LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Robert Hurt’s Bipartisan Jobs Bill Passes House

Friday, September 9, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House passed HR 5424, the Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016, in a bipartisan 261-145 vote.  First introduced by Congressman Robert Hurt (R-Virginia), along with Congressman Juan Vargas (D-California), Congressman Bill Foster (D-Illinois), and Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) in June, this bill would update outdated portions of the Investment Advisers Act (IAA), a 76 year-old law, by removing duplicative and burdensome regulations that impose an unnecessary burden on small business' access to capital.  

"I was pleased to see the Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016 pass the House today with bipartisan support in an effort to relieve burdens placed on our Main Street businesses.  At a time when economic uncertainty and federal over-regulation are hindering job creation, it is critical that we look for bipartisan solutions to create jobs in our local communities and get our economy back on track.  As I travel through Virginia's Fifth District, the negative effects of federal over-regulation and government mandates contained in the Dodd-Frank law can be clearly seen among our small businesses.

"One such Dodd-Frank mandate requires private investment funds to register with the SEC, including advisers to private equity funds, despite the fact that such firms pose no systemic risk to the financial system.  This burdensome regulatory requirement has forced firms to dedicate substantial time and resources to compliance, hindering their ability to invest in small businesses across the country.  While this remains bad policy, our efforts to repeal the registration regime have not come to fruition.  This new legislation – H.R. 5424 – represents a new effort to minimize regulatory burdens that are stifling economic investment.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy – and the ability for these entities to access private capital is imperative for their success and the success of our local and national economies. In order for our economy to grow and for our small business owners to be able to create the jobs that we need, we must remove unnecessary regulations that tie up private capital and create economic uncertainty and put in place policies that encourage investment, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit that makes America the beacon of economic opportunity.

"This bipartisan effort to rid the IAA of outdated, cumbersome regulatory schemes would not curtail the Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to carry out its role, but rather, this measure is a much-needed legislative update to an antiquated law that does not reflect the current model of our nation's small businesses and investors. Through updating and reducing the costly regulations being placed on those who are making critical investments in our economy, our small business owners will have the ability to gain access to capital more easily so that more jobs can be created and more jobs can be preserved."

Jeffrey M. Gallagher, CEO of Virginia Bio, said, "I want to thank Representative Hurt for introducing this important legislation, and continuing to work towards the proper balance of the federal government's regulation of the capital industry. There are hundreds of biotech companies in Virginia in continual need of investment to unlock the promise of their innovations for life-saving products and treatments.  Unnecessary bureaucratic red tape impedes investment, and can block or divert capital from the lab and delay or derail promising research.  Representative Hurt's Investment Adviser Modernization Act of 2016 is an important step that will support economic growth and accelerate research and the development in the Fifth District, across the Commonwealth and the country."

 

Background

·         The Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016 (HR 5424) would amend the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its rules to modernize certain requirements relating to investment advisers.

·         HR 5424 passed the Financial Services Committee on June 16, 2016 by a vote of 47-12, garnering the support of every Republican in the committee and the majority of the Democratic caucus.

·         In 2013, Congressman Hurt introduced The Small Business Capital Access And Job Preservation Act (HR 1105) which passed the House 254-159. This bill would reduce government mandates and unnecessary regulations on private equity firms implemented by the Dodd-Frank law and thereby promote increased access to capital for small businesses in the Fifth District and across the country.

September 20th: UK Authority Steve Myers to be MCRW Guest Speaker

Businessman, Radio Journalist, Speech Writer and U.K. Authority Steve Myers will be the Guest Speaker at the Tuesday, September 20th Madison County Republican Women's Meeting, 6:30-8:30 PM.

The evenings menu features delicious Chicken Dishes, plus sides and desserts provided by our members. Dinner: $8. Everyone is invited to attend this informative and inspirational meeting.

Location: Madison Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 1236 Fishback Road, Rt. 722 at the north traffic light.

Pic of the Day

Pic of the Day

Are Terrorists Crossing The Border?

From: Gary L. Bauer

A disturbing report from key military officials warns that terrorists may be crossing our porous border. Col. Lisa A. Garcia, a spokeswoman for the United States Southern Command, told the Washington Free Beacon, "Networks that specialize in smuggling individuals from regions of terrorist concern, mainly from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Middle East, and East Africa, are indeed a concern for Southcom and other inter-agency security partners who support our country's national security."

Col. Garcia added, "In 2015, we saw a total of 331,000 migrants enter the southwestern border between the U.S. and Mexico, of that we estimate more than 30,000 of those were from countries of terrorist concern."

The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is known to have an extensive smuggling network throughout Latin America.

