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• Israel Celebrates 64 Years of Independence

  Today marks the 64th Anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence. Israel’s accomplishments are truly remarkable. Since 1948, Israel has endured tremendous obstacles, yet remains resolute in the region. I am proud of the United States’ history of unwavering support to our closest ally and friend in the Middle East. While the Obama Administration has strained our relationship with Israel, I firmly believe we must reject any policies that weaken our ties with the Jewish state.

  Today is a reminder of the 64 years of Israel’s cultural and political sovereignty. I fully support constant and stable military cooperation between our two nations and I will continue to stand by Israel as it works to promote and secure democratic values in a region ravaged by violence and political unrest.

  

• President Obama's Attempt at Lower Gas Prices

  In his State of the Union address in January of this year, President Obama claimed he is pursuing an all-of-the-above energy policy. Unfortunately, his actions are proving to be quite the opposite as his Administration has continuously blocked the private sector’s ability to develop our plentiful domestic resources. The EPA produces new regulations seemingly every week that will restrict oil and natural gas development, increase electricity prices, and worsen the pain that all Americans will feel at the pump. Meanwhile, the Administration is wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on failed “green” energy programs like Solyndra.

  The President’s harmful policies have done nothing to address America’s painfully high gas prices. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average price of a gallon of gas has increased by 103 percent in the three years since President Obama has been in office. In January 2009, gasoline cost an average of $1.89 a gallon. Today it is $3.91.

  Last summer, to claim he is trying to reduce the price of gas, President Obama released 30 million barrels of oil from the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) – an emergency stockpile of oil intended to be a last resort to add oil supplies to the market in case of a drastic and real disruption in supply. Those reserves have yet to be replaced, and refilling the reserves with oil at today’s prices could cost the American taxpayer an additional $700 million. Instead of expanding drilling operations to increase our energy security and reduce the long-term price of oil, the President is considering another release of oil reserves. Not only could this cost the taxpayer millions of dollars, but depleting our reserves also puts the U.S. at severe risk should there be a real disruption in supply in the future.

  We must begin to tap into the vast American resources available to us – resources that will promote job creation, help lower the price of gasoline, and spur economic growth that is desperately needed in this struggling economy. Rather than slapping on a political band-aid that risks our energy security by releasing oil from the SPR, the President should pursue policies that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase production here at home.

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• Third Oversight Hearing on the Collapse of MF Global

  Yesterday, I appeared on Fox Business, Bloomberg, and CNBC to discuss the third hearing that my subcommittee held on the collapse of MF Global. During the last days of MF Global, up to $1.6 billion in customer funds went missing. The customers of MF Global were farmers, ranchers, retirees and everyday investors, and they deserve to know what happened to their money. We will continue investigating what happened so that this will not happen in the future.

   

   

   

• Fighting Against Obamacare

  Later this week, the House of Representatives will vote to eliminate another piece of President Obama’s flawed takeover of our nation’s health care system. The Protecting Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). IPAB is a fifteen-member panel of bureaucrats that will ration care to seniors by lowering reimbursement to doctors and deciding which health procedures can be reimbursed. The new system grants IPAB the authority to make changes to the Medicare program, taking decisive control away from Congress. I do not support any legislation that puts power into the hands of Washington bureaucrats, especially if it involves health care decisions.

  Last week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released revised cost estimates on Obamacare. They estimate that it will cost Americans $1.76 trillion over the next ten years, almost double its original estimated cost of $900 billion. This is absolutely not a surprise. We have known all along that Obamacare was going to cost far more than $900 billion, CBO just made it official. Down the road, unless we stop the implementation of this flawed law, I predict the costs will escalate even further.

  I voted against this bill in 2010 when it became law and I continue to make its repeal one of my top priorities in Congress. I support real health care reform that lowers costs, improves access to health care and simplifies what is a very complicated and inefficient system. I will continue to fight against this government takeover of our health care system which has a price tag that continues to spiral out-of-control.

   

  

• My Letter to Postmaster General Donahoe

  Earlier this month, I sent a letter to Patrick Donahoe, Postmaster General of the United States, regarding the Area Mail Processing (AMP) facility in Abilene, TX. Closing this facility will affect over 100 workers and will have a major economic impact in the Abilene community.

  Click here to view the full text of the letter.

  Please click here to see the full text of the letter. ( 03/15/12 10:41 AM PST )

• Dodd-Frank By The Numbers

  On March 7th, I went on the Willis Report on Fox Business to discuss the research my subcommittee, Oversight and Investigations on House Financial Services, has done on Dodd-Frank rules and regulations.

