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My office has received a tremendous number of phone calls and emails from constituents who believe I should have voted against the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill. However, there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about the bill, and I believe a yes vote was the right vote for both Texas and our nation. I am sending you accurate information in this email so you can decide for yourself.

All Republican Members of Congress share the same goal – to totally defund and repeal President Obama’s illegal amnesty and to repeal and replace Obamacare. Our only difference is in the tactics we believe will work best. It is not true that the omnibus funds President Obama’s illegal amnesty. It is not true that the omnibus fully funds Obamacare. If the House had passed a short term Continuing Resolution, we would have almost certainly lost all of the good provisions that House conservatives won in this legislation. Plus a Continuing Resolution means the President can continue to do everything just as he has been. We need to stop President Obama as quickly as possible, and I do not want him to keep doing things the same way.

Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm often said that liberals achieve so much because they’re satisfied with small incremental gains. He often told me that conservatives must advance our legislative agenda, even if it’s just two or three feet at a time. This bill does that. As a college football fan, I know it is always a bad idea to punt the ball and get nothing if you are in field goal range. Particularly since we will have a Republican Senate in less than three weeks and can immediately get to work to go after the rest of President Obama's destructive agenda.

I am frankly amazed we forced Obama to cut overall federal spending and to implement the additional spending restrictions House conservatives won in this bill. The final omnibus bill is the product of nearly 100 House committee hearings and markups, more than 400 amendments offered by members during 79 hours of floor debate, and is based on eleven individual House Republican appropriation bills. So all House Republicans participated at length in creating almost all of this bill.  

I am writing today to reassure you that I will always keep my word to you. My good name is my most valuable possession, and my reputation as your representative in Congress is built on trust. I have given you links within this email so you can verify everything I have told you. Above all, I want you to know that I treasure your trust, and I will always work hard to earn it.  

You have my word that I will do everything in my power as your representative to stop Barack Obama from doing more damage to this great nation, and that I will not rest until we have undone his illegal amnesty and repealed and replaced Obamacare. I will always do the right thing for the right reasons, and I will keep working to cut spending and taxes, to balance our budget, and to restore the 10th Amendment to get the federal government out of our lives, so that Texans truly run Texas.