New Man As I write this column, two of the world’s great religions are about to celebrate significant observances in their liturgical calendar. Members of the Jewish religion will be observing April 3-11 as Passover. Passover commemorates the time when the Jews were enslaved in Egypt, and one of the plagues Moses foretold was that each family would lose their firstborn son. This was true unless they placed the blood of a lamb on their doorpost as Moses instructed the Jews. Thus, the plague would...
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EPA: “Burning the Constitution” Last week at an Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing, I was honored to hear testimony regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) so-called “Clean Power Plan” from legal experts including Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe. Tribe is a liberal, environmental, legal rock star. In fact, the POLITICO inside-the-beltway news journal describes Tribe as a "liberal legal lion.” Interestingly, Tribe taught constitutional law to President Obama, and served as a...
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Administration Overreach and the Second Amendment – An Update In last week’s column, I wrote about the Obama Administration’s “framework” proposal to ban the manufacture and importation of the M855 or “green tip” bullet. Soon after writing that column, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) backed off its proposal following significant pressure from supporters of the Second Amendment, including the 239 of us in the House of Representatives who joined together to send a bi...
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Administration Overreach and the Internet Many Ninth District residents have asked me about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent decision on net neutrality. I believe this is another attempt at government overreach, and agree with Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai when he said: [The FCC was] “…adopting a solution that won’t work, to a problem that doesn’t exist, using legal authority it doesn’t have.” Administration Overreach and the Second Amendment I was proud to join House Judi...
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It's About the Rule of Law For those who might have missed it, last week’s column discussed efforts to protect the Constitution and take action against the President’s recent actions on immigration. I and others in Congress believe that these actions were improper, and that the President does not have the authority to take the actions he took on immigration. These actions have also been questioned by the Judicial branch. There is much debate about the tactics we ought to pursue in fighting these...
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Serving You Readers of this column may recall that, earlier this month, I wrote about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the fact that they are sending limited forms and few free instruction booklets to assist with filing tax returns this year. While in Wytheville last week, I was speaking with a constituent who had checked his local library, courthouse, etc. for the information he needed to file his taxes. When he found these places did not have the materials he needed, he contacted our off...
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Electricity from Mexico – Dirty Coal, Drug Gangs On February 11, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz testified before and took questions from me and my colleagues on the Subcommittee on Energy and Power in a hearing covering a wide range of energy-related topics. Responding to a question from Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Secretary Moniz discussed a December 2014 trilateral meeting he held with Natural Resources Canada Minister Greg Rickford and Mex...
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The IRS - Up to its Old Tricks? As you probably know, tax return filing season is upon us once again. January 20 was the first day of the 2015 tax season, the day on which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began accepting tax returns. The IRS has estimated that the average taxpayer spends roughly 13 hours per year preparing their taxes. But this year, it might be even more difficult. For those who fill out paper tax returns, you may in previous years have gone to your local library or your coun...
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Fighting Human Trafficking Last week, the House of Representatives passed 12 bills to combat the growing problem of human trafficking, particularly child sex trafficking. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime, and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. Tragically, it is happening right here in the United States. While attention to human trafficking may increase around special events such as the Super Bowl, it is also important to remember these types o...
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Iran: Xerxes, Pericles, Obama, and Netanyahu The Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean is a complicated world. Not only do you have it as the birthplace of three of the world’s major religions, but it is also home to numerous smaller sects of religious faiths as well. For example, a small sample of Samaritans still exists. I have also heard there are still Zoroastrians, and many of the sects that have recently made the news such as the Druze, Alawi Islamists (religion of Bashar al-Assad), an...
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