Congressman Randy Weber (TX-14) released the following statement on House passage of H.R. 2029, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016:

“In Congress, I often spend many hours reviewing complex legislation before deciding how to vote, and ultimately this decision comes down to what is best for my constituents. While I don’t agree with everything in this bill, it does contain major provisions that increase support for America’s border and immigration enforcement, and boosts funding for critical functions at NASA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Most significantly, this legislation contains a provision that permanently lifts the decades-old oil export ban, which will have huge long-term positive economic benefits to Texas, including the potential creation of up to 40,000 jobs in the energy industry supply chain.         

“The legislation also includes language authored by myself and Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22) that would allow the State Department to hire embassy security based on “best value” versus “lowest price.” Some of the other positive provisions in the bill would:

1. Stop the IRS from interfering with 501(c)(4) organization’s public participation and protect their 1^st Amendment right of free speech.
    
2. Strengthen our national security by closing loopholes and making other reforms in the Visa Waiver Program.
    
3. Prevent a taxpayer bailout of insurance companies in Obamacare’s risk corridors program and reduces Obamacare’s tax burdens on hard working Americans.
    
4. Reduce EPA’s budget by $452 million below the President’s request, a 20 percent cut since FY10 and the lowest staffing levels since 1989.
    

“Another win for hard-working Americans was the passage of the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes” Act. This legislation contains provisions that make several tax benefits permanent, which will create certainty for our economy and allow taxpayers and small businesses to keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

“While the Omnibus does not include everything I would like to see addressed this year, this legislation along with the tax extenders will create a solid foundation to begin the New Year putting America first.”

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