Howdy Texans!

Over the last two weeks, the House passed bills to strengthen national security, bring energy policies into the 21st century, stop the administration’s proposed cap and trade program, fund transportation and infrastructure, and replace No Child Left Behind.


National Security Discussion
The House continues to put forward and pass strong, bipartisan solutions to improve the safety and security of America. As terrorist organizations look for ways to exploit our nation’s vulnerabilities, it is imperative that we strengthen our nation’s security activities. The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act tightens controls of our nation’s visa waiver program and improves data sharing. It requires all visa waiver program countries to use fraud-resistant “e-passports”, denies status to those who have traveled to certain terrorist hotspots, and allows for the suspension of a country’s participation if they fail to share counterterrorism information.

In late November, the House passed an act to pause the flow of refugees from Syria into our county until the federal government establishes more stringent vetting processes to insure that these refugees will not present a security risk to American families. These measures will help ensure the visa waiver and refugee programs are not used by terrorists to enter the United States.

It is also important to note that the National Defense Authorization Act, which was recently signed into law, requires the president to come up with a comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIS. The president must realize that his current plan is not sufficient and he needs to discontinue his reliance on misguided foreign policies that simply underestimate ISIS. He should begin working with Congress to put strategies in place to support our troops and lead to the ultimate termination of ISIS.


Energy—North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act
Our nation’s legacy energy policies are rooted in and reflect the energy scarcity of the 1970’s. To maximize America’s energy potential, the House passed, with bipartisan support, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act. This bill modernizes outdated energy policies so that we can continue to benefit from our current energy revolution. It updates energy-related infrastructure, protects our electrical grid, strengthens energy security, advances power delivery efficiency, and improves government accountability.

I was pleased to see that an amendment, which I co-sponsored, to lift the decades-old ban on crude oil exports was successfully added to the bill. By opening up crude oil exports, we can strengthen America’s energy security and improve our economy. Additionally, this updated policy strengthens our national defense and helps our allies, while putting pressure on countries who oppose American interests.

The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act takes the first step toward making America a global energy superpower. House conservatives remain committed to advancing a 21st century energy strategy to improve our economy, improve opportunities for hardworking American families, and achieve American energy security.


Regulatory Overreach—Passage of Congressional Review Acts to stop EPA activities
The White House continues to ignore the positive economic and environmental benefits of America’s energy revolution. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized rules on new and existing power plants. These rules circumvent Congress to impose a complex, intrusive, and unworkable cap and trade scheme. These oppressive regulations will increase energy costs on consumers and negatively impact our economy. Additionally, these rules will not even have a measurable impact on actual climate.

The House has taken a stand against these rules by voting on two Congressional Review Acts (CRA’s).  These CRA’s are essentially Congressional vetoes to disapprove of the EPA’s rules to impose a cap and trade scheme. A national cap and trade tax on energy would have profound effects on all sectors of our economy. That is why the Founders of our great country believed policy proposals of this magnitude should be debated and enacted by Congress, not carried out through executive overreach. Rather than working around Congress to enact an expansive regulatory agenda, the administration should work with Congress on a “real world” 21st century energy strategy.

I would also like to note that during the Paris climate summit, the administration pledged to send $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to support climate initiatives abroad, without Congressional approval. These promises show just how out of touch the administration is with the priorities and concerns of hardworking American families. They are ignoring the fact that Congress, and not the president, holds ALL legislative powers AND the power of the purse. Rest assured, Congress will not fund the pledges that the president made at the Paris summit.  We will continue to block any action he attempts to take, especially when they hurt America’s economic growth and have no appreciable climate impact. At a time when the world faces a growing terrorist threat, we should be focused first and foremost on providing for our national security needs - not the president’s pet projects.

   
Education—Every Student Succeeds Act
The original No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was based on a one-size-fits-all flawed premise that Washington knows what is best for students to succeed. This law has created significant problems for students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. Last week, the House voted to replace NCLB with the bipartisan passage of the conference report for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This bill reduces the federal role in education, restores local control, and empowers parents. It puts the needs and priorities of the states, students, and teachers first by prohibiting the federal government from forcing states into programs like Common Core Standards, and it stops the oppressive “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) provisions included in NCLB.  The Wall Street Journal stated that this legislation “would represent the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century”.

