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Januaryt 5, 2011
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Dreier kicks off new leadership post with bills on taxes, immigration, wilderness and spending
Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, wasted no time Wednesday laying out his initial legislative priorities for the new GOP-majority House.
Dreier introduced four bills aimed at cutting federal spending, reducing illegal immigration, protecting wilderness and reforming taxes.
"We will be looking at debates on all these issues: How do we get economy moving? How do we address illegal immigration? How do we reduce spending? These are all debates the next Congress is going to be having. And he believes these (bills) are the way we should go. That is why he chose to introduce them on opening day," Dreier's spokeswoman Jo Maney said.
Besides addressing the national debates, Dreier introduced local legislation that would increase the amount of wilderness area in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests. The designation would give 18,000 acres of public land in the forests the highest protection under federal law, meaning no roads, cell phone towers, power lines, or drilling, would be allowed.
Local conservation organizations celebrated the legislation's introduction as a way to protect the region's water, air, views, and recreation.
"The value of these mountains is unquantifiable," said Daniel Rossman of San Gabriel Mountains Forever and the Wilderness Society. "We have been working on this effort for the past couple of years. The introduction today is a recognition that it is a priority in the new Congress."
The bill would also direct the Forest Services to address the backlog of maintenance in the forests, focusing particularly on recreation areas impacted by the Station Fire, and includes language expanding forest fire prevention activities.
In addition to the wilderness bill, Dreier re-introduced a comprehensive tax reform plan that would simplify the tax code to an optional one-page form with three rates - 10, 15 and 30 percent. Major deductions would continue.
He also re-introduced a bill to create a two-year budget cycle in an effort to streamline the budget process, increase oversight of government programs and reduce waste.
"Reforming the federal budget process will allow Congress to better scrutinize federal spending, helping us to cut wasteful and duplicative programs," Dreier said in a statement.
And the lawmaker offered legislation that increases penalties for employers who hire undocumented immigrants, increases the number of enforcement personnel, and creates an electronic verification system based on a secure Social Security card.
"The roots of our broken immigration and employer verification system can be traced to three underlying factors: too many unreliable documents, including the Social Security card; a faulty employment verification system; and lax enforcement," Dreier said.
On Wednesday Dreier also took back the gavel in the powerful House Rules committee, after four years in the minority. The committee serves as a sort of traffic cop to all significant legislation before it reaches the House floor, deciding the rules guiding floor debate.
There, in an effort to increase transparency and accountability, Dreier will allow television cameras to broadcast meetings for the first time.
"It's history in the making," he said