Dear Friends,
We are entering an exciting and rare time in our country's history. Only four times before has a Republican president been sworn into office with Republicans in control of the House and the Senate. This president has an opportunity to take the blueprint that we in Congress have laid out for him and truly "Make America Great Again."
Over the past six months we have laid out our plans to create economic growth, tackle border security, enhance our national security objectives, fix the broken tax code, address the needs of citizens living in poverty, and restore constitutional authority granted to Congress under Article 1 of the Constitution.
We can be optimistic about our government moving forward, not just because of the historic makeup of our government come January 20, 2017, but also because of what was accomplished over the past two years.
Through Republican control of both the House and Senate, the past two years in Congress were the most productive of the past eight.
We passed 740 bills out of committee (a 13 percent increase over the 25-year average). We passed over 600 bills out of the House, 212 of which were also passed in the Senate (a 84 percent increase over the previous Congress when Democrats were in control of the Senate), and 219 bills were enacted into law (a 22 percent increase from the previous Congress). 600 bills were passed on the House Floor (a 33 percent increase from the previous Congress, nearly a 30 percent increase on the 20 year average).
Included in the House-passed bills are one that address the tragedy of veteran suicides (signed into law), one that addresses the pervasive lack of accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs (passed the House and being held up by Democrats in the Senate), one that eliminates excessive regulations on our Nation’s small businesses that hinder our economic growth (passed the House and being held up by Democrats in the Senate), one that lifts the 40-year ban on crude oil exports (signed into law), one that blocks the president’s attempts at closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (signed into law), one that fully funds our military at the levels needed to win the Global War on Terror (signed into law), and the first highway bill since the Bush Administration (signed into law).
Washington is rightly criticized for being too reactive and rarely proactive. However, already, we have outlined the challenges facing our great Nation, and begun crafting real solutions designed to solve them.
But, as optimistic as I am about our plan for the next Congress, I—like many of you—still remain frustrated with the rules and process—or lack of thereof—in Congress. I have told the Speaker repeatedly that we need to go through regular order and move all appropriations bills.
Until we do this, we can’t effectively advance policies that grow our economy, support our national security, and effectively eliminate wasteful spending and unnecessary, overly-burdensome regulations at our federal agencies. In both years of this Congress, the House has passed every single appropriations bill out of Committee.
Two-thirds of the federal government’s budget is also tied to mandatory spending, in other words, programs that are on autopilot spending and don’t require annual Congressional approval, like our appropriations bills. While our nation's discretionary spending remains at least somewhat steady throughout the next decade with comparably slight increases, our mandatory spending will nearly double to over $4 trillion per year, and the net interest on our debt will skyrocket, nearly quadrupling to $830 billion annually and leaving a $30 trillion national debt that future generations of Americans will have the burden of paying.
Our country's hardworking retirees have paid into these mandatory programs of Medicare and Social Security, and these programs are promises that the federal government has made to hardworking American taxpayers who have earned these benefits. We must honor our commitments made over the years. Today, however, young Americans that pay into these programs have no assurance that the benefits will be there at the time of retirement, and future presidents and the Congress are faced with the challenge of preserving these programs for current beneficiaries and ensuring they remain viable for future generations. We must act now to find a way to effectively address the growth of these mandatory spending programs and begin to drive down our national debt and deficit.
Americans should recognize an increase in Congress’s effectiveness in passing legislation and working through appropriations at the Committee level, but they still should demand we be better in 2017 about moving the appropriations ball entirely across the goal line. With a Republican president and a Republican Senate, the Better Way Agenda and the use of the appropriations process to get government spending back in check can be achieved. I am looking forward to continuing to work on your behalf to ensure that Congress is fulfilling its obligations to the American people by reducing spending, winning the War on Terror, and growing our economy.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill |
