U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry, the Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, announced today that the Committee approved the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, H.R. 1960, by a vote of 59 to 2. The legislation authorizes $552.1 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense (DoD) and national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE). “We task... Read more »

OPINION May 27, 2013, 7:11 p.m. ET By MAC THORNBERRY Last week, President Obama laid out his revised vision for U.S. counterterrorism policy. The president mentioned that he looks forward to "actively engaging Congress" on oversight of counterterrorism operations. Though consultation and engagement by the White House on national security has been too rare, many of us in Congress welcome a new chan... Read more »

U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) introduced a bill on Thursday, H.R. 2202, which would make the excise tax on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and diesel comparable on an energy-equivalent basis. Thornberry was joined by Rep. John Larson of Connecticut in introducing the “LNG Excise Tax Equalization Act of 2013” in the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, the federal excise tax on LNG... Read more »

This week, U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) introduced the latest version of his bill to promote domestic energy production. H.R. 2081, the “No More Excuses Energy Act of 2013,” would encourage the production of all forms of domestic energy including oil and gas, nuclear, and alternative energy and fuels. “Congress needs to reduce the amount of regulation coming out of Washington and ... Read more »

U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon), vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, made the following statement about President Obama's national security speech: "Most disturbing to me in the President's speech today was the idea that we can simply declare Al Qaeda beaten and go back to the pre-9/11 era. When he said that these... Read more »

For the third time since 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to fully repeal President Obama’s health care law. Area Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon), a co-sponsor of the repeal bill, voted in favor of the measure, which passed 229 to 195. The House has voted more than 30 times to repeal, dismantle, and defund different parts of the new health care law. “There is no law that ... Read more »

Saying that this kind of “misuse of power cannot be tolerated,” U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) is demanding answers from the Obama Administration following the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had unfairly targeted conservative leaning organizations for additional scrutiny over a period of a couple of years. In a strongly-worded letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Le... Read more »

Congressman Mac Thornberry, the Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, introduced a bill today that would, for the first time, require prompt notification to the Congressional defense committees of any overseas lethal or capture operation outside of Afghanistan– including those conducted with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, commonly referred to as “drones.” “As we work to keep Americans sa... Read more »

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill today to give private-sector employees who work more than 40 hours a week the option of taking compensatory (comp) time or paid time off instead of overtime pay. Currently, the option of taking comp time in lieu of cash wages is only available to federal, state, and local government workers. Area Congressman Mac Thornberry is a cosponsor of The Worki... Read more »

A local Amarillo High School student has been selected to represent the 13th Congressional District of Texas in the nationwide 2013 Congressional Art Contest. A photograph submitted by Alexandria Karber, daughter of Wes and Michelle Karber of Amarillo, will be displayed in the hallways of the United States Capitol for an entire year. Alexandria’s photograph, entitled “Sandy Chaos,” was selected as... Read more »