2009 Op-eds

John Kline, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and 25-year veteran of the Marine Corps who retired at the rank of Colonel, wrote an op-ed encouraging President Obama to act soon and decisively to reinforce our troops in Afghanistan.

While fully funding the federal share of IDEA/special education will not provide an endless pot of gold, it will free up thousands of dollars that could be dedicated to the most pressing needs in Minnesota schools.

Health care reform is far too important to be determined by partisan battles. There are solid, commonsense ideas members of all political stripes can coalesce around as we seek to stop unnecessary political bickering and formulate a solution that puts the American people ahead of government ambition.

Rather than support the current health care proposal – which provides considerably more questions than answers, Congressman Kline hopes to work with Democrats and Republicans to forge a commonsense, bipartisan solution that will fix what's broken in the health care system while keeping what works – including the job and health plan many Minnesotans already have.

Six months after their much-heralded stimulus package was signed into law, the only thing that has been stimulated is our deficit. Meanwhile, job losses continue, and the national unemployment rate stands at 9.4 percent

Recently, Congressman Kline has heard from numerous Minnesotans including family farmers who are growing increasingly concerned and anxious about cap and trade legislation and how devastating it would be to their bottom lines.

Minnesota Congressman John Kline lays out his vision for the Education and Labor Committee as he assumes the post of lead Republican on the 50-member Education and Labor Committee.

Last week, Congressman Kline had the honor of visiting the Normandy American Cemetery, which sits atop a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel from which U.S. troops launched the June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion.

On Memorial Day, we pause to honor a select few: those who gave their lives to defend our freedom.

While prices at the pump are comparatively reasonable so far this year, Minnesotans and all Americans should be bracing themselves for an even more crippling cost increase – this time in the form of national energy tax that threatens the budgets of families and small businesses.

On a recent fact-finding trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Israel, Congressman Kline had the opportunity to work with colleagues – both Democrat and Republican – from the House and Senate – to advance a united front for critical U.S. foreign policy objectives.

As Congress discusses the federal budget, numerous constituents have shared with their stories with Congressman Kline. They are growing increasingly concerned as they continue to downsize their family budgets while Washington engages in a spending spree unprecedented in our nation's history.

Congressmen John Kline and Tom Price co-author an op-ed on why the secret ballot must be preserved at the workplace.

This week, more than 1,000 members of the Minnesota National Guard are departing for pre-deployment training in Fort Lewis, Wash., as the Guard's 34th Infantry Division prepares to take command of 16,000 coalition forces in eight of Iraq's 18 provinces.

At issue is the erroneously named "Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA), legislation that would eliminate employees' right to a secret ballot election – which first was instituted in the United States to protect recently freed slaves during Reconstruction.

As his first act of the 111th Congress, Congressman Kline will ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boehner to put an end to the wasteful earmarking process. Minnesotans demand increased transparency and deserve the assurance that federal spending decisions are based on merit.