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U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter looks ahead to 2016
Freshman congressman: Weve got to destroy ... ISIS
Buddy Carter Rep.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter

It was a year of learning and experiencing a lot, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., said.

In his first year as representative for the 1st Congressional District, the Pooler native got to experience Pope Francis’ address to Congress up close and went with a group of legislators to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Each event, Carter said, was an honor.

Then, there was dealing with a new schedule. In his days as a state legislator, Carter was used to 40-day sessions in Atlanta and getting to go home around the end of March or beginning of April. Being a congressman, however, is year-round and 24/7, he said. Even when he was home, he said, he was busy getting around and seeing people in a district that has 17 counties, including Bryan.

“It’s very time consuming, but it’s very, very exciting,” Carter said.

One of Carter’s major goals when going to Congress was to tackle the national debt, which was at nearly $19 trillion Dec. 24, according to TreasuryDirect.gov. This year, for the first time since 2009, Congress passed a budget that cuts the debt by $5.5 trillion over the next 10 years, Carter said.

“A budget that, granted, it’s not a balanced budget, but it does give us a roadmap to a balanced budget,” he said.

Also, Congress passed a highway bill that covers five years’ worth of spending, marking the first time in decades that a highway bill longer than two years was approved. That was key to helping relieve the debt, Carter said, because in order to economically grow out of debt, sound infrastructure has to be in place, which means transportation has be taken care of.

The federal bill will work in harmony with Georgia’s highway bill that was passed this year in Atlanta by making sure projects keep going, Carter added.

“The federal government’s got to be a reliable partner to the states in order for the states to get projects underway and completed,” he said.

Other key legislation from this year included ensuring doctors will accept Medicare from seniors, entitlement reform for the first time in two decades and the passage of an omnibus bill that included $21 million for the Savannah Harbor deepening. Also, the defense budget was increased, which was vital to the 1st District and its four military bases.

For 2016 — the House reconvenes Tuesday — Carter said the No. 1 item as far as he’s concerned is national security. Carter, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said the top responsibility of the government is to protect its citizens from terrorist groups such as the highly publicized Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS.

“We’ve got to make sure this is done. We’ve got to destroy this threat known as ISIS,” Carter said.

The congressman said the House has addressed some concerns connected with that. In November, the House passed legislation that puts a hold on allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the country until they are deemed safe to enter, according to CNN.com. Also, earlier this month, the House passed an overhaul of the federal visa-waiver program, which would restrict anyone traveling to or from Iraq, Syria, Iran and the Sudan without a visa, also according to CNN.com. Both pieces of legislation are currently in the Senate.

Other aspects for the House to consider in 2016 include having regular order on voting for appropriations — basically, being able to focus on 12 different appropriations bills instead of passing one omnibus package as was done this year. Also, with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., recently installed as speaker of the House, Carter said comprehensive tax reform — one of Ryan’s main projects — should get looked at in the coming year.

Of course, with an even-numbered year looming, elections are imminent. Carter is used to that, as he has run for office 12 of the last 20 years, and already has his re-election campaign underway.

“We always like to get out,” he said. “… This is my home and has been my home my whole life, and I just love the 1st District.”

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Later yall, its been fun
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This is among the last pieces I’ll ever write for the Bryan County News.

Friday is my last day with the paper, and come June 1 I’m headed back to my native Michigan.

I moved here in 2015 from the Great Lake State due to my wife’s job. It’s amicable, but she has since moved on to a different life in a different state, and it’s time for me to do the same.

My son Thomas, an RHHS grad as of Saturday, also is headed back to Michigan to play basketball for a small school near Ann Arbor called Concordia University. My daughter, Erin, is in law school at University of Toledo. She had already begun her college volleyball career at Lourdes University in Ohio when we moved down here and had no desire to leave the Midwest.

With both of them and the rest of my family up north, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I haven’t missed winter one bit, but I’m sure I won’t miss the sand gnats, either.

Shortly after we arrived here in 2015, I got a job in communications with a certain art school in Savannah for a few short months. It was both personally and professionally toxic and I’ll leave it at that.

In March 2016 I signed on with the Bryan County News as assistant editor and I’ve loved every minute of it. My “first” newspaper career, in the late 80s and early 90s, was great. But when I left it to work in politics and later with a free-market think tank, I never pictured myself as an ink-stained wretch again.

Like they say, never say never.

During my time here at the News, I’ve covered everything that came along. That’s one big difference between working for a weekly as opposed to a daily paper. Reporters at a daily paper have a “beat” to cover. At a weekly paper like this, you cover … life. Sports, features, government meetings, crime, fundraisers, parades, festivals, successes, failures and everything in between. Oh, and hurricanes. Two of them. I’ll take a winter blizzard over that any day.

Along the way I’ve met a lot of great people. Volunteers, business owners, pastors, students, athletes, teachers, coaches, co-workers, first responders, veterans, soldiers and yes, even some politicians.

And I learned that the same adrenalin rush from covering “breaking news” that I experienced right out of college is still just as exciting nearly 30 years later.

With as much as I’ve written about the population increase and traffic problems, at least for a few short minutes my departure means there will be one less vehicle clogging up local roads. At least until I pass three or four moving vans headed this way as I get on northbound I-95.

The hub-bub over growth here can be humorous, unintentional and ironic all at once. We often get comments on our Facebook page that go something like this: “I’ve lived here for (usually less than five years) and the growth is out of control! We need a moratorium on new construction.”

It’s like people who move into phase I of “Walden Woods” subdivision after all the trees are cleared out and then complain about trees being cut down for phase II.

Bryan County will always hold a special place in my heart and I definitely plan on visiting again someday. My hope is that my boss, Jeff Whitten (one of the best I’ve ever had), will let me continue to be part of the Pembroke Mafia Football League from afar. If the Corleone family could expand to Vegas, there’s no reason the PMFL can’t expand to Michigan.

But the main reason I want to return someday is about that traffic issue. After all, I’ll need to see it with my own eyes before I’ll believe that Highway 144 actually got widened.

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