Good afternoon,

I hope everyone had a nice Father’s Day weekend and got to spend time with family and friends. Our office has been busy communicating with our representatives in Congress to help resolve the recent issue with the visa system. On June 9, a computer glitch caused a shut down of the entire visa system, which prevented all H-2A workers from traveling in to the United States to work. North Carolina’s Agriculture-based economy depends on migrant workers to harvest our crops. With harvest season upon us for many of our commodities, it is imperative that the issue with the visa system be solved. I have recently learned that the issue is partially fixed, and that some visas are now been issued and that the problem is supposed to be fixed soon. I would like to thank Senator Thom Tillis, Senator Richard Burr, Congressman David Rouzer and their staffs for their hard work and communication with the State Department to expedite the fix. I look forward to having this issue resolved and a stable workforce for our farmers.

Question of the Week

Thank you to every one who responded to last week’s question pertaining to the planned NC-24 and NC-242 super street site. The majority of you supported the idea of constructing an overpass and that is the solution that I am pushing for at DOT.

For this week’s question, I would like to get your opinion on the Avian Bird Flu, which has been in the news recently. Right now, 20 states have been effected by the disease, and it appears to be spreading from the North West to the Mid West. Some scientists believe that Avian Flu could be in North Carolina as early as this fall. Do you believe that the Avian Flu poses a real threat to North Carolina and our $18 billion industry?

Below is a link to the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s fact sheet on Avian Flu:

http://www.ncagr.gov/vet/factsheets/avianinfluenza.htm

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can assist you in any way possible.