 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Congresswoman Marge Roukema has been a living, breathing civics lesson for all of us during her 22-year career in Washington . She has been the very model of a citizen legislator-starting at the local level and working her way up to the halls of Congress. Marge Roukema has always made it clear that she entered politics to advance causes and issues in which she believes, and she has succeeded. Marge leaves Washington as the dean of the New Jersey delegation, and as one of the most respected fiscal conservatives in the House. She has been one of that most valued breed of legislators, one who never forgot that the appropriations made in the Congress were comprised of real dollars that came out of the pockets of real people - her constituents and others - and were not to be wasted. That attitude has won her - besides 11 elections - the designations of "Deficit Hawk" by the Concord Coalition and "Taxpayer's Hero" by the National Taxpayers Association. She has been honored by groups such as Watchdogs of the Treasury, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens Against Government Waste, and the National Federation of Independent Business. Her particular causes have been a strong economy, health insurance reform, welfare reform, immigration reform, campaign reform, financial services modernization, education funding and protection of the environment. She has had some of her finest hours lately as Vice Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, advancing legislation to get tough with corporate criminals. As Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Congresswoman Roukema was a key author of landmark legislation that updated the nation's, in her words, "Depression-era financial services laws" .and is designed to make the U.S. more competitive in the global market for financial services. Among her many other legislative accomplishments are authorship of the Save and Invest in America tax policy package, key components of which were made part of the Balanced Budget Act and Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Her get-tough child support enforcement legislation was written into the recent welfare reform law and has increased support collections dramatically. Her crackdown on abuse of student loans by scam trade schools has saved taxpayers $2 billion annually since 1992. Her sponsorship of the Family and Medical Leave Act marked a milestone in job security for hard-working American families.
|