The Hill Report

This week in Washington, I joined my Republican colleagues in calling for spending accountability and transparency in Congress through earmark reform.

At the beginning of this Congress, the Democrat Majority Party promised the American people that they would run the most “honest, ethical and transparent” House in history by providing an open and transparent legislative process, including new-and-improved earmark rules.

Not only have they failed to keep their promises to the American people, but they have sought to reverse long-established transparency measures in a desperate effort to keep their earmarks from seeing the light of day. I believe that the America people deserve better.

In June, my Republican colleagues and I forced the Democrat Majority to accept earmark reform for appropriations bills—reinstating Republican reforms implemented last Congress. Unfortunately, we continue to see non-disclosed earmarks appearing in all sorts of bills. In response, we are fighting for more transparency and accountability by extending the reforms to all legislation, including tax and authorization bills. No legislation should serve as a loophole for unchallenged pork projects.

On Thursday, I joined over 100 other Members in signing a discharge petition to force a vote on H.Res. 479, comprehensive earmark reform legislation that would simply allow the House to debate openly and honestly about the validity and accuracy of earmarks contained in all bills, not just appropriations bills.

Under House rules, the Majority Party must schedule a vote if a petition receives 218 signatures. Consequently, I urge House Democrats to put their promises into action and join us in fully implementing comprehensive earmark reforms. Perhaps then we can begin restoring this Congress’ non-existent credibility regarding the enforcement of its own rules.


Terrorism Risk Insurance
On Thursday, the House passed legislation to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), legislation originally designed to facilitate private-market terrorism insurance solutions.

As the sponsor of legislation to extend the TRIA program in the 108th Congress, I fundamentally believe that TRIA has helped the private sector to stabilize our nation’s economy by providing a functioning marketplace for policyholders to acquire terrorism insurance and for insurers to provide it to them.

In fact, many of the positive aspects of the current bill mimic policy proposals included in legislation that my colleague, Congressman Richard Baker (R-LA) and I have introduced last Congress, such as the following proposals:

? Extends the current program, providing both policyholders and insurers with the certainty needed for long-term projects – and our domestic economic health – to move forward.

? Eliminates the false distinction between foreign and domestic acts of terror. As we have learned from the London bombings and from the recent foiled terrorist plots in Germany and New Jersey, no country is insulated from “home-grown” terrorism, which can be just as destructive and costly as terrorism from abroad.

? Includes Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and Radiological coverage, although without the market-based modifications that our proposals contained to make this coverage both taxpayer-friendly and cost-efficient.

Unfortunately, the TRIA bill that the House passed this week is a far less responsible approach to dealing with the real-world economic problems posed by terrorism than these past proposals. This legislation skirts recent Democrat promises to abide by their own self-imposed “Pay-as-you-go” rules by shifting the responsibility of funding TRIA onto future Congresses.

Rather than clearly signaling to the private sector what the federal government will spend in the event of another attack on the Untied States and what their own costs and responsibilities would be, this hastily-drafted language reintroduces political risk into this financial transaction by leaving these hard decisions up to the whims of a future Congress.

TRIA is an important part in securing the financial stability of our nation as our national security is being defended around the world today, and I hope that the Senate will provide a serious proposal to deal with TRIA so that the flaws of the House legislation can be worked out in a conference committee to reconcile the proposals.


Passport Travel Reminder
As you may know, the State Department will soon re-instate air travel passport requirements as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

On Sunday, September 30, 2007, U.S. citizens returning to our nation via airplane from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda must present a valid passport to travel. U.S. citizens may continue to drive across the border without a passport until May 2008.

This policy ends the temporary passport requirement waiver announced in June that allowed qualifying travelers to produce a government-issued photo ID and proof from the State Department that they have already applied for a passport. Although this temporary waiver enabled passport offices to make significant progress in processing passport applications, citizens are still advised to apply early with any passport requests, including renewal requests.

As the State Department re-instates the passport requirements, please be assured that I will be following the situation closely and working with my colleagues to ensure that the severe backlog of passport applications earlier this year is not repeated. As always, please feel free to contact my Dallas District Office at 972.392.0505 for assistance with passport issues.


News from the 32nd District
On Monday, I delivered opening remarks at the All South Credit Conference, an event that brings together about 250 Chief Financial Officers, Credit Managers, and their staff from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, across Texas, and surrounding states.

Sponsored by the National Association of Credit Management, this conference facilitates information, discussion, and leadership in the financial industry, and I was pleased for the opportunity to provide a general congressional update as well as to discuss specific issues such as current credit challenges, private equity tax issues, and health care.