Congressman Zeldin Votes in Favor of Key House Legislation During First Week in Office

Press Release

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, C- NY 1) was sworn in to office on Tuesday, January 6, 2015. During his first few days in office, Congressman Zeldin took to the House floor and voted in favor of several key pieces of legislation, including the Hire More Heroes Act, the Save the American Workers Act and the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Congressman Zeldin, member of the House Veterans' Affairs committee, co-sponsored and voted in favor of the Hire More Heroes Act (H.R. 22), which passed unanimously in the House this past Tuesday. The Hire More Heroes Act allows employers to exclude veterans who already receive health insurance through the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs from the employer mandate, a key provision of Obamacare, which requires all businesses with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance to any full time worker.

Under current law, veterans who already receive health insurance through the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs are still counted towards the employer mandate. The Hire More Heroes Act would allow those veterans to be excluded from this count. This would incentivize businesses to hire more veterans and would provide businesses with much-needed relief from Obamacare.

Congressman Zeldin, an Army veteran who currently serves as a Major in the Army Reserves said, "I'm proud to support and sponsor legislation that protects our veterans and helps them obtain jobs and financial security. This provision would encourage small businesses to hire veterans, while providing employers with relief from burdensome requirements under Obamacare."

The Save the Americans Workers Act (H.R. 30), which passed 252-172 in the House this past Wednesday, would repeal and replace the 30-hour definition of a full time employee under Obamacare's employer mandate with a 40-hour definition.

"The employer mandate has had a disastrous effect on employers and employees across the country," continued Congressman Zeldin. "The 30-hour definition of a full time employee is enabling too many employers to keep their employees under that 30-hour mark, in order to avoid the strain on their business of paying the high cost of health insurance for their employees. This in turn hurts employees and job seekers. Changing the 30 hour work week to a 40 hour work week is a commonsense way to improve our business climate."

Legislation supporting the Keystone XL Pipeline passed in the House this past Thursday by 266-153. This legislation would approve the TransCanada's application to construct, connect, operate and maintain the Keystone Pipeline, an oil pipeline which would run between Canada and the United States. The Keystone Pipeline will be one of the safest and most technologically advanced pipelines in North America. According to the State Department, the Keystone Pipeline project would create over 40,000 jobs.

Congressman Zeldin, member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, voted in favor of this project to improve our nation's infrastructure, job opportunities and energy independence.

"The Keystone Pipeline will create jobs and give our stagnant economy a boost it needs," Congressman Zeldin stated. "The pipeline will also increase supplies of Canadian and American crude oil, further strengthening our economy, while helping secure our energy resources."

After his first week in Washington, Congressman Zeldin is looking forward to a successful term in office, helping to grow our economy and create good paying private sector jobs, strengthen our nation's foreign affairs and veteran affairs, and improve our nation's immigration, health care and education policies."

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