By Senator Dave McCormick
This past weekend marked my one hundredth day as a United States Senator. It still feels surreal to say that sometimes. For me, these past few months have been 100 days of firsts.
My first time walking onto the Senate floor with my wife Dina, and when we looked around the chamber, I felt the weight of history around me. I looked up and saw paintings and busts of all those who came before me. Great Americans, who when tested by history, met the moment and made a difference.
We’re at a uniquely consequential time in American history, and I feel it every day I walk into the Capitol Building. I’m proud to be the 54th Senator elected from Pennsylvania and the 9th senator to have attended West Point. The opportunity to serve the people of Pennsylvania at this moment is truly a privilege.
My first vote in the Senate was on the Laken Riley Act, delivering on one of my top promises to secure the border and ensure that criminals like those who killed Laken Riley would no longer be free in this country to wreak havoc on innocent people and American families. President Trump has signed this bill into law, and we’re already seeing it being implemented across the country.
My first visit back to Pennsylvania after being sworn in as senator was to the Farm Show in Harrisburg. Agriculture is the largest industry in Pennsylvania, and it is critical that policies coming out of Washington help, not hurt, our farm sector. I helped introduce the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, with a bipartisan, bicameral group of Members, to get whole milk back in our schools. I’ve also met with farmers in both DC and Lancaster to work to combat the bird flu pandemic that has ravaged Pennsylvania’s chicken flocks. I’m working with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, in addition to many of my colleagues in Congress, including House Ag Chairman GT Thompson from Pennsylvania, to help the agriculture industry across our great Commonwealth not just survive, but thrive.
My first bill is the Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025. I introduced it with the single goal of combatting the scourge of fentanyl killing Americans and decimating our communities. This bill is bipartisan and bicameral, and my fellow Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is an original cosponsor. Last year, 4,000 Pennsylvanians died from fentanyl—that is 4,000 families forever torn apart because of this horrific drug. My bill would improve federal coordination to combat this terrible crisis, go after trafficking organizations, respond to China’s central role in producing fentanyl precursors and laundering drug money, and save American lives.
During my first committee hearing, I questioned then-Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio about what we needed to do, together with President Trump, to bring Pennsylvanian Marc Fogel home from his multiyear captivity in Russia – a promise I made to his 95-year-old mother, Mafa, when I met her last summer. Then, in what has been my favorite day of firsts thus far, I was at the White House with my wife, Dina, and the President to formally welcome Marc home, just a few weeks into this administration.
I welcomed my first constituents to Washington and now host weekly Keystone Coffees where Pennsylvanians from across the Commonwealth come to meet with my office and advocate for issues important to them. I’ve hosted my first two telephone townhalls, where I can speak with thousands of constituents at once and answer their many questions about the work we are doing in Washington. I have sent out my first constituent correspondence letters—and since then have sent hundreds of thousands of mail pieces to people answering their questions and responding to their concerns. And most importantly, I have been all over Pennsylvania for my first meetings with folks as their Senator, and I’m excited to continue coming to our Commonwealth every chance I get to work together with my friends and neighbors to make a difference.
I’ve made a lot of promises over the past several years, and I’m eager to make yet another one. I promise to work every day, week, and month while I am in Congress like I have for these past 100 days. I will spend each day advocating for every Pennsylvanian. I will never forget the sense of honor and duty I felt the first day I walked onto the Senate floor. And I will continue to be grateful to the voters who believed in me and sent me to Washington on their behalf.
100 days down, and many more to go.
Watch my 100 Days in the U.S. Senate video recap here.