View from the Capitol - New Congress Edition Representative Vicky Hartzler, 4th Congressional District (MO) Dear Friend, This week, surrounded by family and buoyed by the well-wishes and prayers of friends and constituents at home, I was sworn in to the 114th Congress to represent Missouri’s Fourth District. It was with a mixture of awe, gratitude, and sober reflection of the historic responsibility that I raised my right hand and affirmed to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” There is much to do and I am excited about our prospects of getting things done now that we enjoy a majority in both the House and Senate that shares the same goals of getting America back to work, making government more efficient by reducing wasteful spending, and prioritizing national defense. The House wasted no time getting to work. We approved the Keystone XL Pipeline; we voted to restore the traditional 40-hour full-time work week; and we approved a bill to make hiring our veterans more attractive to employers. Construction of the Keystone pipeline is long overdue and, with a new Republican-controlled Senate in place, there is an opportunity to move forward. It has been more than four years since backers of the Keystone pipeline first submitted an application to the U.S. State Department to build this project that would create jobs and bolster our energy security. I urge President Obama to embrace this component of our ‘all-of-the-above’ energy policy that is expected to create thousands of American jobs and ensure America’s energy security. In another important vote, the House approved legislation to restore the 40-hour work week. The Save American Workers (SAW) Act, H.R. 30, would repeal the 30-hour definition of ‘full-time employment’ in President Obama’s health care law. The sad truth of the matter is that when the 30-hour provision took effect, employers sought refuge from the onerous government mandate by cutting workers’ hours. This presented a hardship for many working Americans who saw their hours reduced or who lost their full-time job, making them work two or more part-time jobs to compensate - and they still don’t have health care! The consequences of Obamacare’s full-time definition have hurt families in Missouri’s Fourth District and across the country. I look forward to the Senate joining the House in approving this common sense change to the law and sending the legislation to President Obama. On a related matter, the House approved the Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 which encourages employers to hire our honorable veterans and helps ease the penalty that small businesses incur under Obamacare for hiring more than 50 people by exempting veterans from being counted toward the 50 employee threshold. I am pleased to provide this help to our veterans and small businesses, but Obamacare is hurting many more people and I will continue to work to repeal and replace this onerous law. As we move forward, I have many goals I plan to work diligently towards in the new Congress. We now enjoy a Republican-controlled House and Senate for the first time in eight years; and since the elections in November, we have been moving forward since setting our conservative agenda and working with the Senate to set a course to rein in this president and get our country back on track. Now is the time to unite and fight the president’s policies and actions as a united team committed to advancing our conservative ideals and positive solutions. The focus must remain on fighting the president’s policies; not each other. That’s how we will be successful. We have much to do. Though some progress has been made over the last few years, too many families, by and large, are struggling to find work and their paychecks are buying less. We are paying too much for energy, healthcare, and we’re overburdened by onerous government regulations. At the same time, our country is facing a number national security threats from abroad. In the new session of Congress, my colleagues and I will be taking steps to address these issues. I discuss my goals and plan for the coming year and the new Congress in the video below: (Click on the picture to watch the video; or visit my YouTube channel at: bit.ly/1tGQFdd ) I am extremely honored and grateful that you have given me the chance to represent you in the People’s House for the next two years. I look forward to the great things we are going to accomplish together. Have a great week.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 20:37:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015