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Why Members of the Congress Need to Have Respect and Integrity

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The media’s attention on individual members of Congress is ever-increasing and because of this focus, the public sees the individual’s ambitions, personality and goals rather than the institution as a whole. Additionally, due to this media coverage, the public has the ability to see all of the various roles that members of Congress play. Members of Congress must do what is best for themselves, their districts or states, the nation, and their political parties. The individuals in Congress must walk this very narrow road by attempting to play all of these roles and please as many constituents as possible. Furthermore, members of Congress must attempt to play these roles and maintain office by securing votes of constituents while they are in office.

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Justin Amash, the Republican Congressman from the third district in Michigan, is doing just what is aforementioned. Amash votes the way he thinks he should but also with the nation and his district at heart, as most members of Congress do. Moreover, Justin Amash has never missed a vote between 2011 and 2014 which exemplifies that he takes his job as a member of Congress extremely seriously (govtrack.us). What did Justin Amash do before becoming a Congressman though?

Justin Amash was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1980. He was raised just outside of downtown Grand Rapids in a city called Kentwood. Amash went to school at Grand Rapids Christian High School and graduated as the valedictorian of his class. Directly after high school, Amash attended the University of Michigan. He graduated in 2002 with his bachelor’s degree in Economics with high honors. Three years later, Amash graduated in 2005 with his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, Amash worked as a business attorney for his family’s business. After only three years of working as a business attorney, Amash ran for the Michigan House of Representatives in 2008 and won. He served as a Michigan House Representative for 2 years before running for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011. Amash won this election and has been serving as the 3rd Congressional District’s Congressman ever since (amash.house.gov).

Michigan is comprised of 14 congressional districts in which the 14 individual members of Congress represent their districts for 2 year terms. Each of these districts have a population of roughly 710,000 people, which is no small amount of people for these members of Congress to consider when they are voting. Justin Amash represents these 710,000 people in the 3rd congressional district which is located near the southwest corner of Michigan. Amash’s district includes cities such as Grand Rapids, Kenwood and Battle Creek. The counties in this district include Kent, Ionia, Barry, Montcolm and Calhoun counties. In this district, the gender breakdown is roughly half female and half male. White people constitute the large majority (roughly 85 percent) of the race in this district. This is followed by the Black and Asian communities, constituting a much smaller percentage. Of the roughly 710,000 people in this district, the median household income of this district is roughly $48,000 (ballotpedia.org). All of these demographic factors become very important to the representatives that are serving their constituents, as understanding who the people of their districts are is essential to voting in their best interest.

Over the course of Justin Amash’s time in office thus far, he has made some rather important votes on bills and resolutions in the House. Again, voting with his constituents, party and nation in mind is no easy task. So, examining the key policy areas of his platform as a Congressman is of great importance. Justin Amash has made key policy area votes on the economy, immigration and national defense.

On the economy and spending in the United States, Justin Amash is a fiscal conservative. Several of the resolutions voted on by Congressman Amash have been continuing appropriations resolutions which, in effect, continue the use of funds for appropriations that have been made in the past. This is not to say that these are not important, however. In fact, Congressman Amash has voted on such resolutions that would continue the appropriation of funds for veteran’s benefits, projects of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and national border security. The Veterans Benefits Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014 was a joint resolution and was initially voted on by the House of Representatives on October 1st, 2013 when it was introduced. This resolution was created to extend appropriations to continue funding for military and veterans’ benefits (votesmart.org). When it was originally voted on, there was a motion to end discussion and ultimately the resolution failed. Justin Amash had voted yea on this resolution on October 1st. The resolution came back before the House on October 3rd, 2013 for a revote however, and the resolution subsequently passed by a vote of 259-157, Congressman Amash’s yea vote being one to help the passage of the resolution (votesmart.org).

Another important national policy resolution was the Food and Drug Administration Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014. The vote on this resolution came on October 7th, 2013, just after the veterans’ benefits resolution. This resolution was the continuance of the appropriation of funds for the FDA for fiscal year 2014 in order for the FDA to continue its projects and activities (votesmart.org). This resolution was passed in the House by a vote of 235-162 with the help of Congressman Amash’s yea vote.

In addition to these two resolutions, the Border Security and Enforcement Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014 was brought to the floor on the 3rd of October and voted on the 10th of October. This resolution’s purpose was to continue the appropriation of funds in order to further projects of agencies within the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2014 (votesmart.org). This joint resolution was voted on and passed by a vote of 249-175 with Congressman Amash’s yea vote (votesmart.org). These resolutions are important to note because they are all national policy areas and shows that Congressman Amash must cater to the needs of the nation and in these three instances he believed that the continuation of appropriations was necessary, as shown by his yea vote.

