John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

According to the Federal Highway Administration, infrastructure projects can take as long as 15 years to complete because of excessive government regulations and red tape. These types of bureaucratic delays are a major barrier to economic growth and job creation. To prevent needless delays and cost increases and facilitate the timely repair of roads and bridges, which are critical to the economy’s ability to function, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) …

SPEEDS UP BUREAUCRATIC APPROVALS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS & CUTS PERMITTING TIME IN HALF BY:

• Allowing federal agencies to review transportation projects concurrently rather than waiting for one to finish before beginning another;

• Setting hard deadlines for federal agencies to approve projects;

• Delegating more decision-making authority to the states, eliminating duplication with the federal government and reducing delays and costs to taxpayers; and more.

We know infrastructure projects can be completed quickly and safely. For example, when a design flaw caused the I-35 bridge in Minnesota to collapse in 2007, the replacement was contracted to be completed within 437 days. It was actually finished well ahead of schedule – in 14 months – thanks to the kind of streamlined review and permit process created by the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act.

H.R. 7 also eliminates or consolidates nearly 70 federal transportation programs, and is earmark-free. As Congressman Boehner wrote in Human Events today, “gone are the days when powerful chairmen and the most senior members of Congress steer your money to their most-favored pet projects.”

Stay tuned to the Congressman’s blog for part five in our series on pro-growth reforms in H.R. 7, a bill that removes barriers to energy production to create more than a million new jobs and address rising gas prices, and focuses taxpayer resources on high-priority infrastructure projects – without earmarks, without adding to our national debt, and without raising taxes on families and small businesses.

READ MORE:

• H.R. 7 Has No Earmarks & Eliminates or Consolidates Nearly 70 Duplicative Programs
• H.R. 7 Ensures Scarce Taxpayer Dollars Are Focused on High-Priority Infrastructure Projects, Not Wasteful Pork
• H.R.7 Removes Barriers to Energy Production to Create More Than a Million New Private-Sector Jobs

In the Pledge to America, Republicans promised to craft legislation out in the open in committees – not behind closed doors in the Speaker’s office – with input from both parties. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act(H.R. 7), which removes barriers to energy production to help create more than a million new jobs, is the latest example of the Pledge in action.

For example, portions of H.R. 7 have been considered in five different House committees. Republicans and Democrats have had the opportunity to offer, debate, accept and reject amendments. The hearings were streamed live online and the bill will be posted on docs.House.gov in a searchable format for several days before a final vote -- above and beyond the new three day requirement.

As Speaker Boehner said in his address to the opening session of the 112th Congress, “the House works best when it is allowed to work its will.” Here’s the House at work on the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act:

• Energy & Commerce: Adopted provisions requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve the Keystone XL pipeline within 30 days. Keystone will create tens of thousands of jobs and has broad support from lawmakers, job creators, and the American people. [READ MORE]

• Natural Resources: Approved several initiatives removing barriers to American energy production that will create more than a million new private-sector jobs. These include lifting the president’s ban on offshore energy exploration, opening a small portion of ANWR to exploration, and developing a clear set of rules for the development of U.S. oil shale which has six times the energy of Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves. [READ MORE]

• Oversight & Government Reform: Adopted common-sense reforms to the federal employee pension system to help pay for near-term infrastructure improvements while expanded energy production comes on line. The reforms apply to all three branches of government, including Members of Congress, and help ensure H.R. 7 doesn’t add a penny to the debt. [READ MORE]

• Transportation & Infrastructure: Approved reforms that speed up the bureaucratic approval process by cutting red tape; eliminate and consolidate dozens of federal infrastructure programs; and embrace more private sector involvement in the construction and repair of our roads and bridges – all without the earmarks that have been commonplace in highways bills of the past. [READ MORE]

• Ways & Means: Adopted reforms to the Highway Trust Fund that direct 100 percent of highway resources to highway projects – not beautification, bike paths, and other non-economic activity. These also give states the flexibility and resources they need to improve high-priority infrastructure. [READ MORE]

In short, this is a different kind of jobs bill that has been crafted far differently than bills in the previous Democratic-controlled House. The failed ‘stimulus’ spending bill was made public just hours before it was rushed to a vote; H.R. 7 will be available online in a machine-readable format for several days. ObamaCare was written by Democratic leaders who refused to broadcast negotiations and forbid Republican amendments; H.R. 7 has been written and debated out in the open with input from both parties.

