Congressional Update

Howdy Texans!

The primary topics on most Americans' minds at this time are the federal government shutdown that began on October 1st and the debt ceiling deadline on October 17th.  In this newsletter, we will start by discussing what House Republicans are fighting for with respect to these two issues.  We will also discuss what caused the shutdown, the actions taken by the House to prevent it and to reopen the government, the timeline of recent activities, and the potential paths forward.  In addition, we will discuss The American Health Care Reform Act, a Conservative alternative to Obamacare.  We are also announcing that we started accepting nominations for the TX-17 Congressional Veterans Commendation award.

What We Are Fighting For:
Simply stated, we are fighting to stop or reduce the adverse impact of Obamacare on hardworking American families.  In addition, we are fighting to create a less costly, more efficient, and more accountable federal government.  We are also fighting to reform federal government programs so that we can balance the budget and reduce the impact of a growing federal debt on our children and grandchildren.

A large majority of Americans are against Obamacare.  They want it stopped, and if not stopped, they want it delayed in whole or in part.  In addition, if it goes into effect, over 90% of Americans think that leaders in Washington should be subject to Obamacare.  President Obama must at least partially agree; because even though he lacks legal authority to do so, he has already unilaterally waived nearly a third of the law, carved out over 1,200 special waivers and exemptions for corporations and his political allies.  In addition, he has delayed significant portions of the implementation of Obamacare and he protected Congress from the full impact of this law by giving them subsidies that were not included in the original law.

In contrast to President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Republicans remain opposed to Obamacare and will continue to try to stop the law, even if it takes months or years.  In the meantime, we ask two simple questions—first, why not delay Obamacare for one year for everyone; and second, if this law is not good enough for the president and Congress (without subsidies) for their health coverage, why should any American be subject to it?  Our fight over the Continuing Resolution (CR) is about more than funding the government, it is also about priorities. In order to do this, we have included two provisions with the latest CR (1) to delay the Obamacare “Individual Mandate” for a year (just like the one-year “Employer Mandate” delay that the president gave to corporations) and (2) to force Congress and elected and appointed White House personnel to be subject to Obamacare just like all other Americans. Our belief is that if the president thinks that Obamacare is good enough for all Americans, then he and the vice-president should have been the first two persons to sign up for it on October 1st.

No House Republican supported a government shutdown. Between September 20th and early October 1st, the House passed four CR’s to fully fund the government at levels similar to those included in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (i.e., at “post-sequester” levels).  Each of those CR’s was rejected by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democrats and the federal government shutdown.
 
In addition to the actions that the House is taking to address federal funding for fiscal year (FY) 2014 (started October 1st), we are working on solutions to deal with the upcoming debt ceiling deadline.  We believe that our country’s future will be hurt by ever increasing levels of debt and we remain focused on reforms to address all federal spending so that we can get the federal budget on a path to balance in 10 years.  During the last few weeks, the president has repeatedly said that he will not negotiate on the debt ceiling and that he wants a “clean” debt ceiling increase.  Two key factors stand in the way of his desires—first, the Constitution clearly points out that the authority to deal with the debt ceiling belongs to Congress, and second, almost 60% of Americans do not want the debt ceiling increased without meaningful spending reforms.  Accordingly, the House is committed to deal in a mature, responsible manner regarding the debt ceiling and we have pledged to include spending reforms and economic growth reforms in any legislation to increase the debt ceiling for more than a few weeks. 

What Caused The Shutdown:
Each year Congress passes appropriations bills to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year beginning on October 1st. Under a process known as “Regular Order”, each of the House and Senate pass those appropriations bills, each of which is intended to fund specific parts of the federal government.  Following passage of those bills by each chamber, the bills are reconciled, passed, and sent to the president to be signed into law. 

This year, over the course of the spring and summer, the House Appropriations Committee worked diligently to draft and to consider appropriations bills for fiscal year 2014 (beginning October 1, 2013).  In addition, the full House passed a number of those appropriations bills.

Unfortunately, as October 1st drew closer, it became obvious that the Senate would not pass ANY appropriations bills for FY 2014.  This behavior has been the pattern of the Senate for the past several years.  Noting the Senate’s inaction on this important Constitutionally required function, the House immediately began working on a CR to fund the government for a short period while all parties worked together to develop a longer term funding solution and to deal with the upcoming debt ceiling.  On September 20th, the House passed its first CR to fully fund the government and to defund Obamacare; the Senate rejected this CR.  The House then passed the same CR, but with a provision to delay all of Obamacare instead of defunding it; the Senate rejected this CR.  Still trying to avoid a government shutdown, the House passed the same CR, with a provision to delay only the Individual Mandate section of Obamacare for one year and to require that Congress and senior White House personnel be subject to Obamacare like all other Americans.  The Senate also rejected this CR a few minutes before midnight on September 30th and the government shutdown due to the lapse in appropriations for FY 2014.  Even though it was now past midnight on October 1st , the House tried once again to reopen the government by passing the immediately preceding CR with the two Obamacare provisions and with a third provision to call for the House and Senate to immediately appoint negotiators to attempt to deal with the differences between the two bodies.  The Senate rejected this CR mid-day on October 1st.

