Woodall to Host Telephone Town Hall Meeting

Congressman Rob Woodall (R-GA07) will host a telephone town hall meeting on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m.

Woodall emailed roughly 77,000 constituents to announce the meeting.

“There is a lot going on in Congress right now, particularly when it comes to dollars and cents,” Woodall wrote. “We're voting on what they call ‘Continuing Resolutions’ that fund what they call ‘discretionary spending’ from now until September. We will vote on what they call ‘the debt ceiling’ which is a measure of how much previous presidents and congresses have run up America's credit card. We will also vote on what they call ‘appropriations bills’ which fund the ‘discretionary spending’ accounts from October of this year until September of 2012.We're voting on what they call ‘the budget resolution’ which lays out our plan for spending over the next 10 years and is the first bill that can deal with so-called entitlement programs."

Woodall is asking constituents to share their thoughts and concerns about these issues and learn more details about what has happened and what is on the agenda in Washington during Tuesday’s telephone town hall meeting.

To participate, call toll free 1-888-324-7184 on March 22 at 7 p.m. and enter 8472391 as your participant pass code.

“On February 14, 2011, President Barack Obama submitted his budget proposal to Congress. His proposal contains both his "one year" spending plan for 2012 and his 10-year spending vision. His vision increases many areas of federal spending and raises taxes by two trillion dollars,” stated Woodall. “Needless to say, I am opposed to both. As a member of the House Budget Committee, my colleagues and I are working aggressively to create an alternative to the President's proposal. We are having meeting after meeting with Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, to analyze all aspects of the budget, the effects of cuts and savings, and the perils of unchecked spending. It is simply unconscionable to permit spending to continue on its current trajectory, and economists will tell you that it is economically impossible to continue on our current path as the economic collapse of our nation would surely follow.”

Woodall said passage of a “tough, but thoughtful” 10-year budget is a necessary step to avoid that collapse.

“Once that budget is passed, we will begin to pass our annual appropriations bills—those bills that define the minutia of most non-entitlement spending for 2012,” Woodall wrote. “At the same time all of this is going on, we must continue passing "continuing resolutions" to keep the government open in 2011. The Democrat-led Congress of last year failed to pass a bill to fund this year, so that responsibility falls to us in this new Congress. The good news is that this gives us the opportunity to start cutting immediately—which we have done and will continue to do.”

Woodall believes it is important to work with constituents to craft the most effective bills.

“The future of our economy and the jobs available in it are on the line,” he stated. “Please join me for this upcoming telephone town hall meeting so that we can work through these issues together.”