Dear Colleague: On August 1st of last year, the House passed the Budget Control Act of 2011, with the Senate passing the bill and the President signing it into law the very next day. Unfortunately, I could not support that bill as it was presented to us. As I have promised my constituents, I will not vote in favor of a bill to raise the debt-limit that does not contain the necessary spending cuts and reforms that will prevent our nation’s debt from continuing to grow in an un...

January 5, 2012, marked exactly one year since I was sworn in as the Member of Congress representing Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District. During my short time in Washington, I’ve had the opportunity to help lead an aggressive legislative effort aimed at creating less government and more jobs. As I reflect on the previous year, I believe there are several important issues that defined my first year in Congress. As our first order of business, House Republicans passed new...

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan stated, “Only a constitutional amendment will do the job. We’ve tried the carrot, and it failed. With the stick of a Balanced Budget Amendment, we can stop government squandering, overtaxing ways, and save our economy.” On Friday, November 18th, the United States House of Representatives voted on a monumental piece of legislation that would have sent a Balanced Budget Amendment to our nation’s Constitution to the states for ratification. Unfor...

On November 11th, 2011, our country will celebrate Veterans Day. This special occasion provides all Americans with an opportunity to come together to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have answered the call to serve in our nation’s Armed Forces. We are truly blessed to live in a country that produces heroes like those that have worn the uniform of the United States military. These individuals’ patriotism and willingness to sacrifice should serve as a daily inspiratio...

President Barack Obama was exactly right when he said that “we can’t wait” in getting the American people back to work. Considering the fact that President Obama has waited almost three years to present a jobs plan, it is puzzling he would try to suggest that there is anyone to blame but himself for the delay. During a recent speech in a Las Vegas neighborhood President Obama declared that he plans on issuing a series of executive orders to enact portions of his “jobs bill” w...

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, one of my chief responsibilities is to track how funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 were spent. After numerous congressional hearings and countless reports, my colleagues and I have found an unacceptable amount of stimulus dollars that were grossly mismanaged and poorly prioritized. Now we see President Obama traveling throughout the country promoting the adoption of his second stim...

It is hard to believe that it has already been 10 years since our nation was brutally attacked by al-Qaeda terrorists. The horrific images of that tragic September morning still remain fresh in our minds. Today, we come together as Americans to honor the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. While this somber day reminds us that there are those in world that seek to do us harm, we can take solace in knowing that there is no obstacle that is...

On Thursday, September 8th, President Obama has asked congressional leaders to convene a joint session of Congress in order to lay out a series of proposals that the he believes should immediately be adopted in order to rebuild the American economy and create jobs. While I’m pleased to see that this President has finally chosen to join House Republicans in focusing on job creation, I hope that his proposals will address the real issues confronting job-creators and not just re...

As we approach the mid-point of the August work period, I am interested to see the work of the “Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction” begin, and I will be even more interested in the final product that they are challenged to produce to the Congress. As most of you know, on August 1st, the House approved the Budget Control Act of 2011 (S. 365), by a vote of 269-161. The Senate would pass the bill and the President signed the bill into law a day later. I could not and di...

For too long, the federal government has been allowed to engage in an irresponsible spending spree that has resulted in the accumulation of a $14 trillion, job-crushing debt. On November 2nd, 2010 the American people sent a clear message that they will not tolerate any more of this behavior from Washington and they fully expect the federal government to learn to live within its means.Throughout the 112th Congress, nearly every single bill that House Republicans have introduce...