You don’t have to tell anyone in Louisiana that our nation’s domestic energy production on federal lands and waters has suffered under the Obama Administration. We can feel the effects of their policies right here at home – from higher gas prices to fewer jobs. Not only that, but domestic energy production is trending in the exact opposite direction of the rapid growth we’re seeing on private and state lands.
That’s because this administration adheres to a far-left environmentalist agenda. They continue to limit access to federal land and suffocate our domestic energy producers with red tape.
In order to fight back against this far-left agenda, I introduced several bills this week to improve the United States energy economy, including expanding access to the outer continental shelf, permitting for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and fighting against a carbon tax.
I’ll also introduce a comprehensive energy bill in February based on my previous legislation, 3-D: The Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy, and Deficit Reduction Act of 2011. The 3-D Act became a large part of the Senate Republican’s energy policy during last congress, and it would have worked to create more than 2 million jobs and $10 trillion in economic activity.
Unleashing our vast domestic energy potential will create American jobs, help free us from our reliance on foreign oil, and begin to reduce our $16 trillion dollar national debt. Louisianians know first-hand how our domestic energy supplies can be a powerful job-creating force. We know that it’s common sense to harness that potential on a national scale and to allow access to our nation’s resources. It’s my hope that we’ll be able to convince my colleagues in Congress and the administration, too.
Each year, the Louisiana Life March in Baton Rouge and the March for Life in Washington D.C. serve as important reminders of a movement that continues to gain momentum across the country. I’m grateful for the many pro-life Americans, especially in Louisiana, who continue to renew our commitment to building a culture where all people, born and unborn, are guaranteed the right to life.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with several hundred students from Louisiana, including my daughter Lise, in our nation’s capital for the national March for Life. I know that their efforts make a difference, and I believe the great number of young people involved in this movement is most inspiring for our future. I’m also taking steps here in the U.S. Senate to protect the rights of the unborn as well.
In honor of the 40th annual March for Life, I’ve introduced a series of pro-life bills in the U.S. Senate. I’ve reintroduced my bill to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being awarded to entities that perform abortions, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has authored the companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Click here to read an op-ed we co-authored.
I’ve also reintroduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, a bill that would make it illegal to obtain an abortion due to a gender preference. It’s flat out morally wrong to assign different values to unborn babies’ lives based on gender, and we should have zero tolerance for this kind of discrimination. To read more about the pro-life bills I introduced, click here.
I’ve been a consistent advocate for the sanctity of human life, earning a 100% pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee, and I will continue to lead the fight for pro-life legislation in the 113th Congress.
Whenever I meet with Louisianians, I see the ocean of difference that exists between families and businesses back home and politicians in Washington. Louisianians can see that Washington works in a way that families and businesses couldn’t imagine.
That’s why, on the first day I could introduce legislation to this new Congress, I took a fundamental idea that I’ve been advocating since my days in the Louisiana state legislature, and introduced it: term limits. Call it Potomac Fever, or whatever you’d like, but the longer some folks are in Washington, the more taxpayer money they want to spend.
Click here to watch my recent interview discussing term limits on Fox Business.
My bipartisan legislation would limit U.S. Representatives to three terms and U.S. Senators to two terms in office. Applying term limits to all members of Congress would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As a constitutional amendment, it would require a two-thirds majority vote approval in the House and Senate and must be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I know it can be done. Term limits are something I successfully fought for, and won, in the Louisiana state legislature – where we’ve since seen real reforms – and I’ll continue fighting for them in Congress.
Not allowing politicians to remain in office for an eternity is one step we need to take to make Congress more like the world back home. I believe that this common-sense reform can help bridge the gap between Congress and the American people.
Over the last several years, we’ve seen huge increases in the price of prescription drugs, and drug companies are finding loopholes in the system to keep their profits up at the expense of patients and their families. I believe it’s time put an end to this.
One of the main reasons for the prescription drug price increase is due to a practice of anti-competitive “pay-for-delay” deals, where affordable generic drugs are kept away from consumers longer because a Big PhRMA company actually pays off, or “settles,” with a generic drugmaker to keep the generic drug off the market. Doing so ensures that the big drug company’s more expensive version of medicine is the only option available on the market. This practice thwarts competition and greatly contributes to the price increases of our medicines.
While “pay-for-delay” deals create obvious challenges for patients and their families, it’s unfortunately becoming the norm. It’s a win-win for brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers, but it comes at the expense of patients – often times seniors.
We need to stop these abusive deals from keeping generics off the market longer than they should. This issue will come before the Supreme Court this year, but I’ve also introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure true market competition and provide real savings to seniors and taxpayers.
My legislation, the FAIR Generics Act, would bring the price of prescription drugs down by allowing generic drugmakers to make high-quality, lower-priced prescription medications available to consumers sooner. In a preliminary analysis, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected that this bill would not only bring generics to market faster, but it’s also expected to save consumers and the federal government billions of dollars.
With tightening wallets and slimmer budgets in our current stagnant economy, greater access to quality, cheaper generic prescription drugs would provide real relief for many seniors and their families. My plan provides a common-sense solution. With bipartisan agreement, I’m hopeful we can push this important reform in Congress.
Starting next week, when the new Congress and new Administration take effect, you’re going to start hearing more about “immigration reform.” Remember though, when President Obama or Senator Harry Reid says “immigration reform,” history has taught us that this is Washington code-word for, “amnesty.”
As the chairman of the U.S. Senate Border Security Caucus, I’ll be on the front lines fighting for common sense legislation to secure our borders and prevent amnesty for illegal aliens.
I think the President and Congress have presented the American people with a false choice in solving the illegal immigration problem – give illegal aliens amnesty or round them up and deport them en masse. I’ll continue working to promote a true, achievable alternative: attrition through enforcement. Living illegally in the United States must become more difficult and less satisfying over time when the government – at all levels – enforces all of the laws already on the books.
On the contrary, President Obama and Sen. Reid are already signaling they want to make it easier on illegals to come here and live. Click here for a story in the New York Times highlighting their effort to grant amnesty…and to do it quickly.
We cannot accept amnesty in exchange for a promise of future immigration enforcement. We fell for that trick with the 1986 blanket amnesty and, unsurprisingly, it only encouraged futures waves of illegal immigrants. There is no guarantee that this, or any future administration, will achieve operational control of the border absent serious pro-enforcement legislation in the Congress.
At least some of us in Washington are fighting to make sure the laws already on the books will be enforced, for stronger border security, and to defeat future legislation that may be considered amnesty.
