For many Tennesseans, this special season is a time of celebration and reflection with loved ones. In Washington, however, it is apparently a time for 2,000 page, trillion-dollar, backroom spending bills – your Christmas “gift” from the D.C. political class. Today Congress voted to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill that funds the government through September 30, 2016. House leaders called the bill a “compromise” but I call it a lump of coal in every taxpayer’s stocking and I voted against it for three main reasons:
First, the omnibus bill fails to make serious reforms to our refugee resettlement program – even at a time when President Obama’s own Secretary of Homeland Security admitted that terrorists could attempt to ‘exploit’ this system. What’s more, just this week two suspects with possible links to the Paris terrorist attacks were arrested in an Austrian refugee center, highlighting the very real risks that continue to exist within the program.
Conservatives understand the importance of offering help to foreign citizens in need, but we also know that our first Constitutional responsibility is to “provide for the common defense.” That means keeping Americans safe and addressing these glaring security gaps before terrorists use them as an opening to reach U.S. shores. The lack of meaningful changes to our refugee resettlement policies in this bill endanger our national security and represent an unacceptable omission.
Secondly, this legislation lacked any meaningful, new policies to protect the unborn, despite a letter that I sent to House leadership alongside more than 120 of my colleagues specifically requesting such provisions. If there was ever a time to force pro-abortion Members of Congress’s hands on this issue, it was now – at a time when the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is mired in scandal and Obamacare’s unconstitutional HHS mandate is headed back to the Supreme Court. The lack of significant, pro-life changes in this omnibus is a missed opportunity if I’ve ever seen one.
Finally, the omnibus bill continues the borrow-and-spend cycle that has plagued Washington for too long. Our nation is nearly $19 trillion in debt, yet this legislation piles on $1.1 trillion in spending. In fact, the bill spends $50 billion above the spending caps in the Budget Control Act of 2011. I came to Congress to stop the runaway spending that is robbing our children and grandchildren’s future and this bill failed to address that.
I have always said that, in divided government, legislators must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good – but we also must recognize when legislation simply isn’t good enough. Such was the case with this bill. While I am disappointed that the bill ultimately passed over my objections, I was proud to use my vote on behalf of Tennessee’s 6th District to stand against it.
