Congressman Diane Black, A Grown Up Christmas List

Dec 27, 2014

CONGRESSMAN DIANE BLACK GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST.

Dear Friends,

The Christmas season is one of the most special times of the year. Our homes are filled with warmth and laughter, and we have time to reflect on God’s goodness and blessings, over the past seasons in our lives. As my six grandchildren will tell you,– it is also a time for making a good wish list! So in that spirit, and based on the conversations I have had with so many of you across our district, here is my “grown-up Christmas list” for Congress in 2015:

RELIEF FROM THE OBAMACARE TRAIN WRECK.

As approval numbers for Obamacare continue to sag, even leading Democrats are admitting to the law’s failures. Outgoing Senator Tom Harkin (Democrat-Iowa), for example, recently said of the law, “We had the power to do it in a way that would have simplified health care, made it more efficient, and made it less costly, and we didn’t do it.”

Conservatives took a bite out of Obamacare last week, with the passage of a funding bill that slashes the budget for the law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, and withholds $345 million in funding, from one of Obamacare’s chief enforcers: the Internal Revenue Service. There is more work to be done. Our dual Republican majorities will continue working next year, to dismantle and replace this legislative train wreck.

APPROVAL OF THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE.

Democrats in Washington have now slow-walked approval of the Keystone X L pipeline for more than 2,200 days. According to the Department of Energy, the Keystone X L Pipeline would move up to 830,000 barrels of oil through the United States each day, and a study commissioned by the President’s own State Department, found that the project would create 42,100 jobs. What’s more, the latest poll numbers show that 68 percent of Americans support this commonsense initiative. Earlier this year, the Democrat-controlled Senate, had a chance to finally follow the House’s lead and act on Americans’ priorities, by approving this project,—the bill failed by one vote. I’m encouraged that next year, our new Republican Senate, will make approval of the Keystone X L Pipeline one of its first priorities!

PRO-GROWTH TAX REFORM.

As our retiring Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp often says, today’s tax code, at more than 70,000 pages, is “ten times the size of the Bible with none of the good news.” It is an amusing comparison, but presents a serious problem to Americans who, spend a combined 6 billion hours and $168 billion each year, just to comply with our tax laws. That is why, earlier this year, Republicans in Congress put forth a conservative plan to reform our broken tax code. Specifically, this proposal would cut our income tax code by 25 percent and, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, create 1.8 million new private sector jobs. I am looking forward to building on these efforts in the new year, and advancing solutions that offer a fairer, flatter, and simpler tax code.

ENDING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S LAWLESS IMMIGRATION OVERREACH.

President Obama’s recent executive orders on immigration,- which will grant legal status and work permits to some five million illegal immigrants,- are an affront to the Constitution, and an insult to the sacrifices of legal immigrants. That is why last week’s omnibus measure only funds the Department of Homeland Security through February, – ensuring that we as conservatives save our strongest leverage against the President’s actions for next year, when we have the votes needed to roll back this overreach. In the meantime, I also signed my name to an amicus brief filed in federal court, by the American Center for Law and Justice in support of the 24 states, that have filed a lawsuit against the President’s actions. It is my hope that this brief will persuade the court to give a fair hearing to the states who are boldly challenging the President, and restore the separation of powers that was upended by his illegal maneuver.

I’m looking forward to sharing more with you about these efforts in 2015 but, for now, I want to wish you a joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

 

Diane Black

Member of Congress