Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (pronounced: “Boo-shon”) represents the Eighth District of Indiana, which encompasses all or part of 19 counties in Southwest and West Central Indiana.
Since coming to Congress, Larry has been a champion for advancing patient-centered health care reforms that will give patients and their doctors the freedom to make their own health care decisions as opposed to Washington bureaucrats. He has also been a leader in the fight to end the opioid epidemic, having been just one of eight lawmakers from around the nation recognized by the Coalition to Stop Opioid Overdose in 2016 for his work on the issue. Beyond health care, Larry has also been a recognized leader on transportation issues when he previously served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and will always fight to protect this vitally important right. The Founding Fathers understood that an individuals’ right to bear arms, as provided in the Bill of Rights, was essential to securing our personal freedoms. I firmly believe that law abiding citizens exercising their 2nd Amendment rights deter crime.
The solution to reducing gun violence in the United States is to strictly enforce existing laws and sentence offenders to the longest prison terms possible. I will fight to protect the 2nd Amendment from activist judges and elected officials who seek to weaken this fundamental right.
Growing up in a rural town of 1400 people in the Midwest, I know how important the agriculture industry is to the state of Indiana. Indiana ranks 5th in corn production, 5th in soybean production, 2nd in tomatoes for processing production and has the 3rd most hogs in the US. I have visited Hoosier farms and spoken with numerous farmers about their need for certainty and a long-term reauthorization of farm policy. I'm proud to have worked across the aisle to pass a Farm Bill that ensures stability in our agriculture community and provides certainty for Hoosier farmers.
My strong voting record has earned me the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors “Friend of Farm Bureau” award that is given to members of Congress who have taken leadership roles on Farm Bureau priority issues. I have voted for numerous legislative measures that reduce regulatory burdens plaguing farmers and also to provide disaster relief for Hoosier farmers during the 2012 drought, one of the worst droughts we’ve experienced in decades.
I remain in contact with my agriculture advisory committee, which consists of 18 Hoosiers from various sectors of the agriculture community, including many farmers from the farm bureau.
This group offers suggestions and feedback on the impact of legislation and federal regulations on the farming and agriculture industry. This information is invaluable to me as I consider upcoming legislation in Congress and continue my work in the District.
The federal government needs to function like hard working Hoosier families and live within its means. Without question, Washington, D.C. is continuing down an unsustainable path of spending, taxing, and borrowing too much to pay for this spending habit. This debt will ultimately fall on the backs of our children and grandchildren in the form of higher interest rates, fewer opportunities, and a lower standard of living.
During President Obama’s first term in office, our national debt went from $10.6 trillion to almost $17 trillion, adding over$1 trillion each year. While both sides of the aisle are to blame for this reckless spending culture, I came to Washington D.C. with a commitment to getting our fiscal house in order. We must implement meaningful reforms to reduce wasteful spending on duplicative programs in order to reverse this unsustainable path. This change will not happen overnight but during my first term in office, it is evident we changed the spending debate from how much to spend to how much to cut.
The education of our children ranks as a top priority for the United States. As a former member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am committed to ensuring that education policies have our children’s best interests at heart. Local communities, parents, teachers, and administrators, working together, must be given the control and flexibility to make the right decisions for their schools. Parents must be given the option to decide what education path is right for their children. Teachers must be evaluated on their effectiveness at reaching our children, and given the resources to succeed in their classrooms. Since taking office, I have consistently co-sponsored and voted for legislation that positively impacts our rural school districts, and will continue to look for alternative ways to combat the current trend of soaring tuition rates for higher education.
The federal government must end the practice of trying to fix our education system by simply throwing money at the problem, and instead allow for innovation and experimentation within our education system. I will continue to work to revamp No Child Left Behind to free up local communities and states from federal regulations that do not improve educational outcomes.
The 8th District of Indiana is rich in its supplies of natural resources. All of Indiana’s coal mines are located within the District as well as the majority of Indiana’s oil wells, an oil refinery, and an abundance of natural gas wells. I think it is important to responsibly manage these resources, which is why I joined both the Congressional Coal Caucus and the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus. The EPA and Obama administration are over-reaching with regulations that do not have the backing of scientific fact. Specifically, onerous CO2 emission regulation which would triple the cost of electricity in Indiana, cost thousands of jobs, and make our businesses less competitive with foreign competitors.
