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| The Huizenga Huddle: November 24, 2015 |
Join The Conversation
Next Wednesday (December 2nd), I will be hosting a telephone town hall with West Michigan residents from 7:00 P.M until 8:00 PM. Earlier this month we had another successful telephone town hall with nearly 6,500 residents across West Michigan participating. This is a great opportunity for you to ask me a question or simply join the conversation on the latest policy topics being discussed. If you would like to participate in Wednesday's call, you can do so by signing up here. (If you have already signed up for a previous telephone town hall, you do not need to sign up again)
Standing with France
Last week, I sent a message of hope, solidarity, and strength to the people of France. In my note, I emphasized that communities across West Michigan are praying for them as they work to overcome the tragic attacks carried out by radical Islamic terrorists in Paris. We cannot allow terrorists to create safe havens where they can train recruits and launch attacks against the free people of the world.
Balancing Compassion & Safety
While we are a nation of compassion and a nation of immigrants, we must ensure that the process for vetting refugees coming from war-torn areas in the Middle East is comprehensive and accurate. To help achieve this objective, the House passed the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act with bipartisan support. This legislation would ensure that comprehensive background checks are conducted on every refugee from Syria and Iraq seeking admittance into the United States by requiring the Federal Bureau of Investigations along with the Department of Homeland Security to certify that each refugee is not a security threat to the United States.
West Michigan has a rich history of welcoming immigrants into our communities, but with terrorists openly saying they will use the refugee program to target Americans, we need to make sure the people we let into this country are not coming here to do us harm. On Monday, Speaker Ryan published an op-ed on CNN.com detailing how the House is working to balance compassion and security with the SAFE Act. I encourage you to read this thoughtful piece and share your thoughts with me.
Restoring Accountability At The Federal Reserve
Last Thursday, the House passed the FORM Act, legislation I authored to make the Federal Reserve more accountable and transparent to the American people. The FORM Act does this by accomplishing three goals:
- First, by requiring the Fed to regularly communicate how its policy choices compare to a benchmark rule instead of continuing the current ad-hoc strategy, the FORM Act will help consumers and investors make better decisions in the present and form sounder expectations about the future.
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- Second, the FORM Act reins in the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act by closing a glaring loophole and preventing future bailouts. Responsibly limiting the Federal Reserve's lending authority has support from across the ideological spectrum ranging from conservatives such as Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas to liberals such as Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
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- Lastly, the FORM Act gives the American people a greater accounting of the Fed’s actions by requiring a more complete and thorough audit of the Federal Reserve. This provision has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the past and is critical in proving how misguided and sometimes harmful the Fed’s monetary policy decisions have been.
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By passing the FORM Act, the House has taken a strong step forward in restoring accountability and transparency at the Federal Reserve as well as strengthening our monetary policy and most importantly our economy. To learn more about the FORM Act, click here.
Honoring Our Veterans
This past Veterans Day, I joined members of the community at West Ottawa High School to thank our veterans for their service and honor Staff Sergeant Andrew Seif, who tragically lost his life earlier this year during a training mission.
The Holland Sentinel published a moving story detailing the ceremony that I encourage you to read. Thank you to Gunnery Sergeant David Pizana for sharing his story and helping our community honor and remember Staff Sergeant Seif.
The Michigan Minute
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