Dave's Weekly Wrap: December 21, 2014

Statement

Friends,

With the holiday season in full swing, the 113th Congress has now come to an end. Before we look ahead to the new year, I wanted to take a moment to discuss the flurry of activity for us at the end of the Congress.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust

Former Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes used to sum up his offensive strategy in football with the phrase, "Three yards a cloud of dust". That plan meant that if you ran the ball and got three yards every play, those three yards lead to first downs, which lead to touchdowns, which lead to wins.

Well, I subscribe to that philosophy when I think about a lot of the legislation that comes before me, because the way I see it -- three yards isn't a compromise or a failure, it's progress. So, while the spending bill that came up for a vote in Congress last week wasn't perfect, it moved our country on the right path and included some important provisions that I want to tell you about:

It does not fund President Obama's executive action on immigration. I strongly disagree with President Obama's recent actions, but those unilateral mandates won't even go into effect until March. That's why this bill funds the rest of the government through September, and the Department of Homeland Security (which would implement these executive actions) only until the end of February. So we will fight the President on immigration in the next session when we have a new Republican Senate.

It provides no new funding for ObamaCare. In fact, we cut the Individual Payment Advisory Board, the group created by ObamaCare that could come between you and your doctor, by $10 million.

We cut the IRS Budget by $345 million, which is lowest level it has been since 2008.

We cut the EPA budget by $60 million, and we've reduced their staffing levels down to 1989 levels. Overall, since 2010, we've cut the EPA's budget by $2.2 billion.

As you can see, we managed to achieve strong conservative victories with a Democratic Senate and President. You can read more about some of the provisions in this legislation here.

Our Great Lakes

Last week, the House of Representatives approved my legislation formally authorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for five years. The five Great Lakes contain one fifth of the world's fresh water supply and GLRI is a group of programs to make sure this environmental and economic treasure is protected. My bill formally authorizes funding of GLRI at $300 million annually for fiscal years 2015-2019 and does not add any debt to the federal budget.

This is a huge victory for Northeast Ohio, because it means that we won't have to fight for the next five years to ensure there is enough money to preserve and protect our Great Lakes. They continue to be one of our world's greatest treasures, and there's going to come a time when water is the new oil, so we have to make investments to secure this important resource.

New Digs

Amid a busy week finishing up legislative business, we moved offices in Washington. We are now a few floors down in the same building, and located at 1124 Longworth. Please come see us if you are ever in Washington, Ken in our office is always happy to help set up tours of the Capitol.

If you haven't already, I hope you'll connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or feel free to send me a note on my website anytime.

Thank you and Happy Holidays,

Dave

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