The last two weeks traveling around North Carolina have been busy, but very informative. Last week, I traveled throughout eastern and central North Carolina visiting Carteret, Cumberland, Wayne, Guilford, Lenoir, Craven, Wake, and Orange counties, speaking with small business owners, touring health care centers, and I even had the opportunity to visit with our brave men and women in uniform at Cherry Point.  This week I made visits to Durham, Catawba, Lincoln, and Gaston counties.  Input from entrepreneurs and employees has been vital to my efforts in Washington.  These conversations are critical for making democracy work, and what I have taken away from these meetings is that we must pursue fiscally responsible and less burdensome policies to encourage job creation and economic growth in our state and across the country.  Visiting health care facilities allows me to speak directly with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals about our nation’s health care system.

My travels next week will take me across the state from the mountains to the east.  My schedule will be updated every Friday on my website until Congress returns to session on September 13, and you will find a link to my upcoming events on the homepage.

On Wednesday, I was pleased to announce the formation of the Military Families Caucus, a bipartisan group of 20 senators that will focus on issues facing the families of active and veteran service men and women.  The families of America’s men and women in uniform are the backbone of our military.  They sacrifice of themselves to offer the support and motivation our servicemembers need to accomplish their mission, all while living with the reality that their loved one may be in harm’s way.  This caucus signifies that we recognize a need to support military families and provides an avenue to push for legislation that will benefit these families.  I am honored to serve as a Co-Chair of this caucus.  To read an article from the Fayetteville Observer about this, click here.