The fact that 30,000 illegal immigrants from "countries of terrorist concern" crossed our border last year should be headline news. That this isn't a national scandal is journalistic malpractice and political malfeasance on the part of our elected leaders. National security is the government's primary obligation. And border security is national security!

Follow Gary On Facebook And Twitter.

VISIT AMERICAN VALUES
 

Please join us for an evening of local Virginia Colonial History

Thanks to cooperation from several local print newspapers, you should, by now be familiar with the upcoming re-enactment of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe expedition that opened the Shenandoah area to settlement.

Three hundred years ago in 1716, the Germanna Colony was the western frontier of the Virginia Colony.  Germanna, near confluence of the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, was the edge of civilization.

Colonial Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood believed the colony needed to find and for settlement beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains.  He enlisted a band consisting largely of English plantation owners to explore a passageway.  Leaving from Germanna, the expedition successfully found a route through the Blue Ridge and into what they called the Euphrates River (now recognized as the Shenandoah).

The exploring party claimed the western lands in the name of King George 1 and each rider was rewarded by Spotswood with a certificate of Knighthood along with a gem studded golden horseshoe stickpin.  Thus, they became the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe.

The expedition resulted immediately in a massive western migration resulting in 10,000 settlers in the Shenandoah valley within a decade.  Western migration began long before Horace Greeley's famous speech and credit for initiating it is clearly due to Spotswood and the Knights.

On Tuesday of this week, the Expedition will be re-enacted by riders from across America.  Kick-of will be Tuesday morning from the Germanna Foundation.  On Thursday evening, the event depicted by the attached flyer will bring this historic event to Culpeper, curtesy of the Museum of Culpeper History.

The ride will culminate on Saturday atop the Blue Ridge.  The riders will arrive about noon on August 27th for a public ceremony including a re-enactment Point of Proclamation ceremony at the Lodge at Big Meadows. 

If you are available for the Thursday event, I encourage you to visit or call the Museum to avail yourself of the discounted advance ticket prices.  In addition to the old fashioned country dinner, the program will provide a brief history and interesting anecdotal stories, photo-ops and colonial games. 

Alternatively, take your entire family to the Big Meadows event.  Saturday Park Service fees are waived for this special commemorative event.

Here is our history unfolding in your neighborhood.  Please attend and enjoy it.

Dale Duvall

August 25: Louisa Tea Party Guest Speaker - Ponch K. McPhee

Please join The Louisa VA Tea Party …..                  

Thursday, August 25th, 2016

7:00 pm

 

Louisa Library 

881 Davis Highway

Mineral, Va 23117

for

PATRIOTISM IN AMERICA

& The necessary definitions, solutions and history

behind remaining a sovereign American Republic

Hosted by

Ponch K. Mc Phee - (FM Talk Radio)

 

Ponch K. McPhee

Ponch is a husband, small business owner and collector of antiquities, a member of the James Madison Museum Board of Directors at Orange Virginia, and a philanthropist who supports the church and the individual.

 

Ponch is a historian, public speaker, campaign advisor, writer, historical document researcher, constitutional strategist & defender of religious liberty as defined by the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. 

 

Ponch is at this time putting the finishing touches on a publication which includes 21st century innovative methods and solutions of restoring and saving the Republic, which is tentatively titled " More Common Sense " and, like millions of Americans he is a strong advocate of preserving the 1st, 2nd & 10th amendments.

 

Ponch is a creative modern artist and also the recognized host of two worldwide FM radio shows.    

   

 

 

This event is non-partisan, free of charge and open to the public.

          Sponsored by:  The Louisa VA Tea Party                    www.louisavateaparty.org

August 23: Grand Opening - Invitation!

Augusta County Republican Committee

Headquarters - Grand Opening!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016 - 7:00 p.m.

207 Lee Hwy, Verona (next to Shipplett Cleaners, Rte. 11)

Welcoming:

Michael Del Rosso – Official Surrogate, Donald J. Trump for President (confirmed)

Delegate Ben Cline (confirmed)

Delegate Steve Landes (confirmed)

Delegate Dickie Bell (invited)

Congressman Bob Goodlatte (invited)

 

Refreshments to Follow!

 

 

Quote of the Day

"The major revisionist powers -- China, Russia and Iran -- know what they want: power, territory, tribute. And they're going after it."

Charles Krauthammer

The Affordable Care Act: Unsustainable and Unlawful

Congressman Robert Hurt

Weekly Column 08.22.16

 

Washington policies have real and often painful effects on Fifth District Virginians, and the implementation of the President's healthcare law is a prime example of such.  This misguided law has forced many hardworking Americans to accept reduced working-hours and unsustainable increases in their insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.  Time and again we have seen examples of the shortcomings and flaws in this legislation;  just last week we saw another culmination of these hardships as Aetna, the United States' third largest health insurance company, pull out of Obamacare in 11 out of 15 states in which it operates due to unsustainable rate increases.

 

We have also seen this law result in cancelled policies, loss of access to current physicians and providers, and an online marketplace system that has proven to be vulnerable to data breaches.  Developing the federal online marketplace cost the American taxpayer over $840 million because of poor planning and management.   The implementation of the law has not only cost taxpayers billions of dollars, but it is not achieving one of the key promises the President made about the law - that it would reduce the cost of health care.  As higher premiums, deductibles, and drug prices continue to drive health spending upward, he has clearly failed to deliver on that promise.

 

Perhaps most concerning of all is that the Administration has taken action in implementing a law that lacks constitutional or legal authority.  The House Oversight Committee has uncovered information which shows senior officials within the administration expressed concern over the lack of legal authority to fund the Affordable Care Act program, but ultimately their concerns were pushed aside to further the President's political agenda.  This revelation demonstrates that the administration knowingly ignored the Constitution to try to make the Affordable Care Act work.  The House has sued the administration for improperly spending taxpayer dollars without legal authority, and in May of this year, a federal judge ruled that these payments are indeed unconstitutional.  We will continue to fight tirelessly in the House to ensure this harmful law is repealed and fully replaced with a more responsible healthcare plan.

 

Unquestionably, there is no issue I hear about more from concerned Fifth District Virginians than the negative impact of the President's healthcare law on their families and businesses.  As I travel throughout our district, I consistently hear about the law's devastating effects on our families, our workforce, and our struggling economy.  President Obama sold his signature healthcare law to the American people on the basis of false promises, saying his signature law would lower premiums, but they are higher and will continue to rise, causing major healthcare providers to drop out of the healthcare exchange because the expenses are too high.  The president told us we could keep our current health plans if we liked them and could continue seeing the doctors we know and trust, but that too proved incorrect.  We have to implement real healthcare reform that actually reduces the cost of care, premiums, and deductibles and does not separate patients from their doctors.  I remain committed to reforms that are patient-centered and market-oriented to deliver the healthcare system the American people deserve.

 

If you need any additional information or if we may be of assistance to you, please visit my website at hurt.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-4711, Charlottesville office: (434) 973-9631, Danville office: (434) 791-2596, or Farmville office: (434) 395-0120.

Staff Members from Congressman Robert Hurt's Office to Hold Local Office Hours in Henry County

Monday, August 22, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Staff members from Congressman Robert Hurt's (R-Virginia) office will hold Local Office Hours in Henry County on Friday, August 26^th to meet with constituents who need assistance with federal agencies. For more information, please visit our Local Office Hours Interactive Map. 

 

 

Friday, August 26, 2016

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Blue Ridge Regional Library, Ridgeway Branch, Meeting Room

900 Vista View Lane

Ridgeway, VA

 

 

 

Congressmen Forbes, Lankford Recognize 60th Anniversary of National Motto, In God We Trust

07/29/2016 

Washington, DC --  Congressional Prayer Caucus Co-Chairmen Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-04) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) released the following statements in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the day President Eisenhower signed legislation officially adopting "In God We Trust" as America's national motto.

"On this day in 1956, America adopted 'In God We Trust' as our official national motto. Throughout our history as a nation, we have at times struggled to find the right words in times of crisis or of great challenge," said Congressman Forbes. "Today, as we witness a divided nation, a nation polarized in almost every area, let us hope we once again find the right words in the simple but powerful phrase, our national motto, 'In God We Trust.'"

"Our national motto is a powerful declaration that reflects the unique foundation of America," said Senator Lankford. "Our country is rooted in the belief and hope that there is something bigger than government and bigger than ourselves."

In 1812, after the British bombed Fort McHenry all night and the battle torn American flag still waved overhead, Francis Scott Key penned in the poem that became our national anthem: "And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust!'"  "In God We Trust" first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864, and President Eisenhower signed the law officially establishing "In God We Trust" as our national motto on July 30th, 1956.

The motto is engraved in several places around the Capitol grounds, including over the Speaker's Rostrum on the House Floor,  over the south entrance to the Senate Floor, and in the Capitol Visitor Center. In 2011, Congressman Forbes led the House of Representatives in passing a resolution reaffirming "In God We Trust" as our national motto (H.Con.Res.13). In honor of the anniversary this year, Congressman Forbes spoke on the House floor about the importance of the national motto.