Dennis A. Ross
15th District, Florida

Committee on Financial Services

Subcommittee on Capital Markets & Government Sponsored Enterprises

Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations

Washington, DC
229 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-1252
Fax: (202) 225-0585

Lakeland
170 Fitzgerald Road, Suite 1
Lakeland, FL 33813
Phone: (863) 644-8215
Fax: (863) 648-0748

http://dennisross.house.gov

May 3, 2013

Mr. Gordon Wayne Watts

821 Alicia Rd
Lakeland, FL 33801-2113

Dear Mr. Watts:

Again, I appreciate the correspondence.  As I noted previously, our Founding Fathers made it clear that the federal government has no higher duty than to "provide for the common defense."  However, no government department should be immune from fiscal oversight.  While our national security must be our top priority, in these tough economic times we must also tighten our belts and eliminate waste and fraud in each of our federal agencies, including the Department of Defense.  As you know,  I voted for passage of the Defense Authorization Bill because I believe the bill protects the pay and benefits of our active and retired military service members in a fiscally responsible manner.  I feel this is crucial, as we are engaged in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya.

It is true America has a spending problem, but simply voting against appropriations bills for the sake of cutting spending is as unwise and irresponsible as implementing blanket, across the board cuts like the sequester does.  Instead, Congress should be making targeting, informed spending cuts to programs after fully vetting each program, like my legislation the ZERO Act requires.  For these reasons I carefully evaluate legislation like the Defense Authorization Bill and the other approprations bills and then stand by my votes.

Once again, it is an honor and a privilege to represent constituents like you of the 15th District of Florida.  To learn more on how I may serve you, please visit http://dennisross.house.gov.  Please feel free to continue to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,

Dennis A. Ross
Member of Congress

DR/TD