Washington Watch - 8/3/15

Statement

SHINING A LIGHT ON OBAMACARE

In each federal agency, there is an Office of the Inspector General which is staffed by independent investigators tasked with ensuring that the agency is complying with its mandate, performing its duties effectively, and cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse. What you might not know is that there is no Inspector General to oversee how our government is implementing one of the most extensive and expensive laws of our time -- the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Because this law is so pervasive and has its tentacles in numerous federal agencies, there is no one place to go get a full picture of how this law is helping or hurting America. That's why I joined my colleague, Representative Peter Roskam (R-IL), in cosponsoring H.R. 2400. This measure creates a Special Inspector General for the Affordable Care Act specifically to oversee the Act's implementation and to keep an independent eye on the Obama Administration's handling of our health care. While other Inspectors General are trying to do this already, a one-stop-shop for answers is a big step forward from how the Administration is operating today.

You've probably heard it before, but sunlight is the best disinfectant. Yes, I still believe that the President's healthcare plan is destroying patient choice and undermining what was once the best healthcare system in the world, and yes, I would still like to see the President sign one of the many bills that the House has passed to repeal the destructive aspects of he ACA. Until he does, though, it is my hope that the sunlight shone on the ACA by a Special Inspector General will give all Americans more faith in their government and make it clear to the thousands of bureaucrats implementing this law that America is watching and demands full accountability for their actions.

MORE SUPPORT FOR LOCAL EDUCATORS, PARENTS, AND STUDENTS

As many of you know, the House recently passed H.R. 5, the "Student Success Act," which reforms and reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). As I said at the time, I would have preferred to see H.R. 5 do more to remove the federal government from public schools in the Seventh District. To that end, this week I became an original cosponsor of H.R. 3421, the "A-PLUS Act," a bill that would allow states to opt out of federal education programs and direct federal education dollars wherever state and local education leaders see fit. I applaud my colleague Representative Mark Walker (R-NC) for introducing the A-PLUS Act, and I look forward to working with him and the other 44 House cosponsors to generate more support for rolling back federal involvement in our nation's classrooms.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OVERSIGHT

Last week I signed letters directed at various government officials that will interest many of you. When the Administration begins to take steps that Congress hasn't authorized, the first step in turning back that effort is to contact the agency involved. Sometimes, the agency refuses to be reasonable and legislation is required to get them back in line. But often, we can solve the problems as they are developing, and that is why I sent letters to several agency heads this past week.

The first was a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding its most recent attempt to unilaterally rewrite ERISA's fiduciary definition. The Obama Administration has been trying for years to push this particular rule change through the regulatory process, but concerns from members of Congress and the American people that the proposed changes would make it more difficult to save for retirement forced the DOL to withdraw each of the previous proposals. Well, the DOL is at it again, and its most recent proposal isn't all that different from those that came before it.

That sentiment was echoed in a comment letter recently filed with the DOL by our friends and neighbors over at Primerica, a Duluth-based company that provides investment products to many middle class Americans. In its letter, Primerica notes that the new rule "will cause significant harm to middle-income individuals and families by restricting their ability to save for retirement." This proposed rule is just another example of how the Obama Administration's regulatory overreach is hurting Americans, not helping them. I have had some success pushing back some of these misguided regulatory efforts in the past, but there is much more work to be done.

I also added my name to a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative in support of American farmers. The U.S. Trade Representative has been encouraged to treat tobacco exports differently than other legal agricultural exports during free trade agreement negotiations -- meaning that American farmers would lose access to markets overseas. I understand that tobacco products can lead to health problems, but our trade representatives are not empowered to make those judgments. I worry that adverse treatment of tobacco exports today would lead to future Administrations singling out other legal exports tomorrow, such as red meat, coal, or sugar, whose consumption is associated with increased risk of developing health problems. The United States is the fourth largest producer of tobacco in the world, and Georgia is one of three states (along with North Carolina and Kentucky) that accounts for 80% of America's total production. I will insist that our trade negotiators work not just for some of Georgia's farmers, but for all of them.

Thinking now about the very busy Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- they are at it again, this time under the guise of updating the 2008 ozone standard--known as the "National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)." While we all need clean air, this regulation has the potential to be the most expensive regulation ever promulgated. Forsyth and Gwinnett counties are still working to meet the tough 2008 standards, and businesses and consumers alike across the nation will pay a serious price if these standards are lowered even further. Even pristine National Parks like Yosemite wouldn't be able to meet these new standards! The fact is, the EPA's own data shows that the air is cleaner today than it has been in the last three decades, and the current standard has yielded important progress by reducing current ozone levels by 20 percent over the last decade. It is irresponsible for the EPA to set new standards before allowing full implementation of the current ozone standard, and the letter I sent this week expresses that.

HOLDING CIVIL SERVANTS ACCOUNTABLE TO OUR NATION'S HEROES

From the employees working at the Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic here in Lawrenceville to those working at VA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Congress wants to make sure that all VA employees are serving our veterans to the best of our ability. That's exactly why the House passed HR. 1994, the "VA Accountability Act of 2015." While dedicated, hard-working employees at the VA should be rewarded, the converse of that should also be true. For those employees who do not perform at the level we require of them, there should not be any bureaucratic roadblocks to removing them from service. H.R. 1994 does that by giving the VA Secretary more flexibility to remove poor performing employees, while also providing additional protections to the brave whistleblowers who help uncover mismanagement and misconduct. Unfortunately, it seems that the President is once again siding with labor unions, and he has threatened to veto this common-sense bill. It disturbs me that politics is getting between our veterans and the care that they deserve. With the lives of many veterans hanging in the balance, the stakes are simply too high to continue to permit negligent employees to serve America's veterans.

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