Republicans have been working to fulfill their promise to get Washington working again, even though "we have a President who is fighting us every step of the way," South Dakota Sen. John Thune said in Saturday's
GOP address.
“In all, we‘ve passed more than 80 bills to grow our economy, protect our nation’s citizens, strengthen our security, and reform government, and we’re just getting started,” said Thune, who chairs the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the Senate Republican Conference. ‘We’ve accomplished a lot over the past eight months, but we know we have a lot more work to do."
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Thune said that last fall, when Republicans were campaigning, the party's candidates promised that if they were elected to the majority, they would get Washington working again, and "that was a commitment."
The first eight months of this year have been "some of the most productive in recent memory," with bills that delivered "real results" to Americans, including passing the first House and Senate balanced budget resolution since 2001 without raising taxes.
“It’s hard to believe, but the last time the House and Senate passed a joint balanced budget resolution, Facebook hadn’t been created yet," said Thune. "That was something Republicans were determined to change. Every American family has to balance its budget, and Americans have a right to expect that the federal government will do the same."
Republicans are also working to expand opportunities for American workers, said Thune, as "the Obama administration has presided over the worst economic recovery in 70 years," leaving Americans with little access to better jobs.
However, the House and Senate have passed a trade bill to create more jobs and help farmers, ranchers and small businesses sell products and services around the globe, said Thune, and the transportation bill passed by the Senate last month will allow funding for construction jobs to support tens of thousands of jobs while improving the nation's highways, roads, and bridges.
The Senate has also taken up the Every Child Achieves Act, a major education reform bill, and in April passed the first entitlement reform legislation in over a decade to protect Social Security and Medicare, said Thune. Further, Republicans pushed this year for increased mental health resources for veterans.
And finally, the Republican-led Congress passed legislation so the American people "would have a voice in any nuclear agreement with Iran."
“The importance of this legislation became apparent last month when the Obama administration agreed to a deeply flawed deal with Iran that will bolster Iran’s ability to support terrorist activities, increase its access to conventional weapons and ballistic missiles, and advance its nuclear research and development," Thune said.
“As the 114th Congress continues, we’re going to keep fighting for Americans’ priorities in Washington and working to give the American people the efficient, effective, and accountable government they deserve," he concluded.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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