Last Tuesday, I toured and participated in a roundtable on rural health issues at the Lewis Health Center in Hohenwald. 

Community health centers, like Lewis Health Center, serve nearly 400,000 Tennesseans. Many of these centers serve patients in rural areas who otherwise would have to travel far distances to access health care. Lewis Health Center has developed innovative ways of serving patients in Lewis County so they can access critical medical care close to home. 

I was glad to learn more about what Congress and our state can do to help support access to care in rural communities. One thing Congress has been able to do is pass -  and President Trump signed into law -- legislation that included over $7.8 billion to ensure community health centers are able to continue to meet the needs of their local communities.

Later that day, I spoke with members of the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce about how Tennessee families are going to start seeing lower taxes this month as a result of the new tax law the Republican Congress passed in December.

The Republican-led Congress and President Trump delivered a well-deserved Christmas present to Tennessee families and businesses. The new tax law will help create more good-paying jobs for Tennessee families and let Tennesseans keep more of the money they earn in their pockets. I expect most Tennessee families will start seeing the benefits of this new law in their February paychecks. For example, a single mother making $41,000 a year should see a $1,300, or 73 percent, reduction in her taxes.

I also spoke with the Economic Club of Memphis about work I am doing as chairman of the Senate health committee to deliver lower cost health policies and to help the federal government become a better partner for Tennessee and other states that are fighting the opioid crisis.

I talked about the Alexander-Murray bill—legislation I worked out with Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, which would help lower premiums for the 350,000 Tennesseans who do not get their health insurance on the job or from the government. Our proposal would fund what are called "cost-sharing reduction subsidies" for two years that help low-income Americans pay for co-pays and deductibles. It would also give the state of Tennessee more flexibility in creating policies at a lower cost and allow anyone to buy a “catastrophic” healthcare plan with lower premiums and higher deductibles to help ensure that a medical catastrophe doesn’t turn into a financial catastrophe.

I also spoke about the opioid crisis – Shelby County had 197 drug overdose deaths in 2016, 150 of which were from opioid overdoes. Congress took important steps in 2016 by passing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act—which established new programs and encouraged those on the front lines to work together to combat substance abuse —and provided $1 billion in new funding for states to fight the opioid crisis as a part of the 21st Century Cures Act. I will be holding more hearings in the spring to address this crisis, and I will continue working to see what additional steps Congress should take to help states, doctors, and families address and solve this tragic problem.

On Wednesday, I started the day having breakfast with Memphis pastors, and I enjoyed discussing with them some of the important issues they face in Memphis.

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend an event to launch the United States Civil Rights Trail in Tennessee. 

Our children’s worst grades are not in math and science, but in United States History. We need to teach more U.S. History so our children grow up knowing what it means to be an American – and there is no part of being an American that is more essential than understanding our struggle with race. The U.S. Civil Rights Trail includes more than 100 sites in 14 different states and includes 10 sites in Tennessee. I am also working with the Secretary of the Interior to make Mason Temple and the Lorraine Motel parts of the U.S. Civil Rights Network, which was created by the African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017, which I cosponsored. This law will recognize sites that played an important role in the civil rights movement.

A famous West Tennessean, Alex Haley, the author of Roots, said there really were two struggles with race:  Roots 1 was the struggle for freedom. Roots 2 was the struggle for equality.

I hope that over time there is a side trail from the Civil Rights Trail that takes visitors to Henning, Tennessee, not far away, where Alex first heard from his great aunts and grandma the stories that became Roots. The Civil Rights Trail celebrates that our country has come a long way, but we also know that we have a long way still to go. 

It was an honor to speak with Memphian Elmore Nickleberry—one of the 1,300 sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968— at the launch of the United States Civil Rights Trail in Tennessee on Wednesday.

It was good to join WREG News Channel 3 on Wednesday morning to talk about issues important to Tennesseans, including health care and immigration. 

Later on Wednesday, I spoke with the East Memphis Rotary about some other benefits Tennesseans will see because of the new tax law.

Perhaps one of the most exciting things about the new tax law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump is that it also cut taxes on businesses, which will help create more good-paying jobs and raise wages for Tennesseans. Tennesseans are already beginning to see the impact – Memphis-based FedEx announced over $200 million in pay raises, First Tennessee gave its employees a $1,000 bonus, and Wal-Mart increased its starting wage and provided a $1,000 bonus to eligible employees. These are just a few examples, and I’m optimistic there will be many more.

On Wednesday, I also stopped by the Jackson Sun to talk about the work I am doing in the Senate to address the opioid crisis, lower health care premiums for Tennesseans, and simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- the FAFSA. 

On Friday, I talked with the Blount County Chamber of Commerce about legislation I am going to introduce in the coming weeks to help address the $215 million backlog of projects in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park – as well as other national parks across our state and our country -- are struggling with a backlog of maintenance needs that are not being addressed. The maintenance backlog – which includes roads, buildings, campgrounds, trails, water systems and more – limits access to our national parks and diminishes visitors’ experience. In the Smokies, the maintenance backlog exceeds $200 million – and around 75 percent of that is roads.

President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have made addressing the growing maintenance backlog a top priority, and I agree we have a responsibility to address the maintenance backlog in our national parks. I hope to introduce legislation in the coming weeks with some of my colleagues to help restore and rebuild our national parks. Addressing the $215 million backlog of projects in the Smokies will help attract even more visitors, bring more good jobs to East Tennessee and ensure future generations can enjoy the outdoors like we have.

On Friday, I visited with the Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial Board and we talked about the importance of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and my work to reduce the maintenance backlog at our national parks.