The Shadow
Review of 2024
We are now in 2025.
It is a common exercise around this time to reflect on the previous year.
There is much that I want to highlight from 2024. Below are some of my accomplishments.
Committee Work
As Chairman of the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, I chaired 10 hearings that explored a wide range of topics, including but not limited to health care, drug pricing and the impact of President Biden’s open border policies.
Under my leadership we have issued more than 50 investigative letters to key agencies, figures and others as a result of hearings and reports.
As a part of my investigative work with the Energy & Commerce Committee, I participated in numerous forums with public health officials that were in various leadership positions during the outbreak of COVID-19.
This included closed-door transcribed interviews questioning former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Frances Collins.
Following its two-year investigation, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic issued a final report this past December that confirms some of the ideas that I advanced in hearings and depositions, including the inadequacies of NIH oversight.
Finally, I contributed to efforts on the Committee on House Administration.
Our Oversight Subcommittee investigated the Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, specifically what was included and excluded from its J6 published report.
The subcommittee discovered that the J6 Select Committee didn’t ask certain officials to testify publicly, and “optics” concerns caused a significant delay in mobilizing the National Guard on January 6.
Additionally, I was one of six Members of the House who voted to advance the SAVE Act to the full House for consideration.
The SAVE Act prohibits non-citizens from voting by requiring states to obtain proof-of-citizenship when registering individuals to vote in federal elections.
Our elections must be secure in order to ensure fair outcomes and restore confidence in U.S. elections.
HALT Fentanyl
To my frustration, one critical piece of legislation that I wrote and which passed the House with bipartisan support had been held up in the Senate.
My HALT Fentanyl Act would permanently designate fentanyl and all fentanyl analogues as Schedule I drugs.
Democrat leadership in the Senate did not allow for any vote to take place on the bipartisan measure that was a top priority for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and which President Biden even signaled his support for.
HALT Fentanyl is included as a bill to be quickly considered in the first-day rules package for the 2025 session.
That means it can be taken up in the House without additional committee work and get a vote in the next several weeks.
Then the measure should be quickly considered in the Senate, which is now controlled by Republicans.
Many of the good bills that didn’t get though the Senate, like HALT Fentanyl, will hopefully get due consideration in the Senate this term.
Hurricane Helene
Our region was battered by Helene, and the journey taken to deliver disaster relief funding was essential.
I worked with U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to get results.
After Governor Youngkin quickly submitted Virginia’s Federal Emergency Declaration, the two Senators and I successfully pushed President Biden to approve the declaration.
We also did the same when Governor Youngkin requested a Major Disaster Declaration, an attempt that also produced favorable results.
As a successful advocate for disaster relief money late in the year, I am hopeful the executive branch of government can get these monies to our communities quickly.
Once the federal executive branch has done its job, I also look forward to seeing how these funds are used to help countless communities and people in the Ninth District recover from Helene.
Keep in mind, the executive branch is currently run by the Biden Administration, and the Trump Administration will not take over until twelve noon on January 20.
I will continue to monitor where more work can be done to equip our communities with the relief resources they need.
Recognitions, Constituent Services and More
These are just a few slivers of my 2024 end-of-year report. Feel free to visit my website below for a more in-depth overview of my work and milestones my office reached.
https://morgangriffith.house.gov/biography/end-of-year-reports.htm
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
