Blog: Meet the REINS Act, and this Year's Final SOS Bill.
Statement
On Wednesday, I introduced the final bill in this year's Shrink our Spending (SOS) program. This last bill would save you $804,000 by cutting funding for a ridiculous bit of government waste--Kiddio: Food Fight. This "game," currently under development by the NIH, would train parents to feed their children a certain way. I, for one, believe that parents are capable of knowing what is best for their children, and if this game would generate interest that remotely justified a $1.55 million investment, any of the plentiful video game companies would have gladly funded its production. The answer to childhood obesity rests with involved mothers and fathers, proper nutrition, and an active lifestyle--not wasting time in front of a screen playing video games.
On Tuesday, the House passed H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015, by a vote of 243-165. H.R. 427 requires Congress to pass, and the President to sign, a joint resolution approving any new major regulations issued by a regulatory agency before the regulation may take effect, instead of requiring Congress to disapprove of such regulations. Major regulations are those that produce $100 million or more in impacts on the U.S. economy. In regards to all new regulations--both major and non-major--the promulgating agency must submit to Congress and the Comptroller General a report including a copy of the rule, a statement regarding the rule, its classification as major or non-major, other related regulatory actions intended to implement the same statutory provision objective and their aggregate economic impact, and its proposed effective date.
On Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 3236, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice and Improvement Act of 2015, by a vote of 385-34. H.R. 3236 extends the programmatic and expenditure authority of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through October 29, 2015, in addition to making some changes to the VA Choice Program. I voted against this bill for a simple reason; House leadership often attaches so-called "must-pass" legislation to items that are controversial or misguided. That's what happened here. In this bill, the House extended the authority for the HTF for just a few months. These irresponsible actions just put off the hard decisions that need to be made to ensure the HTF is solvent in the long-term. It also forces Americans to face future, and greater, uncertainty in long-term infrastructure projects. No matter how much I would like to support changes to the VA Choice Program, leadership's joining this bill with a misguided transportation extension made it a poor choice.
On Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 1994, the VA Accountability Act of 2015, by a vote of 256-170. H.R. 1994 provides the Secretary of Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) increased flexibility in removing poor performing VA employees, provides improved protections for whistleblowers including restricting bonus awards for supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers, and strengthens accountability and performance measures for Senior Executive Service employees.
The House now stands in recess until September allowing Members of Congress to meet with our constituents and better learn the direction you want our nation headed in. Watch for an upcoming email from me that will outline my upcoming town halls. I look forward to seeing you in Arizona.
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