By Eric Cantor (R-Va)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
In
America, we have high expectations for our nation. We have always
believed we could be the best hope for mankind. That hope has led
generations of immigrants to risk everything,
and endure a tough journey to our shores looking for a better future.
That hope is why parents work so hard to make it easier for their
children to get ahead and achieve their dreams.
Because
of that hope, coupled with a determination to see them come true, every
generation since our founding has had it better than the one before.
Until now.
Today,
working moms and dads have a tough time making ends meet. Living costs
are increasing while wages remain stagnant. Many are without a job. The
first priority of every
parent is to raise a healthy family and provide a brighter future for
their children.
Opportunity
for a child cannot become reality without a good education. Yet, many
school systems are broken, and despite a desire for better alternatives,
many families are
stuck sending their children to unsafe and failing schools. College
costs are rising, and students are graduating without jobs, as positions
remain unfilled due to a shortage of skilled applicants.
Through
all of this, it would help if parents could find more time to spend at
home preparing their children for what lies ahead, or being there to
comfort them when they are
sick.
House
Republicans will focus on solutions to help make life work for America’s
working families. Based on the conservative principles of
self-reliance, faith in the individual,
trust in family and accountability in government, we will advance
proposals this Congress aimed at producing results in education, health
care, innovation and job growth.
This
week, I spent a day with Rashawn Williams, a 20-year-old student from
Washington, D.C. When Williams was younger, he attended a failing
inner-city school patrolled daily
by eight police officers. After he fell behind, his dad began to fight
back. He discovered an opportunity scholarship program, which provided
funding for his son to attend a private school. In two years, Williams
caught up to his classmates and is now thriving
in college. His three younger sisters are on a similar path.
Rashawn
Williams and his sisters are the lucky ones. There are still too many
kids trapped in dangerous schools with no place to turn. Nobody should
deny them a safe learning
environment. Their dad did not give up — and neither will House
Republicans.
We will
propose legislation to give these children the chance to succeed. We
will call for reallocating federal education dollars to follow kids to
the classroom. Students
from low-income areas, as well as those with special needs, will
receive more. That way, schools can compete for students, and have the
right incentives to excel.
We will
also propose legislation to provide working parents and their employers
the option of flextime arrangements. This will give parents more time
with their kids when needed.
Unbelievably, a federal law from the 1930s prohibits hourly employees
from converting overtime into future paid time off. In 1985, Congress
addressed this, but only for municipal and state employees. We will
propose this option for working parents in the private
sector, so they too can make their life work again.
Families
worry constantly about health care. The president’s health care law
caused health insurance premiums to rise, access to fall and innovation
to wane. To help families,
we will bring forward legislation to repeal the medical device tax.
This tax has made it more costly for companies to develop lifesaving
devices in the United States and thus makes it harder and more expensive
for patients to get the care they need.
In the
long term, medical research is the only way to cure disease and control
health care costs. House Republicans will prioritize redirecting federal
research dollars in
hopes to cure cancer and other life-threatening diseases. We will cut
red tape, and insist on a clear and understandable process for drug and
device approval that can pave the way for medical breakthroughs.
The
best way to start working together in Washington is to agree we want to
help make life work again. These common-sense proposals go a long way
toward that end. There remain
many other tough choices about Washington’s out-of-control spending,
the mounting debt and taxes, especially in a divided Congress.
We
stand ready to make these choices and to lead. We anxiously await
President Obama’s State of the Union address to the nation on Tuesday,
and hope to hear he is committed
to setting differences aside. We must begin solving our country’s
long-term fiscal problems, as well as the problems facing our families
today. Progress on both fronts will help restore confidence and the
promise of a better future for all.
Congressman Eric Cantor is the Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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