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Foxx Report for the Week of January 9, 2015
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This week I was sworn in to my sixth term as the representative of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District. It’s always a privilege to take the oath of office and pledge to “support and defend” the Constitution of the United States.
Serving the people of North Carolina is a profound honor, and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent the 5th District in Congress. The 114th Congress offers new chances to pass legislation that will reduce the size and scope of the federal government, protect against executive overreach, reform federal spending and keep America strong.
Following the oath of office, the House voted Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, to serve a third term as Speaker of the House. The election held by the entire House on January 6, 2015, was merely an official ratification of the consensus decision previously made by all House Republicans. A few Republican members chose to oppose Speaker Boehner on the House floor after supporting him in November, but it is unfortunate that they did not nominate a candidate for Speaker at the appropriate time in November. They instead chose to mar an otherwise positive first day for our majority with divisive actions. With that occasion behind us, Speaker Boehner now has the support of our conference, and I hope we will be able to move forward immediately in advancing conservative priorities.
Minimizing Obamacare’s Damage
This week the House passed two pieces of bipartisan legislation designed to minimize the damage caused by Obamacare.
The entire nation owes our military personnel and veterans a huge debt of gratitude, and ensuring that debt is properly repaid is one of my top priorities in Congress. That’s why I was proud to support H.R. 22, the Hire More Heroes Act, which would make it easier to hire veterans by exempting those who already have health insurance from being counted as full-time employees under the president’s health care law. No employer should be penalized for hiring a veteran and no veteran should be unemployed because of Obamacare.
H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act, would change Obamacare’s 30-hour definition of “full-time employment” and restore the traditional 40-hour workweek. Obamacare has placed an undue burden on employers and their employees by undermining the 40-hour work week, which has long been the standard for full-time work. From adjunct professors to hourly workers, I have heard from constituents across North Carolina’s 5th District who have one thing in common - their hours are being reduced. This legislation will help protect the estimated 2.6 million Americans at-risk for lost hours and wages under this destructive rule.
Keystone XL Pipeline
For more than six years, supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline have been fighting to secure the necessary approval that would allow the U.S. to take advantage of vital oil production in Canada and the northern United States. It is the most studied pipeline in our nation’s history, and thousands of pages prove its worth to our economy and national interest and further document its safety. It will spur job creation, help us on our way to energy independence and increase access to affordable North American oil.
Today the House passed legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline for the 10th time with bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to consider similar legislation next week. However, President Obama has threatened to veto the legislation to authorize building the pipeline.
The president claims he just wants to let the State Department review process, which has already concluded that the Keystone project would have a minimal impact on the environment, conclude, but I believe he is more interested in pleasing special interest groups than creating American jobs.
Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act (UMITA)
This week I introduced legislation to shed light on how federal policies impact the budgets of state and local governments and private sector employers. The Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, H.R. 50, would fix loopholes within the bipartisan regulatory reform act known as UMRA.
Every year Washington imposes thousands of rules on local governments and small businesses. Hidden in those rules are costly mandates that stretch state and city budgets and make it harder for North Carolina businesses to hire. While Congress cannot create prosperity, we can work to ensure entrepreneurs and employers aren’t crushed under costly regulations. This legislation will help restore transparency and hold Washington bureaucrats accountable for the true cost — in dollars and in jobs — that federal dictates pose to the economy.
UMITA is an important – and achievable – first step toward a more accountable and transparent regulatory process, which is why I have offered this legislation in the past four Congresses. It has successfully passed the House with bipartisan support on three separate occasions, only to be ignored by the Senate. My hope is that this year will be different.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will take action to defund President Obama’s unconstitutional executive actions on immigration. The House will also consider the Regulatory Accountability Act to address abuse of the regulatory process at federal agencies and legislation to roll back several excesses in regulators' implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Sincerely,
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