Our energy portfolio needs to be an “all of the above” approach to support economic growth and prosperity. We need to use our domestic resources, including drilling in environmentally responsible ways both on shore and off and using coal, natural gas and other domestic supplies in the most efficient way. We also need to support alternative energies such as nuclear, wind, hydropower and ethanol and include significant conservation programs as well.
As a physician, I understand the importance of affordable access to healthcare. While I believe our healthcare system cannot remain at the status quo, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that passed in 2010 will not make our healthcare system better and will, in fact, increase costs and lead to rationing of care. Because of this legislation, we have already seen employers reduce employee hours from full time to part time to avoid providing insurance. The dangerous Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) will soon be formed and will make drastic cuts to Medicare, which will undoubtedly result in cuts to patient care and be detrimental to seniors’ access to the healthcare system. As a part of the Doctors Caucus, we are also taking a meaningful look at tort reform. I think we should pursue expanded Health Savings Account eligibility, expanded choices of providers, and greater transparency on insurance price disclosure. And as a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, I will work on expanding employee pooling to create larger, more competitive buying groups to reduce the costs of insurance and care to the consumer.
We must focus on patient centered, market based solutions that lower costs; by focusing on costs, we will make healthcare more accessible and affordable to all. We need to have a health care system that allows the purchase of insurance across state lines, and addresses tort reform.
First and foremost, I believe we must secure the borders of the United States and strictly enforce our current laws, and do not support amnesty. Also, eliminating incentives for illegal immigrants to cross our borders and break our laws is absolutely necessary. We must hold employers accountable that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. It is time for commonsense immigration reform.
In order for our economy to have strong, consistent growth, we must focus on getting Americans back to work. With the nation’s unemployment at or near 8% since January 2009, Congress must take the necessary steps to reduce unemployment. In order for the private-sector to create jobs and hire new employees, we must address our corporate and individual tax structure. In addition, we need to eliminate overreaching government regulations that are causing economic uncertainty in the business community. We also need to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which is causing businesses to reduce the number of employees and avoid expansion due to the costs of this unwise legislation.
As a nation that was founded on free enterprise, the government must stop passing legislation that prevents entrepreneurs from starting and growing small businesses, which are the heart of the economy.
America has the most effective military in the world because of the extraordinary strength of our soldiers and their families. First and foremost, my goal is to protect our service members and ensure that they return home safely. While we have been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for nearly a decade, it is tempting for critics of these wars to call for actions that could jeopardize the safety of our soldiers and undermine the progress they have built. I agree that American forces should begin to withdraw from Afghanistan. We must do so in a way that does not jeopardize our troops or cause our successes to be lost.
Our district is home to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division. This unique research base, located in Martin County, is critical for success in any time of war. I believe there are ways the Department of Defense (DOD) can become more efficient and use taxpayer funds more wisely, while not sacrificing the readiness and safety of our military. While our nation’s warriors deserve the best federal funding, tightening of the DOD budget through more effective and efficient procurement is warranted in these difficult financial times.
Those who served our country deserve the utmost respect and I am grateful for their service. I served in the military as a United States Navy Reservist for almost a decade, and it is my belief that we must never forget the sacrifices made by our nation's veterans. We must always honor the commitments we have made to those who have served our country.
The unborn child has a fundamental right to life that must be recognized. While I am strongly pro-life, I do believe exceptions should be made in extreme cases of rape and incest and to save the life of the mother in a truly life-threatening pregnancy or delivery. While in Congress, I have worked to deny taxpayer funds from contributing to domestic or international organizations that support abortion. Additionally, I have supported legislation that opposes using federal funds for abortions.
With over 70,000 pages in the current tax code, our system is overly complex and inefficient. I support comprehensive tax reform that simplifies the tax code, closes unfair loopholes, and lowers the overall rate on individuals and businesses in order to encourage job creation, investment, and economic growth. I believe individuals, families, and small businesses should keep more of their hard-earned money. In these challenging economic times, raising taxes on individuals and small businesses is irresponsible and will further reduce economic investment and business growth.
The United States has the highest corporate tax rate of the industrialized world. In order to remain competitive, this rate needs to be lowered while eliminating loopholes that have allowed some corporations to avoid taxes
We owe our veterans an immense debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice in defending our freedoms. We must find new ways to serve our veterans and increase the availability and accessibility of healthcare. I believe veterans should not be restricted to VA clinics and hospitals to receive care and support a system that would allow veterans to choose their local doctor or hospitals for their care and convenience. Further, the Veterans Administration must adapt to the growing differences in the healthcare needs of our older veterans and our younger veterans who have recently returned home with serious and disabling injuries while providing quality care to all.
