{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398370", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 12.1.14", "2014-12-01", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Immigration \u2013 An Update\nIt has been more than a week since President Obama announced his executive actions regarding immigration.\u00a0 I have serious concerns about his actions and their legality.\u00a0 My concerns include whether the President can broadly and unilaterally grant illegal immigrants permission to work.\nFurther, among the red flags being raised about the President\u2019s immigration announcement is a recent report by the Washington Times indicating that, under this plan, \u201c\u2026businesses will have a $3,000-per-employee incentive to hire illegal immigrants over native-born workers because of a quirk of Obamacare.\u201d\nThe President\u2019s plan, though it declares as many as 5 million illegal immigrants to be eligible for work permits, deems them ineligible for public benefits such as Obamacare.\u00a0 As the Washington Times notes, \u201c\u2026that means businesses who hire them won\u2019t have to pay a penalty for not providing them health coverage \u2014 making them $3,000 more attractive than a similar native-born worker, whom the business by law would have to cover.\u201d\u00a0 \nAccording to this same Washington Times report, an anonymous official at the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that these immigrants will be unable to access Obamacare, creating this Obamacare employer mandate loophole.\nI can\u2019t help but wonder if the President or his team noticed this conflict ahead of time, or if they failed \u2013 as usual \u2013 to notice yet another Obamacare problem in advance.\nMy office has heard from a number of you concerned about the President\u2019s executive announcement regarding immigration.\u00a0 The overwhelming majority feel that:\n \n    the President is acting outside of his authority with this executive action;\n    this action is unfair to those who have legally immigrated to the United States;\n    Congress should look into stripping funding for implementation of the executive action, etc.\n \nBut in fairness, I should note that approximately 3% of those contacting us about this have done so to voice their support for the President\u2019s action. \nDiscussions regarding President Obama\u2019s immigration plans and how to most appropriately respond are ongoing.\u00a0 Please know I will be reviewing our options closely, keeping in mind the laws already on the books as well as my responsibility to support and defend the Constitution. \n\u201cThe Most Expensive Regulation Ever\u201d\nWhen this Administration or others have controversial and/or bad news to share, they often release it on Friday afternoons or before holidays in an effort to minimize negative attention.\u00a0 This is what is known as a \u2018news dump.\u2019\u00a0 As an example, you may remember that shortly before Independence Day last year the Obama Administration announced it would be delaying for one year the controversial \u2018employer mandate\u2019 built into Obamacare.\nMore recently, the day before this last Thanksgiving \u2013 November 26, 2014 \u2013 President Obama\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone.\u00a0 Yes, this is another line of attack on fossil fuels, particularly coal.\u00a0 This is in addition to new regulations that do not take effect until this summer as well as proposed new regulations currently in the comment period that will impact fossil fuels.\nAccording to POLITICO, these changes \u201c\u2026 would lower the amount of ground-level ozone pollution that is considered healthy to breathe, which in turn could lead to costly new requirements for air pollution permits in much of the country.\u201d\nNational Association of Manufacturers President and Chief Executive Officer Jay Timmons (who served as a Chief of Staff to Governor and then Senator George Allen) said in response to the EPA\u2019s announcement: \u201cThis new standard comes at the same time dozens of other new EPA regulations are being imposed that collectively place increased costs, burdens and delays on manufacturers, threaten our international competitiveness and make it nearly impossible to grow jobs. \u00a0Before the Obama Administration moves the goalposts with yet another set of requirements that will make it more difficult for manufacturers across the country, they need to allow existing ozone standards to be implemented and give time to American businesses to meet those already stringent and onerous requirements.\u201d\u00a0 \nHe also said: \u201cThis new ozone regulation threatens to be the most expensive ever imposed on industry in America.\u201d \nInterestingly, the White House in 2011 (before the 2012 Presidential elections) directed the EPA to withdraw a nearly final version of this rule.\u00a0 The President at the time said he was taking this action in order to \u201cunderscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty.\u201d\nSeems to me these concerns are no less valid today than they were in 2011.\nThis is another example of overreaching Obama EPA actions that must be stopped.\nAs always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671.\u00a0 To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. \n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", 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