E-Newsletter: The Hill Report: Week of October 14 - 18, 2013

Statement

This week, I joined my Texas Republican colleagues in voting against the Senate agreement that sought to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit. While it was important to open the government and avoid the potential of default, the Senate deal was a missed opportunity to address our long-term fiscal challenges and was a bad deal for the American people that I could not support.

As I have reported in recent newsletters, the House approved several bills over the last two weeks to continue vital services during the government shutdown. In the meantime, House Republicans repeatedly urged the president to come to the table to negotiate with us on a broader deal to open the government, lift the debt ceiling, and reform the drivers of our debt. Unfortunately, the Senate neglected to take up any of our legislation and the president refused to have meaningful discussions with the House Republicans. Instead of coming to the table to fix America's problems, Washington Democrats once again chose to continue to propel our nation down an unsustainable path.

North Texans deserve better than the damaging laws that they are used to seeing from Washington. ObamaCare will cost taxpayers $1.8 trillion while forcing Americans off of their preferred health insurance and onto plans that they do not want and cannot afford. Fortunately, the fight against ObamaCare and for a smaller federal government continues. As these debates move forward, I will continue to work on common-sense reforms that will reenergize our economy and stop the president's job-destroying health care law.

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