Our Communities
AGRICULTURE: Georgia’s farmers, ranchers, and producers are the backbone of our state’s most important industry: agriculture. As a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, the Co-Chair of the bipartisan Congressional Chicken Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Congressional Peanut Caucus, I am a staunch supporter of the agricultural community in Georgia's Second Congressional District and the entire nation. I support assistance to farmers affected by drought, wildfires, and other natural disasters that occur each year. In addition, I have worked to ensure that the peanut support program remained strong in the 2014 Farm Bill; strengthen our nation's nutrition programs; reform the H2-A program for non-immigrant agricultural workers; bolster child nutrition programs in our nation’s schools; prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing burdensome regulations on agriculture; ensure that Mexican tomatoes and chicken do not drive down the prices of U.S.-produced tomatoes and chicken due to illegal dumping; and advance agricultural research, food safety initiatives, and broadband services to rural communities.
EDUCATION: As Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in education always pays the best dividends.” I have worked tirelessly to make our nation’s schools and universities accessible and affordable. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have secured millions of dollars for education programs, including new schools and libraries, after-school programs, math and science initiatives, school nutrition and physical education programs, as well as family counseling and youth mentoring. I strongly support legislation to make vital investments to modernize, upgrade, and repair school facilities across the country and to encourage service and volunteer opportunities for all Americans. I believe we must make education a top priority by bridging the digital divide, promoting healthier school lunches, enhancing educational opportunities for veterans, encouraging colleges to rein in tuition increases, boosting college aid, strengthening programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and reinvigorating the Head Start program to help more children arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed.
HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: It is vital that individuals and families have access to the American Dream – namely, homeownership. I support legislation to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, stop predatory and irresponsible mortgage loan practices, increase the supply of affordable housing, expand veteran and rural housing opportunities, promote fair housing education and enforcement activities, and finance community development initiatives.
TRANSPORTATION: Investing in our nation’s transportation infrastructure will create millions of jobs and boost economic activity. I will continue to fight for Georgia’s Second Congressional District to receive its fair share of funding to improve its highways, roads, and bridges. I support more highway-related construction jobs, reduced gasoline prices, and the increased use of biofuels. I also support efforts to make our roads safer, increase fuel efficiency, and create an Infrastructure Bank to finance much needed investments in our nation’s roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, airports, railways, ports, broadband, and power grids.
IMMIGRATION: It is vital that immigration reform is addressed to secure our borders, protect our workers, and grow the nation’s economy. Immigration reform must include provisions that strengthen border security by increasing manpower, utilizing new technology and fencing, and providing the tools, resources, and infrastructure necessary to enforce existing immigration laws and punish offenders. In addition, it is vital that immigration reform ensures the needs of various economic sectors such as agriculture that depend on guest workers to fill labor shortages are significant. I have supported the DREAM Act, which would permit certain immigrant students who grow up in the United States to apply for temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible for U.S. citizenship, if they go to college or serve in the U.S. military.
More on Our Communities
Taking the Pulse of Military Families during COVID-19
Visit the DCA website for the Georgia Rental Assistance Program.
https://georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov/
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) voted in support of H.R. 2062, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, a bill he cosponsored. This bill would restore important and well-established workplace protections for older Americans that were weakened in 2009 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 247-178 and now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) and Congressman Bill Posey (FL-08) introduced H.Res. 491, a bipartisan resolution to designate July 9 as “Collector Car Appreciation Day”, which would recognize the collection and restoration of historic and classic cars as an important part of preserving the technological achievements and cultural heritage of the United States.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) is pleased to announce that three communities in the Second Congressional District of Georgia have been awarded a total of $667,000 in grants and loans for improvements to essential community facilities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development’s (USDA) Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant (CFDLG) Program.
On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and six months after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery, Union Troops seized control of the area and declared all slaves free.
Since then, “Juneteenth” has been observed in Texas and in many places as Emancipation Day and the end of slavery in the United States because many of those enslaved had not yet received the news of President Lincoln’s January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement on the House of Representative’s passage of S. 475, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which would designate Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, as a federal holiday. The House passed the bill by a vote of 415-14 and now it heads to President Biden for his signature.
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) is pleased to announce that The City of Albany, Georgia, has been awarded a total of $330,000 in Brownfields Revolving Loan Funding (RLF) grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help rehabilitate local properties.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), released the following statement regarding the recent ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline:
“I am deeply disturbed by the ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, an important source of gasoline. As a former member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have long been a supporter of increased investment in our cybersecurity infrastructure. As a nation, we have underinvested in cybersecurity which has left us vulnerable to foreign hackers.