This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office…

May 18, 2012

FY 2013 Defense Authorization Passes House
On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill authorizes $642 billion Read the rest of this entry »

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office on Friday…

May 11, 2012 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill Passes House On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund several government agencies, including the Departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, and science programs. The bill provides $51.1 billion, a reduction of $1.6 billion from current levels and $731 million less than the President’s request.  Included in the legislation is a provision that prohibits funds under the bill from being used to provide abortions. The measure also strictly prohibits the use of federal funds to knowingly transfer firearms to suspected members of drug cartels without continuous monitoring of the firearms by law enforcement. Congressman Miller supported this legislation which strikes a careful balance between the need to reign in unnecessary federal spending, while ensuring that appropriate resources are provided to combat crime and terror threats and promote U.S. competitiveness and job creation. Sequestration Replacement Legislation Approved by House As a result of last year’s failure by the Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to come to an agreement on a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction package, an equivalent amount of savings will be achieved through automatic spending cuts for the next ten years, through a process known as sequestration. For 2013, $98 billion in non-mandatory spending will be sequestered, $43 billion from non-defense programs and $55 billion from defense. It should be noted that these defense cuts are in addition to $490 billion worth of reductions that have already been planned. This week, House Republicans passed an alternative plan to replace the 2013 sequester to protect our national security interests, while ensuring that deficit reduction goals are fully met. To do this, the replacement bill lowers the FY 2013 spending cap established by last year’s Budget Control Act by $19 billion, and makes targeted spending cuts – including eliminating funding to implement the President’s health care law – that will result in a net savings of $238 billion over ten years. Congressman Miller supported this legislation to ensure that the federal government gets its fiscal house in order without risking our national security. Congressman Miller Chairs Hearing on Dodd-Frank’s Conflict Minerals Provision On Thursday, a House Financial Services panel led by Congressman Miller held a hearing to examine the consequences of a provision tucked into the 2,300-page Dodd-Frank law on American jobs. In an attempt to discourage the purchase and use of minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to formulate rules requiring thousands of companies to certify that none of their products contains such minerals. This is a near-impossible task, due to ongoing violence and a lack of infrastructure in the Congo to track minerals. While Section 1502 is well-intended, it was added to Dodd-Frank during late-night conference negotiations, without the benefit of any prior congressional hearings on the potential impact on American jobs and global competitiveness. Serious concerns have been raised that this provision will cost American job creators $9 to $16 billion to implement, and will put U.S. companies at a huge disadvantage with foreign competitors who do not have to report that their products are “conflict-free.” In addition, some have expressed concerns that Section 1502 has caused a de facto embargo against the Congo, harming legitimate Congolese miners and undermining the good intentions of the provision. It is unfortunate that these concerns could not have been addressed prior to Section 1502 becoming law. As the chairman of the International Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee, Congressman Miller will continue to closely follow the SEC’s rulemaking process to ensure that Section 1502 disclosure rules do not adversely impact U.S. jobs or make a terrible situation in the Congo even worse. Artistic Discovery Winners Announced Congressman Miller is pleased to announce the winners of the annual Artistic Discovery art competition. Miss Britta Sibley of Ruben S. Ayala High School received first place for her woodburnt “Gearhead.” Miss Sibley will receive two tickets to attend a special reception in Washington, D.C., where her artwork will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Building. Second place was awarded to Miss Tiffany Chuang of Yorba Linda High School for her photograph entitled ‘It Lingers’. Miss Megan Ramirez of La Serna High School received third place for her scratch board ‘Warm Winter”. Congressman Miller would like to congratulate all 70 students who participated in this year’s competition. All of the artwork entered was exceptional. The Capitol Connection Newsletter is published at the end of every week in which Congress is in session. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send an email to CapitolConnectionNewsletter@mail.house.gov or call (202) 225-3201.

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office on Friday…

April 27, 2012

Bill to Combat Cyber Attacks Passes House

Every day, U.S. companies are being targeted by foreign hackers seeking to steal proprietary information and data. These cyber threats undermine U.S. competitiveness and cost American jobs. While the federal government has classified cyber threat intelligence that could help the private sector defend its networks, there are significant obstacles that hinder the sharing of that critical information. On Thursday the House passed legislation to enable the government to share this information with Read the rest of this entry »

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office on Friday…

Capitol Connection Newsletter

Washington, Apr 20 –

Tax Relief for Small Businesses Passes House
Small businesses are the key driver of job creation in our country, generating 65% of the new jobs in this country over the past 17 years. In California, there are over half a million small businesses that employ over 6.5 million workers. On Thursday, House Republicans voted to provide tax relief to these small business employers. The Small Business Tax Cut Act will allow businesses with fewer than Read the rest of this entry »

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office yesterday…

House Passes FY 2013 Budget Resolution

House Republicans this week passed a budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2013 that will cut trillions in government spending, reduce our nation’s debt and deficits, and help our economy grow without raising taxes on families and job creators. Compared to the President’s proposed budget, which would lead to a net $1.5 trillion increase in spending, the House-passed budget cuts $5.3 trillion in government spending over the next Read the rest of this entry »

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office…

Bipartisan Bill To Repeal Onerous Higher Education Regulations Passes House

Over the past decade, college costs have continued to soar, forcing students and their families to take out larger loans to pursue higher education. Unfortunately the Obama Administration has implemented rules that make this situation worse by Read the rest of this entry »

President’s Budget Calls for More Spending, More Borrowing, More Job-Crushing Taxes

This week, President Obama issued his Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, which includes more of the same spending, borrowing, and taxing policies that have hindered economic growth and job creation. Despite the President’s pledge to cut the deficit in half in four years, the Administration’s budget projects a$1.3 trillion federal deficit, the second-highest budget deficit in our nation’s history. The FY 2013 budget proposal sets another dubious record by spending $47 trillion over ten years, more than any other budget. While the President has spoken about the need to reduce spending, his budget does little to put those words into action by including spending increases that far exceed the proposal’s spending cuts. The increase in spending and borrowing under the requested budget will worsen our nation’s debt crisis by sending our gross national debt from $15 trillion today to $26 trillion in 2022. This is despite his proposal to raise income taxes on American families and small businesses by $1.4 trillion. The proposal also seeks to raise taxes on energy producers as gas prices continue to rise. As Congress considers our nation’s budgetary priorities for the coming year, Congressman Miller will work to put our nation’s financeson a sustainable path to economic prosperity. Read the rest of this entry »

This came across the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office.

Bill to Eliminate Wasteful Spending on Underused Federal Properties Passes House

On Tuesday, the House passed legislation that will save billions of taxpayer dollars by eliminating wasteful spending on underused properties owned by the federal government.  In Fiscal Year 2009 alone, the federal government spent $1.7 billion to Read the rest of this entry »

February 3, 2012

House Votes to Repeal Unworkable CLASS Act

On Wednesday, the House voted to repeal the CLASS Act, the long-term entitlement program included in the President’s health care law. Late last year, the Obama Administration was forced to cancel the program’s implementation because it could not certify that the program would be fiscally sustainable in the long term, confirming concerns raised by the Chief Actuary for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid shortly after the health care law was enacted. While some have argued that repeal is unnecessary, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service has indicated that if left in place, a federal court could force the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement the CLASS Act, despite these serious concerns about its future solvency. Congressman Miller hopes that the Senate will act quickly to take this unworkable program off the books and work with the House to address access to quality, long term care without busting the deficit and hindering job creation and economic growth.

Read the rest of this entry »