As an E-Newsletter subscriber, you have asked that I keep you updated on issues that are important to you. Many of you have also asked that I keep you more informed as to how I am representing your views in Washington.

During this holiday season, it is important to remember our men and women in uniform who instead of being home with their families and friends, are oversees selflessly defending our liberties and freedoms. After all, it is because of their ultimate sacrifice that we are able to celebrate this season of peace on Earth, and my sincere gratitude goes out to them at this time more than ever.

I wish you and your loved ones a blessed holiday and happiness throughout the New Year.

Respectfully,

Healthcare Reform

As you may know, the current debate in Washington over healthcare reform continues to mount as Senate Democratic leadership works behind closed doors in negotiations with key Senators to reach the needed 60-vote count, a threshold which has proven difficult to reach thus far among concerns related to the government-run ‘public option’, taxpayer-funded abortion, tax hikes and deep cuts to Medicare, as well as the coverage of illegal aliens through taxpayer-funded government health programs. It is difficult at this time to predict how the Senate will proceed in the coming days and weeks, as well as the procedural expediency with which the bill will be amended, passed, and referred back to the House.  I continue to stand in firm opposition to President Obama’s government takeover of healthcare and look forward to further opportunities to amend the bill as this legislation moves between Chambers.

Appropriations

            This past week, the Democratic Majority pushed through a Consolidated Appropriations bill that totaled $1.1 trillion. This bill included a bump of 11.4% from Fiscal Year 2009, as well as a staggering 24.4% rise in spending from FY2008 levels. As we head toward the end of the year, Congress has begun to finally wrap up the Appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2010. On December 10, 2009 the House passed this Consolidated Appropriations Bill which included 6 of the 12 appropriations bills. Included in the package was the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development bill, the Financial Services bill, the State and Foreign Operations bill, the Commerce/Justice/Science bill, the Labor and Health and Human Services bill, and Military Construction and Veterans Administration bill.

            I was not in favor of this legislation due to the dramatic increases in spending which were attached. While it is necessary to fund our government agencies, it is irresponsible to do so at such vastly accelerated levels. On top of the increased funds given to these agencies through this appropriation, it is important to note that these agencies received $128.2 billion in supplemental funds in 2009, mostly via the Democratic “Stimulus” package. This bill is yet another example of the out of control spending habits exhibited by the Democratic Majority. To that end, I was joined by all of my Republican colleagues in opposition to this bill. Unfortunately, it passed 221-202.

            The House also passed H.R. 3326 the Defense Appropriations bill by a separate vote of 395-34. I voted in favor of this bill which will provide funding for our troops. With passage of these bills, the appropriations process for FY2010 has been completed by the House.

 Wall Street Reform

            On December 11, 2009 the House passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by a vote of 223-202. Unfortunately, this bill does little to help hard-working taxpayers and does more to continue the string of taxpayer funded bailouts on Wall Street. By creating a new bureaucratic agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), the Democratic majority has succeeded only in creating more of a squeeze on credit to small businesses and regular Americans. Furthermore, by creating a new Systemic Risk “bailout” fund for financial institutions with over $10 billion dollars, the Democrats have perpetuated the unpopular and unsuccessful bailout plan which took place a year ago. This program is designed for larger financial institutions to pay into a fund that would swell to anywhere from $150 billion to $250 billion. The funds would then be in place for any of the large institutions to call upon it for assistance. Because this is coming from the companies themselves however, the cost of paying into the fund will most assuredly be passed onto consumers who need access to the credit these institutions have to offer.

            Similar to previous legislation passed by the Democratic Majority such as the Credit Card Reform Act, which has caused credit card interest rates to skyrocket and credit limits plummet for the average American, this bill creates another situation in which Congress has placed an undue burden on the backs of honest, hard-working citizens. As in the credit card bill, which according to Pew Charitable Trusts has raised the average credit card interest rate from 13% in December 2008 to 23% in July 2009, this latest financial legislation will have devastating unintended consequences. I understand the unnecessary strains which have been placed on people across the nation and indeed in my own district. I will continue to fight for legislation that opens up credit markets for American families and small businesses and allows our economy to move forward again. Additionally, I will continue to oppose legislation that restricts access to sound financial products and transfers greater authority into the hands of federal bureaucrats. 