  We've found that the first 140 rules of Dodd-Frank (out of 400) will take an estimated 22.6 million man hours per year to comply with.

  In 2010, the SBA reported that regulations added $10,585 in cost per employee, that was before the Administration's aggressive regulatory agenda related to Dodd-Frank, ObamaCare and the EPA.

  Watch the full interview above.

  

• Three Years After Obama's Stimulus, Where are all the Jobs?

  Today marks three years after President Obama signed the failed stimulus package into law. However, one question still remains: where are the jobs? After spending $1.2 trillion of taxpayer funds to help jump-start the economy, the results show the president’s policies have failed. The President promised the stimulus would “save or create 3.5 million jobs,” yet we’ve only lost jobs. In fact, we’ve lost 1.1 million since the President took office.

  Even with a national debt over $15 trillion, the President still hasn’t learned his lesson. Obama’s 2013 budget, submitted to Congress on February 13th, proposes to spend $47 trillion over the next 10 years, while imposing a $1.9 trillion tax increase on American families and adding trillions of dollars in new debt. The irresponsible budget recycles budget gimmicks of the past three years and furthers more debt crisis and decline.

  Since taking office, I have voted against every stimulus package brought to the House Floor and have refused to lend my support for any budget proposal that enslaves future generations in debt. I strongly believe that continuing to spend money we do not have will only promote the same type of reckless and irresponsible behavior that initially led us down this destructive path.

  I remain, however, cautiously optimistic that President Obama and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will realize what every American realizes: increasing our nation’s debt hurts our country’s future. Reining in spending is vital to the future of our children, to thousands of graduating college students looking for jobs, and to small business owners trying to provide for their families. We must continue to scale back redundant government agencies, identify waste, and begin to reform the tax code to make it simpler and fairer. I’m armed for this fight, and I will continue to uphold my conservative values on behalf of the people of the 19th District of Texas.

  

• Oversight Hearing To Examine CFPB Director Richard Cordray

  As you may know, I serve as Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. This morning, Mr. Richard Cordray, who President Obama recently appointed director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), appeared before my subcommittee to testify regarding the CFPB’s budget. The CFPB currently enjoys unprecedented access to funding through the Federal Reserve Bank and can draw as much as $548 million from the Federal Reserve’s budget. There is no law, committee or person with the authority to prevent funds from being paid to the CFPB. These are funds that would otherwise be going to pay down the national debt.

  This year, the Government Accountability Office estimates that the CFPB will hire a total of 883 employees and spend $330 million. It will take federal tax payments of more than 27,000 Texans to offset the cost of this agency just in 2012.

  I firmly believe that being pro-consumer does not equate to being anti-business. Smart, efficient regulation is both pro-consumer and pro-business. The CFPB has the opportunity to play a valuable role in this mission, but it cannot fulfill this goal simply by issuing one onerous regulation after another. Just as businesses are scrambling to compensate for the 11 million man-hours required by the first 155 rules of the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB’s first proposed regulation of 2012 added insult to injury. The initial CFPB rule is estimated to cost companies 7.7 million more man-hours every year. To put that in perspective, it took fewer total man-hours to build the Empire State Building.

  Today's hearing examined the CFPB’s budget in order to ensure that the CFPB uses public funds in a transparent, cost-effective way. The hearing also examined the CFPB’s policies and procedures for providing budget information to Congress.

  Click on the link below to view a CFPB Funds Transfer Request from the Federal Reserve System. The organization requested over $94 million "to carry out the authorities of the Bureau under the Act."

  CFPB Funds Transfer Request, FY 2012, Quarter 1 ( 02/15/12 12:51 PM PST )

• MF Global Blogger Call

  February 2, 2012

  I joined Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) in a conference call to discuss the second MF Global hearing, held by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Financial Services. Video courtesy of the Financial Services Committee.

• National Marriage Week

  February 7 through February 14 is National Marriage Week, a time for us to recognize the importance of the institution of traditional marriage. I am a firm believer in traditional, conservative family values. After being married to my high school sweetheart for almost 41 years, it is probably obvious that I believe in marriage!

  The institution of marriage as the social, legal, and spiritual union between a man and a woman has proven vital to the existence of society and the raising and protection of children. We must strive to teach a new degree of respect for the time-honored institution.

  This year, let us reassert our dedication to traditional marriage and create an environment that fosters and encourages marriage as the foundation of American families. I will continue to speak up for family values and support legislation that reaffirms the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman.

  
   

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