Graves visit ‘touches base’
He says House to move on tax reform after recess
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves defended President Donald Trump, lauded Vice President Mike Pence and called on the Senate to do its job during his sweep through Rome on Tuesday.
The Ranger Republican spent the day reconnecting with his constituents and drawing contrasts between his Northwest Georgia district and Washington, D.C. The House of Representatives is in recess for the month of August.
“I go back and forth every week — my home is in the community, my wife’s a school teacher. I’m still a husband; I’m still a dad,” Graves said. “That’s what keeps you grounded, and I’m excited about being back in the district for the whole month.”
Graves touched all bases Tuesday.
He started the morning with a tour of one of the county’s large employers, Redmond Regional Medical
Center, then headed to his office for a personal meeting with Kathy Melton of Rockmart and her family. He presented Melton with a set of medals earned by her deceased father, Johnnie Brooks, who served in Africa during World War II, along with a copy of his military records.
“Veterans don’t always share a lot of their stories, and sometimes this is the first time families have ever heard about their service,” he told Melton as she beamed with pride.
Lunch was at Red Lobster, with the Floyd County Republican Women and the 50 or so party stalwarts drawn by the announcement that he’d be their speaker this month.
Graves had the group help him call off the Georgians tapped for important jobs in the Trump Administration — new FBI Director Christopher Wray, Health And Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers, to name a few. Graves’ own former scheduler, Morgan Joyce, is now deputy assistant scheduler for the secretary of state. “Rex Tillerson stole her,” he laughed. His reference to Pence drew applause, and he spoke of the locally organized September 2016 rally that Pence headlined in Dalton. The event came up, he said, during a recent flight on Air Force Two he shared with the vice president.
“When he sees me, he thinks of Northwest Georgia,” Graves said. “The rally here was the largest single rally for him in the country. Mike has never forgotten that, so he loves Georgia.”
He also went through a list of Trump’s achievements — the appointment of conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch also drew applause — and decried the focus on negativity and anonymous leaks.
“There’s a lot of drama in Washington, D.C., and the media seems to be fixed on it. But there’s more happening than you see on the news,” he promised.
Graves also fielded questions about taxes and the business climate, noting that the tax reform plans proposed by the president and the House depend on healthcare reform. He said the House passed its version and intends to start tax hearings when it returns.
“We have an expectation, quite frankly, that the Senate has to stay and get this (healthcare bill) done,” he told the
crowd. “They’ve got to find a pathway.”
That brought a complaint from Elaine Watson, president of the FCGOP Women. The House is doing what they were sent to do, she said, but the party is frustrated by Senate Republicans such as John McCain of Arizona.
Graves said some of the older elected officials still press for bipartisan solutions. That would be his preference, too, he said, but Democrats appear bent on “social engineering the economy.”
“Their solution is single-payer,” he said. “They had their shot.”
Andy Garner, president of the Floyd County Republican Party, said he feels the economy has picked up under Trump but is concerned that the momentum is based on expectations that could be thwarted. He asked for reassurances of stability.
Graves said the party and the president are focused on their goals of tax reform, deregulation and other business-friendly initiatives. As for stability, he said he’s personally optimistic
about the future.
“Unpredictability is already in Washington policy,” he reminded Garner with a smile.
Others asked about Social Security and grocery and medical benefits for military retirees and their families. Graves said the Republican agenda is alive and well, and he advised those overwhelmed by reported “drama” to turn off their televisions. Most of the attendees left smiling. “We feel better about Republicans for having Tom Graves here,” Watson said.