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This week the House passed final legislation to improve K-12 education by replacing No Child Left Behind with new policies to help every child access a high-quality education. The Senate is expected to consider and pass the legislation next week.
The legislation incorporates provisions of both the House-passed Student Success Act and the Senate-passed Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 and gets Washington out of the business of running schools. It protects state and local autonomy by prohibiting the Secretary of Education from coercing states into adopting Common Core and eliminates the burdensome, one-size-fits-all accountability system that has done more to tie up states and school districts in red tape than to support local efforts to educate children.
Currently states are forced to choose between the fundamentally flawed policies of No Child Left Behind, which doubled down on federal programs, mandates and spending, and the Obama administration’s controversial temporary, conditional waiver scheme, which has imposed the administration’s preferred policies and heightened the level of uncertainty shared by states and school districts.
America’s students deserve better. By reversing Washington’s one-size-fits-all micromanagement of classrooms, Congress is giving parents, teachers and local education leaders the tools they need to repair a broken education system and help all children reach their potential.
Highway Bill
This week I voted against the conference report for a five-year surface transportation package costing more than $300 billion that also includes language to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. As I previously shared when voting against stand-alone legislation reauthorizing the bank, I believe the Export-Import Bank conflicts with core conservative principles on the free market and unfairly allows the government to pick winners and losers while requiring taxpayers to bear the risks of private companies’ activities.
This legislation also does not address the growing gap between the Highway Trust Fund’s revenues and expenses, instead expanding that gap to increase federal transportation spending. That spending relies on $70 billion from taxpayers through a transfer from the General Fund that is offset with gimmicks. It is the wrong way to proceed. We need a long-term solution that reevaluates the federal government’s transportation priorities and makes aggressive reforms on federal regulations and mandates. It’s past time to correct the federal government’s role in transportation programs and give states more control.
Maximizing America’s Energy Potential
On Thursday the House passed legislation designed to maximize our energy potential and modernize outdated policies that are rooted in an era of energy scarcity. The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act focuses on the transmission, distribution and storage of energy to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure to meet today’s modern energy challenges. It also seeks to meet energy reliability and security challenges through enhanced emergency preparedness and utilization of advanced technologies to address threats to the electricity system. This bill reflects today’s era of energy abundance and ensures Americans have access to affordable and reliable energy no matter where they live.
The House also passed disapproval resolutions on two harmful EPA regulations, keeping electricity affordable and reliable for ratepayers across the country. The Obama administration is seeking to change the way electricity is generated, consumed and distributed through two final rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that place unprecedented regulations on both new and existing fossil-fuel fired power plants.
State governors, regulators and other stakeholders have submitted extensive comments raising concerns about the rules. The Congressional Review Act of 1996 established the process through which Congress can overturn regulations issued by federal agencies by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval.
Our Veterans Deserve Better
This week I spoke on the House floor about the agency-wide pattern of mismanagement at the Department of Veterans Affairs. To say I am fed up with this administration’s treatment of veterans is an understatement. How they can turn their backs on our veterans the way that they do is unconscionable to me.
My heart is always touched when veterans and their families describe their efforts to get service through the VA and how the VA wouldn’t help them until my office intervened. I’m always happy to know that my office has helped and my staff is encouraged when we get a problem solved. However, these veterans shouldn’t have to contact their congressional office to access the benefits they have earned.
It’s time for President Obama to truly commit to reforming the VA and give America’s veterans a meaningful, decisive plan to right the many wrongs. Regardless of the outcome, my office will continue to leave no stone unturned when it comes to serving our veterans.
World War II Service Medal Presentation
In addition to helping residents of North Carolina’s 5th District navigate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, my office is available to assist veterans and their families with replacing military medals that have been lost or stolen as well as obtaining medals that still need to be presented.
On Nov. 28, I had the honor of presenting the family of Willis Tom Bradshaw with the medals he earned during service in World War II. Seaman Second Class Bradshaw served in the U.S. Navy Reserve and was killed in action on Nov. 13, 1942, when the USS Juneau was sunk during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
As a country, we are uniquely blessed. We live in a nation where each one of us has the opportunity for nearly limitless fulfillment and prosperity in the world’s finest democracy. That freedom and opportunity has been made available to us because of the sacrifices of people like Willis Bradshaw.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will consider legislation appropriating funding for the federal government prior to the December 11th deadline. The House will also consider the Red River Private Property Protection Act, which addresses a potential federal land grab in Texas. Legislation amended and passed by the Senate this week that would dismantle Obamacare and denies federal funding to Planned Parenthood will likely come up for a final vote as well. Finally, the House may consider legislation making permanent a number of temporary tax cuts for individuals and businesses as well as legislation reforming the Visa Waiver Program to address loopholes that may enable individuals threatening our national security to enter the United States without sufficient screening.
Sincerely,
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