Learn more about this bill on Speaker.gov/Energy and check out the Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators – and the nearly 30 House-passed jobs bills delayed by Senate Democrats – at jobs.GOP.gov.

That’s what one veteran House Democrat said recently about H.R. 7, the American Energy & Infrastructure Act, which, in addition to having no earmarks, eliminates or consolidates nearly 70 duplicative transportation programs and removes government barriers to job creation.  

This pro-growth approach is “markedly different” from infrastructure bills written in the past by leaders in both parties, who stuffed highway bills with earmarks, many of which siphoned off resources from high-priority projects.   In 2005, a Republican-led Congress passed a federal highway bill containing more than 6,300 earmarks.  Congressman Boehner was one of eight lawmakers to vote against the bill.  “Every few years we go through the same inefficient, top-down approach that we're going through now, and how do taxpayers and drivers benefit? We really don't,” Boehner said at the time.  “This process is clearly broken.”

H.R. 7 reforms the process from top to bottom: no earmarks and no ‘stimulus’ spending, only pro-growth reforms that link expanded energy production to infrastructure repair and cut through red tape to ensure taxpayer resources are used wisely and efficiently.  Still, House Democrats continue to chafe at the lack of earmarks in the bill, and it is perhaps one reason why many of them oppose it.  One House Democrat recently told POLITICO: “I think people would be more enthusiastic” if the bill included more earmarks.  The fact that H.R. 7 would lead to the creation of more than one million new private-sector jobs should be enough cause for enthusiasm.  

Earlier this week, in an interview with PBS’ NewsHour, Congressman Boehner highlighted how H.R. 7 is good for job creation and has no earmarks: 

“The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act will be up here in the next couple of weeks … opening up more areas for energy development and using those new revenues … to pay for our aging infrastructure that needs real repair.  And we'll do this in a way that has no earmarks.  You know, the last highway bill had 6,317 earmarks in it, little projects for members of Congress and their districts, some of them not-so-little.   No earmarks.”

In addition to having no earmarks, H.R. 7 eliminates or consolidates nearly 70 duplicative transportation programs.  According to the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee: 

“Currently, there are over 100 federal surface transportation programs, many of which were created over the last 50 years to expand the scope of the original programmatic goals.  Many of these programs are duplicative or do not serve a national interest.   The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act reforms surface transportation programs by consolidating or eliminating approximately 70 programs that are duplicative or do not serve a federal purpose.”

By eliminating or consolidating these programs, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act helps ensure taxpayer resources go to high-priority projects that have a direct connection to our economy – not bike paths and beautification projects.  

Republicans’ “focus on curbing government spending has transformed the discussion on transportation over the last year,” National Journal reports.  “Earmarks, which once drove the entire surface transportation authorization process, are now a thing of the past.”  

Visit the blog tomorrow to read part four in our series on pro-growth reforms in H.R. 7.  

READ MORE

·         H.R. 7 Ensures Scarce Taxpayer Dollars Are Focused on High-Priority Infrastructure Projects, Not Wasteful Pork

·         H.R.7 Removes Barriers to Energy Production to Create More Than a Million New Private-Sector Jobs

Below is a photo from Congressman John Boehner’s meeting with students from Miami University’s ‘Inside Washington’ program at his office in the Capitol today. Boehner’s Ohio district is home to Miami’s main campus in Oxford, and two regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown.

