Dear friends,

I hope this new year has started out well for you and your family. Here in Congress, Democrats’ partisan impeachment is finally over. I voted to acquit the president, and now Congress is getting back to work on priorities like protecting life and expanding the job market.

Louisiana leads pro-life progress

Recently, Louisiana was recognized as the most pro-life state in America, and I’m working to make sure we keep leading the pro-life movement forward. This year’s March for Life reminded the world that Americans won’t leave the unborn defenseless.

This year, I introduced the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act to protect the health of women and children across the country. Right now, abortion providers can perform procedures that leave vulnerable mothers without access to immediate medical care. My legislation would require abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital located within 15 miles of the abortion clinic.

I also joined Sen. Bill Cassidy in introducing a bill to prohibit chemical abortions from being performed on expectant mothers without the supervision of a health care provider. The fact that these mail-order abortions are even legal is a travesty.

Chemical abortions already put women at astonishing risk, and mail-order abortions put up even more barriers between mothers and critical medical care. If we really want to protect vulnerable women and children, we have to stop the dangerous trend of mail-order abortions.

State of the Union guest

I was honored to attend the State of the Union address with my guest, Felicia Proctor.

I’m firmly in favor of freedom, prosperity, and building a better tomorrow for Louisiana’s kids. As we heard in the president’s third State of the Union address, workers are seeing higher wages and more job opportunities because the government is finally moving out of their way.

This year, I had the honor of having Felicia Proctor as my guest at the State of the Union address. Felicia is a Senate custodian and part of AbilityOne, a federal program that helps people with disabilities find meaningful employment.

It’s a team effort to keep Congress running. Felicia pours her time and talents into helping the Senate operate day in and day out. I’m glad I got to share this historic moment with someone whose kindness and professionalism make the Capitol a brighter place.

It was a pleasure to welcome teachers and students from Brother Martin High School and Ursuline Academy at the United States Capitol.

Rural families need fast, dependable internet

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered making a private deal to give big payouts to foreign satellite companies instead of investing that money in American priorities like deploying rural broadband. After I objected, the FCC agreed to conduct a public auction of C-band airwaves. The “C-band” is needed to develop America’s 5G network, and it belongs to the American taxpayers—not foreign satellite giants.

I believe the money from that auction should go to increasing high-speed internet access for rural families, modernizing the 911 emergency system, and cutting the national debt. That’s why I introduced the Spectrum Management and Reallocation for Taxpayers (SMART) Act, which would ensure billions of dollars from the public auction of the C-band spectrum would go to the taxpayers who own these airwaves.

We shouldn’t be in the business of spearheading European bailouts when there are towns in Louisiana without basic access to internet service.

Right now, I’m encouraging the FCC to make its proposal fairer to Americans.

Jill Egle and others from Louisiana’s Special Olympics delegation took time to share their smiles and mission with our office.