The CARMA Luncheon Speaker for Sept. 20, 2018 will be
Congressman Rob Wittman

Congressman Rob Wittman Serves Virginia's First Congressional District, which includes most of James City County, and areas both north and south. Following is a brief biographical sketch from his website.

Rob Wittman was first elected to serve the First Congressional District of Virginia - America's First District - in December of 2007. He was re-elected for his fifth full term in the House of Representatives in November 2016. For more than 20 years, Rob has served in several levels of government, from Montross Town Council to United States Congress. Rob won his first campaign for public office in 1986 when he was elected to the Montross Town Council, where he served for 10 years, four of them as Mayor. In 1995, Rob was elected to the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors and was elected its Chairman in 2003. In 2005, voters in the 99th Legislative District elected Rob to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served until he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2007.
 
In the U.S. Congress, Rob serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources, where he is well-positioned to represent the needs of Virginia's First District.  He has quickly earned a reputation for being an advocate for our men and women in uniform and for being a champion of the Chesapeake Bay.
 
On the Armed Services Committee, Rob serves as the Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.  In addition, as Co-Chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, he is a staunch advocate for a robust Naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry. Rob has served as Chairman of the U.S. Naval Academy's Board of Visitors since 2010.
 
As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Rob brings his professional expertise in water quality, fisheries, and other natural resource issues. He is a champion of the Chesapeake Bay -- for its environmental and economic attributes -- and has introduced legislation that will increase the accountability and effectiveness of cleaning up the Bay. He serves as co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus, which brings Bay issues into focus for Members of Congress.

Prior to his election to Congress, Rob spent 26 years working in state government, most recently as Field Director for the Virginia Health Department's Division of Shellfish Sanitation. Earlier, he worked for many years as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia's Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions.
 
He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.
 
Rob's wife, Kathryn, a teacher at Cople Elementary School in Hague, Virginia, is a Westmoreland County native whom he met when he spent high school and college summer recesses working in a Leedstown tomato cannery and on a Reedville fishing boat in the Northern Neck. They live in Montross and have two children and four grandchildren.

Rob is an avid hunter and fisherman, and when possible, he enjoys spending time with his yellow Labrador Retrievers.

The Luncheon Speaker for July 19th was Heather Cordasco

who spoke of her work with the Capital Research Center.

The Capital Research Center has a website that describes its mission, activities, and current actions. Please go to: www.capitalresearch.org

The Capital Research Center was begun in 1984 and was formed to investigate and report on the flow of monies involved with political organizations. It has since evolved into a very serious research center that reports on many topics including political funding, voter fraud, medicaid issues, and the causes for many uprisings and unrest in the USA.

Heather told us that as she travels to many US locations in her role of seeking out sources of philanthropy, that she meets many folks who are POTUS supporters, who do not see a "Blue Wave" in November, and who are vocal about the good being done in the country.

The Capital Research Group has a YOUTUBE channel where they have a number of videos which are about 2 minutes long each. Some of the topics are: 1) Russian Meddling in US elections; 2) Drug money and he opiod crisis; 3) Citizens United; 4) Unionizing the homecare people, and The story of Broward County. Follow this link to their YOUTUBE channel:

The Center also produces a magazine with many good articles. This publication may be downloaded at the following link. It is published about six times annually. Go to the following link to download current issue: