With the new Congress underway, there are many priorities we must confront. We still have much work to do to put Ohioans back to work and addressing the culture of reckless spending in Washington. I look forward to working with Speaker Boehner and the 100 newly elected Members of Congress to accomplish these goals for the people of Southwest Ohio.
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This week I had the honor of being sworn in for a 5th term in Congress by a fellow Ohioan, Speaker John Boehner. This is the third time in our nation’s history that an Ohio Representative has ascended to the top post in the House and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him in the coming months.

With new leadership and a new Congress, we have the opportunity to accomplish many things on behalf of the American people, including repealing and replacing last year’s health care law, supporting a strong national defense, and creating jobs to put Ohioans back to work. As the newly appointed Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, I will be in an even greater position to help make sure Ohio’s military installations continue to be national leaders in our nation’s defense and support our regional economy.

While true reforms to our nation’s healthcare system remain a priority, “Obamacare” is no solution. This legislation is an added impediment to putting people in our community back to work. In the coming weeks, the House of Representatives will vote to repeal the bill passed during the 111th Congress. This is the first step to reassuring business owners that our government can promote growth and competition. Meanwhile, I will work to support Ohioans with preexisting conditions will not be excluded from care, that their health care coverage is portable, and that we begin to enact tort reform to help control costs. These are the reforms that both sides of the aisle can agree on.

As the Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, I will be in an even greater position to continue to be a leading advocate for the many military installations which call Ohio home. With jurisdiction over the nation’s nuclear arsenal, our military’s assets in outer space, the Department of Defense’s intelligence programs, and our missile defense systems, leading this Subcommittee puts me in a critical position to impact both U.S. National Security and to Ohio’s Economy. This puts me in a key role to continue to focus efforts to modernize America’s nuclear infrastructure, build and deploy a robust missile defense system, and enhance space and intelligence support to America’s warfighters.  

My chairmanship also strengthens Ohio’s ability to halt attempts to move critical jobs and missions away to other states. This includes the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. NASIC is the nation’s premier analytical expertise in air, space, counterspace, and cyberspace and is responsible for over two thousand jobs in the Dayton area. Furthermore, Wright-Patterson is the largest single-site employer in Ohio and stands to continue to be an economic engine in the Miami Valley. I will also be in a position to support NASA Glenn in Cleveland, the Lima Army Tank Plant, the Springfield Air National Guard Base and other key Ohio military installations.

With the new Congress underway, there are many priorities we must confront. We still have much work to do to put Ohioans back to work and addressing the culture of reckless spending in Washington. I look forward to working with Speaker Boehner and the 100 newly elected Members of Congress to accomplish these goals for the people of Southwest Ohio.