Memorial Day is about remembering the individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice while defending our country. They have fallen, but their heroism and memory live on as we continue to fight each and every day to uphold the very principles they gave their lives to protect. I would like to extend my gratitude to all of those members of our Armed Services, past and present, and to their families for the incredible sacrifices they make. It is because of their bravery and determination that we are able to enjoy the freedoms we have today.
I was grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the 67th Annual National Memorial Day Celebration at Marietta National Cemetery, and hope you were able to pay your re-spects to our fallen heroes as well.
In advance of celebrating our troops, last week the House of Representatives passed several pieces of legislation to support our veterans. These bills are aimed towards provid-ing relief to our current veterans and honoring those of the past. They also ensure that they are given the proper treat-ment and benefits to which they’re legally entitled. For the service they have given our nation, it must remain a top pri-ority to honor the commitment we made to our veterans when they entered the military.
Other legislative initiatives were addressed as well, as the House took a vote on a bill to repeal yet another unnecessary slush fund created by Obamacare. H.R 1216 will save $220 million and restore the proper Constitutional authority to Congress to appropriate funds, a duty stripped out by Obamacare. The House also passed the National Defense Au-thorization Act that sets the priorities for the Department of Defense for Fiscal Year 2012. This legislation is critically im-portant, as it authorizes funds for our Armed Services and ensures they are equipped to defend our country at home and abroad. Read more about these bills in the next section of the E-Newsletter, “From Inside the Capitol.”
In addition to voting on legislation on the House floor, as the Chairman of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, I chaired the markup of a bill to eliminate an agency that was originally supposed to sunset years ago and costs American taxpayers $18 million dollars annually. This kind of wasteful spending is exactly why our nation is in the financial predicament we are in, and by passing legislation to eliminate unnecessary government programs we can start getting back on track.
This week, the GOP Doctors Caucus will address Medicare reform and point out the problems in President Obama’s plan, or lack thereof. As the Co-Chair of the Caucus, I feel it is our duty as doctors and legislators to ensure the American people are correctly informed and not simply subject to the scare tactics being employed by some of our Democrat coun-terparts. For more information, read the “Legislative Outlook” section towards the end of the E-newsletter.
I look forward to providing further updates on these items and other issues important to the 11th District.
Sincerely,
Phil Gingrey, M.D.
From Inside the Capitol
As I mentioned, there were several bills the House voted on related to veterans’ affairs. H.R. 1407, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011, makes the appropriate cost-of-living adjustment for veterans and assists with costs incurred due to disabilities. H.R. 1627, the Honor-ing American Veterans Act of 2011, ensures that monuments and memorials at Arlington National Cemetery are built and placed in a timely manner, so as to avoid bureaucratic delays during the process of honoring our U.S. troops. Finally, H.R. 1383, the Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011, aims to “grandfather” and improve legislation offered by the Democratic Majority last year that modified the Post-9/11 GI Bill to the point that it broke the promises made to student veterans seeking higher education at any school of their choice.
The House passed the National Defense Authorization Act to fund our nation’s defense, and did so under an extremely transparent process. This bill provides for America’s defense, while still remaining conscious of the fiscal challenges we currently face. And along the lines of fiscal responsibility, we also voted on H.R. 1216, a bill that revokes an automatic spending provision in the President’s health care law.
This vote was significant because our country is engaged in an epic budget debate and to allow for hundreds of mil-lions of dollars in automatic spending contradicts the demands by the American people to examine our spending hab-its. The bill will also repeal this automatic funding and right-fully restore the proper Congressional authority to appropriate funds that was stripped away by Obamacare, all while saving $220 million in taxpayer dollars.
Last week, I chaired the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight as we marked up and voted on a bill to terminate the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a federal agency created in 2002 that was to sunset years ago. The EAC is a classic example of what’s wrong with our government today. A temporary agency created in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election has lasted six years past its original sunset date at an annual cost of $18 million to American taxpayers. H.R. 672 – the Election Support Consolidation and Efficiency Act – is a small but necessary step towards reinstating fiscal sanity in Washington. It should en-courage us to continue looking under the hood of the federal budget to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted.
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