Overhauling taxes and State of the Union response

This week I introduced in the House of Representatives a bill—the American Business Competitiveness Act (ABC Act)—that will reform the business tax code. Actually, my bill doesn't reform the code as much as it totally abolishes it and replaces it with some clear, simple rules that everyday, small-business owners can actually understand without help from accountants and lawyers.

A key feature of the bill is that it eliminates all the loopholes and special deals that riddle the business tax code. It treats all businesses equally, no matter their size or how they're organized, so that startups and small businesses can compete with bigger businesses on a level playing field. It would also boost economic growth by an estimated 7.3 percent and create more than a million jobs. You can read my article on the bill here and get more details about it here.

Separately, I watched President Obama's State of the Union speech this week in disbelief as he tried once again to put a smiley face on our deteriorating national security situation. Personally, I don't believe his plan to take in thousands of refugees from ISIS-infested Syria is in our national interest, and I don't think Iran's recent seizure of American sailors was a U.S. diplomatic victory that warranted top U.S. officials thanking Iran for its supposed cooperation. You can read my statement on the State of the Union here. 

Scrapping the business tax code

Today I introduced a bill to overhaul the way businesses are taxed. It would drastically simplify taxes, encourage startups, and create a level playing field for small businesses to compete with bigger firms. The Wall Street Journal covered it here.

When will Obama say the San Bernardino attackers were terrorists?

I issued a statement today commending the FBI for investigating the San Bernardino massacre as an act of terrorism, and calling on President Obama to acknowledge that the shooting was a terrorist attack. You can read the statement here.

Discussing water on KMJ at 11:00 am PST

I'll be discussing the latest developments on the California water crisis today with Ray Appleton on KMJ at 11:00 am PST. Listen live here: http://www.kmjnow.com/.

Fox News discussions of intel manipulation

I'd like to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving. During the holiday week, please take a look at some Fox News discussions about allegations of intelligence manipulation at U.S. Central Command. To watch the reports, click on the picture below:

Syrian refugees and my appearance on CNN Sunday

Yesterday I voted for the SAFE Act, which passed the House of Representatives on an overwhelming bipartisan vote. The bill would suspend President Obama's program to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States until much stronger security standards are adopted for vetting the refugees.

One of the main problems in vetting these refugees is that we often don't have any information about them in our databases. FBI Director James Comey has acknowledged these security gaps. He told Congress that "the challenge we're all talking about is that we can only query against that which we have collected. And so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing [to] show up because we have no record on that person."

ISIS operatives openly proclaim that they are smuggling terrorists into the West amid the current wave of refugees. In ISIS videos, the group explicitly vows to attack the United States. Under these circumstances, I don't believe we can risk taking in thousands of Syrian refugees for whom our security agencies "have no record." The Paris terror assault shows that ISIS is ruthless, dedicated, effective, and treacherous in attacking the West. Our response requires fierce vigilance.  

I'll be discussing these issues and other topics on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday in the 6:00 am hour PST. The show will rebroadcast at 9:00 am PST. If you missed my interview on Fox News' Special Report this week, you can watch it at this link.