Congressman Mica, what have you done in Congress to address "earmark" abuse?
The practice of earmarking projects or specific appropriations measures by Members of Congress has received considerable media and public attention. There have been several abuses of the Congressional earmark process. Some earmarks have been included without proper disclosure or public hearings. Others have been added to obtain favor or as political horsetrades during last minute legislative brokering. All of these improper actions have discredited what otherwise should be a legitimate conduct of legislative business by responsible elected federal representatives of the People.
While I strongly oppose the abusive misuse of earmarks, I believe that with proper procedures and transparency, the specific enumeration of projects and funding priorities by elected representatives is appropriate. The alternative is for Congress to provide vast amounts of funds for nameless unelected bureaucrats to distribute. While some earmarks have been abused, I have always been a strong supporter of making public how funds are spent, in contrast to having bureaucrats make those decisions. We must also ban earmarks that were not exposed to public hearings or were added to legislation at the last minute.
In contrast to Speaker Pelosi's rhetoric, the plan she brought to the House Floor was significantly scaled back from the reforms sought by Republicans. The Democrat reform proposal contained serious loopholes that only make public the identity of earmark sponsors at the end of the legislative process. While the reforms adopted are a step in the right direction, I voted against the proposal because it did not go far enough to correct abuses in the earmark process – I strongly believe in transparency and making public all earmark requests from the very beginning. Unfortunately, and in spite of previous Democrat promises to conduct business in a bipartisan fashion, the Democrat Majority would not allow consideration of any substantive amendments to the rules package.
Be assured I support earmark reform and, in fact, on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, on which I serve as the Republican Leader, I implemented new policies that are more stringent than the rules adopted by the Democrats. All projects submitted by Republicans must be submitted 24 hours before this Committee considers legislation and must be available for full public review. Unfortunately to date the Democrats have refused to take this additional step.
Congressman Mica, what has Congress done to reduce the federal deficit?
While we continue to wage the War on Terrorism it is imperative to maintain fiscal discipline and eliminate the current federal budget deficit. At the beginning of 2005, the federal deficit was projected to be over $400 billion. However, we have also witnessed rapid economic expansion and job growth. Since 2003, our nation's employers have created over 6 million new jobs and our most recent data shows that our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.5% annually. In addition, our unemployment rate of 4.7% is lower than the average unemployment of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
This economic growth was spurred by the personal income tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 which created the 10% tax bracket and lowered each of the federal tax rates. In addition, with over 60% of Amercians invested in the market it was important to lower the capital gains and dividend tax rates. This resulted in much higher rates of personal investment and provided capital for businesses to expand their operations and grow.
The overall effect of this growth has been that federal government in 2005 received over $100 billion in unexpected tax revenues. These revenues reduced the federal deficit by 25% in one year lowering it to $317 billion. In addition, the FY2006 budget deficit is expected to be $296 billion, 30% lower than the prior estimate of $423 billion. In order to continue this trend, I will continue to support pro-growth initiatives to boost personal income and expand economic opportunity.
Congressman Mica, what are your views on the budget and our nation's deficit?
It is imperative that today's budget address three issues of national priority: the war against terrorism, homeland security and long-term economic growth. With his annual budget, President Bush has addressed the need to curtail runaway federal spending and the challenge of fulfilling Medicare and Social Security's unfunded promises. Our federal budget must meet America's most pressing priorities by ensuring the national, economic, and personal security of all Americans.
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