Robert Hurt: Fixing a broken budget system
At a time when we in the House have been waiting on the Senate to take action and join our focused agenda of enacting measures that would reduce our staggering $15 trillion debt, the Senate acted – but they acted in a way that was dismissive of their responsibility to the American people and in direct conflict with the necessary goal of passing a budget in order to restore our country to fiscal sustainability.
Though Congress is legally required to pass a budget each fiscal year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate would not allow a vote on a fiscal year 2013 budget resolution – marking the third straight year that the Senate has abdicated its legislative duties and not passed a budget. Continue reading “Robert Hurt: Fixing a broken budget system” »
Debate over jobs numbers
The jobs situation seems to continue to be getting better, with Friday’s announcement that unemployment fell two-tenths of a percent in January, to 8.3 percent.
But it’s not getting better fast enough, says Fifth District Republican Congressman Robert Hurt.
“A drop in the national unemployment average is always good news. However, the jobless rate remains above 8 percent now for the 36th consecutive month and we begin 2012 just as we left off in 2011 – with far too many out of work both in the Fifth District and across the country. Despite this drop nationally, many areas in the Fifth District still face double-digit unemployment rates due to years of failed big government policies,” Hurt said in a statement. Continue reading “Debate over jobs numbers” »
Robert Hurt: American solutions for job creation
The recent December unemployment report provides welcome news that more jobs were created last month at a time when so many are struggling. And while signifying a step in the right direction nationally, the simple fact remains that there are still too many in Central and Southside Virginia out of work, and there is still much that is yet to be done as we begin the second session of the 112th Congress.
The House has shown that there are bipartisan solutions to our jobs crisis, and now we need the Senate to act. Over the past year, we have been fully focused on promoting pro-growth measures that would stimulate the economy and provide an environment for job creators to hire and expand. And in the new year, I remain committed to promoting policies that facilitate job growth so that we can get our economy back on track and create jobs in Central and Southside Virginia. Continue reading “Robert Hurt: American solutions for job creation” »
GOP leaders call out Kaine on health-care reform
Fifth District Congressman Robert Hurt joined a pair of Virginia state legislators Thursday in an effort to paint Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine as a loyal Barack Obama ally.
“The president’s health-care law has produced devastating effects for Fifth District Virginians and all Americans since passage. It has expanded the size of the federal government, imposed billions of dollars of new taxes on small businesses and individuals, and perpetuated an economy of stalled job creation at a time when far too many Fifth District Virginians are out of work,” said Hurt, who narrowly won election in a tough 2010 race with then-incumbent Tom Perriello and will face his first re-election battle in November 2012.
Hurt joined State Del. John Cox and State Sen. Steve Martin on a conference call arranged by the George Allen Senate campaign that was big on the use of the word “Obamacare.”
“Obamacare has placed a significant burden on America’s already struggling economy, hampering our small businesses freedom to invest and grow their companies,” said Cox, R-Hanover.
“I am convinced that Obamacare represents not only a threat to the health care community, but a threat to our economy as well. With unemployment stuck at above 8 percent for months on end, Obamacare is yet another impediment to job growth in a weak economy,” Martin said.
Hurt backs effort to tighten sanctions on Iran
Congressman Robert Hurt (R-Va.) today released the following statement after the Iran Threat Reduction Act passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 410-11. Congressman Hurt is a cosponsor of this measure.
“It is clear that Iran poses a great national security threat to our nation, our allies, and our interests. And as Iran inches dangerously close to nuclear capability, we must take proactive measures to enforce policies that will not only deter, but completely disengage the Iranian regime from its hostile nuclear proliferation program. This legislation does just that by taking aim at its primary source of funding, its energy sector – adding more rigorous financial and energy sanctions, including a provision that would allow sanctions on those that conduct business in Iran’s petroleum industry. As the Iranian nuclear threats continue to evolve, so should the United States’ ability to address those threats. And this legislation will allow us to proactively preserve our security both at home in the Fifth District and across this country.”
