#nc-05: The Foxx record

Virginia Foxx, a member of the House Republican leadership who faces a primary challenge on June 7 from Tea Partier Pattie Curran, is following the lead of a lot of her colleagues by putting the word ”conservative” in close proximity to her name as much as possible. Conservative Review rates her a D (64%) on the conservative grading scale.

Let’s drill down a little and see what type of things factor into that D-grade for Mrs. Foxx:

2010:

EMERGENCY SPENDING BILL

Vote Result Date: 7/27/2010

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This legislation increased government spending by $59 billion. Numerous programs receiving funding under this legislation are not essential programs and were only included as an excuse to plus up their overall funding. Congress should offset emergency spending bills for true emergencies and other programs should have their merits considered during the regular appropriations process. This legislation was an attempt to avoid making tough decisions about our nation’s fiscal situation. This bill passed the House 308 – 114 on July 27, 2010 and was later signed into law by the president.

2011:

BUDGET BUSTING OMNIBUS

Vote Result Date: 12/16/2011

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This government spending bill was over 1200 pages long and spent $1.054 trillion. Additionally the spending bill lacked any checks or balances on the out of control executive branch and violated the recently agreed to Budget Control Act spending levels. The bill funded major liberal priorities like Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, and lacked a single spending cut. This bill was passed by the house 296 – 121 on Dec. 16, 2011 and was later signed into law by the president.

INCREASE DEBT LIMIT BY $2.4 TRILLION

Vote Result Date: 8/1/2011

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This bill increased the nation’s debt limit by $2.4 trillion, the largest increase in the history of the United States. In exchange for an immediate debt limit increase, the bill “promise[d]” discretionary cuts in the future. Future increased spending was assured with an immediate increase but “promised” cuts were certain to be overturned at the time. (Note: Spending cuts promised in this bill were overturned in December of 2013 with the Ryan-Murray Budget Deal). This bill passed the House 269 – 161 on Aug. 1, 2011 and was later signed into law by the president.

2012:

PLUS UP GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Vote Result Date: 6/29/2012

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This government spending bill aimed to fund the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development with a combined level of $51.6 billion over the following fiscal year. Rather than cut funding to these departments this legislation increased funding for a variety of programs like Amtrak, the Essential Air Service, and questionable community development block grants. The bill passed the House 261 – 163 on June 29, 2012 but was never passed by the Senate.

RAISE COST OF IMPORTS

Vote Result Date: 3/6/2012

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This legislation raised the cost of imports from non-market economies by applying a special tariff. Ultimately, consumers have had the tariff tax passed along in the form of higher prices. This legislation pits one section of the US economy against the other and attempts to manipulate international trade. This bill was passed by the House 370 – 39 and was later signed into law by the president.

2013:

RYAN-MURRAY BUDGET DEAL

Vote Result Date: 12/12/2013

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

The Ryan-Murray budget deal undid the required spending cuts called sequestration. These spending cuts were designed to pay for the August 2011 debt limit increase. Voting for this deal increased spending and taxes immediately and relied on a future Congress to keep potential spending cuts, despite the irony that the Representatives voting in favor of this legislation canceled out previously agreed to spending cuts. The deal was approved in the House 332 – 94 on Dec. 12, 2013.

RE-AFFIRM THE 4TH AMENDMENT

Vote Result Date: 7/24/2013

Conservative Position: Yes

Foxx Vote: No

This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) would have re-affirmed the 4th Amendment of the Constitution that protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizure. It also looked to extend Fourth Amendment guarantees to electronic communications and required specific warrants granted from specialized intelligence courts in order to obtain this information. Unfortunately, this amendment failed 205 – 217 on July 24, 2013.

PERMANENT FARM BILL

Vote Result Date: 7/11/2013

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This farm bill trades minor reforms to food stamps for a permanent farm bill. This legislation would make market distorting subsidies permanent and is being used as a bait and switch for conservatives. Not until late in the process was it revealed that the legislation was permanent and it would inhibit conservatives from attempting future reforms to corporate welfare and food stamps. Additionally it gave momentum to reauthorizing what ended up being a $1 trillion farm bill.

2014:

$1.1 TRILLION SPENDING BILL THAT FUNDS EXECUTIVE AMNESTY

Vote Result Date: 12/12/2014

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This 1700+ page, $1.1 trillion Omnibus spending bill granted President Obama full funding for 11 of 12 federal departments for the remainder of the fiscal year – without any congressional restrictions on his unilateral action on amnesty, Obamacare, and environmental regulations. Worse, this bill actually provided Obama with an additional $2.5 billion in funds to facilitate his executive amnesty. Most egregiously, this 1700-page bill was crafted as a backroom deal by lame duck senators who were rejected by the American public in the November election. Speaker Boehner placed the bill on the floor with only 48 hours to read all 1700 pages.

EXTEND EX-IM AND SET UP LAME DUCK

Vote Result Date: 9/17/2014

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This spending bill was filled with problematic provisions such as arming “friendly” rebels in Syria, extending the corrupt Export-Import Bank, and sets up a post-November election lame-duck session of Congress. The main conservative concern with a lame duck is the potential for a massive omnibus spending bill and the potential for an unaccountable Congress to pass an Internet sales tax. This bill passed the House 319-108 and was signed into law by the President.

