Speeches

H.R.1654 - Water Supply Permitting Coordination Act

April 26, 2017

Droughts are nature’s fault. Water shortages are OUR fault. Water shortages are a choice we made a generation ago when we stopped building new reservoirs to meet the needs of a growing population. We will not solve our water shortages until we build new reservoirs. And we cannot build new reservoirs until we overhaul the radical environmental laws that have made their construction endlessly time consuming and ultimately cost prohibitive.

Issues:California Water CrisisGovernment RegulationLegislationNatural Resources Committee

Congressman Tom McClintock issued the following statement regarding the United States attack on Syria

April 7, 2017

Speeches

Congressman Tom McClintock issued the following statement regarding the United States attack on Syria:

Obamacare: What Would Ben Franklin Do?

April 5, 2017

Speeches

Congress is fundamentally a deliberative institution. Deliberations take time and they’re often messy – in fact, the bigger the issue, the messier the deliberations. The designers of our Constitution wanted a great, big, ugly debate whenever a decision was being made. They wanted the subject to be held up to every conceivable light and for every voice in the country to be heard.

Issues:Healthcare

Repeal and Replace

March 21, 2017

Speeches

Any discussion of the American Health Care Act needs first to consider where we will be without it. Obamacare is collapsing. More people are paying the steep tax penalty or claiming hardship exemptions than are choosing to buy Obamacare policies. In a third of the counties across America, there is only one provider to choose and soon we will see counties where there are no providers at all.

Issues:Healthcare

Liberty and Union

February 15, 2017

Speeches

Liberty and Union
House Chambers, Washington, D.C.
February 15, 2017

Mr. Speaker:

One of the most troubling aspects of California's lurch to the left are the rise of two doctrines unknown in this country since the last gasp of the Southern Confederacy.

Issues:ConstitutionCalifornia

What True Democracy Looks Like

February 7, 2017

Speeches

What True Democracy Looks Like
House Chambers, Washington, D.C.
February 7, 2017

Mr. Speaker:

Our nation has come to a crossroads between two competing visions of the future that don't easily reconcile. At such times as these, emotions run high.

The good news is that our institutions are the best ever designed to resolve such political disputes. In other countries, the government is the sovereign and rights flow from it to the people. In America, the people are sovereign.

Time to Get Serious About a Balanced Budget Amendment

January 11, 2017

Speeches

In the last eight years, our nation’s debt has doubled. That means the Obama administration has borrowed as much money in eight years as our government borrowed in the 220 years between the first day of the George Washington administration until the last day of the George W. Bush administration.

Issues:Fiscal and Economic

REINS Act

January 5, 2017

Speeches

I support the REINS act, but want to underscore the point raised by Mr. Barr. The REINS Act says that any regulation – that is, an act with the force of law – that’s adopted by the executive branch and costs more than $100 million, must then be approved by Congress in order to take effect. As necessary as this bill is in the current environment, I’m afraid we have it backwards. Under the Constitution just read on this floor again today, it is not the role of the executive branch to make laws and for the legislative branch to approve or veto them.

Issues:Government Regulation

Desert Storm Memorial location, H.J. Res. 3

January 4, 2017

Speeches

House Joint Resolution 3 by Congressman Roe of Tennessee authorizes the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association to consider sites, along or near the National Mall, for a memorial to honor the members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield.

Issues:Natural Resources Committee

WRDA - A Critical Moment for Tahoe and the West

December 7, 2016

Speeches

WRDA Conference Report: Water for California; Fire Protection for Tahoe. The conference report on the Water Resources Development Act is the product of many, many hours of good-faith negotiations between the House and Senate and between Republicans and Democrats.

Issues:CaliforniaCalifornia Water CrisisForest FireLocal IssuesNatural Resources Committee