Tim Huelskamp

Mr. Speaker, today, February 12, 2015, I was not present for call votes number 77 and 78 due to attendance at the White House bill signing ceremony for the Clay Hunt SAV Act. If I had been in attendance, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 77 and ``yea'' on rollcall vote 78.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, this week marks National Marriage Week. This is the time for Americans to recognize, to celebrate, to honor this time-honored institution and the critical importance of a man and a woman committing to each other and to the children of their loving union.

The plain and simple truth is this: marriage is vital to our economic success, cultural well-being, and our children. And sadly, it is being trampled upon as we speak. Unelected judges from all across the country are forcing their personal feelings and biases against traditional marriage upon the American people. This judicial activism has thrown the social and legal status of marriage into chaos.

Since the question of marriage is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress must act now to right this wrong. That is why today I am reintroducing the marriage protection amendment to affirm the true meaning of marriage is between one man and one woman and to provide a clear policy for our Nation, especially for our children.

Mr. Chair, here in Washington, D.C., I believe we have too many people working on K Street looking out for Wall Street when we should be, instead, fighting for Main Street. It is our Main Street businesses, our small businesses, that are the heart and soul of our economy and without which there will be no economic recovery.

America has slogged through 6 years of a lackluster economy in part because our hardworking small business men and women are strangled by this administration's overregulation. During my 267 town hall meetings throughout my district in the last 4 years, the number one complaint is this: there is too much regulation on small business from faceless, nameless bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., who don't understand the needs of rural America.

It is time for some red tape relief. It is time for some regulatory certainty. It is time to free up Main Street so they can kick-start our economy and get America back to work. As an active member of the Committee on Small Business, I encourage my colleagues to join me and millions and millions of small business entrepreneurs all across America and pass this bill today.