Congressman opposes funding measure

District 25 U.S. Representative Roger Williams expressed his opposition to a U.S. House continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Dec. 11.

The resolution, which passed 277-151 last week, provides funding for several controversial items, and it raises the debt ceiling once again.

Williams, whose district includes Lampasas County, said his opposition to funding Planned Parenthood was one of several reasons he voted against the bill.

The resolution also provides money for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and the Dodd-Frank Act, plus EPA regulations that Williams said are "killing our ranchers and farmers."

Planned Parenthood has been under investigation by the House Judiciary Committee following allegations that the organization sold body parts of aborted babies. Yet, President Barack Obama had threatened to veto any funding bill that did not include federal monies for Planned Parenthood.

Williams explained that if a government shutdown had occurred, it would have been because the president refused to sign a proposed resolution that did not fund the organization.
"We [Congress] would have never shut the government down to begin with," Williams said. "[President Obama] was willing to shut the government down to continue to fund Planned Parenthood, kill babies and sell their body parts."

The congressman added that thousands of centers around the country provide health services to women and operate strictly on private funding.
Pregnancy resource centers that do not participate in abortion are "what lawmakers should be rooting for," Williams said. He did not, however, specifically advocate giving those centers federal funds.

Williams suggested the roughly $550 million that is provided annually to Planned Parenthood instead should fund the military.

The representative said he believes the government has three main responsibilities: "Collect my taxes, defend my borders and help me with infrastructure," he said.
Williams expects the budget to remain an important issue, as Congress will face a similar vote when the continuing resolution expires in December.

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On national security and foreign policy, Williams reiterated his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S. House voted against approving the accord, but a procedural vote in the Senate fell short of breaking a Democratic filibuster. The Senate voted 58-42 against the deal, but 60 votes were required to break the filibuster.

Williams discussed legislation that recently passed the House that would keep sanctions in place, at least for a time.

The legislation prevents Obama from lifting sanctions on Iran until Tehran pays damages to American victims of Iran sponsored terrorism.

Some $46 billion in damages have been awarded to victims of various terror attacks, from bombings in Beirut to the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. soil.

"Before we release the $150 billion [in sanctions relief] … these victims need to get paid …," Williams said.

The congressman said a similar situation occurred with Libya, and that country ended up paying its damages.

Williams believes additional sanctions are needed to curtail Iran's anti-American and proterrorism schemes.

"They are acquiring nuclear weapons," he said. "I'm a person that says we should be squeezing them tighter than ever ..."

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And a vote is scheduled Thursday in Congress on a Speaker of the House to replace John Boehner, who is resigning.

Boehner has drawn heavy criticism from conservatives for his lack of willingness to oppose Obama's agenda.

Republicans in the House will nominate a member of the body to serve as speaker. The vote then goes before the full Congress.

Williams said he believes there has been a lack of conservative leadership in the position.