The Mitford Museum
Floor Speech
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, in 1994, Jan Karon, an author from North Carolina, released a novel titled ``At Home in Mitford.'' That novel was the first of 14 she wrote in a series that depicted a small town located in western North Carolina.
To be clear, the town of Mitford is purely fictional, but, in fact, it was based off a town in North Carolina's Fifth District where Jan Karon grew up and drew inspiration from, the town of Hudson.
In early October, it was my privilege and honor, along with hundreds of people from 31 different States, to be in Hudson for the dedication ceremony of the new Mitford Museum.
The mission of this museum is to share the small-town values, through artifacts and archives, that relate to western North Carolina and Jan Karon's novels with those who visit.
One of the museum's objectives is to also to enrich both reading and writing appreciation and enhancing the literary skills in youth and adults. Those important endeavors are worthy of praise.
Jan Karon, along with many of us, grew up learning and appreciating the small-town values which have helped make our country great. By sharing them with her readers, she helps preserve the continuity of those values so that generations both present and future will carry them forward.
We all long for America to return to those simple values and not stray off course. Think about what some of those values are. They are comradery, service, sense of community, putting in a hard day's work, and family.
If you were to take the time and travel across North Carolina's Fifth District, you would find salt-of-the-earth people who live and breathe those values. Those values are alive and well in every small business, supermarket, church, community, and neighborhood in the Fifth District and across the entire country.
You see, small-town values are not a euphemism for exclusivity or division. They are values that transcend boundaries such as socioeconomic status, political affiliation, and geography.
Mr. Speaker, I consider myself blessed to have been raised in a small town and to have learned those values at a young age. Throughout my life, I have carried them with me.
It is even more of a blessing that I have been entrusted to serve small towns like Hudson and so many others that are the lifeblood of western North Carolina.
I encourage everyone to visit the town of Hudson and see exactly what I mean. Take some time to learn about the values that small towns across this country are built on and how, over time, they have made such an impact upon everyday people.
The undeniable truth is that small-town values will forever be America's values. September Jobs Report
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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, as a former educator, it is clear to me that the Biden administration needs some serious math tutoring. The September jobs report resembles an incomplete assignment that a student turned in at the very last minute.
Out of 500,000 projected jobs, only 194,000 were added. Five million jobs are still unrecovered in America, and labor participation has slumped to 61.6 percent. It is the worst jobs report of the year, and there are roughly 3 months left to go.
That report rightfully deserves an F, and it tacks on another chapter of this administration making promises it cannot meet. Yet again, the so-called Build Back Better agenda falls flat on its face and the numbers do not lie.
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