Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Today nearly 20 months after the terrorist attack on our special mission in Benghazi on September 11 2012 Speaker Boehner announced the house will vote on establishing a Select Committee on Benghazi. Congress must continue to investigate what happened in Libya leading up to the attack and in the aftermath. Tragically we still do not have answers as to how it could have happened what exactly occurred in the critical response hours and why the White House was so quick to blame the attack on a video. We owe it to the victims their families and the American people to find out the truth. We must have justice and we must have accountability. It is my hope a Select Committee will produce both.
This week the Homeland Security Committee unanimously passed legislation I introduced along with Congressman Pat Meehan H.R. 4007 the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Authorization and Accountability Act. Following the tragic explosion in West Texas the committee became aware that several chemical plants throughout the country were off the grid and potential targets for terrorists. This bill ensures first responders are properly trained to deal with emergency incidents including terrorist attacks at chemical facilities. It is my hope that this bill will provide piece of mind to those who work at these facilities or live in towns where they are located that the facilities are secure.
The House of Representatives passed and I supported the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs (MilConVA) funding bill. Our nations veterans served America with honor; this legislation will help our nation keep its promise to care for our veterans once their service has ended. The bill includes $45 billion in support of medical treatment for veterans including traumatic brain injuries suicide prevention mental health homeless support rural health initiatives and funding to help end the backlog. The legislation also included language I introduced to ban any new facility highway or other project that receives federal funding from being named after a sitting member of Congress.
The National Taxpayer Union a non-partisan advocate for taxpayers endorsed my amendment to the Legislative Branch funding bill that Congress passed this week. My amendment which passed institutes important reforms in the Congressional printing process that would reduce unnecessary spending on printing government products as we live in an increasingly digital world.
