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  • This Week in Washington
    Jun 8, 2012 - This week, the House of Representatives considered three different appropriations bills, heard testimony about government debt from the Congressional Budget Office, and repealed a tax on medical devices. First, the Energy and Water Appropriations. This bill costs American taxpayers $32.1 billion for... More
  • Healthcare Mandate Deliberations
    Mar 29, 2012 - Shortly after President Obama’s election in 2009, a movement started in Washington to control costs of healthcare coverage through the establishment of a national healthcare system and a national mandate for individual coverage. In 2010, after a tumultuous debate with the American people clearly in ... More
  • Solving America's Energy Crisis
    Feb 28, 2012 - On what seems to be an annual basis, lawmakers engage in battle over the cost of gas prices. Typically, this predicament presents itself during the peak travel months of the summer. However, this year’s annual predicament has come early due to numerous economic and geopolitical events occurring arou... More
  • Obama Mandate and Passage of the STOCK Act
    Feb 13, 2012 - The STOCK Act I am proud to say that the House of Representatives finally passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 by a vote of 417-2 last week. In 2006, I was one of only fourteen Members to cosponsor this legislation when it was originally introduced. Unfortunately, t... More
  • The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act
    Feb 6, 2012 - Last Thursday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) on which I serve, held a mark-up for H.R. 7, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act. H.R. 7 is a five-year surface transportation authorization that restructures how the federal government manages surface transportatio... More
  • Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protection of Intellectual Property
    Jan 23, 2012 - Last week, websites including Wikipedia and Google expressed their opposition to H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s version of the bill, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). Hundreds of constituents contac... More
  • The Citizen Legislator Act
    Jan 17, 2012 - Today, I introduced the Citizen Legislator Act which directly addresses the partisan discourse that has plagued Washington for many years. Congressional approval ratings are at an all-time low and they deserve to be. My bill will force Congress to get their work done and to spend more time at home u... More
  • Improving Our Economy in a New Year
    Jan 10, 2012 - This week, the Department of Labor released new employment information showing that 200,000 people found full-time employment, thus dropping the unemployment to 8.5%. That is great news for the 200,000 people that were able to find work. However, for the 14.5 million other Americans out of work and ... More
  • Goals for 2012
    Jan 3, 2012 - My staff and I wish you a Happy New Year and hope you have enjoyed this holiday season. As I reflect upon the past year, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for the privilege of letting me serve as your United States Representative. With the commencement of a new year, the second session of ... More
  • A Flawed Process: The Payroll Tax Extension
    Dec 26, 2011 - I hope you and your families had the most joyous Christmas holiday. During this time of year it is important we reflect upon our blessings and keep those less fortunate in our prayers. We must also give special thanks to those men and women who are serving overseas and were unable to spend the holid... More