Walberg Weekly Wrap-Up

Press Release

WALBERG WEEKLY WRAP-UP

One week to go before House members return home for a weeklong Memorial Day district work period. I am looking forward to re-visiting every county in the 7th District during that week and meeting with many of you. In the meantime, allow me to provide a quick legislative update on recent developments in Congress:

Defense Authorization Bill Passes House

With strong bi-partisan support, the House passed a 2008 funding bill for the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy.

I voted for this bill that passed the House 397-27 because it properly supports the men and women serving in our Armed Forces and meets immediate war-time needs.

One particularly important aspect of this bill is $4.1 billion in funding for Army and Marine Corps Mine Resistance Ambush Protected vehicles. These vehicles will be used by soldiers in Iraq to defend against improvised explosive devices, which are the cause of many American soldier deaths.

Additionally, this legislation provides for an increase in basic pay for all members of the uniformed services and guarantees pay raises that are higher than what current law requires. The bill also upgrades the military system to ensure our wounded warriors are taken care of and directs Veterans Affairs to increase the number of physicians at VA hospitals.

Democrats Attempt to Change House Rules to Pass Massive Tax Hike

In January, Democratic leadership pledged to run the "most honest, most open and most ethical Congress" in history.

On Wednesday, House leaders attempted to change a 185-year-old House rule to dramatically increase taxes and government spending against the will of the minority party and, in my opinion, the American people.

Democrats wanted to change House rules in the middle of the session to prevent Republicans from even offering changes to legislation.

The ability of the minority party to offer alternatives has been a House tradition since 1822. These rules are based on a manual written by none other than Thomas Jefferson.

While Republicans ultimately were successful in preventing this historic rule change, unfortunately we could not prevent the passage of the Democratic Budget Resolution.

This budget, if passed by the Senate, would raise taxes by $3,019 per Seventh District resident, cost south-central Michigan 2,272 jobs and cost the Seventh District's economy $207,000,000, according to a recent study. Additionally, this budget plan does nothing to reform extremely expensive entitlement programs.

I still believe our best fiscal policy is to leave more resources with the hard-working people and small businesses that make our communities strong and to not increase taxes.

Senate Announces Immigration "Compromise"

One of the topics I receive the most feedback on from the 7th District is illegal immigration. This month alone I have received several hundred letters on the subject.

I have consistently stated that any and all attempts to enact immigration reform must not include amnesty for illegal immigrants. We do need a common-sense work permit system in our country, an increase in border security and an end to the bureaucratic red-tape in the immigration system.

This week, a group of Senators, along with the White House, announced a "grand compromise" on an immigration reform proposal that grants amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Although the full text of the bill has yet to be released, numerous members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have already expressed disappointment in the proposal.

My hope is that the leadership in Congress does not try to ram through a 1,000 page document without necessary debate and review by members of Congress. Unfortunately it appears the Senate will do just that.

Additionally, this bill provides illegal immigrants in-state tuition and the ability to get federally subsidized loans.

Most disappointing to me is that this bill takes away from where the real focus of this debate should be. We need to secure our borders and create a work permit program that meets the evolving needs of today's agriculture industry.

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