Congressman Michael T. McCaul is currently serving his ninth term representing Texas' 10th District in the United States Congress. The 10th Congressional District of Texas stretches from the city of Austin to the Houston suburbs and includes Austin, Bastrop, Colorado, Fayette, Harris, Lee, Travis, Washington and Waller Counties.
Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee
At the start of the 116th Congress, Congressman McCaul became the Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee. This committee considers legislation that impacts the diplomatic community, which includes the Department of State, the Agency for International Development (USAID), the Peace Corps, the United Nations, and the enforcement of the Arms Export Control Act.
Sustaining economic growth continues to be one of our nation's primary challenges. That is why I support pro-growth economic policies that foster innovation and job creation. My plan rejects the big government cycle of “tax, spend and borrow” that discourages prosperity and economic growth.
Giving away your hard-earned tax dollars to companies that made poor and often unethical business decisions, and spending your money on pork projects that don’t create jobs only serves to grow our national debt. Economists share my concern that we are headed toward hyperinflation: prices will go up, the value of the dollar will decline, and interest rates on credit cards and mortgages will skyrocket. If we continue down this path, it appears that our children will be worse off than we are or their grandparents were. It’s not supposed to be this way.
I support a budget plan that will move Americans toward prosperity without spending record amounts of taxpayer dollars and without increasing the tax burden on families and businesses. Especially during a recession, our priority should be to help businesses succeed by creating a business-friendly environment with reasonable tax burdens and responsible regulations that won’t stifle job creation. Minimizing the tax burden on families will allow them greater flexibility to make ends meet. Lowering the Capital Gains tax will encourage private investment in our financial markets.
I helped lead the charge to ban Earmarks beginning in 2008. In 2011 when Republicans took back the House, we were able to permanently eliminate earmarks. Although they can be a valuable tool to local economies, the system was susceptible to waste, political gamesmanship and was abused to the point where Americans stood up and asked Congress to eliminate them.