Like many of the more important pieces of legislation Congress grapples with, this bill was not perfect; however, it is a step in the right direction to restore education standards back to states and local school districts. I do believe that this legislation could have been stronger had it contained testing opt-out provisions and expanded Title I portability.  Before voting on this legislation, we reached out to educators and families in the 17th Congressional District to seek their opinions and we received lots of feedback—thanks!  Some of the folks who responded expressed concerns that the legislation did not go far enough, however, they and almost all of the others who responded asked me to vote “yes” on the legislation.  So, after a careful review of the bill, I voted in favor of the bill for the following reasons—(1) the positive feedback from our constituents, (2) it stops the Common Core push from the federal government, (3) it stops the AYP provisions included in the original NCLB Act, and (4) it limits the ability of the Secretary of Education to interfere with state and local education efforts.

This bill is a modest step in the right direction to restore education authority to state and local governments. However, I still remain committed to totally eliminating the federal government’s involvement in education. Until the recent passage of the ESSA discussed above, the federal government has tried to place its unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats in control of our children’s education.  These efforts over the past 40+ years have failed and have cost billions of taxpayer dollars.  Most importantly, under our Constitution, this function belongs to the states and I will continue my efforts to transfer this authority away from federal bureaucrats to our local and state leaders.


Transportation—FAST Act
A safe, efficient surface transportation system is essential to the economy and Americans’ quality of life. Authorizing a long-term funding bill for federal highways is something that has eluded Congress since 2005. Last week, the House passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which authorizes five years of funding for federal highway and mass transit programs. This bill reforms and strengthens transportation programs, refocuses on national priorities, provides long-term certainty and more flexibility for states and local governments, streamlines project approval processes, and maintains a strong commitment to safety.

I strongly supported the transportation policy reforms in the FAST Act, however, the act also had some problems which were of concern to me. After a careful review of this legislation, I voted against it for two reasons—first, it required billions of dollars of new funding which were “paid for” using harmful or gimmicky sources and second, it reauthorized the Export-Import bank (a quasi-government institution plagued by rampant corruption and mismanagement).


Congressional Oversight—Obamacare
Each week, committees in the House of Representatives hold dozens of oversight hearings to keep tabs on the activities of the executive branch. Last week, one of my subcommittees, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, conducted a hearing regarding the failures of Obamacare state exchanges. During my questioning of Andy Slavitt, the Acting CEO of Obamacare, he failed to answer my simple questions regarding the financial health of other state Obamacare exchanges. These were not “gotcha” questions, however, he refused to tell the American people how many billions of taxpayer dollars were going to be lost because of Obamacare exchange failures. House conservatives remain committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with commonsense health care programs that restore the patient-doctor relationship, respect states’ rights, and rely on free-market principles. 


Looking Forward
The first session of the 114th Congress will conclude at the end of this year, however, there are still a number of important issues which need to be addressed. In the week ahead, the House will be considering bills to extend various tax provisions, to fund the government through September 2016, to extend benefit programs for first responders who deal with terrorist acts, and to lift the ban on the export of American oil production.  As discussed in the next paragraph, I was recently appointed to a new position which will give each of you input on these important issues.  We will also send a year-end email sometime next week to let you know the outcomes of these issues.

Our new Speaker, Paul Ryan, has appointed seven members of the House of Representatives to serve on a special advisory group to help him chart our course as we deal with important pieces of legislation.  I am pleased to report to you that I am one of the individuals asked to serve on this group.  I take this role very seriously and will work diligently to make sure that the hardworking families in Central Texas “have a seat at the table” as the House of Representatives works on legislation in the coming months.

Sometime early next year, the House will vote on the recently Senate-passed budget reconciliation bill, which repeals many of Obamacare’s core policies. Though the president will likely veto the bill, it is crucial that the House and Senate send this bill to the president’s desk to send a strong message against Obamacare.  We will keep you posted about this activity in future email updates. 


In Closing
Gina and I hope that each of your families have a very Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday season.  As always, I encourage each of you to continue praying for our country during these challenging times, and for our military personnel and first responders who protect us each day.

With great respect,

Bill Flores
Member of Congress