It is also important to note Congressman Amash’s vote on bills that relate to the economy. One of those votes was on the Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency Act of 2014. This bill contains a lot of information regarding the authorization and requirements of federal agencies and rules within them. More specifically, an aspect of this bill is to “[require] the head of each federal agency to submit certain information each month for any rule the agency expects to propose or finalize during the following year to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs” (votesmart.org). In essence, this bill requires that federal agencies submit information in efforts to reach complete transparency. Another aspect of this bill is that it “[a]uthorizes the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to issue or amend rules governing the analysis of federal agency regulatory functions” such as “the process for calculating the economic impact of a proposed rule” (votesmart.org). Ultimately, this bill was passed on February 27th, 2014 by a vote of 236-179 with the support of Congressman Amash. As of right now, this bill has been referred to a committee in the Senate.

On immigration, an increasingly dominant topic of the media, Congressman Justin Amash has had a couple major national votes in the last few years. Those worth mentioning are the STEM Jobs Act of 2012 and a bill that prohibited certain actions of illegal aliens present in the United States. The STEM Jobs Act of 2012 was originally introduced on September 18th, 2012 and voted on September 20th, 2012 where it failed. However, the bill was brought back to the House and voted on again on November 30th, 2012. This bill essentially increased “the number of employment-based immigrant visas and [repealed] the Diversity Immigrant Visa program” (votesmart.org). The number of employment-based immigrant visas would be increased by 55,000 and be effective on October 1st, 2013 (votesmart.org). This bill passed by a vote of 245-139 and had the support of Congressman Amash in both votes of the bill. He explained to his constituents and to the nation on his Facebook page that he voted yea on the bill because not only would it encourage immigrants to receive master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s but also because over several years this bill is projected to reduce the national deficit by an estimated $2.2 billion.

On July 30, 2014 a bill titled, To Prohibit Certain Actions with Respect to Deferred Action for Aliens Not Lawfully Present in the United States, and Other Purposes, was introduced to the House of Representatives. This bill’s sole intention is to prohibit federal agencies from using funding to “consider any application of any undocumented immigrant requesting consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals, to authorize deferred action for any undocumented immigrant, or to authorize any undocumented immigrant to work in the United States” (votesmart.org). The bill was voted on in the House of Representative on August 1st, 2014 and passed by a vote of 216-192. Congressman Amash voted yea and was in support of this bill (votesmart.org).

On national defense, there have been a few noteworthy national key votes for Congressman Amash. Those that are noteworthy and recent are the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 was a bill that was introduced to the House in May 2013 and was not voted on until June 14th, 2013. This bill has two important functions. One, this bill authorizes the appropriations of funds for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2014. And two, this bill amends laws concerned with rape and sexual assault in the military (votesmart.org). More specifically, this bill “[r]equires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review of military criminal investigative organizations regarding the investigation of sexual related offenses” (votesmart.org) for a more thorough evaluation of crimes such as rape or sexual assault in the military. This bill passed in the House with a vote of 315-108. Congressman Amash, however, voted nay on this bill. While on the floor, Congressman Amash made a speech as to why he believed a nay vote, or at least a suspension of a vote in order for amendments to be brought to the bill, should be made. In his floor speech, Congressman Amash expressed that key terms in the bill such as “substantial support” and being “associated” with terrorist had not been defined and it was necessary for them to be defined in order for the bill to be constitutional (votesmart.org). Furthermore, he added that “a Federal court has already ruled that the provision is unconstitutional because it chills First Amendment association and free speech” (Amash H3541).

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is another noteworthy bill that Congressman Amash voted on. This bill was first introduced in February 2013 and was voted on by the House of Representatives on April 18th, 2013. This bill, in brief, “authorizes private-sector entities, utilities, and the federal government to share cyber threat information with each other” (votesmart.org) in an effort to increase national security. The bill was ultimately passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 288-127 (votesmart.org). Justin Amash was not in favor of this bill, however. Congressman Amash voted nay on this bill and then proceeded to post to his constituents and to the nation on Facebook his concerns. In his post, Congressman Amash describes that he voted nay on this bill because it does not go far enough to protect private data of the people. In addition, he noted that the bill wrongly allowed the government to use information collected by private entities for investigating and prosecuting certain crimes as well as its main purpose of cybersecurity. Congressman Amash reasoned that the government cannot use this information for investigating and prosecuting certain crimes because it defiles the American people’s right to unreasonable searches and seizures as protected by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

As for bills that Congressman Amash has sponsored or co-sponsored himself, there are several. A couple important bills worth observing are the Save American Workers Act of 2014 and the Full Faith and Credit Act. To both of these bills, Congressman Amash is a co-sponsor. The Save American Workers Act of 2014 is a bill that was introduced on June 28th, 2013 and voted on by the House of Representatives on April 3rd, 2014. The bill increases “the number of hours from 30 to 40 that an employee is required to work per week in order to be considered a full-time employee” (votesmart.org). The purpose behind this bill is for employer-sponsored health care coverage. More specifically, under Obamacare employers were required to give employer-sponsored health care coverage to employees who were considered full-time at 30 hours a week. Due to this definition of full-time employment, employers were cutting employee hours to below 30, hurting the young and the poor. This bill amends Obamacare’s definition of full-time employment from 30 hours to 40 hours per week. Congressman Amash was obviously in support of this bill as he was a co-sponsor and the bill ended up passing with a vote of 248-179 (votesmart.org).

