Speaker Boehner with Congressman LaMalfa and his family...
As you all have been following, this week was the minting of the new Congress of which I have the incredible-to-me honor and experience of joining from up here in the 1st District of NorCal. Eight years in our California legislature have and will be a tremendous baseline to work and learn from and indeed have helped me so far not to be TOO wide eyed and staring like a tourist at the tall buildings. That said, the deep feeling I get walking these halls and having a voice and vote in shaping our nation’s, and even world, policy and doing so as one takes in the names, the statues, the memorials to those great names that so honorably put our system of governing in place is very heady stuff for this country boy. No doubt I take it very seriously to do all I can to uphold the course the Founders have set and I see has been deviated from so much in the way government has grown and overreached.
We have a huge task. Taking the oath of office on the House Floor, with my family nearby or in the gallery and so many friends watching at our Cannon office and at home is an irreplaceable moment and memory. I have my member pin, #400 in seniority and my Floor voting card now issued to me. It’s time to really get started.
Our first vote yesterday was the downsized Sandy relief bill. Going the $9 billion route now was appropriate vs. the $60B that Jon wrote of in a previous post. Though the Speaker and Repubs in general were getting much criticism over the “delay”, it is the people’s money and we have to better than how the Katrina $ were managed. Why it took over 2 months is a political question that others can answer but as we start fresh now in this 113th, we must get it right as there are high hurdles still with leftover Fiscal Cliff [everything is a “Cliff” now, instead of a “Gate” …soon Cliff-Gate?] Debt Ceiling, Sequestration pieces, later the Farm Bill and many more. There are 233 House Republicans between you and a lot of bad things, please stick with us and pray for our wisdom and our nation.
I’m excited to get started and do so with a grave knowledge of the stakes here. We’ll talk to you soon.
[Publisher’s Note: We here at the FlashReport are so excited for Congressman LaMalfa and wish him good luck in his new endeavor! We tucked into his post this great photo of him being sworn in by Speaker Boehner! – Jon]