[StBernard] The 110th Congress Kicks Off

[Westley Annis]

January 7, 2007	 
 	 
Dear friends,

The 110th Congress kicks off

This week, the 110th Congress convened in Washington, D.C. It amazes me that
just two short years ago, I was being sworn in for the first time as a
Member of Congress. My daughter, who was just about to turn three when I was
first sworn in, accompanied me on the floor of the House of Representatives,
but mainly remembers the fact she got to eat ice cream when it was all done!

A lot has happened in those two years. We have had a number of successes,
including the critical energy revenue sharing bill that we passed just last
month that was signed into law. But in the last two years, we also faced
many challenges associated with the recovery and rebuilding efforts of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. My office has worked around the clock on behalf
of Louisiana residents during the past two years, and we will continue to be
a vocal advocate for our state in the 110th Congress.

New legislation to help Louisiana

As soon as I was sworn in, I immediately introduced a number of new bills to
help people in Louisiana. The bills I introduced will continue to upgrade
the insurance system in our country, and eliminate burdensome taxes in our
country.

The Policyholder Disaster Protection Act will establish a tax-exempt
policyholder disaster protection fund, and allow insurance companies to make
tax deductible contributions to the fund for the payment of claims of
policyholders arising from catastrophic events.

The Realistic Roofing Tax Treatment Act lowers taxes for many of the small
businesses in Louisiana that have had to make expensive repairs due to
Hurricanes Rita, Katrina, or other disasters.

Both of these bills will help those residents who are still trying to
rebuild following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as those affected by
natural disasters in the future. Too many people in our state are still
having major problems with their insurance, and the system must be refined
in order to better serve those affected by natural disasters.

In addition, I introduced the Permanent Marriage Equity Act of 2007. Under
current tax laws, many couples are actually punished by being forced to pay
higher taxes if they are married rather than if they remain single. My
legislation would permanently repeal this ridiculous tax. It is estimated
that the inequities in our tax law regarding marital status cost couples in
our country $10 billion a year. My bill will relieve this unfair tax burden,
and could help as many as 200,000 married couples in Louisiana.

I will push my colleagues in Congress to vote on these bills as soon as
possible. You can learn more about these bills by clicking here to read an
article in the New Orleans CityBusiness.
<http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/UpToTheMinute.cfm?recID=8120> 

Ethics reform in Congress

During my time in Congress, I have been a strong advocate for a more ethical
environment in Washington, D.C., and I supported an ethics reform bill this
week that tackles some of the abuses that have been in the news recently
such as gifts from lobbyists and privately-funded travel. This bill places a
ban on all gifts from lobbyists to members of Congress and staffers, and
expands the current ban on reimbursement for privately funded travel from
lobbyists to also include a ban on travel reimbursement by private entities
that employ lobbyists.

The ethics of our elected officials is an issue I take very seriously. As
leaders of our country, officials have a responsibility to hold themselves
to the highest level of conduct.

Members of Congress are elected to serve their constituents, not to come to
Washington and accept free meals and gifts from lobbyists. The average
American does not have someone paying for their vacations and meals, and
Members of Congress should not either.

There can be no place in the halls of Congress for even the appearance of
impropriety, and I will continue to be a strong advocate in the House of
Representatives for legislation that ensures that there is not even the
perception of corruption in Congress.

Eliminating wasteful pork barrel projects

This week we also passed an important rule that will greatly increase fiscal
discipline in our country and help reduce the national deficit by tackling
the issues of pork barrel projects and pay-as-you-go spending.

I have been fighting to restore fiscal common sense in Washington since I
was first elected. Our government has to do a better job of spending money
on priorities rather than the whims of special interest groups. In recent
years we have seen millions of dollars allocated to projects such as an
indoor rainforest, and the "Bridge to Nowhere," a $220 million bridge which
will connect a village with only 50 people to the mainland. This kind of out
of control spending must stop.

In addition, I supported an effort this week to ensure that Congress is not
passing any legislation that increases the national deficit. It is time for
our country to rein in the kind of reckless spending that increases our
national deficit. The legislation I supported will enact a pay-as-you-go
system for spending, which requires that new or expanded spending be fully
paid for by making reductions in other current spending. Louisiana families
are forced to budget for the money they have, and our government should too.

Our government must aggressively attack waste, fraud, and abuse to eliminate
wasteful Washington spending and further fiscal discipline in our country.
Restoring a sense of discipline in government spending is a large task, and
one that I will continue to fight for in Washington.

Supporting Louisiana businesses with common sense changes

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of employees at a paper
plant in Pineville about the future of our state. I told them that our state
has to look forward and make common sense changes to the way our government
works if we want to create more economic opportunities in all 64 of our
parishes.

I have been fighting for our state in Washington, D.C., but there are a
number of things that have to be done on the state level in order to move
Louisiana forward. I told the workers at the paper plant that our state
government needs to stop being a hindrance to business in our state by doing
some common sense things, like eliminating the sales tax on machinery and
equipment, as well as the tax on utilities.

Eliminating these taxes will not only help draw new businesses to our state,
but will also help the industries and companies that are already here, like
the paper plant I visited in Pineville. We have to do more to level the
playing field so that Louisiana companies can compete with companies based
in other states.

To read the entire article about my visit to Pineville, click here.
<http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701040324> 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Please feel free to contact my
office if we can be of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,
Bobby