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On Friday, the House approved the conference report to the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, also known as the “highway bill." This bill helps to provide the funding that our local communities depend on to develop and maintain their infrastructure, as well as attract businesses and create jobs. Additionally, this conference report includes a provision to stop student loan rates from doubling. Read more about Conference Report on Infrastructure Spending

Today, I introduced legislation to protect children from sexual exploitation. The Child Protection Act of 2012 (H.R. 6063) increases penalties for the possession of child pornography, raises funding and resources for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and provides additional protections to child victims and witnesses. Read more about Congressman Smith Introduces Bill to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation

I want to focus on three general areas of expression and argument in Thursday’s decision upholding the constitutionality of the typically misnamed, “Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act” (referred to as Obamacare). My main thoughts of my mistaken prediction about Justice Kennedy, my perplexity at Justice Roberts’ vote and argument, and my discomfort with some of the Republican discussion:

1) First of all, I have been saying for many months that this most momentous case for the nation would be decided by one man, with four lining up on each side and the seemingly ambiguous and somewhat unpredictable Anthony Kennedy

Obamacare passed its constitutional test as Chief Justice John Roberts punted. Roberts was left with a dilemma, does he overturn an important Congressional imperative by the narrowest of margins?

This would have put the Court at war with the executive, an executive branch ready to do a search and destroy against the Court. In a war that would have resembled Roosevelt's war on the Court in the mid 1930’s, Roberts feared for the reputation of the Court, but on the other hand, there was no doubt that the mandate was unconstitutional and a complete misreading of the commerce clause. Read more about Thoughts And Concerns On The Supreme Court Decision On ObamaCare

The House voted Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.  

The Attorney General is not above the law and he is not immune to the consequences of breaking it. Because of the relentless effort to stonewall Congress, and his long history of selective memory about the truth

Today, I released the following statement regarding the House’s vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over subpoenaed documents related to Operation Fast and Furious:

For over a year, Congress has investigated Operation Fast and Furious to ensure that this type of reckless incident never happens

Today the Supreme Court of the United States delivered President Obama a nice little package all wrapped up in a bow - a landmark victory in declaring the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). While this is clearly a victory in this particular battle, will this be the catalyst needed to bring the conservative base back to the rolling boil it was before the 2010 mid-term election? Read more about Obama's Victory Today will Cost Him Re-Election in November - Fire Up the Base to Vote!

While millions of Americans are disappointed by today’s decision, Congress will not be deterred in our commitment to repeal Obamacare. The individual mandate may have been found to be constitutional as a tax, but that doesn’t make it good policy for the American people. The President’s promises about Obamacare have proved hollow. Obamacare costs our economy trillions of dollars, imposes new and burdensome taxes on

In one of the most convoluted SCOTUS decisions since Roe v. Wade, the Affordable Care Act has, by and large, not been overturned. (There is an exception to this dealing with the instruction to states to vastly expand Medicaid. That will take much more time to even sort out.)

The “individual mandate,” contrary to the words of Pelosi, Reid, Obama, and his cast of Progressive Socialist Democrats, has been ruled a tax.

I released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the President’s health care law:

I will continue to stand up for the American people and fight for a full repeal of government-run health care. Texans are struggling to find jobs in the Obama economy, and the taxes in the President’s health care law only makes things worse.

ObamaCare is a product of Washington Democrats forcing a massive 2,700 page bill through Congress without reading it or revealing its full contents to the American people. In a sharp contrast to their approach, I support physician- and patient-approved health care policies that are crafted through a carefully measured and transparent process. Read more about Pete Sessions Statement on the Supreme Court’s Ruling on ObamaCare