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Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage
This week, I, along with Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and civil rights movement icon Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), will host the Faith and Politics Institute’s 2016 Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to South Carolina. Participants, which will include more than three dozen members of Congress, will learn about South Carolina civil rights pioneers and the 400-year old Gullah Geechee cultural heritage. We are scheduled to visit historic sites such as Zion and Brookland Baptist Churches in Columbia, the Orangeburg massacre site where three students were killed on February 8, 1968 while demonstrating against segregation, and Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Last year’s killings at Mother Emanuel taught us and the world so much about the character of South Carolina. The pilgrimage culminates in a Sunday worship service at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. 

Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse in America
Heroin and prescription drug abuse today surpasses car accidents as the number-one cause of injury-related deaths nationwide. In 2014, 28,647Americans, including 516 South Carolinians, died from drug-related deaths and opioid overdoses.Last week, I voted for the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S. 524) to ensure that available federal resources are devoted to high-performing evidence-based education, treatment and recovery programs.

Helping the millions of American families whose lives have been torn apart by prescription drug abuse is a top priority and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure that it stays one.

American Legion Post 71’s Presentation of the USS Arizona
Retired USNR Commander Richard A. Flippo, Sr. contacted my office for help in obtaining a piece of the battleship USS Arizona for American Legion Post 71 in North Augusta, SC. As per federal law, the Navy is able to donate pieces of the ship to qualified organizations for display and memorial purposes. This is a great way to honor the sailors and marines who sacrificed their lives for our freedom during Pearl Harbor and I am very happy that my office was able to have a hand in this endeavor.