Hartzler reviews week in Washington

Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler gives a rundown on the week in Washington in her weekly newsletter:

It was another busy week in Washington which included being part of the historic March for Life, meeting President and Mrs. Obama, hearing the State of the Union address, and getting caught in one of Washington's major snowstorms.


The 38th Annual March for Life was on Monday. More than a thousand Missourians traveled through the night on buses to be in their nation's capital to support life. I was honored to meet with them and to get to speak to them and the crowd of more than 200,000 who had gathered on the National Mall prior to the March. It was an amazing sight to see and I was so honored to be a part of it.

Several 4th District folks came by our office later, including several students. It is encouraging to see so many sharp young people taking the lead for life among their generation. With their help, we can someday ensure that everyone enjoys the 'right to life.'

That evening I joined my fellow freshmen at the White House for a reception where I got to meet President and Mrs. Obama. The President said he looked forward to working with me. I certainly hope we can work together to create jobs, rein in runaway federal spending, and protect our liberties. Our country needs that now. I know I am committed to doing that. Based on his State of the Union address Tuesday night, he says he is, too, but I have my doubts. He talked about spending cuts at one point and then, with the next breath, called for more “investments,” which is code for more “borrowing and spending." We don't need to borrow more money from China and put our children further in debt. What we need is to make government more efficient and effective, rein in runaway spending, and get government out of our lives if we are to create more jobs.

Earlier that afternoon the House did just that. We approved Resolution 38 which reduces non-security spending for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 to FY 2008 levels or less - which cuts spending by tens of billions of dollars. This is a necessary start. We’ll see what the Senate does with this common sense step. Members of the House took a stand. The Senate must do likewise. Citizens of this country deserve that from their elected officials.

The week ended with the House moving forward with our pledge to reduce the size of government and cut spending every week. We voted to end taxpayer funding of presidential campaigns and political conventions. Our legislation would end the diversion of important resources from federal programs that need those dollars. Americans who wish to contribute to presidential campaigns have the absolute right to do so, but can do so without the government and tax dollars being a part of it! It is wrong to have taxpayer dollars being spent on political campaigns and conventions.

Wednesday afternoon the snow hit. Heading home to Missouri proved to be no easy task as flight after flight out of Reagan National Airport was delayed or cancelled. My flight was one of the many that was cancelled. The storm created havoc on roads in and around the Nation's Capital and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the region. I finally got out on Thursday after another busy and productive week in Washington.

Next week is the first of several regularly scheduled district work weeks set aside for representatives to spend time at home with their constituents. I will be visiting a number of places in our 4th Congressional District and look forward to seeing many of you. If I don't see you and you have a problem with some aspect of federal government, we are available to help you. Please contact our office in Jefferson City at 573-634-4884 and we will be happy to get to work on getting you the assistance you need. I welcome your thoughts and ideas on strengthening our government, too. Together, we can do it.