Congressman Walter Jones Takes Action | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Releases:

Jones Votes To Protect American Jobs And Work Hours From Obamacare

    WASHINGTON, D.C.     Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) voted in favor of legislation that would prevent part-time employees in Eastern North Carolina and across the country from losing their jobs or suffering reduced work hours as a result of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The Save American Workers (SAW) Act (H.R. 2575) would change Obamacare's definition of a "full-time employee" from an individual who works 30 hours per week to the standard definition of 40 hours per week. Under the healthcare law, employers with more than 50 full-time employees are subjected to a tax penalty if they do not provide those employees with health coverage – causing many businesses to begin reducing work hours or terminating positions to avoid the penalty.

    "The 30-hour rule is just one more reason that the American people cannot afford Obamacare," said Congressman Jones. "In addition to paying skyrocketing premiums and suffering canceled health insurance plans, hard-working individuals in Eastern North Carolina and across the country are losing their jobs and watching their work hours and wages decrease as a direct result of the president's healthcare law. By bringing the Obamacare definition of a full-time employee into agreement with the standard 40-hour definition, this legislation represents a step in the right direction to provide relief for the American people. However, we must continue to work to fully repeal and defund this broken law."

    Congressman Jones voted against Obamacare each time it was considered in the House, and he has cosponsored every bill aimed at repealing all or part of the law.

Jones Cosponsors Bill To Protect Internet Freedom

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) cosponsored the Internet Stewardship Act (H.R. 4367), legislation to prohibit President Barack Obama from transferring control of vital Internet functions to a currently-undefined body of international organizations and foreign governments – including those with authoritarian regimes that have taken active steps to thwart Internet freedom. The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced in March that the U.S. would give up control of the Internet function that stores all website names and addresses as well as the Internet and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which controls Web addresses and domains. Relinquishing these controls would open the door for foreign governments to censor and remove certain information for political reasons.

    Congressman Jones has cosponsored legislation to reaffirm that the executive branch has no constitutional authority to transfer these vital Internet functions without congressional approval.

    "The beauty of the Internet lies in the vast wealth of information that it makes available to individuals around the world," said Congressman Jones. "We cannot allow politically-motivated authoritarian regimes to pick and choose what information is acceptable for the public to access. Furthermore, this represents yet another incident of President Obama abusing his executive power and denying the constitutional authority of Congress."


    Sarah Howard
      Communications Director

    Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3)

     2333 Rayburn House Office Building
     Washington, DC 20515

     sarah.howard@mail.house.gov  •  (202) 225-3415