H.R. 1905 was introduced by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and allows the United States to take further steps to impose more comprehensive financial and energy sanctions, as well as close loopholes in current sanction law so that we may deter Iranian nuclear proliferation efforts.
Hurt comments on House passage of farm-dust legislation
Congressman Robert Hurt (R-VA) released the following statement after the House voted Thursday to approve the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act (H.R. 1633), a bipartisan bill that he co-authored with Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD). H.R. 1633 was passed the House by a vote of 268-150 and will now be reported to the Senate:
“I am pleased to see the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act (H.R. 1633) was approved by the full House today with bipartisan support, and it is my hope that our colleagues in the Senate will recognize the importance of providing regulatory relief to our job creators and take action on this legislation to do so.
“Over the past three years, the American entrepreneurial spirit has been crippled by federal government regulations, resulting in millions of Americans out of work, and many businesses closing their doors. At a time when too many Central and Southside Virginians are struggling to find jobs, we must continue to promote policies that will remove the federal government as a barrier to job creation in order to foster an economic environment that both provides an opportunity for job creators to hire and incentivizes them to expand.
“The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act gets to the root of this problem by removing the federal government from the business of over-regulating. This legislation provides us with a step forward to getting our economy back on track by providing immediate relief to farmers and rural areas through preventing more stringent, job-crushing dust standards from being implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By passing this legislation, the House has taken one more step toward our goal of creating certainty for our job creators, removing the roadblocks posed by excessive regulations, and getting our economy back on track so that our small business owners can get back to creating the jobs that Central and Southside Virginians and all Americans need and deserve.”
Hurt speaks on withholding tax repeal
The House of Representatives voted 405-16 to repeal the 3 percent withholding tax on certain payments made to vendors by government entities. Fifth District Republican Robert Hurt voted with the bipartisan majority in favor of the repeal, which has the support of the Obama administration.
“The House passed another element of our jobs agenda that would repeal a burdensome tax rule to help put capital back in the hands of our job creators at a time when they need it most,’ Hurt said. “In addition to the dozens of House-passed jobs bills, this commonsense legislation would help return certainty to the marketplace, promote economic growth, and spur job creation.
“The House has made every effort to find those areas of common ground where both parties can join together to produce results for Fifth District Virginians and all Americans, and with the broad bipartisan support for this legislation that includes the White House, the Senate should act immediately to pass this bill to help grow the economy and create jobs,” Hurt said.
Robert Hurt: House passes more jobs, regulatory-relief bills
With unemployment remaining unacceptably high across the Fifth District and 14 million Americans without a job, the House has been working since the start of the 112th Congress to pass legislation that would remove the government as a roadblock to job creation and reverse the job-destroying policies of the past two and a half years.
Earlier this year, the House put forth a pro-growth jobs plan – ‘A Plan for America’s Job Creators’ – that would empower our entrepreneurs and small businesses and return certainty to the marketplace by implementing policies that would reduce unnecessary regulations, increase our domestic energy supply, cut government spending, and keep taxes low.
The House has since passed dozens of these commonsense measures as a part of our overall jobs agenda including:
· The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 872), which would halt duplicative federal regulations on farmers and small business owners that are impeding job creation.
· The Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act (H.R. 1230), The Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act (H.R. 1229), The Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act (H.R. 1231), and The Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011 (H.R. 2021), which would significantly increase our domestic energy supply and create thousands of jobs.
· The Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910), which would stop the federal government from imposing a job-destroying national energy tax.
· A Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 (H.Con.Res. 34), which would cut $6 trillion in government spending and help put our budget on a path to balance.
This fall, the House has continued to implement aspects of our jobs agenda by passing additional regulatory relief bills including:
· The Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587), which would prevent the unelected National Labor Relations Board from dictating where employers and private businesses can set up their operations.
· The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act (H.R. 2401), which would require an interagency committee to analyze the cumulative economic impacts of certain EPA environmental regulations in an effort to better understand how these policies affect American manufacturing, global competitiveness, energy prices, and jobs.
