The Youcut Project

Statement

This week in Washington, House Republicans launched the "YouCut" project -- an innovative program designed to give voice to Americans fed up with runaway spending in Washington.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat Majority in Congress have consistently ignored the voice of the American people, choosing instead to rack up mountains of new debt through unbridled spending. Now YouCut empowers the American people to make their voices heard by voting to cut spending, eliminate wasteful programs, and promote fiscal sanity in Congress. Through YouCut, Minority Members are partnering with the American people for fiscal responsibility: we listen, you vote, and we act.

Each week, the YouCut webpage will feature proposed spending cuts. The American public can vote either online or by text messaging on their top priorities for cutting spending and saving taxpayer dollars. House Minority Members plan to use the featured spending cut with the most votes in legislation on the House floor.

This week's featured spending cut proposals include eliminating the Presidential Election Fund, taxpayer subsidized union activities, a Housing and Urban Development program for doctoral dissertations, and wealthier community receipt of Community Development Block Grant funds.

YouCut underscores the need to change the spendthrift mindset in Washington. Returning Washington to fiscal sanity will require ongoing decisions to reduce spending -- not increase taxation. YouCut brings spending reductions to the forefront of congressional debate, changing the question in Washington from "What can we spend?" to "What can we save?"

Sponsored by House Minority Leadership, YouCut is a project of the House Republican Economic Recovery Working Group -- a team of selected Members committed to developing solutions for job creation, smaller government, and growth in the free enterprise system. To cast your YouCut vote to reduce spending, click on the image above or visit my website at sessions.house.gov.

Guess What? Healthcare Law Costs $115 Billion More
On Tuesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released analysis showing that the healthcare reform law will cost $115 Billion more than originally estimated. This analysis follows a CMS Actuary report last month revealing that national healthcare costs will increase by $311 Billion over the next ten years. Costs will be even higher in the next ten year window because current figures rely on three years of taxation (revenue) before full healthcare reform implementation (expenditures).

In addition to the rising costs, the healthcare law is growing in unpopularity. Today, the National Federation of Independent Businesses -- the voice of small business -- announced that it would join 20 state attorneys general and governors in challenging in court the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law.

As you know, the healthcare law requires businesses with 50 or more employees to purchase government-approved health insurance or face a $2,000 fine per employee -- even if a full-time employee receives a premium subsidy and self-enrolls in a government-approved plan in the exchange. Additionally, employers who currently offer health coverage will face up to a $3,000 fine per employee if the federal government deems the employer-sponsored coverage "unaffordable" (not government-approved).

Small businesses are already struggling in this economy, and the onerous mandates in the healthcare reform law could force many small businesses to reduce employee hours, lay off employees or even close up altogether.

I commend NFIB for standing up for small businesses against this job-killing healthcare reform law. This law must be repealed and replaced with common-sense healthcare solutions that actually lower the cost of care and increase healthcare access for all Americans.

Trilogy Circuits Visit
On Monday, I visited Trilogy Circuits, a Richardson-based electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider, with several aerospace and military defense industry professionals. Representatives from General Dynamics, L-3, Raytheon, and Rockwell Collins accompanied me in viewing Trilogy's newly-expanded headquarters and production facilities and in hearing from the company's leadership regarding their commitment to excellence and upcoming plans for growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

In addition to viewing the new facilities, I presented Trilogy Circuits with a certification plaque recognizing their AS9100B Aerospace Quality Standard System Certification for printed circuit board (PCB) layout, fabrication, and assembly services. I was honored to be a part of recognizing Trilogy for this landmark achievement which signifies that they meet the high standards and requirements of the aerospace industry.

Trilogy's recent certification and newly-expanded facilities marks significant development for the company. During this time of continued economic distress and high unemployment, it is encouraging to see Trilogy Circuits expand: they predict a 20 percent increase in their workforce over the next year.

Trilogy Circuits is one of the fastest growing technology companies is the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has experienced 832 percent growth over the past five years. Trilogy is recognized in the local business community, as well as in the defense, aerospace, and semiconductor industries for its certifications and management. For more information on Trilogy Circuits, visit www.trilogycircuits.com.

MOWW Perpetual Membership
On Monday, I was honored as a Perpetual Member of the Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW), a national patriotic organization comprised of active, reserve, retired, and former service members. MOWW members Lieutenant Wes Gross, Captain John Hayes, and Lieutenant Colonel Don Munson welcomed me to MOWW as a Perpetual Member with a ceremony, membership pin, and certificate.

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have consistently worked with my colleagues to make certain that we provide proper support for our active and retired military members. In the past few years, I have been engaged in expanding care for soldiers suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury. I am deeply grateful to our active duty and retired military members for their dedicated service to our nation, and I am honored to be a Perpetual Member of the MOWW.

The Military Order of the World Wars is a national organization of American Military Officers, Warrant Officers, Flight Officers and their descendants of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For more information about MOWW and its members, visit www.dallas-moww.org.

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