US Congress

When I was campaigning for Congress last year, I told voters that helping get people back to work was very important to me.  I meant it then, and I still mean it now.  That’s why I am conducting a major jobs initiative this week, bringing together job creators (the small business owners that are the backbone of New Hampshire’s economy), people looking for work, and your Representative in Congress.  Together, we’re discussing ways Washington can help and what it should do (or in some cases not do) to help businesses grow and create new jobs.

You see, in the free enterprise system, things work best when the private sector creates jobs and government plays a supporting, encouraging role.  Government can assist the private sector by protecting it from over taxation, over regulation and limiting its intrusion into our daily lives.  Government can create an economic environment for businesses to expand with confidence by handling our nation’s finances responsibly, which in turn creates the predictability that companies need to plan for tomorrow.  That is the best recipe for job creation.

Things work the other way, too.  We’re just emerging from…

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Late last week, Congress reached a deal to keep the federal government funded until the current fiscal year ends on September 30th.  When it is passed, the lengthy headache caused when the previous Nancy Pelosi-led Congress failed to pass a budget for this year will finally be over.

The deal also contains $38.5 billion in spending cuts.  That’s the largest spending cut in American history, and it officially slams the brakes on the “stimulus spending binge” of recent years (which doesn’t seem to have stimulated much of anything beyond our national debt).

It’s a good start, but there’s much more work to do.  When we’re facing a $1.6 trillion dollar federal deficit, trimming spending by $38.5 billion is barely a drop bucket.  We need to cut trillions of dollars, not billions.  And that’s where the new GOP budget enters the scene.   The House Budget Committee, which I serve on, unveiled our spending plan for Fiscal Year 2012, which starts on October 1st.  Where the Pelosi Congress failed to provide leadership, we delivered — and we delivered the major spending cuts that Granite Staters are rightfully demanding.

Congress now gets to choose between two very different spending plans, President Obama’s and ours.  When you stack the two side by side and compare them, you see a stark difference.

Our budget, called the Path to Prosperity, takes a machete to spending and sends it spiraling downward.  It cuts a whopping $6.2 trillion over a decade compared to the Obama budget,…

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Sometimes, when you’re moving fast, it’s a good idea to take a moment and look back at all the ground you’ve covered.  March 5th marks two months since the new Congress convened.  I want to tell you about the many things I’ve been doing these past eight weeks.

I’m proud to follow-through on my pledge to be a Congressman who is actively in touch with folks here in New Hampshire.  My guiding rule is simple: I will be in Washington whenever there is a debate or vote on the House floor, and for committee hearings and meetings.  Otherwise, I will be here in the district so I can stay in touch with people.  This is the best way I can effectively represent you on Capitol Hill.

I held my first town hall meeting in Laconia in early February. We had to delay it for 24 hours because of one of the many snowstorms that have pounded us all winter, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 100+ folks who showed up on a frigid Thursday night.  The crowd was so large, we had to move it to a bigger facility next door in order to seat everyone.  As this column was going to press, I was scheduled to hold my first tele-town hall on March 1st.  Look for more of both types of meetings in the near future.

My staff has held open office hours in Jackson and Conway, with more scheduled in different towns soon.

I’m also traveling across the district, talking about issues that matter to Granite Staters and listening to their concerns.  I’ve met with the Great Bay Water Community Coalition in Dover, toured the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, visited the GE Aviation Plant in Hooksett and talked with fishermen at the Yankee Fishermen’s Coop in Seabrook.  I’ve visited Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, Lake Regional General Hospital in Laconia and Exeter Hospital to discuss healthcare concerns, and Bakersville School in Manchester and Spaulding High School in Rochester to learn more about education needs.  

The pace has been just as fast in Congress.  In one of our first acts during the new session, I had the honor of reading the Second Amendment during the first time the U.S. Constitution was ever read aloud on the House floor.  One of our very first votes was to cut Congressional staff spending by 5%.  It is only right that the very first spending reduction came in our own budgets; the House must lead the way by example as we ask all Americans to get by with less federal funding.

Of course, the first major piece of legislation we passed was the long-sought repeal of last year’s healthcare reform law.  I was proud to vote with the majority in passing it.  The existing law fails to deliver the very thing Americans want: affordable, quality healthcare coverage.  It is so badly flawed, it would be better to scrap it and start over from scratch to give people the true reform they want.

I voted for…

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