Extending the payroll tax cut
I continue to support extending the payroll tax cut and am in favor of the compromise that has been worked out. However, I still believe a one-year extension is what best serves the American people. As I have said from the very beginning, I support extending the payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans. I [...]
Let’s have all of us (even Congress) work well together
There’s a lesson Washington, DC, can learn from my hometown, Maryville, Tenn. — a lesson most of us learned in kindergarten and I learned in my mother’s kindergarten class. It’s three words: “Work well together.” The latest example was all over Maryville’s sports pages on Sunday, December 4th. One headline read: “Historic Championship: Maryville Wins [...]
They’re the Great Smokey Mountains not the Great Smoggy Mountains
This week the Senate voted on a proposal offered by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky to overturn a Clean Air Act rule designed to limit the blowing of power plant pollution from one state to another, a proposal that I urged my colleagues to oppose. Tennesseans admire much about our Kentucky neighbors. We admire their [...]
Our economy and getting the country working again
The following is the remarks U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann gave to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 19, 2011, Part 2. Three: repeal ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank Act. These two policies are creating the most uncertainty for our economy as business owners are struggling to understand the new health care laws, and the [...]
Trade agreements will help create thousands of jobs for Tennesseans
Our country has endured unemployment above 9 percent for a longer period of time than at any time since the Great Depression, and unfortunately Tennessee’s isn’t any better. This week, Congress took a good step toward creating an environment where businesses can create jobs by passing three trade agreements that will create up to a [...]
Our economy and getting the country working again
The following is the remarks U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann gave to the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 19, 2011. Thank you all for having me here today. First, let me thank Moore Hallmark from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for putting this event in the works. I would also like to thank Rob [...]
Are spending cuts truly “draconian”?
Often over the years I have read or heard about big “cuts” in some federal department, agency, or program. Frequently, these cuts are described as “draconian.” However, if you read below the headlines, usually these so-called cuts are really just cuts in a proposed increase. Many times I have heard people express concerns about cuts [...]
Stopping Washington from spending money it doesn’t have
Finally, with the debt-reduction agreement Congress made with the president in early August, Washington is starting to take some responsibility for years of spending money we don’t have. At a time when the federal government is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends, this agreement represents a welcome change in behavior that I was [...]
New budget addresses tough choices ahead
On March 14, I had the privilege of delivering my first State of the State address to the 107th General Assembly and the people of Tennessee. I was pleased to report that relative to many other states, we are in a strong position. There are, however, tough choices ahead, and the budget I proposed addresses [...]
A new privately-funded Marshall plan for the Mid East
In Jerusalem recently, during a private meeting with United States Senators, the prime minister of Israel suggested creating a new Marshall Plan to help people of Middle Eastern countries who are struggling to gain more freedom. In one important way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal is different from the plan that helped rebuild Western Europe after [...]
