Last week, Congressman Huizenga toured Bates Manufacturing and attended a groundbreaking ceremony for their new expansion which is expected to create approximately two dozen new jobs. Bates manufactures footwear for our men and women in the U.S. military. Over the past few years, bureaucrats in Washington have attempted to make technical changes without legislation and these changes would have prevented Bates from manufacturing their high quality footwear for our troops. "What had happened was w...
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On Friday, October 7th, Congressman Huizenga will be the featured speaker at the Bring Small Businesses Back Event hosted by the Job Creators Network (JCN) at the Knickerbocker in Grand Rapids. Congressman Huizenga will discuss the critical role small businesses play in both the economy here in West Michigan and across the nation. Equally, Rep. Huizenga will also address how overtaxation, overregulation, and a lack of access to credit disproportionately hurts small business, slows economic growt...
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Today, Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) voted in support of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA) which provided federal infrastructure assistance to Flint, and included Congressman Huizenga’s amendment to permanently prioritize Army Corps funding for the Great Lakes Navigation System (GLNS). The system is a critical international waterway that extends from the western end of Lake Superior to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of over 2,400 miles. The U.S. ...
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Today, Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) released the following statement regarding yet another missed opportunity by the Federal Reserve to restore a market-based approach to monetary policy: “While the majority of FOMC members yielded to the central planners in the Eccles Building, today’s vote showed decisive movement in support of returning to a market-based approach to monetary policy,” said Chairman Huizenga. “Having the Fed clearly communicate its monetar...
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On Thursday morning, Congressman Huizenga spoke on the House floor about the recent Justice Department Inspect General report detailing how Federal Prison Industries (FPI) manufactured faulty helmets that endangered the lives of our troops. Congressman Huizenga also discussed his bipartisan legislation that would require FPI to compete with the private sector. Currently, FPI has a special provision known as mandatory sourcing that essentially gives FPI the ability to claim any government contrac...
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Over Labor Day weekend, NBC News pulled back the curtain on Federal Prison Industries (FPI) revealing several disturbing facts about this government-owned entity that included costly recalls which endangered the lives of our men and women in uniform as well as fuzzy math that raised further questions about FPI's budget and funding mechanisms. NBC also brought to light FPI's ability to poach small business contracts despite having a labor force of more than 12,000 inmates, FPI’s unique mandatory ...
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Last week, the Justice Department Inspector General's office released a report detailing how Federal Prison Industries (FPI) jeopardized the lives of U.S. troops by providing defective helmets to the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. FPI is a government-owned entity that uses federal prisoners to manufacture products and perform services for executive branch agencies and departments across the federal government. Due to FPI's deceptive practices, over 126,000 faulty helmets were recalled because FPI i...
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Recently, Congressman Huizenga wrote an op-ed describing the House Republican plan to improve how the federal government combats poverty. For decades the federal government has implemented dozens of ineffective and sometimes duplicative programs that have failed to lift Americans out of poverty. This new Republican plan focuses on rewarding work, increasing opportunity, and helping all Americans build a more productive life. Below is one facet of the House GOP's "Better Way" plan. If you would l...
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Today, Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) released the following statement after voting in support of The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. This landmark legislation reforms our nation’s broken mental health system and provides Medicaid patients with access to psychiatric hospitals like Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services: “Our nation is facing a mental health crisis of astounding proportions. Each year, 350,000 Americans with a mental illness die prematurely despite the federa...
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Today, Congressman Huizenga successfully led a bipartisan effort to ensure U.S. military recruits have top of the line athletic footwear that is not only made in America, but can be manufactured here in Michigan. Since 1941, federal law has required our servicemen and women to be outfitted with equipment and uniforms made in America to the greatest extent possible. Until recently, that was not possible with athletic shoes supplied to recruits during training. Today, multiple American companies c...
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It was great to talk to students at Fremont High School - Fremont, MI this morning about the electoral college, the importance of voting, and the need to be active and engaged in their community.
This morning, I had the honor of joining the City of Muskegon Heights Mayor Kim Sims at the former Theodore Roosevelt School that is being redeveloped into affordable housing. It's great to continue to see positive developments in Muskegon Heights that will strengthen the community!
This morning I had a great meeting in Grandville with local radio and television stations who are part of the MAB - Michigan Association of Broadcasters. We discussed how recently proposed regulatory restrictions and tax increases would negatively impact West Michigan broadcasters. The local stations explained how ObamaCare and the Obama Administration's overtime rule are causing them to eliminate jobs or force hardworking employees who deserve full time employment to take part time jobs.
Congratulations to Herman Miller on the announcement of its newly redesigned Aeron chair. It's great to see manufacturers continue to innovate and produce a world class product right here in West Michigan! #MadeInMichigan
It has been recently announced that Michigan families on the #ObamaCare exchange will face a 17% price hike on November 1st. House Republicans have a #BetterWay to address both the cost of care and quality of care here in West Michigan and across the nation. I encourage you to take a look at the House Republican Plan at the link below!