2015:

$1.1 TRILLION BUDGET BUSTING SPENDING BILL

Vote Result Date: 12/18/2015

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This 2,009 page omnibus bill contained a whopping $1.1 trillion for funding the entire government for the remainder of fiscal year 2016, or $547 million per page. Taken in totality, this bill gave away the final opportunity for Republicans to wield the power of the purse over a number of lawless or harmful executive policies for the rest of the Obama administration. The tactics and processes used by Speaker Ryan to advance this bill were identical to ones used by Speaker Boehner, and ultimately resulted in the GOP Congress losing all leverage over an out of control executive branch. As the omnibus fully funded Obama’s amnesty programs and even added close to $300 million in funding for economic and cultural development in some of the very Latin American countries violating our sovereignty. While the bill contained no positive immigration riders to prevent Obama from bringing in Syrian refugees and other security risks, it contained a harmful provision quadrupling the H2-b visa program for next year, further burdening American workers and taxpayers with more low skilled workers from impoverished countries. In addition, this bill stripped out every rider halting Obama’s environmental agenda. Finally it increased spending by $53 billion relative to the previous year.

EXPAND FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION

Vote Result Date: 12/3/2015

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This vote was to reauthorize No Child Left Behind through 2020. No Child Left Behind represented an unprecedented expansion by the federal government into education. Overall this reauthorization legislation is a missed opportunity for a Republican controlled congress to empower parents and put children first. Education is an issue that is near and dear to families and represents and opportunity for Republicans to lay down a bold contrast of family first policies. Conservatives believe education decisions should be made by state and local officials, yet this bill retains the fundamental mandate requiring states to concoct uniform standards in reading and math that would be applied statewide throughout all jurisdictions. The bill keeps the plethora of federal testing requirements that have been the driving force behind the adoption of Common Core. Likewise, it does nothing to address the duplicate and wasteful programs funded by the Department of Education, but in reality actually expands education control into preschool programs. Instead of renewing the 2001 law with minor changes, conservatives should be implementing sweeping reforms that allow states to drive innovation in their own school districts.

OBAMATRADE — FAST TRACK AUTHORITY FOR TPP

Vote Result Date: 6/18/2015

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This vote was on the key procedural provision known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). TPA grants a special fast-track status to trade deals negotiated by the president and as such has been dubbed Obamatrade. While conservatives generally support trade agreements as important tools for lowering tariffs and trade barriers, and TPA is often needed in order to effectively negotiate with other countries, this particular TPA was problematic for a number of reasons. Typically, a TPA is passed at the beginning of negotiation cycles so that Congress directs the president to negotiate along specific parameters. In this case, the three primary treaties that would receive fast-track status under this TPA have already been negotiated in secret for years. There is no reason to pass fast track authority without releasing more details about these trade agreements to the public. Moreover, given this president’s penchant for implementing major policies without Congress, there was a widespread fear that Obama would use these trade agreements to pursue liberal policies, such as changes to our immigration system, labor laws, and global warming regulations. For example, according to WikiLeaks, one of the impending trade deals – the Trade in Service Agreement (TISA) – contains an entire immigration section, including a provision prohibiting US authorities from conducting in-person interviews for certain visa categories. Additionally, the main trade deal – the Trans Pacific Partnership – contains a “living agreement” provision, which could enable Obama to expand the scope of the agreement during the final months of his presidency or add countries like China to the agreement. Finally, GOP Leadership negotiated a deal to advance Trade Promotion Authority and in exchange for Democrat votes, promised to renew the crony capitalist Export-Import Bank and a failed government handout program known as Trade Adjustment Assistance, a subsidy bailout for labor unions.

$500 BILLION HEALTHCARE BILL

Vote Result Date: 3/26/2015

Conservative Position: No

Foxx Vote: Yes

This vote was on H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act which is expected to increase the nation’s debt by $500 billion over the next 20 years. This bill was cobbled together in a backroom deal by Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi. Overall H.R. 2 is a massive health care spending bill that replaces the existing Medicare payment system for health care providers, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), with a new bureaucratic pay scheme that would automatically increase reimbursements every year. Although everyone agrees that the SGR was a flawed system, this bill merely replaced one top-down bureaucratic price-control system with a new one, albeit with a more generous reimbursement rate. With this bill Congress failed to address the underlying problems in healthcare entitlements and in true back room deal fashion, included several extraneous provisions designed to buy votes.

KILL FUNDING FOR OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE AMNESTY

Vote Result Date: 3/3/2015

Conservative Position: Yes

Foxx Vote: No

While considering HR 240, the FY 2015 Department of Homeland Security funding bill, in the Senate, newly elected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) worked with Democrats and liberal Republicans to re-instate funding for Obama’s executive amnesty. This vote is on whether or not to kill the bill that contains funding for Obama’s executive amnesty. If this motion would have passed it would have stopped Obama’s executive amnesty from being funded.

REMOVE JOHN BOEHNER FROM SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

Vote Result Date: 1/6/2015

Conservative Position: Yes

Foxx Vote: No

This vote was to determine who serves as the Speaker of the House for the 114th Congress. The Speaker has dominant influence and sets the agenda for what bills and votes are allowed on the floor. After Speaker Boehner partnered with President Obama to whip votes for the $1.1 trillion Cromnibus bill funding Obama’s illegal executive amnesty, conservatives saw that act as the last straw. Because the Speaker is determined by absolute majority of the potential 435 voting representatives, only 29 Republican votes for a candidate other than Boehner were needed to force a second ballot. Forcing a second ballot would have effectively removed John Boehner from Speaker. The conservative position was to vote for anyone besides Boehner or a Democrat. Those listed as YES attempted to remove Speaker Boehner and replace him with another Republican. Those listed as NO voted for Speaker Boehner, a Democrat, or present. Boehner received enough votes to be re-elected Speaker of the House.