Safety net programs for senior citizens are considered mandatory spending, meaning the federal government is legally obligated to make these payments regardless of the cost; therefore it is not controlled as a part of the annual appropriations process. Mandatory spending currently encompasses more than 60 percent of all federal spending, and most entitlements are not capped at a specific spending level.
I firmly believe that we must live up to the commitment made to our nation’s seniors. Americans at or near retirement should not see changes to their promised benefits. However, in order to protect Social Security and Medicare for future generations, we must provide commonsense reforms to strengthen and preserve these programs. In fact, according to the Medicare Trustees the Trust Fund will be insolvent in 15 years and the Social Security Trustees indicate the Social Security Trust Fund will begin consistently paying out more than it receives in 2033 Congress should work in a bipartisan fashion with the White House to meet this challenge. Not acting on entitlement reform will result in these programs not being available for future generations.
On a daily basis I hear from Hoosier small businesses how regulations from Washington DC are impairing their ability to grow their business and hire new employees. In 2011, there were more than 200 regulations in the works that combined will have an economic cost of over $100 billion annually. These regulations will contribute to even greater economic uncertainty and reduce much needed economic growth.
Regulations should not destroy jobs. They should provide structure so that Americans can open small businesses and existing businesses can expand and hire more workers. Each year, businesses spend over $1.75 trillion to comply with government regulations – money that could be used to invest and grow businesses.
Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed into law, new technologies and advancements in telecommunications have rapidly developed due to the limited government regulation of internet traffic and services. This unrestricted free market has since provided broadband to many Americans without government intervention or interference.
Rural access to broadband is the most pressing telecommunication issues in Congress’ jurisdiction. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released reports with suggestions on improving broadband access as a result of a mandate in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We must be careful to reform broadband access in a way that is sustainable, executed fairly and will prevent unintended negative consequences on consumers. We need to ensure that all areas of the 8th District have access to broadband.
Another aspect of telecommunications policy is the regulation of the internet to prevent identity theft, privacy invasion and copyright infringement. As with many federal agencies, the FCC must not impose overreaching regulations that violate First Amendment rights and have adverse affects on the economy.
During a time when the economy is struggling, opening the gateway for Hoosier goods and services to be sold into foreign markets is a necessity. 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States. We need to pursue policies that help ship Hoosier products overseas, not Hoosier jobs. The economy of Indiana benefits in many ways when free trade agreements (FTAs) are completed with foreign countries. Hoosier businesses and the agriculture industry in the 8th Congressional District exported more than $2.6 billion in merchandise with only $1.2 billion going to FTA partners during 2010. In addition, more than 6,000 jobs are directly supported by exports.
When implemented fairly, FTAs strengthen the economy and I support FTAs that ease tariffs for Hoosier consumers and allow for profitability of Hoosier exports. Since my time in Congress, I have supported FTAs with Korea, Panama and Colombia. These free trade agreements are allowing products like the Toyota Sienna and Highlander, made in Princeton, IN, to be sold across the world.
As a former member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I have worked closely with my colleagues to help repair our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. I was proud to be appointed a Conferee on the House and Senate Transportation Conference Committee in the 112th Congress. As a Conferee, I worked with my House and Senate colleagues in a bipartisan manner to develop a long-term transportation reauthorization. Moving Ahead for Progress for the 21st Century (MAP 21) extends our nation’s highways and bridge programs, while eliminating duplicative programs, streamlines the environmental review process, allows states to pursue Public-Private Partnerships and provides states with more spending flexibility. Indiana received record funding in MAP21 and gave funding certainty to INDOT to continue projects like I-69.
The Military CDL Act, a bipartisan bill I introduced with Rep. John Carney (D-DE) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) passed the House & Senate and was signed into law by President Obama in October 2012. This legislation makes it easier for our active duty military to obtain a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) which they can use while in the military and to get a well paying trucking job after they leave the military.
The security of America is paramount to defending and maintaining our freedoms. The most important thing we can do to ensure our physical safety is to secure our borders from unlawful crossings. We must stop the influx of illegal aliens whose background is unknown and whose purpose for entering America is not scrutinized. However, we must do more than simply securing the physical premises of our country. We must also ensure that our information - including health and financial information - is secure and in an increasingly electronic world, our digital information is protected from predators by using 21st century technology to identify the new wave of “lone wolf” terrorists.