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Congress Keeps Spending

October 4, 2018 by Editor in
Recently I voted NO on the minibus spending bills (H.R. 6157) and the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 302).
These were tough votes for me because there are policies in the bills I do support, including funding for our military and the largest pay raise in years for our troops, as well as funding for important medical research.  But here is the bottom line: both bills continue our government’s excessive and reckless spending and the billions in disaster relief are not offset.

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A Look Back at this Session

July 27, 2018 by Editor in

Yesterday marked the last day of session for the U.S. House of Representatives until September. (The same does not hold true for the U.S. Senate, who will stay in Washington through August due to historic obstruction by the Democrats.)

As I headed back to Minnesota to continue working in the district, I reflected on the House’s accomplishments so far for you and your family. After years of struggling to not just get ahead, but to keep up, Americans are finally starting to see opportunity, jobs and confidence come back.

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No to a Broken Process

March 29, 2018 by Editor in

Congress met another funding deadline last week, this time with a massive $1.3 trillion omnibus to fund the government through September.  The 2,200+ page bill was given to me and my colleagues approximately 17 hours before we were scheduled to vote.

When I came to Washington, I made a commitment to Minnesotans to uphold the fiscal conservative principles on which I was elected and do everything possible to fix the broken processes of Congress.

The commitment I made to you is why I voted ‘No’ on the omnibus bill last week.

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About the Budget…

February 13, 2018 by Editor in

Last week, Congress passed a massive spending bill that raises spending caps and ultimately increases our nation’s $20 trillion debt. Despite some positive provisions in the deal, including funding for our nation’s military, I could not support it.

Here’s why: Over the next two years, this deal raises spending by nearly $300 billion, including an increase to non-defense spending by $131 billion. It fails to pay for these spending increases and provides another debt limit suspension until 2019. Read More

WSJ : Lawmakers Seek to Ease Mortgage-Disclosure Rule for Small Lenders

January 13, 2018 by Editor in

This article on H.R. 2954, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, was published in the Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2018. Read the full article here.

Excerpts:

The legislation would allow a significant proportion of community banks and credit unions to escape reporting requirements that came into effect this month. The new requirements fall under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, a law enacted in 1975 to curb discrimination against minority borrowers.

The bill introduced by Rep. Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) has a good chance of becoming law because a broad Senate financial-deregulation bill, introduced in November with bipartisan support, includes a similar provision. Mr. Emmer said he expected a few House Democrats to support his bill.

The bill is expected to cover roughly a quarter of the U.S. mortgage market, Mr. Emmer said in an interview.

“These thresholds will still require the Wells Fargos, Bank of Americas and JPMorgans of the world to report data but it will provide relief to little guys, community banks and credit unions,” he said.

Financial institutions, particularly community banks and credit unions, have complained about new disclosure requirements, citing compliance costs and data-security concerns.

Specifically, the legislation would expand the exemption to lenders that originate fewer than 500 closed-end mortgage loans in each of the two preceding calendar years, up from 25 loans currently. The threshold for open-end home-equity lines of credit would be raised to 500 loans a year from 100 loans currently.