(Official photo by Heather Reed)

In an interview with PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff, Congressman John Boehner discussed Senate Democrats' unwillingness to act on bipartisan initiatives that help create new private-sector jobs or stop Washington from spending money it doesn't have. Boehner also highlighted the upcoming vote on the earmark-free American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7). Video and key excerpts are below:

Boehner: Senate Democrats Still Haven't Acted on Nearly 30 Bipartisan House-Passed Jobs Bills:

“[W]hen we look at this year, our focus is going to continue to be on jobs, like it was last year. ... [T]he House has had our plan for American job creators since last May. We've passed 30 bills that would help our economy grow -- 27 of them are still sitting in the United States Senate. And if we're serious about jobs and the economy, the Senate has to take up some of these bills and actually act.”

Boehner: Senate Democrats Haven't Presented a Full-Year Payroll Tax Cut Plan, “Want No Part of Cutting Spending”:

“We passed a year-long extension in the payroll tax credit in December. ... We had reasonable offsets in spending that, most of them, came from the president's own budget. And so we've done our work. We're in conference with the Senate trying to come to agreement. But it's pretty clear that our Senate colleagues want no part of cutting spending. Now, if we're going to extend the payroll tax credit, and we're going to extend unemployment benefits with reforms, and take care of the so-called doc fix, we're going to have to offset this spending. But my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don't want to offset this spending. So it's -- we're in conference with the Senate. Hopefully we'll be able to come to an agreement quickly.”

Boehner: Earmark-Free American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act Expands Energy Production to Create Jobs and Repair Roads & Bridges:

“The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act will be up here in the next couple of weeks, taking, opening up more areas for energy development and using those new revenues -- royalty revenues -- to pay for our aging infrastructure that needs real repair. And we'll do this in a way that has no earmarks. You know, the last highway bill had 6,317 earmarks in it, little projects for members of Congress and their districts -- some of them not so little. No earmarks.”

Boehner: Republican-Led House Helped Cut $2.1 Trillion in Government Spending So Far:

“One of the real successes from last year is that we were able to cut $2.1 trillion worth of spending over the next 10 years. Now that's already law. It's going to happen.”

Boehner: Future of Our Country Depends on Solving Washington's Spending-Driven Debt Problem:

“I thought if we reformed our tax system, we could produce more revenue from it. But I told the president, I'm not going to put more revenue on the table unless you're willing to make real changes to our entitlement programs because in their current form, they're not sustainable. The president would never say yes to any of those changes to the entitlement programs. And even though I had revenue on the table and the president hadn't said yes, he came back and wanted $500 billion more in revenue. There's a way to do this, but it takes courage. And I am more than willing to address this problem at any moment with the president, because the future of our country depends on us coming to an agreement that will begin to solve our debt problem.”

Boehner: GOP-Led House of Representatives is Listening to the American People:

“I promised the American people when we took the majority that my job was to listen to them every day and to follow their will. And while it's - whether it's cutting spending or getting our economy going again, we've done what the American people have asked us to do.”

In the past, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars meant for improving highways were wasted by Congress on projects that had little positive impact on America’s economy. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) is a different kind of bill that expands energy production to create more than a million new jobs, address high gas prices, and help pay for improvements to our roads and bridges. This bill …

ENSURES SCARCE TAXPAYER DOLLARS ARE FOCUSED ON HIGH-PRIORITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, NOT WASTEFUL PORK, BY:

• Reforming the Highway Trust Fund and directing 100 percent of its resources to national highways and bridges. This means resources meant for highway construction and repair will be used for highway construction and repair. Currently, only 75 percent of Highway Trust Fund expenditures go to core infrastructure projects that play a direct role in America’s economy;

• Eliminating federal mandates that force states to spend highway money on non-highway activities. In the past, scarce dollars have been diverted to non-economic beautification, bike paths, and sidewalk lighting projects that are better funded with state or local resources; 

• Returning highway funding to the states and state officials who know where infrastructure resources are most needed. States previously only received about two-thirds of the gas tax dollars collected for highway improvements -- under H.R. 7 they will receive 93 percent; and

• Eliminating earmarks which were banned by House Republicans after being abused by both parties in recent decades. The 2005 highway bill was loaded with more than 6,300 earmarks that cost taxpayers more than $21 billion.

