We’ve delivered real reform and real choice for America’s veterans through the VA Mission Act.
- We are reforming the GI Bill benefits so they are modernized.
- We further improved VA accountability and transparency.
- We’ve given a multi-billion dollar boost to the fight against opioids. Before the end of the year, I expect we will deliver another comprehensive opioid bill to the President of the United States.
- We filed legislation to include job training for those in treatment programs.
- We’ve signed into law, reforms for our foster care system, that in some cases, will expedite the processing of adoptions out of the foster care system by 40%
- We have worked to address the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C. associated with opioid use.
- On the economic front, we have rolled back burdensome regulations.
At the end of Senator Young’s remarks, he was presented with the Spirit of Enterprise award by Kevin Courtois of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Senator Young is pictured receiving the “Spirit of Enterprise” award presented by Kevin Courtois of the U.S.Chamber of Commerce. Photo by: Mike Rhodes
You may listen to the Senator Young’s entire presentation recorded by WLBC’s Steve Lindell by clicking on the play button below.
