Happy 250th Anniversary Year, America—and happy anniversary, Virginia.

Growing older is inevitable. Growing up takes work.

This anniversary year invites us not only to honor our past, but to recommit ourselves to the ongoing work of building a more perfect union. Here in Virginia—where so much of America’s story began—and in the 9th Congressional District, we understand that progress is earned through effort, not nostalgia.

Some would have us turn backward. But we cannot solve the problems of today or prepare for the future by retreating into the past. America is strongest when we move forward together, guided by our highest ideals.

Those ideals—first voiced by our founders and carried forward by generations of reformers—are written into our founding documents and reflected in the monuments we treasure. They call on each generation to do its part.

Join me in helping Virginia and the 9th District lead the way forward—so America can continue to be a beacon of hope on a hill, not because of what we once were, but because of what we are still striving to become.