Saturday, January 28, 2017

Weekly Update: Making Congress work for you

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When I speak with Virginians, one thing I consistently hear is, "we need to change how Congress operates." People are rightly frustrated by what they see happening in Washington: budget by crisis, missing important legislative deadlines, and partisan bickering, just to name a few. I am frustrated, too. That is why I have made reforming how Congress works one of my top priorities as your representative.

In fact, one thing I am most looking forward to working on with the new Trump Administration is ending business as usual in Washington. I believe ending business as usual in Washington starts with passing budgets and spending bills on time. Your elected leaders must set an example by completing these most basic of tasks. But in the past, there have not been accountability measures in place to ensure the job gets done. That is something I am committed to changing!

I introduced two bills aimed at reforming how Congress works by bringing needed accountability to the Congressional budget process. The first is the No Budget, No Pay Act. It states that members of Congress are prohibited from receiving paychecks if their respective chamber does not pass a budget by mid-April. If the House does not pass a budget - as Congress failed to do last year – members of Congress should not be paid. Your family would not operate without a budget. Why should the federal government be any different? Clearly, it should not.

The second bill is the Stay on Schedule Resolution. This resolution would amend House rules to prevent members of the House from taking the traditional August recess when critical spending bills remain to be passed. Failure to pass the 12 annual spending bills prevents federal agencies like the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Transportation from meeting current demands and planning for the future. Given the importance of the spending bills, members of the House should stay in Washington until they are all passed. Families in Virginia are sitting around their kitchen tables making tough decisions on their budgets and spending every day. Congress should be no different.

I will be the first to admit that reforming how Congress works will take time. But the longest of journeys must begin with a single step. I believe bringing accountability to the budget process should be that first step.

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2 comments:

  1. Representative Jason Chaffetz (R, UT) caught using private email server.

    LOCK HIM UP!!!!!!

    In a great ironic twist, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has been promising to lead the investigation of Hillary Clinton even now that Donald Trump has become president, and is now under fire himself for use of an illegal private email server.

    The Democratic Coalition Against Trump reported Rep. Chaffetz to the FBI, explaining:

    The Democratic Coalition Against Trump reported Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to the FBI on Wednesday morning for possibly breaking Executive Order 13526 and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 793(f) of the federal code, which makes it unlawful to send or store classified information on a personal email. As was recently resurfaced by the Democratic Coalition’s #TrumpLeaks program, Rep. Chaffetz lists his personal Gmail address on business cards brandished with the Congressional seal. Rep. Chaffetz sits on the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, which has jurisdiction over “internal and homeland security,” among other things.

    “The mishandling of classified information that concerns the national security of our nation is something that the FBI takes very seriously,” said Scott Dworkin, Senior Advisor to the Democratic Coalition. “The irony is unparalleled- Representative Chaffetz, the person who led the charge against Secretary Clinton’s personal email server use, could actually be the one who is breaking the law and putting our national security at risk in the process.”



    This coalition brings up several good questions.

    First, will Chaffetz be able to lead an investigation of Hillary Clinton while he himself is suspected of doing the exact same thing she’s accused of doing?

    http://theproudliberal.org/congressional-gop-utterly-silent-after-jason-chaffetz-busted-using-personal-email-server/

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a load of crap.

    Wittman says he introduced bills that would force Congress to stay on schedule and pass a budget. He knew neither of these would pass. In fact, neither bill got out of committee.

    He knew this. He introduced these useless bills for show.

    Why does he waste his time and our time?

    ReplyDelete