Issue Position: House Republicans Have Been Working Hard to Get this Country Back on the Right Fiscal Track

Issue Position

GETTING WORK DONE

House passed 7 of 12 Appropriations bills
Full Committee passed 11 of 12 bills
Subcommittees passed all 12 bills

FULFILLING REPUBLICAN COMMITMENTS

No earmarks in any bill
Domestic bills below FY09 spending levels
Continued roll-back of federal discretionary spending--cutting an additional $15 billion
Republican bills will cut total domestic discretionary spending three years in a row -- reducing spending by more than $110 billion from FY10 to FY13

OVERVIEW OF EACH OF THE HOUSE-PASSED APPROPRIATIONS BILLS

WHAT I'VE DONE TO CUT SPENDING AND REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:

I am fiscal conservative, and have consistently voted to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. In the 112th Congress, I've voted to reduce:
Authorizations by: $231,196,200,000
Mandatory Spending by: $985,091,000,000
Revenues by: $1,083,156,000,000

I've supported legislation that would begin to rein in runaway spending and reform entitlement programs, including:
The Ryan Budget (H.Con.Res 34), which would trim $6.2 trillion from the federal debt over ten years as compared with President Obama's FY12 budget.
Cut, Cap and Balance (H.R. 2560), which would immediately trim $111 billion from FY12 discretionary spending and cap future spending just under 20% of GDP by the end of the next ten years. These caps would save $5.8 trillion over ten years.

As a staunch fiscal conservative, I have strenuously opposed spending increases regardless of who has occupied the Oval Office.

I voted against $2.3 trillion in new spending during the Bush Administration, including:
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program -- $1.2 trillion over 10 years
2008 TARP Bailout -- $ 787 Billion
2002 Farm Bill -- $104 Billion
No Child Left Behind -- $24.4 Billion in NCLB-tied funding

To date, I've voted against $7 trillion in new spending during the Obama Administration, including:

H.R. 3590 -- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- $1.3 trillion
H.R. 1 -- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) -- $787 billion
H.R. 3961 -- Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act -- $200 billion
H.R. 4213 -- Unemployment Compensation Extension Act -- $34 billion
H.R. 4173 -- Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Bill -- $10.2 billion
H.R. 5297 -- Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 -- $3.371 billion

In 2010, the House Republicans instituted an earmark moratorium. An "earmark" is money that an individual Member of Congress requests for an individual project. Banning earmarks does not reduce federal spending. All it does is leave decisions on how to spend your tax dollars to unelected bureaucrats in backrooms of federal agencies. I support an open and transparent earmark process in order to ensure that tax payer dollars are being spent responsibly on worthwhile public projects. To see the appropriations projects I have submitted and received funding for since I was elected to Congress, please select the links below.

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