January 11 2012
-As we start a new year, I wanted to share with you some of the
things I worked on in 2011, many of which will continue to be my priorities in 2012:
Stepping down from leadership to regain my independence
I announced last September that after the annual meeting of Republican Senators this month, I would step down from the Senate Republican leadership after serving four years as Conference Chairman. This move liberates me to spend more time working to get results on issues I care the most about and that matter the most to Tennesseans, which means stopping runaway regulations and spending, and confronting the timidity that allows runaway health care spending to squeeze out research, scholarships, highways and other government functions that make it easier and cheaper to create jobs.
Please click here to read my announcement.
Changing Washington’s behavior from ‘Spend, spend, spend’ to ‘Cut, cut, cut’
In August, Congress passed a bill that reduces spending by a dollar for each dollar increase in the debt ceiling. This bill represented a change in behavior from ‘Spend, spend, spend' to ‘Cut, cut, cut,’ and these spending reductions were an important step—but they are just one step, and no one should underestimate how difficult the next steps will be.
Although the Supercommittee failed to agree to a proposal to cut at least $1.2 trillion, the federal debt will still be cut by another $1.2 trillion. Unfortunately it will be done the wrong way without reforming mandatory entitlement spending. The President and Congress should now work together on a pro-growth plan to cut the debt by $4 trillion: close tax loopholes, lower tax rates, raise revenues, and save Social Security and Medicare so seniors and future generations can rely on them. The Simpson-Bowles Commission, the Domenici-Rivlin plan, and the Gang of Six proposal all offer bi-partisan blueprints for how to do this.
Click here for more information on controlling spending.
Closing an online sales-tax loophole
In October, I joined in introducing the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill to close tax loopholes that basically subsidize out-of-state businesses at the expense of Tennessee businesses and some taxpayers at the expense of others. Today, if you buy boots from a store in Nashville, by law the store collects the sales tax you owe and sends it to the state to pay for our roads, schools and other services we ask the state to provide. But if you buy the same boots online from a company outside Tennessee, that company doesn’t collect the sales taxes owed the state.
Click here to read an essay I wrote with Senator Mike Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming, for National Review about our bill.
Balanced Budget Amendment to force President, Congress to balance the federal budget
I joined every Senate Republican in cosponsoring an amendment that would require the president to submit, and Congress to pass, a balanced budget each year, cap federal spending at 18 percent of gross domestic product and require a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to raise taxes. The amendment failed by a party line vote on December 14, 2011.
We need to export American-made products – not American jobs
In May, South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint joined me in introducing the Job Protection Act, after the acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board moved to stop Boeing from building airplanes at a newly constructed nonunion plant in South Carolina. This bill preserves existing protections of state right-to-work laws and protects the rights of employers to decide where to do business. The NLRB eventually withdrew its complaint, but the fact that it was filed at all will create an environment where it is more expensive for businesses to expand and create private-sector jobs. This was not just about South Carolina and it’s not just about making airplanes – this is about jobs in every state in the country, and whether or not manufacturers are going to be able to make in the United States what they sell in the United States.
You can click here to watch the video of the weekly Republican radio address I was asked to give on June 4th on behalf of congressional Republicans, during which I talked about the negative effects this NLRB action would have on private-sector
job creation in this country.
Senate repeals provision from health-care law that would require more IRS paperwork of 40 million-plus small businesses
I am pleased that Congress and the President finally repealed the provision of the new health care law requiring all businesses (large and small) to submit 1099 tax forms for every business transaction greater than $600 in a given year. I hope the repeal of this bad provision leads soon to the law’s full repeal, so we can start over on real health care reforms that will lower the cost of health care for all Americans.
Click here to read more.
Trade Agreements passed will create thousands of jobs
Congress ratified trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and
South Korea almost immediately after we received them from the president. These three agreements are good news for Tennessee’s economy and will bring millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to our state now that Tennesseans can sell more of our auto parts to South Korea, more of our electronics to Panama, and more of our soybeans to Colombia. It’s unfortunate the president had kept these agreements on his desk since the day he took office.
