In The News

The following is an excerpt of an op-ed by Congressman Huizenga that was posted online by the Grand Rapids Press on October 4th. In the piece Congressman Huizenga addresses several different ways the House attempted to avert a shutdown, but all efforts were rejected by the Senate.  Additionally, Representative Huizenga discusses how the Republican-led House is passing bipartisan legislation to reopen the government, but the process still requires the Senate to come to the table and negotiate.  

Terrorists, zealots, and jihadists. That is how some have chosen to label Republicans. That type of language has no place in a civilized debate. Both sides are trying to enact what they believe to be the best path forward for the country. However, after reading the editorial published in the Grand Rapids Press yesterday, I am frustrated to see that this inflammatory rhetoric has taken hold and even embraced by some in West Michigan.

As frustration grows and tensions soar even higher in Washington, I wanted to take a moment and set the record straight about how Washington got to this point and how the House is acting in a bipartisan fashion to get the government up and running again.

As the clock continued to tick down and a government shutdown grew closer, the Republican-led House took action. First, the House passed on September 20th what is known as a continuing resolution (CR) that defunded ObamaCare while funding the rest of the federal government. In the spirit of compromise, House Republicans wrote the CR allowing for some relief from the sequester, something that Democrats have consistently asked for. After taking over a week to respond, the Senate said no. The House then took action again, on September 29th, by passing a bipartisan CR that included sequester relief in exchange for the repeal of the job-destroying medical device tax and a one-year delay of ObamaCare.

You can read the piece in it's entirety on the Grand Rapids Press' website HERE