Weekly Capitol Report
Obama State of the Union Ignores CongressThis week the nation listened as President Obama laid out his vision for America in the annual State of the Union Address. After listening to President Obama's speech, it is obvious he believes more government and executive actions are the solution to every problem facing our country. When I talk to folks back home in Missouri, they tell me big government is the problem, not the solution. Families, small businesses and farmers are burdened with excessive regulations. In Missouri, common sense tells us regulations from Washington will hurt our economy. Unfortunately, common sense is not so common in Washington. In the first 3 days of 2014, the Obama Administration posted 141 new regulations - 141 regulations in just 3 days. President Obama seems intent to regulate everything from how we meet our energy needs to when we are allowed to use rivers for Baptism services. President Obama is issuing new regulations through executive orders because he knows his agenda is too extreme to get through Congress. It’s time for the president to stop side stepping Congress. The President needs to abandon his "my way or the highway" approach and start working with Congress. After the government shutdown in the 1990s, at least President Clinton fostered a working relationship with House Republicans. As a result, Congress passed bipartisan welfare reforms and back to back balanced budgets. President Obama could learn a lot from the efforts made by President Clinton to actually work with Congress. The President has called for 2014 to be a "Year of Action." House Republicans have already acted to pass dozens of jobs bills to help get Americans back to work. A good way to start the "Year of Action" would be for the President and the Democrat-run Senate to act on these House-passed solutions. The President and the Senate should act to pass the SKILLS Act, which would provide the long-term unemployed with the job training they desperately need. The President and the Senate should act to pass the REINS Act to get Washington out of the way so our economy can grow. The President should act to approve the Keystone Pipeline to create jobs and help ease energy costs for all Americans. The President should act to protect all Americans, not just big businesses, from the harmful impacts of Obamacare, like higher health care costs and loss of access to care. During my short time in Washington I have become convinced that we must put an end to the burdensome regulations and the Obama executive actions that stifle creativity and limit our freedoms. President Obama has a real opportunity to work with Republicans in the House to get Washington out of the way so Americans can succeed, but he must stop trying to legislate with executive actions and start working with Congress.
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS Last Friday I had a great visit to Holcim in Ste. Genevieve. Holcim is a cement manufacturer with a production capacity of four million tonnes per year. The Ste. Genevieve plant is one of the most environmentally-efficient cement plants in the Holcim Group.
I was honored to be on hand for the ground breaking ceremony for Air Evac in West Plains. This a $7.5 million project that will retain 280 jobs and create 20 new jobs for the region!
At home in Missouri last week, I heard from many people about he recent spikes in propane costs. In some cases costs have increased by 400%. On Monday I sent a letter to the FTC asking for a review of the conditions that led to the spike in prices. Shortages in the supply of propane and the resulting cost spikes are causing a real hardship for families, farmers, rural schools districts, senior citizens on fixed incomes and small business owners in Missouri’s Eighth District who rely on propane to heat their homes and businesses. I am asking the Federal Trade Commission to look at this situation to determine if the price increases are legitimate or if the increases are a result of market manipulation or gross mismanagement of reserves.
On Thursday I spoke to reporters at the House Republicans Conference meeting about the negative impact of President Obama's policies on younger Americans. Young people are graduating with an average of $29,000 in student loan debt and once they do graduate its hard for them to find work. The unemployment rate for Americans ages 25-34 is over 26%. House Republicans want to create an environment that encourages job growth by reforming the tax code, developing a true national energy policy and by reducing regulations that are sending American jobs overseas. |