Working to fix No Child Left Behind
One of my top priorities last year was to begin the process of
fixing No Child Left Behind--by moving most decisions about whether teachers
and schools are succeeding or failing out of Washington and back to states and
communities. In the fall, I joined several Republican senators in introducing a
series of education bills to fix the law, and also supported moving a bill
sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) out of
committee and to the full Senate for further debate and amendment as a first
step in the right direction. I will continue to work with my colleagues across
the aisle and in the House so we can enact a bill fixing No Child Left Behind
by the end of the year.
Click here to read my op-ed in the New York Times: “A Better Way to Fix No Child Left Behind” and here to read my op-ed in an Education Week issue reflecting on the 10th anniversary of No Child Left Behind.
Speeding up federal assistance to Tennessee’s storm victims
I saw firsthand the tornado damage in East Tennessee, the flooding in Memphis, and the devastation caused by storms and flooding throughout Tennessee. I also saw Tennesseans doing what they do best—helping each other instead of complaining, and that’s as admirable as the tornado was damaging.
Senator Corker and I worked together to expedite federal assistance to help victims of the historic disasters that have occurred in our state this year. I joined all of the members of the Tennessee U.S. congressional delegation in urging President Barack Obama to support Governor Haslam’s request for emergency funding to help individuals, businesses, and state and local authorities in storm-damaged counties of our state. The President responded quickly, and we thank him for that.
Click here for helpful information on disaster assistance in Tennessee.
Click here to read a story from the Greeneville Sun about the Ward family, who received FEMA assistance after losing their home.
Vanderbilt University exhibit tells story of my early swearing in as governor
On September 17th, Vanderbilt’s Library opened a year-long exhibit of many of the papers from my days as governor. The exhibit also portrays the coming of the auto industry to Tennessee, innovations in education, and my 1,000-mile walk across the state to be governor.
Click here to watch a video about the exhibit.
Stopping an unfunded mandate requiring local governments to replace road signs
I was pleased that the administration withdrew a mandate requiring local governments to replace road signs according to new visibility standards by arbitrary 2015 and 2018 deadlines after Senator Bob Corker and I introduced legislation to stop the overreach. The Tennessee County Highway Officials Association estimated that meeting those deadlines would have cost local governments at least $50 million in Tennessee alone.
Protecting Tennessee’s natural heritage
Senator Corker and I introduced the Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2011 to designate as wilderness nearly 20,000 acres in six areas of the Cherokee National Forest that have for several years been managed as Wilderness Study Areas and are recommended for wilderness status by the U.S. Forest Service.
Click here to read more about the legislation or here to read a Maryville Times editorial on the legislation.
Repealing Dodd-Frank law would help Main Street
I cosponsored legislation introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to repeal the so-called Dodd-Frank financial regulation law, which has produced an overwhelming barrage of regulations that have only hurt our nation’s recovery. Wall Street’s giant banks can afford to work around these big, complex laws, but what I’m worried about most is how the law will affect Main Street – small banks and small businesses and everyone else who doesn’t work on Wall Street will suffer because loans will cost more and be harder to get.
Helping the Senate function better while preserving the rights
of the minority party
I was pleased that the Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate reached an agreement on significant reforms of Senate rules and practices, which represent a major step forward in helping make the Senate a place that is better able to deal with the serious business that comes before us, while preserving the body as a unique forum—unique in the world, really—in its protection of minority rights. As chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee, I served as the lead Senate Republican in negotiations over reforms with the vice chair of the Democratic Conference and Senate Rules Committee Chairman, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York.
Click here to read more about the details of the agreement, or here to read my speech on the Senate floor.
Jumpstarting electric vehicles is the best way to use less oil
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and I recently introduced the “Promoting Electric Vehicles Act” to provide temporary encouragement for the development and use of plug-in electric motor vehicles nationwide. If you believe the solution for $4-a-gallon gasoline and high energy prices is finding more American energy and using less, as I do, then this is the best way to use less. Electrifying half our cars and trucks would reduce our use of foreign oil by one-third.
Click here to read more about this bill.
Celebrating the achievements of Booker T. Washington High School
graduates with President Obama
I had the honor of attending the commencement ceremony for this year’s Booker T. Washington High School graduates. Students at the Memphis school earned a visit from the President of the United States after winning the 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. Tennesseans were proud of these bright students, Principal Kiner, the faculty, and the students’ parents.