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October 8: Legislative Update from Congressman Scott Tipton

October 10th, 2015

Filed under News, Opinion

Rep.Scott Tipton in Hotchkiss in 2011

Rep.Scott Tipton in Hotchkiss in 2011

October 8: Update from Congressman Scott Tipton

This week we voted in the House to pass two pieces of legislation important for our national security.

Congress’s top responsibility is to ensure that our troops have the tools, training and technology to defend our nation and do their jobs as safely as possible. The House sent the Conference Report to H.R. 1735, the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to the President’s desk this week. This NDAA provides our men and women serving in harm’s way with the resources necessary to do their jobs as effectively and safely as possible.

It implements needed reforms to reduce bureaucracy at the Department of Defense, and ensure an agile, efficient and effective U.S. military that is equipped with the resources and technology needed to defend our nation and confront our enemies. The NDAA also includes provisions to fully fund the chemical weapons destruction program, as requested by my office, providing support for the important work being done in Pueblo, Colorado to fulfill our nation’s treaty obligations. Learn more about the NDAA HERE.

I urge the President to join Congress, table his veto threat, and sign this bill to ensure that our military has the resources necessary to ensure that service members and their families receive the pay and benefits they have earned.

The House also passed legislation (H.R. 3457) this week to prohibit the President from easing sanctions on Iran, until he certifies to Congress that Iran has paid each outstanding federal court judgment against it. See a video about the legislation HERE.

Americans have been murdered and families have been torn apart because of Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism. Yet Iran remains unaccountable.

There are over 80 outstanding court judgments against Iran, amounting to over $43.5 billion in damages that are due to the victims of that nation’s heinous actions. Iran has refused to pay these damages to victims and their families.

Despite this, the President is proposing to ease sanctions on Iran, giving the world’s leading state sponsor of terror $150 billion in freed up resources. It is truly deplorable that Iran could receive sanction relief while remaining unaccountable for its terrorist activities, as it continues to fund terrorist organizations and fuel instability and violence around the world.

We have taken action in the House to prevent that from happening. I am hopeful that our colleagues over in the Senate will join us and send this commonsense, responsible and compassionate legislation to the President’s desk.

In Case You Missed It

Tipton advocates for Good Samaritan legislation in Senate hearing: Congressman Tipton testified in the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on the harmful impacts of the Animas River Disaster on small businesses—especially those in the agriculture and tourism sectors—in Southwest Colorado. At the hearing, chaired by Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO), Tipton warned that a heavy-handed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund designation would compound the severity of those economic impacts by further discouraging tourism to the Silverton area, and instead encouraged the Good Samaritan approach on which he is currently working with Gardner. Read more.

Tipton cautions CFPB rule could reduce consumer access to secure, affordable prepaid cards: during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing, Congressman Tipton questioned Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray on the proposed prepaid account rule. Tipton underscored that the new rule could create confusion for consumers on the terms of pre-paid cards and discourage the use of this secure, fast and affordable method of payment for everything from business and consumer transactions to government benefit payments. Read more.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Grouse won’t be listed as endangered: In all, the new rules will withdraw 9 million to 10 million acres of land from mineral leasing, said U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., who said the loss would be “devastating to local economies.” While he welcomed the decision not to list the bird, “the implementation of equally oppressive land-use plans, which do nothing to improve on the work already being done locally to preserve the grouse, still leaves Colorado and other Western communities in a worrisome situation.” Tipton said. Read more.

Denver Post: Superfund talk dominant at Senate hearing on Colorado mine spill: U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, also addressed the senators, speaking first and strongly opposing the EPA designating Silverton and its surroundings as a Superfund site. Silverton’s residents have long opposed such a listing, which would place the area on the national priority list for hazardous waste cleanup and open up funding. “I always believe that local communities know what’s best for themselves,” Tipton said, warning that a Superfund listing could “taint this area.” Read more.

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