House Actions To Reopen The Federal Government:
After the Senate killed the fourth CR from the House, House Republicans began to work to reopen the federal government through a process similar to the “Regular Order” process discussed above.  We are doing this by passing a number of small appropriations bills, each of which is intended to reopen specific essential parts of the government.  As of the end of today, the House has passed 16 of these bills, including a bill to pay our military men and women during the shutdown period. These bills are discussed in more detail in the Timeline section below.  Fortunately, the military pay bill was passed by the House and Senate with support of Republicans and Democrats and has been signed into law by the president.  In the aggregate, the bills that have passed represent over 1/3rd of the funding levels included in the original House passed CR’s.  It is interesting to note that over 25% of House Democrats have supported one or more of these small appropriations bills. Even though each of these House appropriations bills have passed with bipartisan support, the Senate has failed to act on any of them (except for the military pay bill and military family benefits bill, which they passed).

Senate Actions To Reopen The Federal Government:
It is interesting to note that while the House was busy working over the last two weeks to get essential parts of the government funded and reopened, the Senate took minimal actions—such as to designate October 7th -13th  as “National Chess Week” and the second was to set “rules pertaining to individuals operating commercial motor vehicles with sleep disorders.” As noted above, under the leadership of Senator Reid, the Senate has rejected all but one of the House appropriations bills, and they are refusing to even negotiate with the House on any issues of importance to hardworking American families.

Timeline Of Recent Activities:

September 20
- House Passes CR No. 1 - H.J. Res. 59 - Protects the Full Faith and Credit of the United States, fully funds the Government while permanently defunding the President's unworkable health care law.
- RELEASE: Flores Votes to Stop Obamacare
 
September 27
Senate Rejects CR No. 1 - H.J. Res. 59 - Senate sends shorter-term CR, stripped of Obamacare language, by a party-line vote back to the House.
 
September 29
- (1) House Passes H.R. 3210 - The Pay Our Military Act. - Ensures that active-duty military, DOD employees and certain Pentagon contractors continue to receive pay.
- House Passes CR No. 2 - H.J. Res. 59 - Paulsen Amendment - Extends the length of the CR back to the original 75-day length, and repeals the Medical Device Tax.
- House Passes CR No. 2 - H.J. Res. 59- Blackburn Amendment - Extends the length of the CR back to the original 75-day length, and delays implementation of Obamacare for one-year.
- RELEASE: Flores Votes to Keep Federal Government Open, Fund our Troops and Delay Obamacare 

September 30
- Senate Rejects House CR No. 2 - H.J. Res. 59 - Tabling both amendments and resubmitting a carbon copy of Senator Reid's initial offer.
- House Passes CR No. 3 - H.J. Res 59 - Includes one-year delay of the individual mandate and repeals the Obamacare exemption for White House staff, members of Congress and their staff.
- Senate Rejects CR No. 3 - H.J. Res. 59 - Senator Harry Reid sends the exact same offer to the House for the third time.
- Senate Passes H.R. 3210 - The Pay Our Military Act. (Unanimous Consent)
- President Obama signs into law H.R. 3210 - The Pay Our Military Act.
- RELEASE: Flores Statement on Senate Passage of Pay Our Military Act
- RELEASE: Flores Votes to Keep Federal Government Funded 

October 1
- House Democrats Reject H.J. Res. 70 - Keeping national parks and museums closed, even to WWII veterans.
- House Democrats Reject H.J. Res. 71 - Withholding local funding for the District of Columbia.
- House Democrats Reject H.J. Res. 72 - Abandoning U.S. veterans by refusing to fund their benefits.
 
October 2
- (2) House Passes H.J. Res. 70 - Keeping national parks and museums open.
- (3) House Passes H.J. Res. 71 (Voice Vote) - Providing funding for the District of Columbia.
- (4) House Passes H.J. Res. 73 - Providing funding for the National Institutes of Health, which conducts life-saving cancer research.
 