The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act ensures taxpayer dollars are spent on our most critical infrastructure needs without adding to our national debt and without raising taxes on families and small businesses. Stay tuned for part three in our series on the pro-growth reforms in H.R. 7.

READ MORE:

H.R.7 Removes Barriers to Energy Production to Create More Than a Million New Private-Sector Jobs

Today, the House Energy & Commerce Committee will continue fighting for 20,000 new American jobs with a vote on the North American Energy Access Act (H.R. 3548), legislation that will take the Keystone pipeline decision “out of the president’s hands” and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “authority and oversight over the pipeline’s permit and construction,” according to the committee.  The bill requires approval of the Keystone XL pipeline – which has the backing of a majority of Americans and members of the president’s own party - within 30 days, and will become part of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act once it is approved by the committee.  In a statement on today’s committee action, Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI)underscored the need to separate presidential politics from the pipeline decision for jobs and America’s energy security:

“President Obama had more than enough time and information to do the right thing and say yes to this job-creating project, but he failed again and again. It’s time for Congress to take this decision out of the president’s hands and take the politics out of a commonsense pipeline that will bring economic and energy security.”

According to a recent report, gas prices are once again climbing to more than $4 per gallon.  Last year, when the average gas price was even less than it is today, economists warned that rising prices could further damage the already-struggling economic recovery.  As prices continued to skyrocket, small business struggled, seven in 10 American families faced financial hardship, and out-of-work Americans had even more difficulty finding a job.  President Obama is leading America down the same road and making the economy worse by maintaining theobstacles to American energy production that are driving up gas prices, and House Republicans are fighting back.

With today’s committee passage of the North American Energy Access Act, the Republican House majority will take another step toward securing approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that will pump more than 800,000 barrels of oil to U.S. refineries.  As Congressman Boehner (R-West Chester) has promised, approval of the Keystone XL pipeline will be part of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act, legislation that removes barriers to American energy production and opens new areas to energy exploration and development offshore and in Alaska and the Intermountain West (see more: here and here).  Learn more about these critical reforms at speaker.gov/energy, and follow the progress of the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act on the American Energy Initiative Facebook page: Facebook.com/AmericanEnergy.

Ready for President Obama’s signature, after passage in both the House and Senate, is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization conference report that includes long-overdue reforms to the National Mediation Board (NMB) aimed at helping the economy and removing barriers to job creation.

Since 1934, the NMB – which is responsible for protecting the rights of workers and employers in the U.S. railroad and airline industries – upheld a rule designed to reduce air and rail strikes that could be harmful to the economy by ensuring that a majority of airline and rail employees support union representation.  In November of 2009, the NMB overturned this common-sense rule and 75 years of labor policy, stacking the deck for organized labor in union elections and increasing the chance of costly strikes in critical industries that could damage our economy.

After months of contentious negotiations, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) and House Republicans reached an agreement with Senate Democrats on the FAA measure that includes unprecedented labor reforms to the National Mediation Board.  For example, under the agreement:

• The showing of interest threshold is now 50 percent of eligible employees for all union elections (previously it was only 35 percent for a new union and 50 percent to change or decertify an existing union).

• In the event of a run-off election, the top two options will be in the run-off (previously it was the top two unions in the run-off – so if Union A received 47 percent of the vote, Union B received 10 percent of the vote, and no-union received 43 percent of the vote, the two unions would be in the run-off with no opportunity for employees to vote for the no-union option).

