Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Congressional Dinner a Success
More than 300 business people attended the Maryland Chamber’s annual Congressional Delegation Dinner earlier this week at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. Seven members of Maryland’s Congressional delegation joined them to discuss important business issues. Thanks to everyone that attended. Here are a few highlights:
Federal Budget Deficit
“I think the most important issue for us to get right in this congress is dealing with our national deficit. I think that’s the single most important issue,” Senator Ben Cardin said.
He said that it’s crucial that Democrats and Republicans work together to develop a credible plan to balance the budget. Congress is going to have to make tough decisions on spending and on revenues, he said.
“I think that if we have a credible plan it will be so important for our financial markets,” Cardin said. “A lot of people may not like exactly what we do, but I think we make a huge step forward for our economy if we give predictability to the business sector. Give you the ground rules and let you go to work growing our economy.”
Federal Regulations
The delegation discussed the economic themes from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, including the need to reduce burdensome regulations on America’s businesses.
“I hope the President is sincere. When he says that regulations are strangling America, I hope he realizes just how true that is,” said Congressman Andy Harris. “I saw it for 12 years in Annapolis, and I will tell you that the sheer number of federal regulations issued in the past two years is greater than any other four year period in the nation’s history. You know that this is strangling American business.”
“I think we have to look at those regulations from the standpoint of making sure that if they are outdated and don’t make any sense any more, fine. If they are unreasonable, fine. But, at the same time there has to be balance,” Congressman Elijah Cummings said.
Transportation Funding
Maryland’s delegation is focused on increasing spending to improve America’s infrastructure.
“Each of us is going to have to sacrifice in order to bring our infrastructure up to a point where it matches the challenges for the twenty-first century,” Congresswoman Donna Edwards said.
“The fact of the matter is in order to deal with our huge backlog of projects, we’re going to have to find a way to come together on some kind of revenues,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen.
Cyber Security
“The cyber command is located at Fort Mead. The University of Maryland has made a major commitment to cyber issues on campus. Many private companies are moving into this area because Maryland is the epicenter for cyber security. We are bullish on the impact it will have on our economic climate here, and we think there is going to be a lot of private sector investment here dealing with cyber security,” Cardin said.
Tort Reform
“There are two huge cost drivers in health care, which are increasing at two or three times the rate of inflation. Clearly we have got to do something about that or it will eventually bury us. This health care bill does nothing about one of those, that was tort reform. Defensive medicine may account for 25 percent of all health care costs,” said Congressman Roscoe Bartlett.
Sustainability
Congressman John Sarbanes said that he believes we can focus on economic development while protecting our natural resources. “I think the advances, and frankly the creativity and innovation in the business community, is showing that those two things are very compatible. I want to congratulate the business community. I see businesses that have really jumped to the head of society by being green, and you’re doing this in a number of ways,” Sarbanes said.
Photo: Sen. Ben Cardin addresses Maryland Chamber members during the 2011 Congressional Delegation Dinner. Photo by John Coyle, Coyle Studios. View more photos from the Congressional Dinner here.