October 3
- (5) House Passes H.R. 3230 - The Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act - Ensures that our National Guard and military reservists continue to receive pay.
- (6) House Passes H.J.Res. 72 - Providing funding for programs that support our nation's veterans.
- RELEASE: Flores Votes to Fund Veterans, Critical Research and Pay National Guard and Reserves
- FLOOR SPEECH: Flores Speaks On What Real World People in TX17 Are Saying About Obamacare 

October 4
- (7) House Passes H.J.Res. 85 - Providing funding for National Emergency Disaster Recovery
- (8) House Passes H.J.Res. 75 - Providing funding for Nutrition Assistance for Low-income Women and Children (WIC)
- RELEASE: Flores Votes to Fund FEMA and WIC 

October 5
-House Passes H.R. 3223 - Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act - Ensures federal employees receive back pay.
- (9) House Passes H.J.Res.58 - Ensures continued availability of religious services to members of the Armed Forces and their families during a shutdown.

October 7
- (10) House passes H.J.Res. 77 - Providing funding for the Food and Drug Administration.

October 8
- (11) House passes H.J. Res. 84 - Providing funding for the Head Start Program.
- (12) House passes H.R. 3273 - Calls for Democrats to come to the table and establishes a 20 member bicameral working group on deficit reduction  and economic growth to make recommendations on the debt limit, FY2014 spending levels, and mandatory spending programs.
- House passes H.J. Res. 89 - Ensures payment of Federal employees who are working during the shutdown.
- RELEASE: Flores Calls on Senate to Pass Veterans Funding

October 9
-(13) House passes H.J. Res. 90 - Providing funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. 
- (14) House passes H.J. Res. 91 - Providing funding for final expenses to the bereaved families of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country. 
-RELEASE:Flores Votes to Fund Additional Targeted Portions of Government
-VIDEO: Flores Questions VA Secretary Shinseki on Effects of Governmet Shutdown on VA

October 10
-(15) House passes H.J. Res. 79 - Providing funding for border security programs.

October 11
- (16) House passes H.J. Res 76 - Providing research for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Potential Paths Forward:
While we wait for Senate Majority Leader Reid and the Senate to address the urgent need to fund the federal government, the House remains committed to passing additional appropriations bills to reopen essential government functions.  In addition, we will continue to extend an open invitation to President Obama and Senator Reid to sit down with us and address the nation’s critical fiscal challenges.  In light of the debt ceiling projected to hit on October 17th, I also believe that we will need to soon merge the key issues that are at the forefront of America today—(1) funding the federal government through FY 2014, (2) dealing with the debt ceiling, and (3) stopping and/or delaying the damaging fallout from Obamacare.  While I am hopeful that we can deal with these issues in the next few days, I am concerned whether we can achieve this due to the lack of willingness by others to meet and negotiate these urgent problems.  The Senate needs to stop playing political games and meet with the House to bring fairness to the America people and to restart the federal government. I will be sure to keep you updated as this situation progresses. Earlier this week, the president dropped his "no negotiations" message and invited congress to the White House for discussions on these issues. At this time those discussions are underway. We will update you if significant development occurs.

After these matters are addressed, we need to immediately return to the nation’s other important challenges—jobs and economic growth.  
 
The American Health Care Reform Act:
We all know that Obamacare needs to be repealed and replaced, however, we have not talked very much about replacements for this ill-conceived government takeover of America’s healthcare system.  Recently, several conservative House Members have worked to put together what we think is “a better way forward” to reform our nation’s struggling healthcare system.  We recognize that patient-centered reforms rooted in free markets are the best way to lower costs and solve problems in our health care system.  That is why the Republican Study Committee crafted a pragmatic, practical, and portable free-market alternative to Obamacare, H.R. 3121, the American Health Care Reform Act. I am an original co-sponsor of this bill which we will discuss in greater detail in future newsletters.  In the meantime, if you wish to see more about this common-sense solution please visit RSC.Scalise.house.gov/solutions/rsc-betterway.  

TX-17 Congressional Veteran Commendation
In hoping to close this newsletter on a positive note, I would like to announce that my office has begun to take nominations for the TX-17 Congressional Veterans Commendation. This unique commendation, which we created last year, honors those veterans residing in the 17th Congressional District who have served both our nation and our communities honorably during their military and post-military careers. As a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and as the Representative of a Congressional district with a large veteran population, I am humbled to be able to recognize veterans and honor their service through the commendation.

For more information about the commendation and to nominate a veteran please visit Flores.house.gov/congressional-veteran-commendation.

As always, I encourage each of you to continue praying for our country during these challenging times, for our brave military men and women, and for our first responder personnel who selflessly serve to protect us each day.

With great respect,

Bill Flores
Member of Congress