Photo of the Week: During an Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing last week, I spoke with a panelist from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the poor implementation of Obamacare. I was able to question the effectiveness of using taxpayer money for a program that has operated on an inconsistent and unpredictable basis. Click here or on the photo above to watch the exchange with the panelist. As you know, agriculture is a hugely important industry here in …
Category: Press Release
White House Weekly Address: American Operations in Iraq
In this week’s address, the President detailed why he authorized two operations in Iraq—targeted military strikes to protect Americans serving in Iraq and humanitarian airdrops of food and water to help Iraqi civilians trapped on a mountain by terrorists. This week, the President hosted about 50 African Heads-of-State for the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, signed a bill to improve care for America’s veterans, and expanded flexibility for cell phone users.
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Passing Bills that Empower All Americans
Photo of the Week: I had the opportunity to speak with several members of the Republican Women’s Policy Committee at a press conference earlier in the week. We used this forum to discuss the important legislation that has been introduced in the 113th Congress to both assist and empower women. Click here or on the picture above to learn more about the bills we’ve passed so far. Weekly Update: This past week has been a whirlwind as members of Congress …
Obama Administration Achieves 2013 Small Business Federal Procurement Contracting Goal
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced that the federal government reached its small business federal contracting goal for the first time in eight years, awarding 23.39 percent in federal contracts to small businesses totaling $83.1 billion of eligible contracting dollars. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet made the announcement at a press conference held at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and U.S. Senator Ben Cardin,D-Md. “When we hit our small …
White House Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress to Help the Middle Class
The President discusses the new monthly jobs report and the fact that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in July for the sixth straight month – the longest streak since 1997. To ensure this momentum can be sustained, the President is pressing Congress to act to create jobs and expand opportunity from raising the minimum wage, to helping people pay back their student loans, to fair pay and paid leave. These are steps that would continue to make things …
Butterfield Statement on House Republicans Passage of a Resolution Authorizing Speaker Boehner to Sue the President of the United States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today issued the following statement after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a resolution, H. Res. 676, to allow Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans to sue President Obama for using executive authority to delay implementation of the employer mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act: “Never before in the history of the United States Congress has there been ‘institutional litigation’ between two equal branches of government. Passage of this resolution and …
Reps. Butterfield, Johnson highlight 49th Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Hank Johnson (D-GA) marked the 49th anniversary of the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid. President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law on July 30, 1965. “Forty-nine years ago, Democrats created Medicare and Medicaid; over nearly half a century, we have sustained them; now and into the future, we will protect them,” stated Rep. Butterfield. This spring, Republicans once again passed a House GOP budget that ends Medicare as …
Butterfield Joins Mayor Adam O’Neal for Final Leg of His 300-mile Walk from Belhaven, NC to Washington, DC
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) joined Mayor Adam O’Neal during the final leg of his near 300-mile walk from Belhaven, NC to Washington, DC. Republican Mayor O’Neal began his walk two weeks ago to protest the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid following the closing of the only hospital in the Belhaven region. Congressman Butterfield, co-chair of the new State Medicaid Expansion Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, applauded O’Neal’s efforts to bring attention to Medicaid …
White House: What Are “Inversions,” and Why Should You Care?
