Hartzler: Our top priority is creating jobs

In her weekly report, Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler notes that her top priority is creating jobs:

This was a week to meet with the good citizens of the 4th Congressional District and to talk about our historic U.S. House vote to rein in wasteful government spending of money we don't have and to restore fiscal sanity. That vote came very early Saturday morning - around 4:30am to be precise - following more than 100 hours of debate. There's the old saying that you never want to see how sausage or legislation is made - and that might be true to some degree. But this process gave members the opportunity to put forward hundreds of amendments voted on by the House. Unlike the operations of the House under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, this process was fair and open.

As I have mentioned in the past, our top priority is helping to create jobs for the good citizens of the 4th District who have lost their jobs or can't find work because of the stagnant economy. I had a chance to speak to business leaders this week when I addressed the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jefferson City. My message was plain and simple: Government regulations and red tape stand in the way of private sector job creation. We must remove these burdens on business if we want the private sector to do what it does best - create jobs and grow the economy.

I told the gathering that as a businesswoman I understand their frustrations with government edicts that are both costly and time consuming. I explained how I am a co-sponsor of the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act which is aimed at removing the unnecessary 1099 form reporting for low-value transactions. This onerous reporting requirement was slipped into the ObamaCare bill and we have bipartisan support to get rid of it. Once again it was up to the House to undo the damage caused by the Obama Administration and its lack of understanding of the importance of the business community to the job picture and to the overall economy.

I took that message to state lawmakers this week, as well, as I met with State Representatives and State Senators at the Capitol in Jefferson City. More than one legislator asked that I remain true to my conservative roots and to vote accordingly in Congress. That is something I am absolutely committed to doing! Your state legislators are grappling with many of the same concerns that are taking center stage in Washington. We have to spend tax dollars wisely and run government in a cost-efficient manner.

The message we are getting from legislators and people throughout the 4th District is that we are on the right track with such measures as banning all earmarks, voting to cut new spending by $2.6 trillion over ten years and reducing the deficit by $700 billion when we repealed ObamaCare, and voting to cut current government spending back to Fiscal Year 2008 levels or less, which will reduce non-security discretionary spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels. And, yes, they are very supportive of our efforts to cut more than $100 billion in spending from last week's continuing resolution. That 4th District logic is apparently shared by most Americans. A new Gallup Poll shows that by a 2-to-1 margin Americans want Congress to slash spending without shutting down the government. That is what I am committed to doing.

Next week we return to Capitol Hill concerned the Senate will force a government shutdown. The House has done our part: We passed a continuing resolution which will fund the government through the end of the year. It is up to the Senate to take up the bill and pass it by Friday. Senate Leader Harry Reid has already said our budgetary common sense approach is "dead on arrival." I certainly hope Senator Reid will change his way of thinking and not shut down the government. We, in the House, have done our work to ensure that Social Security checks will be mailed on time and other government services will continue uninterrupted. We certainly hope the Senate has the same concern for pensioners and others and will pass this important measure. If not, the House is prepared to offer a very temporary resolution to keep the government up and running. But the Senate could ease the concerns of a lot of Missourians and Americans throughout the country by agreeing to the fiscally responsible steps taken by the Republican-controlled House.

Rest assured that I'll continue to advocate for efficient, effective government that doesn't spend money we don't have. We've got to do it for our children and grandchildren. I'll keep you up to date as events unfold in the coming week.