December 23, 2005

2005 – A Year of Legislative Successes

COLUMBUS, OH – Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Upper Arlington) today submitted the following editorial:

As the year ends and Members of Congress return to their districts, it is time to reflect upon the accomplishments of the past legislative year. By any objective measure, 2005 was remarkably successful, and provided a foundation for ensuring the long-term prosperity and security of our great nation.

I am most proud of the economic rebound our nation continues to enjoy. Despite the crippling devastation brought on by two hurricanes to our Gulf Coast region, Gross Domestic Product remains high, unemployment continues to drop, and 215,000 jobs were created nationally in November alone. Consumer spending is up, inflation is in check, and consumer confidence is soaring.

The tax cuts included in the Jobs and Growth package served as jumper cables to our economic engine, helping to create jobs, boost investor confidence, increase the incomes of working Americans, and help businesses move out of the red. Since tax relief was signed into law in May of 2003, over 4.4 million new jobs have been created, GDP growth has remained above 3%, and last month the Treasury Department reported that total revenue in fiscal year 2005 was up $275 billion, a 14.6 percent increase over 2004. Thus, in the first full year after cutting taxes, tax revenue increased by $275 billion. Of that $275 billion in new federal revenue, $207 billion came from higher income-tax revenue, meaning the wealthiest of Americans – noteworthy, for a bill demonized by its opponents as being a handout to the rich. This influx of new tax revenue has allowed us to reduce our deficit by $90 billion, as Congress works to get our fiscal books back in order.

This Congress passed a broad array of measures all carefully designed to ensure our nation’s long-term economic security. We passed a transportation bill that improves our nation’s infrastructure, creates jobs, and perhaps most importantly, helps you get to where you need to go. We passed the Energy Policy Act – our nation’s first energy policy in two decades – to help consumers with rising energy costs over the long term, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. In December, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act, ensuring that your nest egg remains in tact by modernizing and improving outdated pension law. Most recently, we passed the Deficit Reduction Act, saving taxpayers $40 billion and reining in spiraling entitlement spending.

At the end of December, both the House and Senate reauthorized the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which included language I authored that reinvigorates our focus on domestic human trafficking – a horrific blight that enslaves nearly 20,000 women and children in the U.S. The provisions I authored comprehensively attack domestic trafficking by focusing on the users -- the johns and pimps who keep the demand for sex slavery high. The new provisions will curb demand for trafficked persons, provide financial and other assistance to the victims, assist State and local law enforcement in investigating and prosecuting cases, and require a more thorough statistical analysis of the breadth of the domestic problem. The bill is en route to the President, who is expected to sign it into law shortly, providing a ray of hope to women and children ensnared in a life of deception, desperation and degradation.

Many local successes are also worth mentioning. Through strategic cooperation among the central Ohio Congressional delegation and community and business leaders, we were able to fully preserve the Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC) from potential downsizing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission; recently, we learned that over 1000 jobs will be added to the Whitehall facility – an incredible victory to central Ohio, and a testament to the professionalism and excellence of the workers at DSCC. Moreover, in September, the Veterans Administration began construction of a new 295,000 square foot facility to be located at DSCC, allowing central Ohio veterans to receive the quality health care to which they are so duly entitled, without having to drive to hospitals in Cleveland or Cincinnati.

Many challenges await Congress next session, and there remains much unfinished work ahead. While the citizens of Iraq increasingly begin to embrace the economic and liberating benefits of democracy, the War on Terror continues, and Iraq remains a dangerous place. Congress must – to the fullest extent possible -- ensure that our troops are kept from harm’s way, and that Iraqis assume more and more of the responsibilities for securing the nation from insurrectionists and terrorists. But 2005 will undoubtedly be looked upon favorably as a year where Congress righted its fiscal ship, and laid a foundation of economic security and prosperity to be enjoyed by generations of Americans to come.

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