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Last January, the American people granted Republicans the responsibility of governing the House of Representatives. This was as a result of a continually frustrated electorate who wanted their elected officials to put partisan politics aside and look out for Americans interests, to implement policies to enable job growth, and to rein in our national debt.
Since that time, the House of Representatives has passed numerous bills to spur economic growth. There are three pillars to the Republican job strategy with the primary focus leaving more money in the economy rather than Washington. As our first action, we passed a budget to ensure reduced government spending. Second, the House of Representatives has sought to expand domestic energy production. Finally, we have passed numerous regulatory reform bills to remove impediments to job retention and creation.
Taken collectively, these bills could fulfill the task of putting Americans to work. Expanding domestic energy production creates jobs all along the supply chain of energy production: from the drilling platform, to pipelines and truck drivers, and thus allows businesses from Champaign to Bloomington to reduce costs to consumers because they are paying less to create goods. Regulatory reform allows businesses to devote their resources to job creation instead of meeting unnecessary burdens of the Washington bureaucracy. Furthermore, regulations cost money to enforce, involve explicit costs and implicit costs, and impede the innovation needed to create jobs.
Most important, however, is the long term fiscal health of the United States. The House of Representatives passed a budget this year that would reform the way Washington spends money, bringing out-of-control spending to historically low levels within 10 years. Unfortunately, while I supported this budget, the Senate has yet to pass it. The debates between House Republicans, Senate Democrats, and President Obama on spending, the budget, and the debt ceiling have only served as a reminder the difficulties of governing only one half of one of the three branches of the federal government.
Personally, through my chairmanship of the Center Aisle Caucus, I have been working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring sensible debate to Congress. As I mentioned, Americans are also frustrated with the partisan bickering that has created an acrimonious environment in Congress. This attitude is simply not going to create solutions for the American people. Through my conversations with Members, I implore them to seek compromise where possible and to keep in mind the best interests of those we are elected to represent.
My greatest concern during my time in Congress is ensuring that future generations will have greater prosperity and freedom than we currently enjoy. The greatest guarantee for a better future is the creation of conditions conducive for economic recovery. Currently, our prosperity is threatened. As Members of Congress, we must come together to solve our nation’s greatest obstacles.
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