{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://williams.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/a-budget-thats-good-for-conservatives", "A budget that's good for conservatives", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As you know, the House passed a two-year budget deal authored by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray.\u00a0 I supported this bill because I believe it is important to get on a budget process that cuts spending, helps the military, reduces the deficit, doesn\u2019t raise taxes, and stops the pattern of passing CR after CR.\u00a0 This Congress and administration have done so for the last five years.\u00a0 That\u2019s not good for business.\u00a0\nWhile this budget isn\u2019t perfect, let\u2019s take a look at why it is good for conservatives.\u00a0 President Obama wanted $1.1 trillion in tax increases, but we gave him none.\u00a0 Obama wanted 99 weeks of federal unemployment benefits, but we cut it back to 26.\u00a0 Obama wanted to increase the national deficit by $115 billion, but we will reduce the deficit by over $20 billion.\u00a0 President Obama wanted to completely roll back the sequester, we maintained it at 92 % level for two years and go back to 100% sequester levels the following years.\u00a0 And without this budget, our military would have borne the full force of the even more onerous cuts starting in January.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget, President Obama wanted to put the sequester squarely on the backs of the military.\nThis budget gives $31 billion in relief to the Department of Defense over two years.\u00a0 TX-25 is home to Fort Hood, the largest military installation in America.\u00a0 After bearing the brunt of these budget cuts already, it is vital to provide our servicemen and women the resources they need.\u00a0 Restoring a portion of these cuts will support our troops\u2019 readiness, training and equipment.\u00a0 To quote one general, without the restoring of these cuts, we will not be able to properly train our troops to prepare to defend our freedom, for that, we will pay the butcher\u2019s price.\u00a0 I pledged to listen to our generals, and I am doing so with this budget.\u00a0\nThe argument being made that this budget cuts veteran benefits and slashes pensions is nothing short of a lie.\u00a0 No military or veteran benefits, including medical care or retirement, are taken away or even reduced in any way. \u00a0Section 403 of the Budget Act contains a provision that reduces the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by 1 percent for military retirees under the age of 62.\u00a0 Once the retiree reaches age 62, their COLA benefits would be restored to its usual rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and they will receive a catch-up.\u00a0 The bottom line is our military retirees will continue to receive raises! \u00a0\nHow is this conservative?\u00a0 The Obama Administration wanted to do away with these raises entirely! \u00a0I fought to maintain them with no negative adjustments, ever.\u00a0 Further, I pledge to keep fighting until we have a complete 100% restoring of these reductions. \u00a0That\u2019s why I am an original cosponsor of a bill that would reinstate the 1% COLA adjustment for these younger retirees.\u00a0 I have also signed on to a bill to exempt all veterans who medically retire, those who receive Combat Related Specialty Compensation (CRSC) and those who receive Concurrent Receipt Pay (CRDP).\u00a0 Let me reassure you that the Budget Act does not affect disability benefits provided to veterans in compensation for injuries sustained during their service.\nFederal civilians do not receive COLAs until they reach the age of 62, while many service members are eligible after serving for a certain amount of time, no matter their age.\u00a0 This is the way it should be \u2013 our men and women in uniform sacrifice their all, and we are obligated to support them in every way we can.\u00a0 Supporting our veterans is our most solemn responsibility.\u00a0 I will never turn my back on our bravest and brightest.\u00a0 I have fought back hard against the Veterans Administration for better treatment of our veterans, and Republicans are doing more for our troops and veterans than anyone and I vow to continue to do so.\u00a0\nAs I mentioned, this bill is not perfect.\u00a0 In 2014 I look forward to continuing to fight for lower taxes across the board, to cutting even more entitlement spending, true social security reform, fighting pork spending, fighting waste, fraud and abuse in government,\u00a0 getting the government out of health care, and most importantly, getting Americans back to work.\nThis budget is a good, solid starting point to get our nation\u2019s economy back on track.", 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://williams.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/a-budget-thats-good-for-conservatives"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.602104166522622, "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"}