e-News 12/12/14

• Congress Does Its Job…Finally
• Beware Obamacare "Individual Mandate"
• Don’t Get Obamacare Scammed
• Addressing the “Epidemic” of Veterans’ Suicides
• Protecting Jobs and New Jersey
• “Security Gaps…at American Posts”
• Salute: Congressional Gold Medal to the Civil Air Patrol

Congress Does Its Job…Finally

Last night, the House passed H.R. 83, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which responsibly provides funding for the entire U.S. government and avoids a costly and damaging shutdown. 

Under this comprehensive bill, the vast majority of agencies are funded through the end of the Fiscal Year, September 30, 2015.  However, operating funds for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are essentially frozen and provided under a temporary "Continuing Resolution" mechanism that expires in late February.  Following this route will allow DHS to continue to maintain essential security functions while giving the Congress the ability to revisit the President’s recent unlawful executive action on immigration early next year.

I wish that we did not have to be considering this huge, “catch-all” spending package.  However, when Harry Reid’s Senate failed to approve even a single one of the 12 annual appropriations bills, this was the only way we could do our duty under the Constitution to fund the government while increasing oversight and accountability.

The central part of the "Omnibus" package is the Defense Appropriations bill that my committee crafted earlier this year and the House passed overwhelmingly in June.  The compromise measure keeps faith with the two priorities I outlined earlier this year as chairman.

First, it ensures that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to defend our nation and support their families.  

Second, it ensures that the Department of Defense has the resources they need to carry out their critical mission in the most efficient and effective manner. 

The Omnibus legislation, approved last night, is a clear example of our commitment to U.S. military dominance across the air, land and sea and our commitment to our allies and partners.

I would also add that the measure includes Overseas Contingency Operations funding to combat the real-world threat posed by ISIL, al Qaeda and other extremist groups and other dangers presented by such crises as the West Africa Ebola outbreak.

Beyond the defense section of package, is this Omnibus bill perfect?  By no means!  But, as long as the Senate approves and the President signs it, H.R. 83 allows us to fulfill our Constitutional duty to responsibly fund the federal government and avoid a damaging and costly government shutdown.

Clearly, this is not the way the appropriations process should work.  But hopefully, with Republicans taking control of the Senate next month, we will be able to return to "regular order" and pass each of our spending bills individually while demanding of President Obama, his Cabinet and staff, greater accountability.

In a larger sense, I hope this week’s action will set the stage for a productive 2015 during which our friends and allies see American leadership again, rather than disengagement, ambivalence and an unwillingness to confront challenges in the Middle East and Russian and Chinese expansionism!

And, be assured in 2015 our focus will remain on job creation, cutting red tape, reducing the over-reach of the federal government and promoting economic freedom.

Beware Obamacare "Individual Mandate"

“The Obamacare law imposes a penalty on individuals who fail to have so-called minimum essential health insurance coverage for any month. This requirement is commonly called the individual mandate, and the penalty is the cost of noncompliance with the mandate. The bad news is the penalty can be considerably more expensive in 2015.” Writing forMarketWatch.com, Bill Bischoff has this must-read article.

Don’t Get Obamacare Scammed

Donna Fuscaldo, writing for Fox Business, reports that Obamacare scams, fakes and frauds are very real.  To protect yourself and your family, read her story here.

Addressing the "Epidemic" of Veterans’ Suicides

I met this week with Bonnie Carroll, an extraordinary woman of energy who remains devoted to our military families.  She’s the founder of TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, which offers compassionate care to all those grieving the death of a loved one serving in our Armed Forces. It is a private, non-profit organization which, since 1994, has provided comfort 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national peer support network, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

Among the issues we discussed was the alarming rate of suicide among our servicemen and women and our veterans.

The men and women who serve and protect this nation deserve timely, high-quality care from our VA health care system, especially in the area of mental health. 

With my strong support, this week the House passed H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.  The legislation is named after a 28-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq War who committed suicide in March 2011, even though he was working for a group dedicated to preventing suicide among veterans.

The bill is meant to improve and consolidate current suicide prevention programs in the VA and to eliminate those VA programs that have proved to be ineffective.  The measure also aims to attract more psychiatrists to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs, in order to make it easier for veterans to find the mental health care they need for PTSD, and to improve the exchange of anti-suicide training and best practices among the VA, the Defense Department, non-government veterans service organizations, and non-profit mental health providers.

Protecting Jobs and New Jersey

The House and Senate this week also approved a terrorism risk insurance bill that protects jobs and taxpayers, and removes uncertainty that could tie up new infrastructure projects.

Congress first passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA) in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 for fear that the lack of available terrorism insurance could harm economic development. Since 2002 this segment of the market has stabilized, risk management has improved, modeling has advanced, and premiums have decreased by 70%.

The TRIA Reform Act of 2014, passed Wednesday with my strong support, protects hardworking taxpayers by modernizing the Terrorism Risk Insurance program without altering the program’s fundamental functions.

You can read the debate on the bill here.

“Security Gaps…at American Posts”

The Wall Street Journal carried an important story this week about security at our embassies around the world.  Read “Security Gaps Detailed at American Posts, State Department Report Finds Failings at Facilities Beyond Benghazi” here.

Salute: Congratulations to the Civil Air Patrol upon receiving a Congressional Gold Medal to honor the valor and dedication of its members who saved countless lives during World War II, including many off the coast of New Jersey.  The New Jersey Wing has over 1,200 members today and provides emergency services including search and rescue! Many of the young men and women I have the honor to nominate to our military academies have been active members of the New Jersey CAP!