This Week’s Budget Bill: Back to ‘Regular Order’

Rodney’s Work on the Consolidated Appropriations Act

A COLA "Fix” for Disabled Military Retirees

The Week Just Passed: Overseas Trade = New Jersey Jobs

Rodney Welcomes Israel’s Envoy

“Attacks …in Benghazi could have been prevented”

This Week’s Budget Bill: Back to ‘Regular Order’

Showing that they still know how to ‘get things done’ for the American people, the House and Senate this week passed legislation that implemented the bipartisan budget agreement forged last month.

The President is expected to sign the package of 12 appropriations bills that will fund the operations of the government through the end of September. 

While certainly not perfect, the bill advances the cause of budget cutting and deficit and debt reduction. “For the fourth year in a row, the measure cuts federal discretionary spending, which has not happened since the Korean War,” Rodney said.  “Further, this legislation reduces funding to below the level when President Obama took office. That was not an easy task with the Senate controlled by the party of Harry Reid and a veto pen in the hand of the President.”

Another important aspect of the bipartisan budget agreement is a return to so-called ‘regular order,’ at least temporarily.

But what is ‘regular order’ and why is it important? 

“One of the basic tenants of a strong democracy is transparency and accountability,” Rodney said.  “Regular order means the President will soon present his budget for all to see, the House and Senate will develop their own budget resolutions, the Appropriations Committee will proceed with their rigorous oversight hearings before drafting and passing 12 separate government funding bills through committee and the House and Senate in an open and responsible process.”

Rodney pointed out that such a routine process is important for taxpayers and all government agencies, but particularly for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.  “As Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee I know that our military badly needs stability and predictability after years of budget uncertainty.  This return to ‘regular order’ will help them plan for the future and, at the same time, preserve private sector jobs with a more reliable and dependable appropriations process.”

Rodney’s Work on the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA)

As Chairman of the key Appropriations Subcommittee, Rodney and his team produced the largest section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), providing funding to advance our nation’s security, increase military readiness, and support for our troops and their families at home and abroad.

In total, the Defense portion of the CAA is $486.9 billion, virtually the same as the current operating level. This level denies the extreme cuts that would have occurred under the next round of sequestration – which would have had dire repercussions for our national defense, our troops and their families. The funding in the bill will support important DoD programs and projects, a pay raise for our troops, and a high level of military readiness.

The defense section also contains $85.2 billion for ongoing military operations in Afghanistan. This is a reduction of $2 billion compared to last year’s level. This funding will provide the needed resources for our troops in the field, the purchase of new aircraft to replace combat losses and combat vehicle safety modifications.

You can read the Committee Report on the Defense section here.

You can read the text of the CAA here.

A COLA "Fix" for Disabled Military Retirees

The defense portion of the CAA includes language that is important to medically retired military personnel and their survivors – an important provision fixing the Bipartisan Budget Act, to ensure that those who have given the most in military service – the approximately 630,000 medically retired personnel and survivors – receive their full yearly cost-of-living increase.

The Week Just Passed: Overseas Trade = New Jersey Jobs

“One of the keys to creating jobs here in the United States is generating new or expanded markets for our goods and services overseas.  This is particularly important in New Jersey where our economy is closely tied to the success of our Port of New York and New Jersey.  

“You may recall that I have championed the Harbor Deepening Project at the Port.  Why?   

“More than 90 percent of global trade, valued at over $1.7 trillion, moves by ship and our Port is the largest port on the East Coast of North America and the third-largest in our nation, behind only Los Angeles and Long Beach, California.  However, it faces competition from ports up and down the coast, including Baltimore, Norfolk and Savannah.

“Our Port is the economic engine of northern New Jersey, spurring more than $36 billion in economic activity each year. The Port is responsible for 279,000 jobs, representing $12 billion in annual wages.  Tens of thousands of people are directly employed along the piers, docks, warehouses, truck staging areas and rail yards at the Port, with thousands more working in New Jersey companies which depend on this vital asset.

“Now that the Harbor Deepening Project is approaching the ‘finish line,’ the Port is poised for success well into the future.

“That is important because Congress may soon consider legislation to grant the President Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) which enables him to negotiate trade agreements subject to an up-or-down vote by Congress.

“These trade agreements serve principally to bring the tariff barriers that other countries erect to deter their import of our goods.  U.S. restrictions are already relatively low.

“TPA would be an important tool as the U.S. continues Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations as well as free trade agreement discussions with the European Union, offering landmark opportunities to boost our exports. The TPP countries – which represent many of the fastest-growing economies in the world – accounted for 40 percent of total U.S. goods exports in 2012. And the EU purchased close to $460 billion in U.S. goods and services that same year, supporting 2.4 million American jobs.

“America’s record with free trade agreements is good. As former U.S. Trade Representative Bob Zoellick reports in this week’s Wall Street Journal, ‘America's free-trade partners account for about 45% of all U.S. exports, even though their economies amount to only 10% of global GDP. On average, in the first five years of a new free-trade agreement, U.S. exports grew three to four times as rapidly as U.S. exports to others…’

“TPA is a winning approach on many levels – it’s a bipartisan mechanism designed expand overseas markets for U.S.-made exports which will strengthen our New Jersey economy.

“Every President since FDR has sought trade promotion authority from Congress because they have all been convinced of the job-creating benefits of trade. Congress and the President should jump at the opportunity to help American businesses and workers by helping them sell overseas!

“The current President this week called for a 'Year of Action on Jobs.'  With nearly four million Americans unemployed ‘long term,’ trade is where he should start!”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended Reading:  Robert Zoellick, writing in the MondayWall Street Journal, “Leading From the Front on Free Trade. Republicans should make the case for Trade Promotion Authority, not fear giving it to President Obama.”  Read the Op Ed piece here.

Rodney Welcomes Israel’s Envoy

One month after he officially became Israel’s new envoy in the United States, Rodney welcomed Ambassador Ron Dermer to his Washington office this week. 

“The United States and Israel have an incredible number of shared interests in the military, intelligence, economic and energy arenas and it is important that our dialogue be constant, robust and very frank,” Rodney said.  “I had the pleasure of first meeting Amb. Dermer when I visited Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel this summer and looked forward to our continued partnership!”

Recommended Reading: Anne Gearan and Adam Goldman, writingin the Wednesday Washington Post, “Senate report: Attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi could have been prevented.”

Recommended Reading: “Picatinny Counters Unmanned Aerial System Threats”