Rep. Kelly’s Legislative Priorities for 2015 Featured in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pro-growth tax reform, energy main focuses for congressman
WASHINGTON — The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published a story on December 28, 2014, following an exclusive interview with U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) regarding his legislative priorities for 2015 and the upcoming 114th Congress. The full article can read here.
Highlights from the article:
The 114th Congress gets under way Jan. 3, and with Republicans set to control the House and Senate, it's time to show the American people that the federal government can govern, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly said.
“I'm excited about this next year,” said Kelly, a Butler Republican. “We have not had a Senate we could work with in six years. I'm hoping that the results of (the general election) sent a message to both sides, that the American people want to see a body that can govern.”
During an interview with the Tribune-Review, Kelly outlined his priorities for the upcoming session. He will continue to serve on the influential Ways and Means Committee, which is the chief tax-writing committee of the House, and serve on the [select revenue], oversight and Social Security subcommittees.
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The country needs tax reform, he said, including simplifying the tax code into “something much flatter and much fairer,” while also offering corporate tax reform, saying that U.S. companies have “the highest corporate tax in the world,” at about 39 percent, factoring in state taxes.
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Kelly, who owns a Butler car dealership, was first elected to Congress in 2010. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio picked him to deliver the Republican weekly address Dec. 20 in response to President Obama's, an assignment of which Kelly said he was “sincerely honored.”
“There's no doubt his stature is growing in Congress. People are really starting to pay attention to the issues he espouses,” said Jeff Brauer, a professor of political science at Keystone College in Lackawanna County. Brauer added that energy independence is Kelly's biggest issue.
“He's really made a name for himself in that sphere,” Brauer said. “He's giving great speeches, getting standing ovations. To have a spokesperson like that, the (Republican) leadership is appreciative of that and is rewarding him accordingly.”
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Kelly told the Trib he supports the Keystone XL Pipeline project, which he said could create upward of 50,000 construction jobs and many ancillary jobs. A pipeline would run between Canada and Nebraska, connecting with existing pipe. Delays may have hurt it, Kelly added.
“We're running against the clock as the cost of energy goes down,” he said.
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