The House Republican Policy Committee has been described as "the "think tank' for House Republicans." Recently the suggestion has been made that, in order to save money, perhaps Republicans no longer need their think tank. I could not more strongly disagree. If the question is, do we save money or the Policy Committee, I would submit we must be bold enough to do both. The Policy Committee was founded more than six decades ago, in 1949, following a significant loss of Republican seats in the 1948 election. House Republicans at the time wanted a forum to consider "forward-looking Republican thinking." Since then, this committee has held a prominent position in advocating for the core principles for which conservatives stand. It is tasked with two very important responsibilities: discuss legislation and report suggestions.

Published in Roll Call on July 12, 2010, Copyright 2010.

Last Friday I traveled to the Gulf Coast area affected by the oil spill caused by the April 20 explosion on the ultra-deep-water exploratory oil rig, Deepwater Horizon. The most dreadful consequence of this tragedy is the loss of life—of the 126 men and women on board the rig, 11 perished. Oil is now leaking into the Gulf at rates currently estimated at 5,000 barrels per day, and thousands of men and women have been working around the clock to get the spill under control. While in Louisiana, our delegation received a briefing from Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry at Unified Area Command, and we also met with representatives from the Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, local officials, affected industries and response teams.