• Within 180 days of enactment, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) must provide a report on certification procedures and make recommendations to Congress on any potential changes.  The report must compare and contrast the NMB with other federal & state entities that have similar labor-related jurisdictions and evaluate the current and past NMB practices with congressional intent.

• All substantive NMB rulemakings will now require a public hearing (including notice for the hearing, a transcript of the hearing, and other requirements from the Administrative Procedures Act).

• GAO must also conduct an audit of the NMB at least every two years to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of all NMB operations, including the certification process (NMB currently has no Inspector General or meaningful oversight whatsoever).

In short, House Republicans achieved reforms that reinstitute the majority-of-eligible threshold at an earlier stage in the process, eliminates a union tactic to force run-off elections, and implements new levels of transparency and oversight at the NMB where previously there was none. Labor bosses opposed the reforms, stating in a letter that:

“Rewarding the House Republican Leadership’s desire to rewrite decades of long standing labor law in a flash by inserting an unrelated and controversial labor provision in a much needed aviation safety and security bill, without notice, hearing, or debate, sets an extremely dangerous precedent. We urge the Senate to delete the provisions of the bill that would amend the RLA and pass the clean FAA Reauthorization that all concerned recognize this country sorely needs and supports.”

Republicans have kept a relentless focus on jobs, sending nearly 30 jobs bills to the Senate over the last year that Democratic leaders are blocking.  The FAA conference report is but the latest example of Republicans fighting to grow our economy and break down barriers to private-sector job creation.

In the wake of President Obama’s controversial decision to make three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month without Senate approval, the House Education & the Workforce Committee held a hearing today on the implications President Obama’s action will have on America’s job creators.  Witnesses at the hearing not only raised doubts as to the constitutionality of the appointments, but also expressed concern regarding the increased uncertainty businesses large and small will now face as a result of the legal questions surrounding the NLRB’s decision making going forward.  Here’s more:

• “That uncertainty will be seen far and wide.  Moreover, I believe it will have a particularly disparate impact on small businesses which often lack the resources in both time and money to pursue rights they might otherwise legitimately have.” (Mr. Stefan J. Marculewicz, Esq., Littler Mendelson, 2/7/12)

• “It takes on average more than one year for the Board to decide a case. Normally, there would be some closure once the Board decides, but under the current scenario there will most likely be legal issues for an extended period of time which will add costs for the parties and taxpayers.” (Mr. Dennis M. Devaney, Devaney Jacob Wilson, PLLC, 2/7/12)

In his opening statement, Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) questioned President Obama’s decision to make it more difficult to create jobs at a time when our economy still isn’t putting enough Americans back to work:

“Make no mistake, every action taken by the board will be tainted, creating greater uncertainty for employers and additional costs for taxpayers.

“The president has steered the country into uncharted waters. The question remains: Why? At a time when millions of Americans are out of work, why threaten the certainty and confidence our economy needs to grow and prosper? …

“Our primary concern is the fear and uncertainty this action has unleashed – the fear of the activist NLRB’s future actions and the uncertainty of whether its mandates and decisions can stand under constitutional scrutiny.”

Small businesses are operating under a cloud of uncertainty exacerbated by rising gas prices, excessive government regulations, skyrocketing debt, burdensome ObamaCare mandates, and the threat of tax hikes coming down the pike – and President Obama’s controversial NLRB appointments are making matters worse.   

The House Republican majority has passed legislation – the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act (H.R.2587) and the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094) – to rein in unaccountable NLRB bureaucrats and help give small businesses the certainty they need to create jobs.  They are amongst the nearly 30 bipartisan, House-passed jobs bills Senate Democrats are ignoring, while 12.7 million out-of-work Americans continue to ask: “Where are the jobs?”  It’s time for Senate Democrats to listen to the American people and take action to help the economy create jobs.  Learn more about the Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators and track the progress of the Democrat-stalled jobs bills at jobs.gop.gov.