In the News

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson visited his hometown of Shreveport-Bossier City on Friday February 23, 2024. Speaker Johnson’s visit included a stop at the Bossier Parish School for Technology & Innovative Learning (BPSTIL) where he visited with local government officials and community leaders.

Prior to answering questions from those in attendance, Speaker Johnson gave a short overview of what is happening in Washington. “We are in a time of a really divided government. The country is more divided than it has ever been. It is an extremely challenging time to govern in Washington.There are a lot of reasons for that. We are probably facing the greatest collection of crises in any era. You could possibly compare what we are facing right now with maybe the WWII era or maybe even the Civil War,” said Johnson.

“The economy is on the brink. The inflation rate is very high and people can’t afford their groceries. People are putting their necessities on credit cards right now. Everything is a mess. Crime is through the roof.”

Speaker Johnson was asked important questions related to the southern border, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and Hamas. “The border is the number one issue in America. It doesn’t matter where you are. Everybody knows that it is not just a crisis, it is a catastrophe. It is the root cause of so many  bills right now. In just numbers, the official number of encounters at the southern border in the last three years is over 8 million people. It is almost twice the population of Louisiana,” said Speaker Johnson.

“The real number is significantly higher. I actually think there are about 15 million people who’ve come into the country since Joe Biden has come into office,” Johnson added.

At the conclusion of Speaker Johnson’s replies and before the final prayer closing out the event, a member of the audience stood and told Johnson that everyone in the room (and across the nation) is praying and rooting for him and his family. 

“Your job literally puts you in the crosshairs of people that hate our nation and hate you. And when you are facing these trials and tribulations going forward, I want you to remember what you said when you got here about looking around in this room and seeing the faces of people who have known you for your whole life. These people have rooted for you. I want you to know there are a lot more rooms just like this across this nation where people are thankful for what you are doing. We are rooting for you and your family. We are praying for you and your family.  We are praying and rooting for this country as well,” said the audience member.
 See more at https://bossierpress.com/house-speaker-mike-johnson-gives-update-to-local-officials/