And just over the past two weeks, the House has passed three more bipartisan bills – the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, and the Coals Residuals Reuse and Management Act – which would help curb costly, excessive, and burdensome regulations imposed by the EPA and save thousands of jobs.
Despite the fact that the House has worked across the aisle to find areas of common ground to pass these and several other pieces of legislation that would give our true job creators the freedom and opportunity necessary to expand their businesses and put people back to work, nearly all of these House-passed jobs bills sit stalled in the Senate.
Following the Senate’s bipartisan rejection of the President’s proposal for more failed stimulus spending and additional tax increases this past week, now is the time for the Senate to act and join with us in the House in our efforts to put in place those commonsense solutions that will truly help grow our economy and create jobs.
Robert Hurt is a United States Congressman.
Hurt speaks on jobs
After hearing from small business owners and farmers across the 5th District, Congressman Robert Hurt (R-VA) today delivered the following remarks on the House floor regarding the need to reduce unnecessary government regulations to help grow the economy and create jobs.
“Madame Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the people of Virginia’s 5th District – on behalf of the small business owners and farmers across Central and Southside Virginia who have been directly and negatively impacted by the suffocating government regulatory environment.
“These good people have been so overburdened by an overreaching government that they are left struggling to make ends meet in these challenging economic times – unable to expand their businesses and discouraged from starting new ones.
“Over the past two months, I have traveled through the 5th District, making stops from Greene County to Danville, from Martinsville to Brunswick County, I heard from constituents about the very real effects that unnecessary government regulations are having on their businesses and their lives.
“Just this last week, I visited with a convenience store owner in Campbell County who has five stores and 48 employees. He has the desire and the resources to expand and build two more convenience stores, creating more jobs in the area, but he reports that he is unwilling to do so because of the mandates and taxes that will be imposed on his business as a part of the job-destroying government takeover of health care.
“Last week I also visited with the owner of an auto repair shop in Appomattox. He told me that he first started his business back in 1987. Back then, he was able to get his business up and running in one day. One day was all it took for him to obtain all of the required permits and licenses and pay all of the required taxes and fees. After running his shop for a number of years, he then moved on to another job. Then, just recently in 2011, he decided he wanted to reopen his shop and found that instead of taking one day to wade through the regulatory red tape, this year it took him five months.
“If the President and the United States Senate want to know why our economy isn’t growing – this is why.
“These are the real life implications for 5th District Virginians and all Americans created by the regulatory agenda that has been put in place by this Administration and the last Congress over the past two years.
“These added costs jeopardize the success of our small businesses and destroy jobs. The added uncertainty crushes the entrepreneurial spirit and stalls economic growth. And the added expansion of the federal government strips away our freedoms and our opportunities.
“So when a diner owner in Farmville tells me that Washington is, ‘taking the breath away from the American people,’ this is what she is talking about – an ever-growing government that stands as a barrier between a struggling economy and a growing, vibrant economy that we all desperately want.
“So as the House continues to lead the way and works to reduce unnecessary regulations, it is my hope that we will keep in mind the convenience store owners, the auto repair shop owners, and all of the small businesses and farmers who are relying on us to get this right – who are relying on us to support those policies that remove the federal government as a roadblock to job creation and return our economic recovery back where it belongs, in the hands of the people.”
Robert Hurt: Working to spur job creation
We spent this past District Work Week making more stops across Central and Southside Virginia to meet with, hear from, and talk to 5th District Virginians.
To kick off the week, we held constituent office hours in Danville and Charlottesville. This gave me the opportunity to sit down and meet with constituents in their communities to discuss and address any concerns that they may have. Constituent services remain a top priority for me, so please contact our office if you would like to arrange a meeting: (202) 225-4711.
The rest of the week we continued our highway tours, making nearly 40 stops along Route 15 and Route 460 in Keysville, Red Oak, Wylliesburg, Chase City, Farmville, Cumberland, Buckingham, New Canton, Scottsville, Fork Union, Lynchburg, Forest, and Appomattox.
