The Hill Report: Week of April 27 - May 1, 2015
Statement
This week the House passed the first joint budget with the Senate since 2001. For far too long Senate Democrats have hindered our ability to put forth common sense solutions to lower our nation's debt, balance the budget, cut taxes for American families, and get our nation's economy back on track. With the new Republican Congress we have managed to accomplish all of these goals. This budget balances in ten years without raising taxes, makes necessary reforms to our tax code to make it simpler and fairer, calls for a full repeal of ObamaCare, and provides for a strong national defense.
In addition to the budget, we also passed the first two appropriations bills for this year. On Thursday, we passed the FY 2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. This legislation provides critical funding for our military and military bases around the world to ensure they are equipped to carry out their missions successfully, while providing housing and services for the families of our men and women in uniform. In addition, this bill also boosts funding for our nation's veterans and provides the resources necessary to improve the unacceptable failures of the VA.
On Friday, the House passed the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Act of 2016. This legislation provides total funding at $633 million below President Obama's requested amount and responsibly allocates the funds necessary to build infrastructure and defense programs critical to our nation's safety.
Later on Friday, I was delighted to celebrate my dear friend and colleague Congresswoman Louise Slaugter's portrait unveiling in the House Rules Committee recognizing her service from 2007 - 2011 as Rules Committee Chairman.
Congressional Art Competition
This week I was delighted to congratulate the winners of this year's Congressional High School Art Competition during an awards ceremony at the Art Institute of Dallas. This year's competition included 23 entries from students representing 5 schools in the 32nd Congressional District. Prior to the awards ceremony, the Grand Prize winner and Runners Up honors were chosen by art instructors from The Art Institute and local artists based upon their interpretation of this year's theme, "America the Beautiful." The "People's Choice Award" winner was chosen by more than 500 individuals who participated in online voting through my website.
Zoe Castineiras, junior at Parish Episcopal School, was awarded the Grand Prize for her acrylic painting entitled "Desert." Her artwork will be showcased in the corridor leading to the U.S. Capitol building for the next year. I am delighted that visitors from across the country and other Members of Congress will be able to see firsthand the exceptional talent from the students of the 32nd Congressional District of Texas.
Runners Up honors were presented to Becky Groves, a senior at JJ Pearce High School, for her oil painting "Something for Everyone" and to Julie Torres, a sophomore at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, for her oil pastel painting "A Day Too Long." The People's Choice Award was presented to Sarah Kite, a senior at John Paul II High School, for her photograph "Just a Mild Day in Texas." The two Runners Up and the People's Choice Award artworks will be displayed in my Dallas District Office for the next year.
Meetings with Texans in the Capitol
On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of meeting with numerous community bankers from the District. Community Banks provide an astounding 51 percent of small business loans throughout the country, making them integral to sustaining economic and job growth. Unfortunately, too many Community Banks are closing their doors due to increased regulatory and compliance burdens imposed by the Obama Administration. This overregulation is harming economic growth and stifling small business expansion. I will continue to advocate for a reduction of these burdensome regulations.
Ben E. Keith Beverages
Tuesday afternoon I sat down with North Texas beverage distributors from the Ben E. Keith Company. As leaders in the industry, Ben E. Keith employs more than 1,200 people in Texas, operates 14 operation distribution facilities, and is now in its 108th year of serving Texas. Recently, however, the industry has been under attack as federal overreach tries to excessively regulate distributors and stifle growth and job creation. While the federal government plays a role in beverage regulation and taxation, it is a state-based system that maintains an orderly marketplace and effectively controls the production and distribution. Ultimately, I remain committed to ensuring the federal government does not burden small businesses with regulations and red tape.
Fraternal Government Relations Coalition
On Wednesday, I was delighted to meet with student representatives from universities across the country, including SMU and UT-Dallas, representing the Greek fraternity and sorority community. Focusing on public policy that impacts higher education, these students play a great role in keeping Congress informed of the day to day issues they face on college campuses across America. Furthermore, these young people serve as shining examples of the types of students that "go Greek". As a member of the Alpha Omicron chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Southwestern, I am proud of these young students and commend their service, philanthropy, and leadership.
The American Lighting Association
On Thursday, I met with representatives from the American Lighting Association, based in downtown Dallas. The American Lighting Association is a trade association representing the residential lighting and ceiling fan industries in the United States and its membership includes leading lighting and fan manufacturers, retailers, and designers. As the industry grows and continues to expand its use of energy-efficient products, it is vitally important that public policy does not interfere with the business.
Texas Orthopaedic Association
This week I had the opportunity to meet with orthopaedic surgeons representing the state of Texas. We were able to discuss surgical regulatory issues such as ICD-10 transition, 90-day global surgery payments, and current issues with electronic medical records. I look forward to discovering solutions to these issues affecting not only these surgeons, but many physicians around the nation.
The American College of Gastroenterology
Thursday morning I was able to spend some time with Dr. Dan Demarco from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, representing the American College of Gastroenterology. We discussed potential improvements in colorectal cancer screenings and physician reimbursements, including the importance of regular screenings for cancer detection and prevention.
Texas Tech University Health Science Center
Later on Thursday, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center met with me to confer about the growing issue of clinical research funding in the U.S. versus other countries. We also discussed potential cost-saving methods by reaching out to the FDA about longer-term prescription efficacies.
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