Rodney knows our primary focus must be jobs, careers and opportunities for all Americans. The administration and Congress should be working together to lead our nation back to economic freedom. By listening to businessmen and women from small and large companies as well as New Jersey’s families, Rodney knows that higher taxes, larger debt, more regulation and even the threat of increased government mandates hamper new job creation.
Since Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have been in control for the past three years, government spending has skyrocketed. The budget deficit in the last fiscal year was a record $1.4 trillion, forcing Congress to increase America’s debt to a historic high earlier this year. Rodney understands that we have to stop spending borrowed federal dollars like there is no tomorrow. He feels strongly that Congress should bring federal spending under control by returning unspent “stimulus” funds to the U.S. Treasury, immediately freezing non-security spending and finding at least one penny that can be saved from every dollar of spending.
Rodney understands that New Jersey families are taxed too much because government spends too much. He knows that raising taxes in a recession is a huge mistake. His solution is to cut spending and provide tax relief for New Jersey families and businesses. He has introduced legislation to make the 2001 and 2003 congressional tax cuts permanent. Without action, Americans will see the largest tax increase in our history. This would be especially damaging for families trying to recover from lost savings and unemployment.
Rodney supports health care reform, but not Nancy Pelosi’s version. Rodney knows that health reform must address rising costs and help American families and small businesses gain access to affordable, high-quality care as well as ensure that medical decisions are made by doctors and their patients. That’s why he supports bills that encourage “portability of coverage,” prevent insurance companies from barring coverage due to pre-existing conditions, permit the sale of health insurance across state lines, prevent junk lawsuits, expand Health Savings Accounts and allow small businesses to jointly purchase insurance for their employees at lower costs.
For Rodney, there is no greater responsibility for a member of Congress than protecting the American people. Sitting on the key Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and the House Special Intelligence Oversight Panel (SIOP), his focus is to ensure that our Armed Forces and intelligence community have all the tools they need to defeat America’s current and future enemies. He is a leader committed to providing support for our military men and women and their families whether at home or abroad.
Rodney continues to lead the fight for federal homeland security programs to better protect New Jersey. He’s proposed numerous measures designed to give New Jersey the funding it needs to guard against terror threats. Rodney will always prioritize the rights of Americans over those who would do us harm. He vehemently opposes closing the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility and providing constitutional rights and stateside federal criminal court trials for the 9/11 plotters and other admitted terrorists.
As a Vietnam veteran, Rodney knows the importance of fulfilling our nation’s commitments to the men and women who have served in uniform. He’s forged a strong record of support for veterans’ health care, a comprehensive new GI Bill of Rights and programs that assist homeless veterans. Today, he’s pressing the VA to improve services for women veterans, sharply reduce the backlog in veterans’ benefits claims, provide housing for homeless veterans and improve mental health services for the newest veterans as well as those suffering from traumatic brain injuries.
If America is to continue to be the leader in the global economy, Rodney knows we must update our educational standards and improve student performance. He has pushed for greater coordination among federal, state and local education officials to ensure quality standards are met in every New Jersey school in order to give our children a competitive edge for the future. He continues to fight for New Jersey’s educational needs, including full funding for special education, Head Start and Title I programs. Rodney supports Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education so young people can compete and succeed. He regularly visits students in their classrooms. He also works with officials from the NASA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation to speak to students at area schools on the importance of science and mathematics and careers in those fields.
Rodney secured passage of the “DC School Choice Program,” the first and only federal law to give parents of children trapped in the failing Washington, D.C., school system more choices in their children’s primary and secondary school education.
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