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Congressman Carter back in Bryan County
Carter reading
Congressman Buddy Carter reading to students Thursday morning at the Bryan County Head Start Center. Carter also spoke at the Richmond Hill Rotary Club meeting Thursday afternoon. - photo by Jeff Whitte

Congressman Buddy Carter was back in Bryan County Thursday, just eight days after hosting a town hall meeting at the county’s administration building south of Richmond Hill.

Carter touched on several topics during a stop at the Richmond Hill Rotary Club that he addressed a week ago, including reaffirming his support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and support for a new GOP congressional agenda aimed at protecting the Constitution, strengthening the economy, improving health care, increasing national security, eliminating poverty and reforming the tax code.

“We want to be the proposition party, not the opposition party,” Carter said. “We have to stop reacting to things and just putting out fires.”

Carter said as the only pharmacist in Congress he is especially proud of the recently passed Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which was signed by President Obama less than a month ago. The bill provides funding for rehabilitation as well as education for doctors about prescription drug abuse.

“Opioid abuse is the leading cause of accidental death in the nation,” Carter said. “Everyone has a family member or knows someone who has been impacted by this addiction.”

Carter also touched on the TPP, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement involved the United States and 12 Pacific Rim nations. Both Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have said they object to TPP in its present form.

“International trade is very important to the First District, but I’m not going to vote for something that hurts American workers,” Carter said. “The sense now is that the current TPP won’t pass and it will be redone under the new president.”

Carter started his visit to Bryan County Thursday in Pembroke, where he met with representative of the Coastal Georgia Area Community Action Authority and read “Chu’s First Day of School” to approximately 15 kids who participate in the CAA Head Start preschool program. Carter said he’s a supporter of such programs, which are funded by taxpayer dollars.

“Programs like this really work and we understand that,” he said. “The value of early learning can’t be understated and it is important. These programs serve a need.”

Carter, who is frequently asked to read to students, spent about 10 minutes with the children, asking them questions about school and what they liked to do. The former mayor of Pooler and former state legislator also said he liked “Chu’s First Day of School.”

“That’s the first time I’ve read that story. I’ve got grandchildren and I read to them all the time, but I’ve never read that one before.”

Coastal Georgia Area CAA Director Nina Bryant-Hunter said while it’s good for the Head Start preschool students to meet Carter, it’s important for him to see what happens at the center, since he serves on the House Education and Workforce Committee that oversees early childhood education.

“When bills come out that affect the funding of services, hopefully he’ll see the services we’re providing and see the need for the service s in the community and allow that to sway his decisions,” Bryant-Hunter said. 

Bryan County News Managing Editor Jeff Whitten contributed to this report.

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