Thread: Freedom Caucus Founder Jordan: 'Worst Bill I Have Seen in My Time'

Freedom Caucus Founder Jordan: 'Worst Bill I Have Seen in My Time'

March 22, 2018

Sandy Fitzgerald

Rep. Jim Jordan said Thursday he won't vote for a $1.3 trillion spending bill approved by congressional bargainers, because it doesn't come near to being the measure Americans had been promised.


"This may be the worst bill I have seen in my time in Congress, the worst bill our leadership has ever allowed to come to the floor," the Ohio Republican and founder of the House Freedom Caucus told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" about the measure. "It's not even close to what we told the American people we were going to do,"


It won't only be conservatives who don't like the bill, but Americans also will not be happy when they find out what's in it.


"It's 2,200 pages that fund sanctuary cities, funds Planned Parenthood, restricts the Second Amendment," said Jordan. "I don't think the American people said 'lets put Republicans in control of Congress to do a bill like this.'"

The bill also does not fund a border wall, one issue on which "we all campaigned," said Jordan.

"It can't get any worse than this bill," he said. "We should stop. We should go back to the drawing board. We have to do a short-term funding bill, do that, but go back and do something consistent with what the voters elected us to do."


He said he is happy with the $80 billion in defense spending included in the bill, but not with other spending levels.


"That's what the American people elected us to do," said Jordan. "They want our troops to get the pay raise they deserve and the military the best they are to continue to be the best and have what they need to defend this country."


Trump on Wednesday supported the spending bill, but Jordan said that's only because that was the only bill he got.


"Put a good bill in front of the president and he would support that too," said Jordan. "I know he would. Let's not bring the worst bill I have seen in my 10 years in Congress to the floor of the House today. Put something good in fronts of the president consistent with what the American people elected us to do."




https://www.newsmax.com/politics/jim.../22/id/850166/

Freedom Caucus Letter to Trump: Omnibus ‘Outright Rejects’ Promises We Made to Voters




March 22, 2018

Sean Moran

The Freedom Caucus wrote to President Trump:

The funding proposal drafted by House and Senate leadership not only forgets the promises we made to the voters—it outright rejects them. Below are a few of our specific policy concerns:


• This bill does not provide adequate funding for border security. $1.5 billion will be minimally effective in delivering not just our promise, but your promise, to build a wall and keep our country secure. Sanctuary cities also continue to receive federal funds.
• The bill includes the “Fix NICS” proposal, which provides a pathway for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to revoke, without due process, the rights of American citizens to keep and bear arms.
• The bill fully funds grants that will go to Planned Parenthood.
• The bill does nothing to further our promise to provide Americans relief from Obamacare. We must continue to reduce burdensome regulations in the healthcare marketplace, return to free market principles, and empower consumers. This bill fails on all three fronts.

As Breitbart News reported, the omnibus spending bill containslanguage that explicitly bars funding for a southern border wall.

The omnibus also contains provisions that expand the H-2B visa-worker program, which would reduce market pressure on companies to offer American workers higher wages.

Republican leadership also included provisions that will allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct gun research.

The omnibus also has the Fix NICS Act, which would allow unelected bureaucrats to remove Americans’ right to purchase firearms without due process.

Furthermore, the omnibus spending bill includes funding for the New York Gateway Bridge project that will benefit Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

The House Freedom Caucus came out against the omnibus on Wednesday night, calling the legislation an “insult to American taxpayers.”

House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) lamented in an interview with Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday that the “Senate Democrats seem to be calling most of the shots.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) called for the White House to veto the legislation on Wednesday.

The House Freedom Caucus chairman then suggested that Congress should pass another Continuing Resolution (CR) to “deal with the omni in a more deliberate fashion.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said Wednesday that the omnibus spending bill “is a Great Dane-sized whiz down the leg of every taxpayer.”

The House Freedom Caucus continued in its letter to the White House:

The American people elected us not to buckle, but to deliver. We as the House Freedom Caucus exist to “give a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” Each of those principles—fiscal responsibility, Constitutionalism and candor—demand a no vote on the omnibus.

The House conservatives then said, “We urge you to remember the countless forgotten men and women of America who placed their faith in you to change business as usual in Washington, DC.”

The Freedom Caucus concluded, “We urge you to join us and reject this omnibus.”



http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...s-made-voters/

Trump supports massive U.S. funding bill as shutdown looms - Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/.../trump-supports-massive-u-s-funding-bill-shutdown-looms...
1 day ago - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, in talks with congressional leaders on Wednesday, backed a $1.3 trillion spending bill meant to avert a U.S. government shutdown, even though it is expected to exclude some of his specific immigration-related funding requests.

Roll Call on Spending Bill:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2018/roll127.xml