{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://rokita.house.gov/editorial/10-08-15-rokita-report-update-budget-reconciliation-more", "10-08-15 Rokita Report: Update On Budget Reconciliation & More", "2015-10-10", "2015", "2015-10", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Todd Rokita", "R000592", "rokita.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friend,\nThank you for the opportunity to update you on the work of the 114th Congress. I trust this finds you and your family well, as we work together to bring Hoosier common sense to Washington.\nFor daily updates, please take a moment to \"Like\" my Facebook page by clicking here or follow me on Twitter if you prefer @ToddRokita.\n  \n   In this week's Rokita Report \n Rokita Reading\nRokita Leads Passage ofBudget ReconciliationBill\nTransportation and Education Hearings\nColumbus Day\n   \n  Rokita Readings  A clickable offering of books and articles that I've read recently and highly recommend, as we strive together to \"Keep the Republic.\"\nThis week's Rokita Reading is an article from the Washington Times on the importance of the rule of law. Richard W. Rahn, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote a piece that I readin April titled Restoring the Rule of Law that addresses the importance of applying the same legal standards to everyone.\nRahn explains that sustained economic progress happens in countries where people are governed by laws that are readily understood and equally applicable. However, in the United States the rule of law has been undermined by the fact that not all citizens are being treated equally. Both Eric Holder and Lois Lerner have been held in contempt of Congress for withholding information from Congressionalinvestigations. Hillary Clinton is known to have withheld information from Congress related to the investigation of the 2012 Benghazi disaster. I strongly believe that that our government must beheld to the same standards as our citizens and recommend reading Rahn's piece to know why this is important.\n  \n  Rokita Leads Passage of Budget Reconciliation Bill\nToday, the House Budget Committee passed the Restoring Americans Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act. This bill is an opportunity to bring meaningful health care reform to the Presidents desk. This is the first step towards repealing and replacing the most fiscally reckless parts of ObamaCare with patient-centered solutions that reduce the costs of health care and lower our debt. At the same time, we ensure that no tax-payer dollars are going towards organizations that cut up babies and sell their body parts for profit.\nThe process of reconciliation requires consideration of these bills in the House and Senate. Reconciliation bills are filibuster-proof because of theexpedited legislative procedures the bills use. A reconciliation bill brings revenue and automatic spending levels in line with the agreed to amounts from thebudget resolution that passed earlier this year. This requires the Senate to actually vote on this bill, ensuring this fight ends in the White House. This will ultimately force a President, who frequently sidesteps the Constitution, to fulfill his Constitutional duty to either veto or sign the bill.\nAs Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee, I applaud the work of my fellowCommittee members for working to fulfill our commitment to the American people to begin repealing the most damaging parts of ObamaCare and protect life.\n  \n  Transportation and Education Hearings\nThis week, the House Education& Workforce Committee and the Transportation& Infrastructure Committee held hearings on a variety of topics. Congressional hearings provide a chance to question witnesses and share information with colleagues.\nThe House Education& Workforce committee held a hearing on Wednesday titled Strengthening Head Start for Current and Future Generations where we reviewed the program and ways to improve it. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education reforming Head Starts remains a priority.\nThe full committee held a hearing on Thursday about Reviewing the Juvenile Justice System and How It Serves At-Risk Youth to give Members the opportunity to get feedback on federal, state, and local efforts to prevent criminal behavior and help prevent recidivism inchildren who have engaged in illegal activity.\nOn Wednesday, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections convened a hearing titled Protecting Americas Workers: An Enforcement Update from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA).The hearing allowed for important oversight of OHSA, one of many federal agencies that have been allowed to run amok by this administration.\nThe House Committee on Transportation& Infrastructure investigated a topic that has been in the news recently - Unmanned Aerial Systems or drones. Theseemerging technologies are used in a variety of fields from farms to firefighting,but questions have developed on how to best integrate unmanned vehicles into our airspace. The Ensuring Aviation Safety in the Era of Unmanned Aircraft Systems provided an opportunity to hear from experts and challenge regulatory suggestions.\n  \n  Columbus Day\nMonday is Columbus Day. Every year, we have a day to honor the journey that Christopher Columbus took from Spain to the Americas and how his discovery ofthe Americaschanged the course of history. Much of the New World that Columbus opened up became the lands of our Republic.Our nation's Capitol has several works ofart that celebrate our history and in these worksthe arrival of Columbus is depicted prominently.\nIf you have an upcoming trip to Washington, my office can assist in arranging tours of the Capitoland other federal buildings including the White House.Many tickets areavailable on a first come, first serve basis and available as far out as six months in advance.\n  \n  Thank you for your continued interest in Congress and for supporting my efforts to bring Hoosier common sense to Washington. Take care.\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSincerely,    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTodd Rokita", 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", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://rokita.house.gov/editorial/10-08-15-rokita-report-update-budget-reconciliation-more"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6488850340247154, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}