Our Congressman in D.C. on the State of the Union

By U.S. Rep. Francisco Canseco, R-23rd Congressional District

Last Tuesday the President delivered his annual State of the Union address to the Nation. As someone who came to Washington just one year ago, I was very much looking forward to new ideas and a renewed sense of purpose from the President. My hopes were based on what I have heard during my travels from El Paso to San Antonio, and everywhere in between – that people are tired of the way Washington does business and they want solutions as opposed to more partisan bickering.

Because of my newness to Congress and the ways of Washington, I share the frustrations stemming from the inability of people to work together to get our economy turned around so businesses can focus on creating jobs again. The president said he would change the tone of Washington, but Washington has never been more divided as he has chosen the rhetoric and practice of dividing Americans rather than uniting them.  We cannot allow ourselves to be divided in this way as we tackle the momentous problems facing our country.

While I agree with the President on his call to work across the political aisles, I had a difficult time listening to some of the things he purported to support when his actions over the past year reflected the opposite. We all know the President did not cause our economic crisis, but he needs to look in the mirror and realize that the policies of the past three years have failed. Joblessness remains unacceptably high even after the President spent trillions of dollars we don’t have to combat the problem.

The feedback I’ve received from my constituents in the year I’ve been in office is that while Washington is growing, small businesses and salaries are not enjoying the same trajectory. Washington needs to trim down, just as families in Texas have done during these tough economic times. While trying the President’s policies for the past three years, we have seen unemployment above 8 percent for a longer stretch of time than any point since the Great Depression. Americans should be able to keep more of their hard-earned tax dollars instead of sending them to Washington to be wasted in boondoggles, like Solyndra.

I, along with my colleagues in the House, passed a year-long payroll tax holiday extension that the President and his allies in the Senate opposed. It is time for them to pass this much-needed relief rather than play politics with family finances because two months is simply not enough for struggling Texans.

Like the President, I think it’s very important to honor our nation’s veterans and ensure that they receive the benefits that they have earned through their service to our nation. Yet, one of the best things we can do for our veterans is make sure we have a healthy economy so that they can find jobs once they return from serving their country. The House of Representatives has passed nearly 30 bipartisan bills that focused on creating jobs. Ideas for these bills come from meetings with constituents and small businesses that we asked to give us advice on what can be done to create jobs. Listening to them makes it clear they need less red tape and more common sense from our nation’s leaders.  Thusly, I was very disappointed with the President’s claim that the House has not worked with him to help fuel job creation, and I imagine his Democrat colleagues in the House must be even more disappointed as he has turned his back on the many bipartisan attempts to reduce unemployment.

Here in the House we understand that it’s hard for people to get back on their feet when the costs of health care and energy are on the rise. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actuaries found that the President’s health care plan will dramatically increase the near-term growth rate of health care costs. In 2014, the actuaries predict that growth in the net cost of health insurance will increase by nearly 14 percent. That is a scary prediction, given that so many families are finding it difficult to cover their health care expenses at the present costs. Energy costs also hurt families in Texas, because it eats at the family budget when those costs skyrocket. We need an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, and although the President claims to support this idea, he recently blocked the Keystone XL project, which will bring more energy to the marketplace in a partnership with our Canadian friends. This refusal to approve the much needed project will result in higher energy costs, less money in your pocket and much needed jobs going outside of the country rather than to Americans.

Most importantly, I look forward to continuing to hear from you at one of the many events I will be holding across the 23rd District. I want to listen to you and bring your ideas back to Congress, together I believe we can work to find solutions and keep America great.

Please go to my website at Canseco.House.gov for more information or call one of my offices at 210-561-8855 or 210-922-7826