{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://shuster.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=647", "Blueprint Set for Conservative Agenda in Upcoming Year", "2014-12-11", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Bill Shuster", "S001154", "shuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013\u00a0Congressman Bill Shuster (R-Hollidaysburg) voted in favor of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015\u00a0on Thursday\u00a0evening. This bill funds 11 of the 12 appropriations bills for one year and funds the Department of Homeland Security until\u00a0February 27, 2015. House Republicans have now cut discretionary spending by $165 billion since taking the majority in 2010 and as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), non-defense domestic discretionary spending will soon be at the lowest levels since 1962.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cToday\u2019s legislation is not regular order, nor the way Congress is supposed to be run. Due to the Senate refusing to act on a single appropriations bill, the House of Representatives is once again forced to bail the Senate out,\u201d said Congressman Bill Shuster. \u201cThe House has taken a principled approach to ensure the government is not shut down, while saving the taxpayers over $2 trillion over the next 10 years. It is these kinds of conservative solutions and significant cuts to wasteful federal programs like the IRS and the EPA that keep the American taxpayers\u2019\u00a0best interest in mind.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tIn response to the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s wave of regulatory overreach, the budget for the agency is reduced by $60 million in this legislation. With this cut, Congress has now reduced the EPA\u2019s funding by $2.2 billion since FY10, which brings it to its lowest staffing level since the 1980\u2019s. Also contained in the bill are cuts to the IRS, the agency that targeted conservative political groups for additional scrutiny and delay. The IRS budget is $345 million lower than last year and has now been cut $1.2 billion since FY10. Additionally, this bill stops any taxpayer bailouts to insurance companies under Obamacare.\r\n\r\n\tIn order to reject attempts by the president to unilaterally give amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, this bill only funds the Department of Homeland Security \u2013 the agency responsible for implementing the executive actions \u2013 to\u00a0February 27, 2015. Once the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s funding expires, Republican majorities in the House and Senate will then be able to more effectively work to stop President Obama\u2019s executive actions regarding amnesty.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI am opposed to any and all attempts by the president to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants,\u201d continued Shuster. \u201cThis bill ensures that a Republican-led Congress will be able to fight against Obama\u2019s liberal immigration agenda without Harry Reid standing in the way of blocking common sense measures that secure our borders and enforce the law.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tAdditional Conservative measures included in the legislation:\r\n\r\n\t-All existing pro-life policy and funding provisions are maintained\r\n\r\n\t-One percent pay raise for our troops\r\n\r\n\t-Maintains second amendment protections including a prohibition on implementing the Arms Trade Treaty that is supported by the National Rifle Association\r\n\r\n\t-Stops future funding from being used for any \u201cFast & Furious\u201d type activity\r\n\r\n\t###", 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://shuster.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=647"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5463149175047874, "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"}