Monday, President Obama headed to Los Angeles Trade Technical College, where he’s calling for a kind of “economic patriotism” that’s based on investing in the things that we know grow the economy for everyone (like education and job training) — not protecting wasteful loopholes for a few at the top. And he’s calling attention to one kind of corporate merger deal in particular — called an “inversion” — a word you might be seeing in a lot of news headlines …
Legislative Update from Senator Burr
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the ABLE Act — a piece of commonsense, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Casey and me. Put simply, the ABLE Act would allow families with a severely disabled child the opportunity to save their own money in a 529 college savings account to help cover their child’s long-term expenses. Over three-quarters of the Congress has added their names to the ABLE Act as cosponsors, including both the Majority and Minority …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Improving Access to Education
Photo of the Week: I had a blast meeting with the Chapman family from Raleigh in my office on Thursday. Talking to these young ladies was a bright spot in the midst of a very busy week. They were visiting D.C. during summer vacation and a member of my office gave them a tour of the Capitol! Weekly Update: There has been a historic exodus of Americans from the workforce. While unemployment sits at 6.1 percent, it would actually …
Butterfield Applauds Former NC Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson on Appointment to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today applauded the appointment of former North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. As a Commissioner, Justice Timmons-Goodson will join the 8-member panel in informing the development of national civil rights policy and in enhancing enforcement of federal civil rights laws. “Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson possesses the experience, judgment and integrity to advance the mission of the Commission in developing sound civil rights policy and …
White House Weekly Address: Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes
In this week’s address, the President continued his call for our nation to rally around an economic patriotism that says rather than protecting wasteful tax loopholes for a few at the top, we should be investing in things like education and job training that grow the economy for everybody. The President highlighted the need to close one of the most unfair tax loopholes that allows companies to avoid paying taxes here at home by shifting their residence for tax purposes …
Reps. Butterfield, Johnson Launch New State Medicaid Expansion Caucus
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) and Hank Johnson (GA-04), along with more than 30 House colleagues, announced the formation of the State Medicaid Expansion Caucus during a press conference earlier today. Although the caucus will work to amplify all Medicaid-related issues, they will emphasize the need for recalcitrant states to expand Medicaid via floor speeches, op-eds, social media posts, briefings and events. “Expanding Medicaid will ensure access to health care for millions of low-income Americans, said Johnson. …
Legislative Update from Senator Burr
Last Monday, the VA Office of the Inspector General (IG) released a report on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) two-year-old claim initiative. This initiative was purportedly started by the Department to process long-pending claims more quickly. I requested this latest report, along with several other Senators. The IG report confirmed that VA’s ‘fix’ to its backlog process was just smoke and mirrors– another example of VA manipulating the data to make it appear as if veterans are being well …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Committed to Jobs
While the president continues to parade around the country boasting about his work, the House continues to pass bills that will create jobs and get our economy back on track. Yet there is still much more to accomplish, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that last month was the worst June on record for full-time employment growth. Rest assured, however, that the House of Representatives has been hard at work to put Americans back to work. Just this week …
White House Weekly Address: Equipping Workers with Skills Employers Need Now and for the Future
In this week’s address, the President discussed the importance of ensuring that the economic progress we’ve made is shared by all hardworking Americans. Through his opportunity agenda, the President is focused on creating more jobs, educating more kids, and working to make sure hard work pays off with higher wages and better benefits. This week, the President will visit a community college in Los Angeles to highlight the need to equip our workers with the skills employers are looking for …
Butterfield: Wilson County Early Voting Plan will Disenfranchise Voters
Wilson, NC – Today, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) sent a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) asking they approve an early voting plan that does not restrict voters’ access to the polls. Yesterday, the Wilson County Board of Elections approved an early voting plan that excludes Sunday voting and does not provide for any early voting sites outside of the City of Wilson. This misguided decision was made at a public meeting where residents were …
Legislative Update from Senator Burr
This week the Senate spent most of the work period on S. 2363, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014. I introduced two amendments to the bill – an amendment that would help stop federal restrictions on access to North Carolina’s beaches and an amendment to protect the Corolla wild horses. You can read about each of these amendments here: Senator Burr Offers Amendment to Ensure Access to Outer Banks Beaches Senator Burr Offers Amendment to Protect Corolla Wild Horses …
Congresswoman Renee Ellmers: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Jobs at the Forefront: Ever since I first took office, I’ve been working to make your priorities known in Congress. Creating jobs to get Americans back to work continues to be the focus of our work in the House of Representatives. This past week, the House made job creation and economic growth a reality by passing three separate jobs-bills: 1) The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act– This bipartisan, bicameral agreement helps workers acquire the skills and education they need to …