Congressman Walter Jones takes action | Eastern North Carolina Now

News Releases:

Jones Votes Against Wasting Millions on Frivolous Lawsuit, Urges Constitutional Action

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) issued the following statement regarding his vote against H. Res. 676, a resolution authorizing the House of Representatives to bring a lawsuit against the executive branch for its implementation of the Affordable Care Act – a lawsuit that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars and that neglects the constitutional powers of the legislature:

    "This lawsuit is merely an act of political theater that is highly unlikely to result in any real consequences for an executive branch that continues to display a blatant disregard for the rule of law," said Congressman Jones. "While I strongly believe that the president must be held accountable for repeatedly ignoring the separation of powers and bypassing Congress to enact his liberal agenda, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on a lawsuit that is unlikely to ever make it to court is not the appropriate method to do so. Rather, the House should act with the tools provided to the legislature by the Constitution – the power of impeachment and the power of the purse."

Jones Votes Against Misguided, Unsustainable V.A. Bill

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) voted against a bill that purportedly aims to assist veterans but that in reality adds a minimum of $10 billion in deficit spending without enacting any substantial reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The conference report to H.R. 3230, the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, would authorize $10 billion to allow outside-VA care for veterans who meet certain criteria – essentially creating a new entitlement program that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated could expand to be more expensive than Medicare Part D at $500 billion over the next decade. Rather than fundamentally changing the broken VA system, the bill merely pours further taxpayer dollars into an agency that has already seen a 250 percent budget increase over the last 10 years.

    "I have and will continue to fight to ensure that our men and women in uniform receive the physical and mental care that they deserve," said Congressman Jones. "I believe the best way to do that is to enact real reforms to the VA and provide our veterans with a financially sustainable system that works for them. Unfortunately, this bill does the opposite by allowing the current broken system to remain in place and increasing federal spending at a time that our national debt has already reached $17 trillion."


    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