Capito Speaks to Mason County Chamber of Commerce

Op-Ed

Capito Speaks to Mason County Chamber of Commerce

Rep. Capito, with former State Senator Charles Lanham, addresses the Mason County Chamber of Commerce. Capito spoke about the need for policies that promote and encourage economic growth.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Over the last few weeks, I unveiled a new e-newsletter and I hope you've enjoyed the change. As you may have noticed, I now have the capability to include survey questions in my weekly updates. They help me to better understand your views and I encourage you to take a few moments to let me know your thoughts.

In addition to the surveys, I also encourage you to take a moment and update your personal profile via the link in the upper right-hand corner of this week's newsletter. By updating your profile, you help me to know which issues are of the utmost importance to you and your community. Of course, your profile is also password protected to ensure that only you control access.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with your thoughts on the newsletter, or any issue that you care about.

Last Week in Congress

As the nation marked tax day last week, Congress took action on a tax bill to curb waste and protect West Virginia jobs. The House also passed legislation to help preserve access to student loans.

Curbing Waste in Tax Bill

In an effort to cut waste and promote internal efficiency, Congress passed legislation to consolidate tax collection efforts within the IRS. Under this legislation, tax collection efforts will no longer be conducted by private organizations, but will be streamlined within the IRS.

IRS tax professionals - like the employees of the Martinsburg-based Enterprise Computer Center - will provide a more cost-effective method, while also protecting taxpayers from misdirected abuse, intimidating tactics and invasion of privacy.

Protecting Student Loan Funding

With passage of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loan Act, the House sought to forestall a student loan crisis before it occured. This legislation will help expand loan availability and provide flexibility to students and parents to ensure that West Virginia students have the resources to pursue their dreams in higher education.

Earlier this year, I joined my House colleagues in writing a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to express my concerns about the availability of student loans, and this legislation will help address those concerns. It's important that we do not let the credit crunch impact the ambitions of young people in our state.

Sincerely,

Member of Congress

In Case You Missed It...

Editorial: $5 bucks for a safer border?
Proposed bill a good start to immigration fix
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
April 11, 2008

It's a horrific problem that continues to escalate, affecting thousands — if not millions — of Americans in one form or another.

Something has to be done about illegal immigration. And our elected officials tell us that, often in a passionate diatribe conveniently caught on tape by television cameras that will air the expressive and sometimes explosive sound bytes on the evening news.

Yes, there seems to be a consensus something must be done. But that "something" tends to take no real shape or form, especially in an election year when candidates are eager to snare any and all votes, and make no voting bloc angry.

For those of us living in a region largely unaffected by illegal immigrants — in comparison to states such as Florida and Texas — the issue can, at times, seem a bit surreal...

After listening to political double-talk concerning illegal immigration for years, it was refreshing to see a bill aimed at slowing the tide of immigrants into America introduced last week by West Virginia's own Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican who is a member of the Immigration Reform Caucus.

Capito's legislation would amend the federal tax code to create a trust fund designated for improvements to barriers along the United States' southwest border.

The federal government must do more to address illegal immigration, Capito said, "and the first priority has to be better protection" along this southwest border.

Capito's legislation is fairly straightforward. Taxpayers would have an option of checking a box on their tax forms to contribute $5 to a Border Improvement Trust Fund. "The dollars in this fund could only be spent on improvements to physical barriers on the border that have been authorized by law, and the legislation does not increase taxes."

This bill will not solve the illegal immigration problem in the U.S. But it is a start — and one that allows average citizens fed up with the problem to contribute to a safer border, if they so choose.

Capito's bill is simple, and smart. Five bucks may not seem like a lot, but multiply it by thousands and it will quickly add up.

And, perhaps just as important as the funding, is the message it will send to other lawmakers. Many Americans are frustrated with the perceived do-nothing attitude in Congress concerning illegal immigration. If the average Joe is willing to fork over his own hard-earned cash to help fix the problem, maybe lawmakers will learn a valuable lesson about the importance of this issue to the American public

Source