Taxpayer dollars at work: Ossoff holds abortion hearing, Warnock visits Savannah aviation industry

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Sen. Raphael Warnock visited Savannah Tech on July 25, 2024, to meet with the new generation of aviation workers.

Credit: Senator Reverend Warnock/Twitter

Neither Sen. Jon Ossoff nor Sen. Raphael Warnock is up for reelection this year — the former will run again in 2026 and the latter in 2028. But 2024 is off to a busy start for both senators. In this recurring digital news series, GPB follows your federal tax dollars back to the state of Georgia each week.

For the week ending July 26, Warnock visited his hometown of Savannah, Ga., and toured Gulfstream headquarters and Savannah Tech to meet students training in aviation, while Ossoff heard testimonies from doctors and nurses on the health impacts of the six-week abortion ban and introduced legislation to help service members access VA benefits.

Savannah aviation visit

On July 22, Warnock toured Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah, Ga., after his success in securing historic investments in aviation workforce development and the aviation economy under the FAA Reauthorization legislation Congress passed in May.

"At Gulfstream, Senator Warnock met with President Mark Burns and other company leadership for a roundtable discussion on how the company is prioritizing safety and integrity in their operations as one of Georgia's largest manufacturing employers and a giant in America's aviation economy," said a press release.

"Senator Warnock also touted provisions he secured in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization to help companies like Gulfstream maintain their competitive edge and continue leading Georgia’s economy, while creating new good-paying jobs in the process. New provisions in the bipartisan law will improve the FAA’s ability to certify new aircraft and aviation technology effectively and efficiently."

Following the Gulfstream tour, Warnock visited Savannah Tech's Crossroads Aviation Campus to meet with students training to work at Gulfstream or within Georgia's aviation industry and toured the campus.

OB-GYNs and medical experts

On July 23, Ossoff met and heard testimonies from OB-GYB doctors at his Human Rights Subcommittee on the health impacts to women under Georgia's six-week abortion ban.

• RELATED: Georgia hosts federal subcommittee on abortion access as issue remains of top concern for voters

At the meeting, the doctors shared the stories of "women whose lives are at risk and unable to access care." They testified that the abortion ban is "worsening the state's shortage of OB-GYN doctors, already one of the worst in the nation," per a press release featuring the testimonies.

Stock trading

On July 24, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed Ossoff's bipartisan legislation to ban members of Congress from stock trading.

The legislation's passage marks the first time that a Congressional Stock Trading Ban has passed a U.S. Senate Committee.

"This is a historic moment in efforts to reform the ethics laws that govern Congress," Ossoff said at the committee meeting. "Georgians overwhelmingly agree that members of Congress should not be playing the stock market while we legislate and while we have access to confidential and privileged information.

"This is long overdue and necessary, and today we made historic progress passing my bipartisan bill out of Committee."

Following the HSGAC passing the legislation, the entire U.S. Senate will take the legislation up for consideration next.

Servicemembers VA disability benefits

On July 25, Ossoff announced that he and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced bipartisan legislation to help veterans quickly assess VA benefits as they are discharged from the Armed Forces.

The Veteran Transition Support Act "would require VA representatives to contact service members transitioning to civilian life between 120 and 210 days before their discharge to help them file a disability claim through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program if they are eligible," per a press release.

VA representatives currently contact veterans after they discharge them, but contacting them before would help give service members who have access to their medical and personal records the information to file a claim through the BDD program.

A BDD claim field before a service member's discharge would allow the VA to "quickly deliver a decision and assign a VA disability rating if warranted."

“Our service members make tremendous sacrifices to keep our families safe, but it’s too hard for them to access their benefits after they leave the military,” Ossoff said in a statement. “That’s why I’m introducing this new bipartisan bill with Senator Cornyn to help service members access the benefits they’ve earned.”

In other news

On July 23, Warnock participated in a live taping of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Politically Georgia show in Savannah to discuss the work he has done in Congress to help Georgians.

On July 25, President Biden signed Ossoff's Prison Oversight Act into law.

According to a press release, the legislation will mandate routine inspections of all 122 Federal Bureau of Prison's facilities by the Department of Justice Inspector General and establishes a new Ombudsman to investigate the health, safety, welfare, and rights of incarcerated people and staff."

Ossoff worked on the legislation with Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as well as U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), who worked on the legislation in the House.