After talking to people and small businesses throughout the 5th District this week, it was clear that Central and Southside Virginians continue to be most concerned about our jobs crisis.
While we have had two great jobs announcements recently – Axxor Group will establish its first U.S. operation in Pittsylvania county, creating 31 jobs and Microsoft will be expanding their operations in Boydton, creating 10 additional jobs – it is critical that we continue to support pro-growth policies that encourage this kind of investment, innovation, and expansion across the 5th District so we can put even more people back to work.
And that has been the House’s focus since the start of the 112th Congress. The House’s jobs agenda is driven by the understanding that it is the private sector, not the government, that creates jobs. The best thing that we can do to help turn our economy around is to remove the government as a barrier to job growth and put our economic recovery back where it belongs – in the hands of the people and small businesses.
To help foster a more certain economic environment and help spur job creation, the House has passed bill after bill to reduce burdensome regulations, increase domestic energy production, repeal and defund the job-destroying government takeover of health care, cut out of control government spending, and keep taxes low.
These House-passed jobs bills would not only lead to the creation of thousands of jobs at a time when we need it most, but they would also help return confidence to the marketplace, empower our true job creators, and help put our country on a more stable and sustainable economic path.
Dozens of these bipartisan, commonsense bills sit stalled in the Senate, awaiting action. It’s unfortunate that the Senate refuses to share the same urgency as the House when it comes to addressing our unacceptable unemployment.
With many 5th District Virginians remaining out of work, we cannot afford to have the Senate continue to block economic progress while providing no solution of their own.
It is my hope that the Senate will change course, put partisan politics aside, and join with us in the House in our continued efforts to get our economy back on track.
If you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at www.hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Robert Hurt is a United States Congressman.
Robert Hurt: TRAIN ACT helps get the economy on the right track
With unemployment remaining unacceptably high across the 5th District and the country, the U.S House of Representatives has focused on promoting pro-growth policies that would remove the federal government as a barrier to job creation and help get our economy back on track.
To that end, the House took action last week and passed another bipartisan bill that would rein in the job-destroying regulatory agenda that has been imposed by the Administration, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency.
H.R. 2401, the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act would require the examination of the cumulative economic impact of more than a dozen EPA regulations in an effort to better understand how these policies affect American manufacturing, global competitiveness, energy prices, and jobs.
Analyzing and measuring the overall economic impact of environmental regulations put in place by the EPA is a commonsense process and will help ensure that our small businesses, farmers, and job creators are not overburdened with unnecessary, costly regulations at a time when they can least afford it.
As a part of the House’s jobs agenda, the TRAIN Act is another step in our continued efforts to reduce the crushing regulatory burden that stifles job growth and help restore economic certainty to the marketplace to provide our true job creators with the confidence, freedom, and opportunity necessary to grow their businesses and put people back to work.
Another piece of legislation that is advancing as a part of the House’s jobs and regulatory relief agenda is H.R. 1633, the Farm Dust Regulation and Prevention Act, which I co-authored with Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD). H.R. 1633 is a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the EPA from burdening farmers and small business owners in rural America with additional dust regulations.
I am glad to see that support and momentum continue to grow for H.R. 1633 and that Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) has introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.
It is my hope that the Senate will take quick action on these bills that will reduce unnecessary regulations as well as on the dozens of other commonsense, House-passed jobs bills that currently remained stalled in the Senate so that we can move our economy forward and get Americans working again.
If you need any additional information on these or any other issues, please visit my website at http://hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.
Robert Hurt: The legislative line-item veto
Posted by afp on February 15, 2012 · Leave a Comment
One of these measures was H.R. 3521, sponsored by Representative Paul Ryan, which would grant the president the authority to veto wasteful spending provisions in appropriations bills and send such provisions back to Congress for an up or down vote to reduce the deficit. Continue reading “Robert Hurt: The legislative line-item veto” »
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with budget, congress, federal budget, line item veto, robert hurt