My First Week in Congress

     This week, I was honored and humbled to begin representing the people of Ohio’s 18th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.  As soon as I took the oath of office from Ohio’s own Speaker John Boehner, I immediately voted for congressional reforms and budget-cutting measures that will change the way Congress works.
      In November, the American people sent a strong message that they are tired of Washington’s job-killing spending binge and bloated federal budget.  I joined the House Republicans as we took the first steps to cut the out of control spending by voting on a five percent cut to every Congressional office budget.  While families across Ohio carefully budget their spending, the government must lead by example and stop spending money it doesn’t have.  By reducing our own budget, we will show the people who are struggling to stay current on their mortgages, pay their children’s college tuition and fill up their gas tanks that we are willing to make the tough choices needed to put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility.
     I also voted for congressional reforms that will end “business as usual” politics and make your government more transparent and accountable.  These include a requirement that all introduced bills must cite constitutional authority; a requirement that the public must have three days to view all bills online before the House votes on them; and changing budget enforcement rules to make spending cuts easier and spending hikes harder. 
     As an original cosponsor of the bill to repeal Obamacare, I finished my first week as your Congressman by taking the initial steps to repealing this flawed legislation.  ObamaCare’s job-killing tax hikes, job-killing spending and job-killing mandates are hurting our economy and making it harder for small businesses to create jobs.  Removing these barriers will provide private-sector job creators with more certainty and help our economy get back to creating jobs.   
    I look forward to working for the 18th district and hope that you will contact me to share your concerns and ideas on ways we can get our fiscal house in order and our country back on the right path.  Thank you for the opportunity to serve.
 

Congressman Bob Gibbs represents Ohio’s 18th Congressional District.