Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives began the 114^thCongress with action on three bills this week to strengthen the economy, reduce government obstacles to job creation and create more domestic energy. Congressman Scott Perry (PA-4) supported all three bills, which are expected to be considered by the U.S. Senate.

 The Hire More Heroes Act (H.R. 22) – This bill makes it easier to hire veterans by exempting those who already have health insurance from being counted as full-time employees under the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.  The ACA has forced businesses to delay hiring, cut hours and, in some cases, reduce their payroll while our economy struggles to recover.  This legislation passed the House in March 2014 - but was never brought to a vote by Harry Reid in the last Senate.

The Save American Workers Act (H.R. 30) – Thousands of workers have seen their hours and wages slashed by the ACA’s employer mandate, which forces businesses to hold hours to 30 per week or face a penalty. According to an analysis by the Hoover Institution, the 30-hour rule puts 2.6 million Americans earning less than $30,000 a year - 63% of whom are women – at risk of having their hours and their wages cut.  This bill restores the traditional 40-hour definition of full-time employment, thereby removing this barrier to more hours and better pay.  It passed the House in April 2014 - but was never brought to a vote by Harry Reid in the last Senate.

The Keystone XL Pipeline (H.R. 3) – President Obama has delayed action on this project for more than six years, despite the fact that his own State Department has said it would create American jobs and substantially reduce our reliance on energy from unstable foreign sources. The Keystone Pipeline has the support of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office has said "this project will create tens of thousands of jobs on both sides of the border, will enhance the energy security of North America, has strong public support, and the U.S. State Department has, on multiple occasions, acknowledged it will be environmentally sound."  This legislation passed the House on several occasions but wasn’t able to overcome a Democrat filibuster in the Senate.

Over the past two years, the House passed dozens of solutions such as these to strengthen our economy, control government spending, increase oversight of expensive federal regulations that cripple small business and increase domestic energy resources.  While these proposals largely were met with silence by the Senate and President Obama during the last Congress, the new Senate Majority is expected to give them a fair hearing.

In the coming days, Rep. Perry will introduce his own common-sense solutions to control government spending, create more opportunities for all Americans and reduce government regulation over families and small businesses. Residents of the 4th District are encouraged to contact Congressman Perry and his staff at any of the offices or via Perry.House.Gov, where they can sign up for e-mail updates and for his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.