Thom Tillis

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) is joining Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in a letter that raises concerns with President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning refugees and citizens of several Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S.

The latest public school teacher pay rankings show North Carolina still below the national average, but making improvement after raises were approved last summer. 

The new National Education Association report showed North Carolina ranked 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia during the 2013-14 school year in average teacher pay, at almost $45,000. The NEA's average pay estimate this year for North Carolina is about $47,800, compared to the national average of about $57,400.

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis thinks the prison at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should stay open. Tillis visited the base this week with four other freshmen Republican senators. For 13 years, the base has been a detention camp to hold terrorism suspects after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Tillis says Guantanamo holds some of the most heinous and evil criminals of our time and still plays a key role in protecting America from terrorism. Tillis vowed to make sure the base stays open.   President Barack Obama promised to close the base's prison when he ran for office.