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(Washington) The House of Representatives voted to increase domestic energy production, create jobs and lower prices this week. H.R. 1229 and 1231 both received bi-partisan support as lawmakers recognized the need to end our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs.
Navigating the trials of international trade barriers is akin to "watching a cow poke its head through a sharp barbwire fence and struggle to get that next piece of greenery," said John Taylor, President of T-Tech Inc., a leading manufacturer of printed circuit board prototyping systems.
Located in Norcross, with 15 employees, T-Tech opened its doors in 1983 and started exporting in 1988. Despite the cumbersome trade process, exports now account for approximately 60 percent of this small firm's gross sales.
I am constantly amazed at how many bad ideas can be generated in Washington D.C. I like to say that its 17 square miles of logic free environment and the latest idea is just more proof.
The Administration wants to study alternative ideas for funding transportation projects like taxing the owners of a vehicle for every mile that they drive. In order to figure out how many miles each vehicle was driven, an electronic device would be installed to keep track.
WASHINGTON— House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that 244,000 jobs were created in April while the unemployment rate rose to nine percent:
The only thing better than twenty-twenty eyesight is hindsight. Hindsight is the ability to see history's mistakes and understand why. As gas prices continue to rise, our past inaction is partly to blame.
In 2001, I voted for a bill to expand the exploration of American sources of energy. The critics complained that it would do nothing to help gas prices for 10 years. Now ten years later, we have the same problem of supply not keeping pace with increases in demand.
(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Congressman Sam Graves issued the following statement on Sunday night about the death of Osama Bin Laden.
"After the 9/11 attacks, we vowed to bring those responsible for that cowardly act to justice. Today, our intelligence and military professionals have made good on that promise. We owe a deep debt to the men and women of the United States military who put their lives on the line for our security every single day. This is not the end of our fight, but it may mark an important turning point in our efforts to end global terrorism."
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Only in Washington would it make sense to raise the gas tax at a time when Missourians facing record prices at the pump. Yet, that is exactly what some national groups are asking Congress to do.
The current federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. In addition, many states have added their own gas tax on top to help pay for their infrastructure improvements.
It is important to remember that almost all of us are the children of immigrants. Our parents or grandparents or great- great-great grandparents came to America because it was and still is a land of opportunity. America as a nation is great because of immigration, not in spite of it.
Even today, America continues to welcome immigrants who come here legally. It is not legal immigration that upsets Americans, it is illegal immigration. Our country has become far too tolerant to those who have broken the law.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. It's a lesson that history teachers like to drill into their students. However, in Congress, bad ideas are rarely subjected to a historical review.
The old adage of putting the ‘cart before the horse' seems pretty relevant to the on-going debate about immigration reform in Congress. No plan for immigration reform will work until we control the border. The fact is though, we don't control our own borders.
I have long advocated that the best solution along our porous southern border is an actual fence. I voted for 700 miles of fence along the border, and in 2007, I introduced legislation that called for a real fence across the entire border. Only a fraction of that fence has been completed.