Boehner Column: "Reflecting on Congressional Actions"

As we celebrate Christmas and look forward to the New Year, reflecting on what’s been accomplished in Congress may not sound like the best way to welcome the holidays. But in the rush to finish business before the end of 2007, we did some things to help you and also prevented actions that would harm you.

While Republicans are no longer the majority party in the U.S. House, I am proud to say that we’ve been remarkably effective in our efforts to stop bad policy initiatives, including the Mother of All Tax Hikes, which would punish working families who are already struggling with rising costs of living.

Here are some other areas in which House Republicans worked hard for the American people:

Iraq: We avoided “slow bleed” schemes and attempts to hamstring our generals, and as our troops make tremendous gains under Gen. David Petraeus’ surge strategy, it is critical that we continue to provide them with the resources necessary to come home after victory.

War on Terror: On two separate occasions this year, on the strength of Republican votes, Congress provided our troops in Iraq the resources they need to continue routing al Qaeda – without deadlines for withdrawal that undermine our mission.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): In August, on the strength of Republican votes, Congress closed the terrorist loophole in our nation’s surveillance laws, after a months-long struggle with some in Congress, who wanted to bar intelligence officials from acting quickly on vital intelligence to protect our troops and the American people.

Taxes: House Republicans fought against more than $250 million in tax hikes proposed in Congress just this past year alone. And on the strength of Republican votes, we enacted a “patch” to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to save 23 million taxpayers from unnecessarily paying the AMT next year. However, because the Majority took so long to schedule a vote on the measure, millions of taxpayers will see their refunds delayed by weeks next year.

Government Spending: Even though House Republicans stood strong against a spending bill that would have been tens of billions of dollars more costly than President Bush’s initial budget proposal, the final spending bill passed by Congress was still too big and contained too much bad policy – for example, it gutted the Secure Fence Act to secure our southern border – for me to support. I came to Congress to fight wasteful spending and to reduce the size of the government. I continue this fight, and that’s why I voted against this bloated bill.

SCHIP & Medicare: The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created by a Republican-led Congress to ensure that some of our community’s most vulnerable members – children of low-income families – have access to quality, affordable health care. But this year, we saw some in Congress try to expand this program to include adults, those with private health care, and illegal immigrants. Among the original proposals to pay for this ill-advised expansion was to cut Medicare Advantage, a popular program that provides seniors options in choosing their healthcare programs. Fortunately, this cut never occurred, and this month, we reauthorized SCHIP through March 2009 without asking taxpayers to foot the bill for expanded coverage for adults, those with private health care, and illegal immigrants

Earmark Reform: To shine the brightest spotlight yet on wasteful pork spending in Washington , I have introduced a petition in Congress to bring about transparency and accountability to the earmarking process by requiring every single earmark to be publicly disclosed and subject to challenge on the House Floor. We need 218 signatures on this petition to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and to date, 197 lawmakers have signed. I hope that my colleagues who have not signed this petition will join us in the fight to clearly tell the American taxpayers how we’re spending their money.

When Congress reconvenes next year, House Republicans will continue to stand on principle and will continue to offer bold, innovative solutions to address Americans’ most fundamental concerns.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and healthy and prosperous New Year.

Boehner represents Ohio ’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County. He was first elected to Congress in 1990.