The Full Faith and Credit Act, also co-sponsored by Congressman Amash, was introduced to the House of Representatives on February 25th, 2013. This bill, upon becoming a law, would make it a requirement for the “Secretary of the Treasury to pay the principal and interest of the obligations of the United States in the event that the debt of the United States Government reaches the statutory limit” (votesmart.org). In other words, this bill prevents continuous spending without first paying back debts and other financial obligations. In a close vote on May 9th, 2013, the bill passed with a vote of 221-207. Interestingly enough, even though Congressman Amash was a co-sponsor to this bill he voted against the bill after the text of the bill had changed by the Committee on Ways and Means. In short, this committee changed the wording so that the Treasury borrows and subsequently increases the national debt, rather than paying off old debts and obligations. This is a perfect example of how even if a Congressman creates or helps create a bill, the text of the bill can drastically change in committees and by amendments.

So, what committees does Congressman Amash serve on that he can make a difference? In the 113th Congress, Justin Amash is the Chairman of the House Liberty Caucus (amash.house.gov). The House Liberty Caucus is a congressional member organization in the United States House of Representatives that strives to encourage policy discussion among members of Congress from a limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty perspective (amash.house.gov). In addition, Amash serves on the Joint Economic Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (OGR). The Joint Economic Committee is a committee comprised of both House and Senate members who review the economic condition of the United States and provide recommendations and suggestions on economic policy. The OGR is a House committee that seeks to protect the rights of taxpayers and make sure that taxpayer dollars are spent well.

In addition to these committees, Congressman Amash serves on two subcommittees of the OGR: Government Operations and National Security (amash.house.gov). The Government Operations subcommittee primarily deals with legislation that has aspects of the economy, efficiency and management of the government, federal property, public information, federal technology and data standards, and the relationship between the federal government and states (amash.house.gov). The National Security subcommittee deals with legislation that has aspects of immigration, emergency management, homeland security, national security and drug policy (amash.house.gov). It is evident, now, based on voting patterns, co-sponsorship of bills and the committees that Congressman Amash serves on, that he is a Republican with many libertarian characteristics. Certainly, if nothing else, Amash is fiscally conservative.

Over the course of Congressman Amash’s time in office he has gained some supporters, especially those who contribute to his campaign. In the last Congressional election, opensecrets.org, a website dedicated to informing citizens about money in politics, reported on Amash’s campaign finance. According to opensecrets.org, Justin Amash raised $1,805,629 and spent $1,312,707 during his campaign. Of that money raised, the top contributor was the Club for Growth, a conservative political advocacy group, who gave Amash $218,580 (opensecrets.org). Following the Club for Growth, the second largest contributor was Michigan Industrial Tools who gave Amash $49,250 (opensecrets.org). More importantly, and perhaps more interesting, were the top 5 industries of contributors. The Republican, or conservative, industry contributed $279,910. By far, this industry contributed the most, with the second highest contributing industry, the manufacturing and distributing industry, donating $109,765 (opensecrets.org). It is clear that conservatives favor Justin Amash and have the most interest in him winning reelection. After all, he is a conservative vote in the House of Representatives.

In my opinion, and I am sure many others, Justin Amash is categorized in the “new guard” of members of Congress. It is my opinion that he is in the “new guard” for a few reasons. First of all, Justin Amash was elected during the tea party surge, or the surge of Republican “tea party” activists gaining seats in Congress. It is known that the members of the tea party are those of no compromise. While this is not totally seen in Justin Amash, Amash is certainly seen as someone who sticks to his beliefs with little compromise. I am not saying this is a bad characteristic, however. I am simply saying this is a characteristic of the “new guard” that Amash possesses. Indeed, Justin Amash would also be categorized in the “new guard” because of his ability to relate to and access his constituents through the use of the internet. While it is true that many, if not all, representatives use the internet and social media to interact with their constituents, Justin Amash does it very well in a personable manner that some of the older representatives are not able to do. Furthermore, Justin Amash is a part of the “new guard” because he is young, ambitious and will stop at little to get things done and his opinion across.

It is also my opinion that Justin Amash represents both Congresses well. I believe that Justin Amash does a very good job of reaching out to his constituents, especially with the use of Facebook and the Internet. In addition, Amash represents the nation by making important votes on key national issues like national defense and immigration. With these issues, and others, I believe that even if Amash has to make a hard decision on a vote, he explains to his constituents why he made that vote very well which, in my opinion, goes a long way in people’s eyes because transparency can be hard to come by in government. All-in-all, Justin Amash is a young Republican Congressman who has huge potential to do great things in the United States. Whether it is in the House of Representatives or some other government position, Congressman Amash will continue to represent the people he serves in the most effective way he possibly can.

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