News Home

Gridlock and dysfunction may be common in Washington, but two of Rowan county’s representatives in the U.S. House say the recently ended lame-duck session was productive.

The lame-duck session ended for the U.S. House last week. The Senate is still considering the $1.1 trillion “cromnibus” that would avert a government shutdown. One of the most significant measures considered during the lame-duck session, the “cromnibus” is the combination of a continuing resolution, which funds the government at the same level as the previous year, and a long-term omnibus spending bill.

Others significant issues during the lame duck session included the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, and the president’s executive action on amnesty for illegal immigrants.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican who represents the southern portion of Rowan, said the relative productivity could’ve been caused by November’s election.

“In the last few weeks things have seemed to open up,” Hudson said. “We did see some common ground on this omnibus. That tends to happen when you get to the end of session.”

Both U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican who represents the northern portion of Rowan, and Hudson voted in favor of the “cromnibus,” when it passed the U.S. House. Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat who represents a winding strip of land that runs down the center of Rowan, voted against the “cromnibus.” Adams was unable to accommodate an interview late last week.

“We did not want to see another government shut down, because we get blamed for that,” Foxx said about the cromnibus. “This is a bill that allows us to improve the functioning of government. It also allows us, in the new session in January, to focus on passing bills in the House that can be passed in the Senate. We will have a functioning congress.”

Both Foxx and Hudson said they expect the $1.1 trillion spending bill to pass the Senate. As of Saturday evening, the Senate hadn’t vote on the “cromnibus” yet.

Foxx briefly discussed her support for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which Hudson also voted for. The pipeline was first proposed in 2008.

“My interest is for us to be energy independent and we are moving in that direction,” Foxx said. “We are finding more and more resources in the United States. It may not be that we can produce absolutely everything we need, but we can use whats available in Canada and Mexico that they don’t need. So the Keystone is simply one more piece of that.”

Though it didn’t involve congressional action, President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty irked many Republicans in Washington D.C., two of which are Hudson and Foxx. Among other things, the action granted amnesty to a large group of illegal immigrants.

“The law states very clearly that if you enter the country illegally, you will not be allowed to apply for citizenship,” Hudson said. “The president just decided that he was going to change the law, so he is operating outside of the Constitution by allowing people who broke the law to become U.S. citizens.”

The session was also a special one for Hudson. Two of his bills passed Congress during the lame duck session, his first two bills ever to make it to the president’s desk. The first bill limited taxes on round trips for air travelers. The second introduced a series of reforms to the Transportation Security Administration.

Both Foxx and Hudson were re-elected to another term in 2014.

Next year, Foxx said she expects issues addressed to focus on three areas: energy, jobs, and regulatory reform. Among other things, Foxx will chair the Higher Education Subcommittee and serve as the vice-chairman of the House Committee on Rules.

One of the things, Hudson said he expects Congress to address is the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, Hudson said he will serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

http://www.salisburypost.com/2014/12/14/republican-representatives-call-lame-duck-session-productive/