            The CFPA will be an agency that will have broad sweeping authority to regulate financial services and financial products offered to consumers. Even services and institutions that have not been subject to the symptoms which have caused our economy to struggle will be under scrutiny from this agency. This agency will have the ability to dismantle or discontinue services and even financial institutions if the agency deems actions taken to be under the loosely defined “unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices.” This bill was unanimously opposed by Republicans, and as one of the members who voted against this bill, it is my hope that at some point Congress will look at solving the real problems that are ailing our economy and not focus on creating a new government bureaucracy which spends more taxpayer money and expands the size and scope of the federal government.

Water Resource Development Acts of 2010

            This year as a part of the Water Resources and Development Act for 2010, I submitted a list of project requests and policy changes to the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  The Water Resource Development Act authorizes the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to conduct projects and implement policy for navigation, flood control, hurricane and storm damage reduction, shoreline protection, and ecosystem restoration that is beneficial to national needs.

            Our first request I submitted was for the implementation of a system of return flow credits, in which municipalities around the country would be given credit for the return of clean water back into reservoirs, against what they have taken out for use.  Currently, there is no such system in place.  Another request I submitted directed the United States Army Corps of Engineers to update their Water Control Manuals taking into account water supply.  The Water Control Manuals are the reference guides the Corps uses to manage and operate each reservoir.  Based on the recent court decision which states water consumption is not an authorized purpose, the Corps is updating its water control manuals without including water supply.  I found this effort to waste taxpayer dollars, since the Corps would have to inevitably update their Water Control Manuals to include water supply once the Governors of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia came to an agreement in the Tri-State Water Dispute.  A third policy change I requested was to authorize all federal reservoirs in the State of Georgia for water supply.  This will direct the Corps to start looking at these reservoirs to determine the feasibility of using them for other purposes as well as for what they have already been authorized.  Lastly, I submitted a request to the committee asking for a study to be conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers to assess the impact of authorizing Lake Lanier for recreation. 

            I submitted these requests because I felt that they were in the best interest of the Ninth District and the state of Georgia.  You may view my letter to Chairman James. L. Oberstar and Ranking Member John Mica of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as a brief summary of each project proposal on my website at www.house.gov/deal.  They are listed on the left-hand side of the page under WRDA Requests 2010. 

Labor

            Recently, unions have begun an effort to change the longstanding ‘majority rule’ used to determine the outcome of representation elections for industries regulated by the Railway Labor Act (RLA).  On September 2, 2009, the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), on behalf of its 32 affiliated unions, filed a formal request with the National Mediation Board (NMB) seeking to change the majority rule which has been the standard for the 75-year history of the NMB.  The current voting rules are well grounded in the unique language of the RLA. The law does not refer to a majority of voters.  It says that a majority of the workers in a class or craft must vote for a union for it to be certified.  The decision on the right to join a union belongs to a majority of workers, not to the company, not to the government and certainly not to the union.  Under the Board’s proposal a small minority of a work group could impose union representation by allowing certification of a bargaining representative based upon a majority of the ballots cast, not among a majority of the workers in the group.  This latest action only serves as yet another attempt by union interests to take away individual employees’ choice over representation to bolster their enrollment, much like similar efforts to advance imbalanced card-check legislation.

            As a Member from the great state of Georgia and the Representative of a number of airline and rail personnel who will be affected by this administrative fiat by the Obama Administration, I have drafted and am currently circulating for co-signatures by my Colleagues a letter to the Chairwoman and members of the NMB expressing strong opposition to this rule and express our view that any change of this magnitude be implemented by the Congress, not by bureaucrats with a history of strong pro-union advocacy.  The formal comment period will close January 4, 2009, and I look forward to continuing to add Members to my letter in the coming weeks.