FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: Kevin L. Bryant

Senator Kevin Bryant to hold Town Hall on Veterans Bill

Anderson, SC – February 8, 2012 – Senator Kevin Bryant today announced that he will be holding a Town Hall meeting on Monday, February 27, to discuss a new bill (S.1169) which gives a special endorsement to veterans on their drivers’ licenses and other Department of Motor Vehicles identifications.

In addition to Senator Bryant, Anderson County Veterans Affairs Officer Samuel Lewis will be present, along with other state, local and federal officials. All citizens are invited to come to provide input on S. 1169 and any other veteran issues. The Town Hall meeting will be held at the Historic Anderson Courthouse (101 Main Street, Anderson) at 7:00 p.m.
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Statement from Gov. Nikki Haley on Sheheen/Massey/Davis amendment vote

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Nikki Haley today released the following statement:

“I want to thank the 36 senators who listened to the will of the people and voted in favor of this amendment – and specifically Sen. Tom Davis, Sen. Shane Massey, Sen. Vincent Sheheen and Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, who did a tremendous amount of work to lay the foundation for a meaningful Department of Administration. Tomorrow’s task is to keep the ball moving forward – this is just one of many issues we need to address this session.”
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Rob Godfrey
Office of Gov. Nikki Haley

I would like to congratulate Judge Hood on his election to the 5th District Circuit Court. This week’s judicial race got interesting between Meadors and Hood. I normally don’t get many constituent’s input in a judge election, but I appreciate the public becoming more involved.
I’ve had some constituents ask me how I came to the conclusion to support Mr. Meadors. His record as a prosecutor is impressive. Below are excerpts from his resume:

From 1991-95, I worked for the SC Attorney General’s Office in the State Grand Jury Division. Under the supervision of (now) Judge Cameron Currie, I was part of a team that prosecuted major drug conspiracies statewide. In addition to presenting evidence to the State Grand Jury and prosecuting the cases, we also handled the civil forfeiture aspect of the cases. During this time, I personally prosecuted numerous cases around the state; including a multi-county drug conspiracy case involving 8 defendants that culminated in a conviction after a three week jury trial in Kershaw County. I also was the lead prosecutor in the second child pornography prosecution and the first money laundering case for the State Grand Jury.

State v. Charles Gambell: The defendant killed his ex-girlfriend and two other individuals at the Colony Apartments in Columbia. The defendant then called a friend who helped him dispose of the bodies in a nearby drainage ditch. The defendant was also charged with Burglary 1st and received four consecutive life sentences.

State v. Maurice Abrams: This was a Sumter County case and was tried in June 2011. The jury convicted the defendant for murder, armed robbery, and possession of a fire arm during the commission of a felony. The case involved co-defendant testimony and the defendant received a sentence of life plus 35 years.

State v. Tobias Lee: A Georgia man killed an elderly victim and stole his car. The defendant was wanted for several armed robberies in Columbia and also wanted in Georgia for murder and rape. The defendant was ultimately captured in Monroe, LA after being featured on America’s Most Wanted.

State v. Vincent Filyaw: The defendant kept a young girl in an underground bunker for ten days and raped her repeatedly. The young victim escaped after law enforcement tracked the text messages that she sent to her mother. The defendant received 421 years imprisonment.

Mr. Hood – Senate: Bright Campbell, Courson, Cromer, Ford, Grooms, Hutto, Knotts, Martin (Shane), Matthews, McGill, Peeler, Rankin, Setzler, Shoopman, Thomas
House: Alexander, Allen, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bingham, Branham, Brannon, Brown, Brown, Butler Garrick, Chumley, Clemmons, Clyburn, Cole, Corbin, Crosby, Daning, Delleney, Forrester, Gilliard, Govan, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Hearn, Henderson, Hiott, Hixon, Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Huggins, Jefferson, King, Loftis, McCoy, Merrill, Moss, Murphy, Nanney, Ott, Parker, Pinson, Quinn, Ryan, Sabb, Sandifer, Sellers, Skelton, Smith, Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Toole, Whipper, Young, Thomas

Meadors -Senate: Alexander, Anderson, Ralph Bryant, Campsen, Coleman, Davis, Elliott, Fair, Gregory, Hayes, Land, Leatherman, Leventis, Lourie, Malloy, Martin, Nicholson, O’Dell, Pinckney, Reese, Rose, Sheheen, Verdin, Williams
House: Agnew, Atwater, Bales, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Brantley, Brown, Cobb-Hunter, Crawford, Dillard, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Howard, Johnson, Knight, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McEachern, McLeod, Moss, Neal, Neal, Norman, Owens, Parks, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Simrill, Smith, Smith, Southard, Thayer, Tribble, Vick, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis,

Hey guys, The past two weeks have been quite busy, so I wanted to update you on what I’ve been doing. As many of you may know, January is National Sanctity of Life month, a time when we remember the importance of protecting the lives of the unborn. A few weeks ago, I visited the Foothills Pregnancy Center in Seneca, A Place for Us Ministries, and Crossroads Pregnancy Center in Greenwood to thank those who give of their time and talents to help young women make the decision to choose life. A few years ago when I was a member of the South Carolina State House, I supported legislation that mandated a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion. In August of 2010, I was proud to attend the ceremony where Governor Sanford signed that bill into law. This past Monday, I introduced the National Pro-Life Waiting Period Act in the United States House of Representatives, a bill that would make the South Carolina waiting period the law of the land. If a group like Planned Parenthood were to break the law, the penalties would be steep. While this legislation doesn’t stop the problem of abortion (I’m cosponsoring measures like H.R. 374 that will) hopefully this is another step to protect the lives of the most innocent among us, the unborn. To learn more about my new legislation, click HERE This week was also the State of the Union, which happened to fall on the 1000th day since the Democrat-controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget. Every day, we use budgets to manage our homes and our businesses, why then can’t our government do the same? The President spoke about fiscal responsibility, yet he has been late in submitting his own budget to Congress (as required by law) for the third year in a row. Actions speak louder than words, and unfortunately three years of inaction have caused the President’s words to appear empty. President Obama’s speech seemed to focus more on protecting his job than creating jobs for the millions of Americans who are currently unemployed. You can read more about the South Carolina Delegation’s response to the President’s speech by clicking HERE Tomorrow, I’ll be in Greenwood presenting two local Vietnam veterans with the Purple Hearts that they earned in service to our nation. Then I’ll travel back to Washington DC, where I’ll be joining members of the freshman class in announcing some revolutionary budget reforms that will eliminate some of Washington’s faulty arithmetic, and bring accountability and transparency to the way our country spends money. I hope to have some more details on that for you in my next update. As always, feel free to e-mail me with your questions, concerns, or suggestions on how to move our country forward. God Bless, Jeff Duncan Jeff Duncan is from Laurens, South Carolina and serves as the Congressman for the Third Congressional District. Jeff has been recognized as a defender of the Constitution, a fiscal conservative champion, and a protector of family values. Jeff is married to his high school sweetheart Melody, and they have three boys. www.JeffDuncan.com