Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Eastern Washington families and businesses should be able to deduct every penny of state and local sales tax they pay throughout the year from their federal tax bill, especially when people in most states are deducting their state income taxes.
Yet since the 1950s, little has been done to prepare for our country's current or future energy needs.
What has made America great have been the opportunities given to everyone in this country. Since our founding, individuals and families have come to America to seek freedom, opportunity and the choice for a better life.
We need to tap the resource of current and retiring science and math professionals that have both content mastery and the practical experience to serve as effective teachers.
We depend on our rivers and dams for energy, transportation, irrigation and recreation and I will continue this year to fight for what's best for the Pacific Northwest.
Today, over half of China's undergraduate degrees are in math, science technology and engineering, yet only 16 percent of America's undergraduates pursue these schools.
This year I hope to introduce legislation that would require Power Administrations to list direct and indirect costs associated with ESA compliance as a line item on customer's power bills.
The Pacific Northwest depends on inexpensive renewable energy from our dams.
Providing tax relief and reducing regulations leads to job creation and new economic opportunities for our small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy.
Private ownership of property is vital to both our freedom and our prosperity.
People in Eastern Washington should be confident in knowing that the government will not come and seize their property or farm land. Legislation is needed to correct this decision and restore the principle of having limited government involvement.
No longer should we rely on oil from countries that are not necessarily friendly or democratic.
My top three priorities for my first term in Congress are growing our economy; providing for quality, affordable health care; and keeping our nation and communities safe.
Math and science fields are not the only areas where we see the United States lagging behind. Less than 1 percent of American high school students study the critical foreign languages of Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Russian, combined.
Many defense experts have predicted that we face no greater threat from a single country than from Iran.
It is not acceptable that we continue to see thousands of acres burn because of forest fires, because of poor management on our forests, big kill, and we have these catastrophic situations take place when we are not able to take action.
Eastern Washington has experienced a number of deadly forest fires this season, and it is crucial that we have bipartisan legislation that will expedite the research and restoration process.
Women oftentimes are the ones making those economic decisions, sitting around the kitchen table and trying to figure out how to pay for rising gas prices or food prices or the health insurance costs.
The Republicans have long had a platform of being pro-life. And I'm someone that believes life begins at conception and should be protected.
I've lived the American dream.
Surprises can be compelling.
Republicans absolutely support equal pay for equal work.
Economic opportunities will win the women's vote.
Republican women bring an important voice to the table.
The American people know that our economy is struggling right now, partly because of the debt that is impacting American families, hardworking taxpayers all across this country.
Under President Obama, we have spent more money - he has spent more money than any other president in this history, actually, the combined total from Washington up to George W. Bush. President Obama has racked up more spending, $1 trillion deficits. And it's time that he join us in this effort to get our fiscal house in order.
The American people, in their own families, they understand that you have to do that. You have to make the tough decisions. You have to get your budget. You have got to put it in order. And they expect their elected officials and their leaders to do likewise.
The Republicans won the women's vote in 2010. It was the first time since Ronald Reagan that the Republicans had won the women's vote. And when you look at the issues that really drove women to the Republican Party, it's been the issues related to the economy, to jobs, the debt.
Well, I'm celebrating the fact that Republicans are doing better with women.
I've lived the American dream. I was born and raised on the farm, first in my family to graduate from college. I spent 13 years working in our family business.
I do see women voters shifting to the Republican Party and doing so significantly. And the issue that's doing this is the fear the federal government will prevail in making the Affordable Health Care Act permanent law and how that will hurt small businesses.
I've always believed in equal pay for equal work.
You want to do everything you can so your child has every tool to succeed.
We believe in a government that trusts people and doesn't limit where you finish because of where you started.
That is what we stand for - for an America that is every bit as compassionate as it is exceptional.
It's going to take every American playing on the same team - and everyone trying to be the best version of themselves - to make America great.
Division stifles progress and prevents good ideas - no matter their source - from being heard and considered.
When Obamacare was introduced, Republicans and Democrats knew the status quo wasn't working. But Republicans rejected the notion that to help 2 million people with preexisting conditions get access to care, we needed a 2,000-page bill that transformed one-sixth of the economy.
At each point of our process to repeal Obamacare, we have not lost sight of our responsibility to the most vulnerable in our communities. Safety nets and protections are important and must be maintained for those who need them most.
It came down to the AHCA or the continued disaster of Obamacare, which was an easy choice. The AHCA is a major improvement, because a federal one-size-fits-all approach to health care isn't the answer.
States know better than the federal government how to allocate and manage resources to address the needs of their people.
Gender discrimination has no place in our workforce.
As the highest-ranking Republican woman in the U.S. House of Representatives and the mom of two daughters, I believe if we're serious as a nation about empowering every American to pursue his or her own dreams, then true cases of gender discrimination need to be confronted.
Our goal as Republicans is to ensure gender discrimination ends once and for all, and to also help guarantee those who want to remain in the workforce and continue their careers aren't hindered by clunky, outdated regulatory structures that penalize them for making that choice.
With each generation, women's ability to live the lives they choose reaches a place their grandmothers never thought possible. But that doesn't mean everything is perfect or that our work is finished.
I think it is important that we respect that women have different political views.
The idea that just because you are a woman you should be supporting Hillary Clinton I think is false. There is a broad base of political views.
Despite the fact that important measures such as the Americans with Disabilities Act passed only with crucial Republican support, the public - and the community of disability advocates - normally identifies this issue with the Democratic party.
Big, expensive government is not the answer for people without disabilities, nor is it for those with.