‘Words have meaning’ and ‘actions have consequences,’ those are two sayings or quips that many of us have heard before. However, I can tell you when it comes to the U.S. Constitution and the expected conduct of elected Representatives. I believe these two phrases are absolutely essential to characterizing our form of democracy. Unfortunately, I am ashamed of the events in our nation’s capital this week, when liberal Democrats orchestrated a sit-in on the House floor meant as a publicity stunt to promote their anti-gun agenda and raise money for their party.
With the pain of a massacre by a radical Islamic terrorist in Orlando still fresh, these elected officials took to the floor to blame guns, not a terrorist for the horrible events. Their actions are shameful because they disrespect the law-abiding citizens of this country, those who follow the rules, trust in the protections of due process under our constitution, and believe we are ‘one nation under God.’ They believe it is the law-abiding citizens that need to be monitored and fail to acknowledge it is terrorists and specifically, radical Islamic terrorists, that we should focus on stopping.
While Democrats orchestrate their political theater on the Floor of the House of Representatives, they are failing to work on any constructive solutions, but I can tell you firsthand their actions have only increased my resolve and utter confidence that the federal bureaucracy under this administration’s leadership is absolutely out of control. So, while liberal Democrats spent the week seeking out cameras and reporters I was working on legislation that would continue to strip spending authority from rogue government agencies.
I introduced two bills this week that take power away from the EPA by restricting their ability to impose fines and penalties on hard working farmers, small businesses and families, something we owe to the American taxpayer and something which takes the power of the purse out of the hands of un-elected bureaucrats. Big federal agencies like the IRS and EPA have proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted to spend taxpayer dollars in a way that actually benefits Americans, which is why I have made it a top priority of mine to reestablish the U.S. Constitution’s Article I legislative powers that are clearly granted to Congress, not federal agencies.
In fact, my top focus has been to rein-in big government. It started this year with U.S. House passage of my SCRUB Act, a bill that came out of an idea when I learned the Code of Federal Regulations contained an astonishing 175,000 pages and was holding back investment and job creation in this country. My SCRUB Act fights ineffective and intrusive federal regulations that are holding back private sector job creation, hurting farmers and putting the brakes on economic growth in this country.
Next, my IRS Owes act passed with bipartisan support in April and would hold the IRS more accountable to taxpayers. I introduced this legislation after I uncovered that the IRS has been abusing their power by secretly increasing fines and penalties on American taxpayers and then using upwards of $500 million in taxpayer generated funds to secretly implement portions of Obamacare against the will of the American public. It is clear that out of control federal government agencies like the IRS cannot be trusted to do what is best for the country, but I only found these atrocities by rolling up my sleeves and digging in, not sitting around.
Article I clearly states that all legislative powers are vested in Congress. The founders of our country clearly printed those words because words have meaning and they wanted to prevent the very actions and consequences the Obama Administration is continuing to implement. Luckily, President Obama’s days in office are numbered, 215 to be exact. I will continue to fight against the Obama administration to ensure that the Article I authority is adhered to. The Constitution is not merely a suggestion on how our government is to be operated, rather it is full of words that have meaning and hopefully after the next 215 days we can repair the consequences of the abusive actions of this Administration towards law-abiding Americans.
