The 112th Congress Begins
January 5, 2011
Today, the new Republican Majority picked up the reigns in Congress. I look forward to working with you and my Congressional colleagues to address the issues facing our district and nation over the next two years.
The first item of business today was adopting the rules by which we will run the 112th Congress. While the Republican Leadership has introduced some new, positive procedures that will enhance transparency in Congress, some of their proposals will hurt our district and add to our deficit.
To bring more transparency to Congress, all bills will now be required to be posted online for three days before a final vote can be conducted and all House Committees will webcast their hearings for public viewing. I strongly support these provisions.
However, that's where we part company because the other rules the new leadership are pushing hurt our district. These include cutting transportation and infrastructure funding which jeopardizes vital projects to rural districts like ours. In addition, the new Republican leadership will not require tax cuts to be paid for, resulting in an even larger national deficit. I also believe eliminating the select intelligence oversight panel within the Appropriations Committee is a mistake and weakens our oversight of the intel community. These proposals are not good for our district or our country, and I voted against them on the House floor today.
The first item of business today was adopting the rules by which we will run the 112th Congress. While the Republican Leadership has introduced some new, positive procedures that will enhance transparency in Congress, some of their proposals will hurt our district and add to our deficit.
To bring more transparency to Congress, all bills will now be required to be posted online for three days before a final vote can be conducted and all House Committees will webcast their hearings for public viewing. I strongly support these provisions.
However, that's where we part company because the other rules the new leadership are pushing hurt our district. These include cutting transportation and infrastructure funding which jeopardizes vital projects to rural districts like ours. In addition, the new Republican leadership will not require tax cuts to be paid for, resulting in an even larger national deficit. I also believe eliminating the select intelligence oversight panel within the Appropriations Committee is a mistake and weakens our oversight of the intel community. These proposals are not good for our district or our country, and I voted against them on the House floor today.
Issues:Fiscal Responsibility