Important Budget Links | Statement & Press Releases

Congressman Scott supports reducing our budget deficit and balancing the federal budget, but not at the expense of cutting vital government functions, such as defense, education, transportation, Social Security and Medicare.

Congressman Scott understands that deficit reduction requires making sometimes tough, unpopular choices. During his first year serving in Congress, Congressman Scott supported the 1993 Clinton budget, which narrowly passed the House and the Senate. The 1993 Clinton budget, also known as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, helped put the nation on a strong fiscal path and turned federal budget deficits into federal budget surpluses. By 2001, the Congressional Budget Office projected a ten year surplus of $5.6 trillion. At the time, that would have been enough to completely eliminate the national debt held by the public by 2008, and we would owe nothing to China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.

Citing likely fiscal disaster, Congressman Scott opposed President George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Congressman Scott correctly pointed out that these tax cuts were not paid for and would wreak havoc on the budget. Combined with the Bush Administration’s unpaid for Medicare prescription drug plan, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an economy deep in recession, and these tax cuts, by the end of the Bush Administration, the annual federal budget deficit had climbed to $1.4 trillion and instead of paying off the national debt held by the public, the total national debt ballooned from $5.7 trillion in 2001 to $10.7 trillion by the end of 2008.

In late 2010, when these Bush-era tax cuts were set to expire, Congressman Scott opposed the two year extension because the nation could not afford them and if they continued to be extended, it would likely force Congress to make deep cuts in vital government services, including Social Security and Medicare.

John Collick 

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Congressman Scott is an ardent defender of civil rights.  Although America has made great strides in civil rights in the past few decades, current events have shown that we still have a long way to go.  The current threats to civil rights are not the explicit actions our predecessors may have seen and experienced. Instead, they are subtle actions that, if allowed to continue, could threaten our rights and lives in the future. Examples of such actions include religious and racial profiling, xenophobic rhetoric in political discourse, expelling minorities from school in disproportionate rates, uneven application of justice, employment discrimination, restricting the right to vote, and pay inequality.

As one of the chief authors of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in 2015, Congressman Scott ensured the bill lived up to the promise of Brown v. Board of Education and the original Elmenatary and Secondary Education Act by guaranteeing the right to an equal educational opportunity for every child, regardless of race, income, language status, or disability. As Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor he has also authored the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act and the Strength in Diversity Act of 2019. These bills will help guarantee equity in educaiton and help address racial inequities in public schools.

Congressman Scott has is also one of the chief sponsors of the Do No Harm Act, a bill that ensures nobody can use religious freedom as an excuse to discriminate against another person. He has also co-sponsored several pieces of legislation aimed at correcting or preventing the furtherance of discriminatory acts, such as the Equality Act and the End Racial Profiling Act of 2013. He also supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and the first bill passed by the House under his leadership as Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor was the Paycheck Fairness Act.

John Collick 

Right to Self Defense

The Right to Self-Defense is inherent in humanity and in the United States, includes the Right to own personal weapons.  Currently, Democrats at every level, from local governments up to the U.S. Congress, are constantly working to deprive law abiding Americans of their Rights to own guns.  Not one proposed law is aimed at taking guns from criminals – or people who receive guns illegally.  They all “explain” the need to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.

We are rapidly moving toward general gun confiscation. All it will take is another person merely states he thinks a gun owner might be a danger to local authorities.  The authorities will confiscate that persons weapons; the weapons might be returned if a court decides the gun owner is not a threat.  Fewer and fewer people are inclined to say that another person poses no threat – a judge would be no different.

Statistics clearly show that when a properly trained individual is present during a shooting, the threat is quickly mitigated. Unfortunately, when someone prevents a mass shooting, it’s rarely reported outside of the local area but when a mass shooter is successful, it’s reported as an epidemic.

Over the past seven years, concealed carry permit holders were credited with saving multiple lives in Rockledge, Florida (2017), Antioch, Tennessee (2017), Arlington, Texas (2017), Lyman, South Carolina (2016), Winton, Ohio (2015), Conyers, Georgia (2015), New Holland, South Carolina (2015), Chicago, Illinois (2015), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2015), Darby, Pennsylvania (2015), Chicago, Illinois (2014), Portland, Oregon (2014), and Spartanburg, South Carolina (2012).

 To continue to enjoy your God given Rights – whether they’re the Rights to Bear Arms, Peaceably Assemble, Be Free from Search of Your Property without Cause, or any other inalienable Rights, you need a Congressman who will Fight to keep these from being taken. Only John Collick is willing to fight for these Rights – Bobby Scott will not – unless you’re an Illegal Immigrant, whom he supports without restriction or reservation.

 It’s time to elect a Conservative Military Veteran to represent the good people of the 3rd Congressional District.  It’s time to elect John Collick to the U.S. Congress.

We all know that the current economic climate has taken a toll on many families across the nation and that the economy has been slow to recover from the deep recession. Congressman Scott believes the best long-term way we can create jobs and get people back to work is investing in education and training, beginning with early education and continuing through college or vocational education, as well as adult education and training.  A well-educated workforce is more important today than ever before. With the rapid development of this global marketplace, the United States is no longer the single dominant country in the world and American’s competitive advantage is a well educated workforce.

Large and targeted investments in workforce development are long overdue and it is time that they are addressed in Washington. Congress recently seized upon the opportunity to do this through reuathoization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which expired in 2003. WIA is the main federal legislation that coordinates federal workforce development programs. Congressman Scott supported the reauthorization of WIA through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which included an enhanced definition of “individuals with barriers to employment” that explicitly includes older workers over the age of 55 as well the long-term unemployed.  This explicit inclusion means that state and local workforce plans must include goals and strategies for serving these and other disenfranchised groups.  Additionally, the new law requires that 75% of youth funding in the bill support out-of-school youth, sometimes referred to as “opportunity youth” for the opportunites they represent for their communities.  When kids drop out of school they are much more likely to get into trouble and commit crimes.  And once a juvenile falls off of the right track, he or she will face a range of problems and taxpayers will be on the hook for the cost of incarcerating these individuals.   By investing in opportunity youth, Congressman Scott believes that we are investing money on the front end so we don’t end up footing the bill later on.

