JLF's 25th Anniversary Honored In Congress | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post created by the CJ Staff of the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Polk Award winner Foxx reads statement on U.S. House floor

    RALEIGH — The John Locke Foundation's 25th anniversary attracted national attention this month when U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th District, read a statement on the U.S. House floor celebrating the milestone.

    "While its beginnings may have been small, the John Locke Foundation quickly made an impact, and today it is the leading voice in North Carolina for free markets, limited government, and personal responsibility," said Foxx during a one-minute speech on Capitol Hill.

    "The future is bright at the John Locke Foundation, and the people of North Carolina are the beneficiaries and are grateful," Foxx added.

    Foxx offered this public praise just days before collecting JLF's James K. Polk Award for Leadership in Public Office. Foxx accepted the honor before a sold-out crowd of more than 650 people during JLF's 25th anniversary celebration dinner Saturday night in Research Triangle Park.

    The sixth-term U.S. representative from Watauga County used the anniversary dinner as another occasion to praise JLF's work, including its flagship publication.

    "I do refer people on a regular basis to Carolina Journal," she said. "I read it every day. I actually get it on both of my emails so that I'm sure not to miss it."

    "The Locke Foundation has done so much good for the state of North Carolina," Foxx added.

    Foxx's involvement with the Locke Foundation extends back to the mid-1990s. Shortly after her first election to the N.C. Senate in 1994, Foxx attended a JLF event focusing on health care.

    "It was a very eye-opening experience for me," she recounted for the anniversary dinner audience. "I learned about our historical problems with health care: third-party payer and other kinds of things. It gave me a perspective I had never had."

    Foxx still uses some of that information today during debates about health care. "That really made a huge difference to me as a legislator and as a member of Congress," she said.