Americans deserve relief from unnecessary, excessive and costly government regulations. This week Republicans in the House voted to give Americans some relief and to rein in government abuse. Below you will find information about the bills we passed this week in the House including H.R. 3865 — a bill to stop the IRS from targeting Americans based on their political beliefs.
One of the greatest honors I have as a Member of Congress is to represent so many active duty military, veterans and their families at Ft. Bragg and throughout the second district. In this newsletter you will find information about some of the work I am doing to support our military, one of which is the TIME Act. I introduced the TIME Act this week to better protect our service members and veterans from being blindsided by changes made to their TRICARE coverage.
This week, Senator Harry Reid said Obamacare “horror stories” are “untrue.” It is hard to imagine how he could make such a claim considering all the Obamacare nightmares that have been reported since week one of its roll out. These nightmares have surfaced over and over again in the media, and many of us have even heard first-hand encounters from our friends and family members. Please continue to share your Obamacare experiences with me via my Facebook pageor through my website at Ellmers.house.gov.
On Thursday, I was honored to receive the “True Blue” award from Family Research Council. The award honors Members of Congress for their work in defense of faith, family & freedom. I am proud to represent the people of my district in all respects, but particularly when it comes to upholding some of the ideals our country was founded upon. The photo of this award can be found below.
If there is any way my office can assist you, please do not hesitate to contact us. It is always a pleasure to serve you. I hope you will share this information with your friends by forwarding this email and using the tools in the right sidebar.
Supporting Our Military and Veterans
There is no question that we need to reduce our spending, but we cannot do so at the expense of national security. This week, I released the following statement regarding the president’s proposed defense budget:
“The president’s proposed military budget is just that – a proposal. Here in the House, we hold the power to put forth and pass a budget, and we will continue to work diligently towards common-sense measures that will fund our military in ways that provide peace through strength rather than scorched-earth political calculations.”
“Even more alarming, this proposal seeks to reduce the size of our military at a time when threats to our homeland continue to increase, expand and evolve. There is no question that we as a nation need to reduce our spending, but we cannot continually reduce our deficit at the expense of national security.”
“As the proud representative of Fort Bragg, I will continue to work with our military to ensure that they have the resources to remain mission-ready as the dominant force for freedom throughout the world.”
For more information, click here to read my full statement.
Addressing Problems with TRICARE
This week, I introduced H.R. 4101 – The Timely Information Management Enforcement (TIME) Act to protect service members, their families and veterans from being blindsided by changes made to the TRICARE coverage. I released the following statement regarding the bill.
“Today I’m honored to announce the introduction of the Time Act. This bill addresses a problem facing tens of thousands of military members and their families who are left to navigate the bureaucracy of their health care benefits without adequate information and timely updates from their provider – TRICARE. For far too long, military families have been caught off guard by changes to policies and procedures regarding their benefits, leaving them ill-equipped to plan ahead and navigate their options effectively.”
After speaking with numerous military families and veterans, I learned of the inconsistency and lack of timely notification provided by TRICARE to its beneficiaries. The legislation mandates TRICARE notify all affected beneficiaries and providers of changes made to benefits that are provided by TRICARE no less than 90 days before the date on which the change covered is to occur.
H.R. 4101 takes into account that some changes to beneficiaries’ coverage provided by TRICARE may require more than 90 days to allow affected parties adequate time to understand and respond to changes made. To ensure beneficiaries are notified well in advance, the Secretary of Defense may determine if more than 90 days is required for notification. This particular section was written to provide the Secretary with the necessary flexibility to determine the appropriate time needed by beneficiaries and providers to adjust to a major change in coverage.
This legislation has been referred to the House Armed Services Committee.
Stopping Government Abuse
Here are some of the ways Republicans in the House are taking action to cut red tape and stop government abuse:
….CUTTING RED TAPE
- Unfunded Mandates Information & Transparency Act(H.R. 899) by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC): Increases transparency regarding the costs of unfunded federal mandates, and ensures that those affected have the opportunity to weigh in on new mandates. [READ THE BILL]
- Regulatory Accountability Act(H.R. 2122) by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA): Requires agencies to undertake a thorough cost-benefit analysis of proposed rules and choose the lowest cost alternative, and improves agency transparency and fact finding. [READ THE BILL]
- Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees & Settlements Act(H.R. 1493) by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA): Prevents government agencies and interest groups from circumventing the regulatory review process via “sue and settle” decrees that force agencies to impose new burdens on job creators without allowing those affected the opportunity to participate in the litigation process. [READ THE BILL]
- Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act(H.R. 2542) by Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL): Helps minimize the economic impact of new regulations on small businesses, and closes loopholes used by federal agencies to skirt compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. [READ THE BILL]
- ALERT Act(H.R. 2804) by Rep. George Holding (R-NC): Requires agencies to provide more timely and detailed information regarding proposed regulations, and prevents new rules from taking effect if they fail to do so. [READ THE BILL]
… REINING IN GOVERNMENT OVERREACH & PROTECTING TAXPAYERS:
- Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act(H.R. 3865) by Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI): Prohibits the administration from implementing new rules that would legalize the targeting of conservative groups, and allows the House to continue its investigation into IRS targeting practices. [READ THE BILL]
- Private Property Rights Protection Act (H.R. 1944) by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI): Helps protect private property from unjust government seizure. [READ THE BILL]
- Taxpayer Transparency & Efficient Audit Act(H.R. 2530) by Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-IL): Requires the IRS to notify individuals when their information has been shared with other government agencies, and places time limits on IRS audits. [READ THE BILL]
- Protecting Taxpayers from Intrusive IRS Requests Act(H.R. 2531) by Rep. Roskam: Bars the IRS from asking about religious, political, or social beliefs. [READ THE BILL]
- Unlocking Consumer Choice & Wireless Competition Act(H.R. 1123) by Chairman Goodlatte: Protects consumer choice by allowing individuals to unlock their cell phones without approval from their carrier. [READ THE BILL]
… INCREASING TRANSPARENCY & PREVENTING WASTE:
- FOIA Act (H.R. 1211) by Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA): Directs agencies to approach Freedom of Information Act requests with the presumption of openness, and requires agencies to justify withholding information. [READ THE BILL]
- Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act(H.R. 1232) by Chairman Issa: Overhauls the procurement management process for government products and services to help address waste and duplication that costs taxpayer dollars. [READ THE BILL]
- Taxpayers Right To Know Act(H.R. 1423) by Rep. James Lankford (R-OK): Helps identify and prevent government waste by requiring each federal agency to provide detailed, annual reports on its programs. [READ THE BILL]
- Taxpayer Transparency Act (H.R. 3308) by Rep. Billy Long (R-MO): Requires executive branch agencies to indicate when certain advertising and education materials are produced at taxpayer expense. [READ THE BILL]
The information above and more can be found here.
The “True Blue” Award
I was honored to receive the “True Blue” award from Family Research Council for my work in defense of faith, family & freedom.