Cheney encouraged by congressional, presidential progress on rollback

Douglas – On Aug. 16, producers from around the state gathered for the 2017 Cattlemen’s Conference in Douglas, featuring presentations varying from farm-to-plate beef in schools to harnessing export markets.

During the event, Wyoming Congressman Liz Cheney visited with attendees about the current progress of Congress and her first six months in office.

Busy

While there hasn’t been a significant amount of press coverage on the accomplishments of the current administration, Cheney noted that the president and Congress have been actively working.

“The president has repealed or rescinded over 800 Obama-era regulations,” said Cheney.

Cheney explained they started Congress using the process of the Congressional Review Act.

“We’ve been able, through that particular procedure, to repeal a number of the rules Obama put in place at the very end,” she commented, marking regulations such as Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Planning 2.0.

Cheney continued, “There have been about 14 of those that have made it through the House, the Senate and have been signed into law by the president.”

When looking at the first 100 days under the Trump administration, Cheney noted the number of bills passed through the House and Senate and signed by the president is the highest for the first 100 days of any administration since Harry Truman.

“The media doesn’t want the public to know that because they don’t want it to look like we’re seeing success, but we are, and I’m proud of what we’re doing,” she stated.

Healthcare reform

“On the House side, in particular, we also passed healthcare reform. On the Senate side, they weren’t able to get it done. But, I’m confident we’re going to turn back to healthcare, and we are going to get reforms passed,” said Cheney.

She noted that Obama-care is unsustainable, stating, “We’ve got, here in Wyoming, reports that premiums will increase by as much as 48 percent.”

While it would be easy to blame the situation on Obamacare, Cheney stressed that it is the current Congress’ responsibility going forward.

“We can all say it’s Obamacare, but right now, the Republicans are in charge. If we don’t fix it, it’s our responsibility and our problem,” commented Cheney. “That’s why I’m confident we’ll come back to healthcare and will be able to make the kind of changes we need.”

Military defense

Cheney noted that Congress has made progress in military defense by passing the supplemental National Defense Authorization Act for 2018 and the appropriation bill for defense for 2018.

She explained that, after sitting on the Armed Services Committee, she’s realized that the nation’s military is in a more dire situation than she had imagined.

“It’s crucial because not only are we talking about our security, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is, these are our men and women in uniform,” she commented.

Cheney continued, “If we’re going to deploy folks and ask them to go into harm’s way, I think those of us who are elected officials have an obligation to make sure they never go into a fair fight and to make sure, every time we deploy, it’s because we know we know we have the capacity to win.”

Tax reform

“When we go back to D.C. in a couple weeks, there will be a big focus on tax reform,” said Cheney.

She noted there is not one concrete plan presently, but principles for reform have been released.

“I think the principles are good ones in terms of simplification and reducing rates across the board,” she commented. “We certainly want to look at eliminating the death tax and bringing everybody’s rates down, so people can keep more of their own money.”

As Congress reconvenes, national debt will be another critical issue the House and Senate plans to address.

“We’ll also be dealing in September to make sure we can fund the government going forward,” Cheney noted.

Executive action

In addition to the work done through the House and Senate, Cheney explained that a lot of work has been accomplished through executive action.

“We’ve also seen a lot of work that the president has done through executive action in terms of repealing the Clean Power Plan, waters of the U.S. and a whole range of issues,” she said. “We’ve also seen what the Department of the Interior has done in terms of sage grouse.”

According to Cheney, the process going forward, with both legislation and executive action, is aimed at accomplishing the priorities the American public elected officials to complete.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t days it’s not really frustrating, but we’re also getting important things done,” she concluded.

Emilee Gibb is editor of Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at emilee@wylr.net.