Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, said political gridlock is making it difficult for legislators to achieve progress in budget discussions and job creation.
Nunnelee defended his voting record, saying he has voted in line with his campaign platform. He spoke to the Columbus Rotary Club on Tuesday afternoon. He took his seat in Congress in January, but the defeat of key initiatives, such as the balanced budget amendment that failed last Friday due to lack of a House majority, are mostly due to a divided legislative branch, he said.
The proposed constitutional amendment would have required Congress to balance the budget each year, as local and state governments are required to do. The amendment failed for a lack of 23 votes.
Sometimes, even when a bill passes the House, it dies on the Senate floor.
“I can vote for (amendments) all day long,” Nunnelee said. “They send (them) down to the Senate and kill (them.)”
The No. 1 issue facing Mississippi and the nation is job creation and retention, Nunnelee said. He dismissed the Democrats’ viewpoint that government can be the impetus for solving the nation’s unemployment woes.
Governments do not create jobs. Instead, they create business-friendly environments that make it attractive for corporations to invest private capital in new ventures, he said.
He pointed out the Golden Triangle as a good example of how low taxes, right-to-work laws and light regulatory practices can lure industries such as California-based Calisolar, which plans to build a 1 million-square-foot solar manufacturing plant in Columbus next year, employing 951 people.
“We have seen staggering economic growth in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park,” Nunnelee said, adding that he believes heavy regulations in other areas are strangling economic growth.
He also gave high marks to Columbus Air Force Base, which employs nearly 3,000 people and is “an economic driver” for the region.
“I don’t know of anyone that creates more jobs than Columbus Air Force Base,” he said. “One thing I think is very important is the relationship between (the base) and the city of Columbus.”
A second major problem he sees is the dual-pronged issue of overspending by the government and the pervasive threat of higher taxes, both of which are “a cloud hanging over the economy,” he said. Small business owners need reassurance to invest during uncertain times.
The third issue on Nunnelee’s agenda is weaning the United States from its dependency on foreign oil, a situation that he said is a “national security issue.” He said the nation should set a goal of being completely energy secure by the end of the decade.
Nunnelee blamed President Barack Obama’s administration for a lack of leadership but had high praise for outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. He said Barbour was his preferred candidate in the 2012 presidential race, but since Barbour withdrew from candidacy, he’ll back whichever candidate receives the Republican bid.
Despite the problems the nation faces, there is still much for which to be thankful,” Nunnelee said of the Thanksgiving holiday. “The freedoms we enjoy are still the greatest civilization has ever known.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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