Many believe that during these tough fiscal times we cannot afford to invest in job creation. But Congressman Scott believes that the choice is clear – we must invest in education and job training so that we have a strong workforce and strong nation for future generations. We can choose to put funding towards direct job creation programs, such as transportation and infrastructure projects. This will help accelerate our recovery, putting millions back to work, and gradually return our budget to balance over the next decade, all without jeopardizing Social Security or Medicare or other important social safety net programs. As Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, Congressman Scott is the lead sponsor in the House of Representatives of the Raise the Wage Act, which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024. This bill would be good for workers, business and the economy.

John Collick 

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Affordable Care Act

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.  While a strong supporter of a single-payer health care system, Congressman Scott tirelessly worked with his colleagues in Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Four years later, the law’s provisions are improving the lives of millions of people in the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the United States.  No one can ever again be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.  No one ever again has to worry that one major illness will mean bankruptcy for his or her family. No senior citizen will ever again have to pay a co-pay for key preventive services, such as cancer screenings. While he is not opposed to improving the law as implementation continues, Congressman Scott is opposed to attempts to weaken or repeal Obamacare. As Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, Congressman Scott is on the frontlines of defending the ACA from the constant sabotage attempts from the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans. Congressman Scott is a lead sponsor of the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019 and is a a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act of 2019.

Medicare and Medicaid

Congressman Scott is also a strong supporter of Medicare and Medicaid and has strongly opposed repeated attempts to weaken or dismantle these critical health care programs.  Together, these programs insure almost 40% of Americans providing a critical safety net for those who are elderly, low-income, or disabled.  Congressman Scott does not support taking away these key health benefits for American families.  He has consistently opposed the Republican Budget, which has proposed to block grant Medicaid and end the Medicare guarantee by converting it into a voucher program.  Congressman Scott strongly supports maintaining and strengthening these programs to make sure that those who need them most can continue to rely on them.

John Collick 

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Congressman Scott supports fair and humane immigration policies that will keep our borders secure and our citizens safe, assure that those who are fleeing violence and oppression are not thrust back into danger, prevent families from being ripped apart, promote a flourishing economy, and treat all individuals who attempt to enter into our country with respect and dignity.

Congressman Scott also believes that Congress must work together to build a fair, effective and commonsense immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws as well as a nation of immigrants. He co-sponsored and voted for the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019. Congressman Scott stands ready to work with his colleagues on comprehensive  reform of our broken immigration system in a fair and humane way.

John Collick 

Immigration

• Stop all waivers for people who overstay their visa

  • Visa overstays must leave the U.S. and reapply for an immigrant visa

• Holders of tourist visas cannot change status to become immigrants

• Biometrics are required of all persons entering the U.S. upon initial entry and confirmed at every additional entry

  • Adults using a child who is not their child (or under their legal care) to enter the U.S. should never be allowed to enter the U.S.

• Build Border Ports of Entry (POE), like POEs at international airports, to control who enters the U.S.

Congressman Scott is a vice-chair of the House Democratic Caucus Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which was convened by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. The purpose of the Task Force is to find comprehensive, commonsense solutions to the problem of gun violence in America that also respect law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

The Task Force solicited the input and testimony of victims of gun violence and gun safety advocates; gun owners, hunters, and outdoor sportsmen; federal, state, and local law enforcement; educators and community workers; mental health experts and physicians; criminology and public health researchers; representatives of the motion picture, television, music, and video game industries; faith community leaders; and representatives of gun manufacturers and retailers. Based upon the feedback of these groups, the Task Force urges Congress to:

• Support the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
• Support citizens’ rights to possess firearms for hunting, shooting sports, defense, and other lawful and legitimate purposes.
• Reinstate and strengthen a prospective federal ban on assault weapons.
• Reinstate a prospective federal ban on assault magazines.
• Strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database.
• Prosecute those prohibited buyers who attempt to purchase firearms and others who violate federal firearm laws.
• Pass legislation aimed specifically at cracking down on illegal gun trafficking and straw-purchasing.
• Restore funding for public safety and law enforcement initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence.
• Support initiatives that prevent problems before they start, especially by enacting comprehensive, violence prevention and intervention legislation like the Youth PROMISE Act.

John Collick 

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Social Security is one of the most successful and important government programs ever enacted. For well over 75 years, Social Security has been giving seniors and their families peace of mind and economic stability. Congressman Scott is adamantly opposed to cutting Social Security to balance the budget or offset the cost of tax cuts. Congressman Scott knows that Social Security does not add a single penny to our nation’s budget deficit and believes that any discussion to reform Social Security should be for the benefit of Social Security alone, not to offset the costs of unaffordable tax cuts or to reduce the budget deficit. In Congress, Congressman Scott has opposed efforts to change the cost-of-living-adjustment formula from the current formula to a “chained-CPI” formula. Congressman Scott has also cosponsored legislation that would phase out the Social Security payroll tax cap, currently at $113,000 for 2013, to ensure that wealthy Americans contribute more to the program to extend its solvency. More importantly, Congressman Scott supports legislation that would improve Social Security benefits by using a cost-of-living-adjustment formula that actually keeps pace with the costs of consumer goods that seniors use more regularly than other Americans – the cost of health care.

Important Social Security Information

• The Social Security Administration’s Website
• Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment Information
• Congressional Research Service Primer on Social Security

John Collick 

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