Gus attended the opening of the new Plant City Advance Traffic Management System on Tuesday afternoon. The enhancements will allow the city to monitor traffic and adjust signal timings proactively when there is major congestion, a special event or an evacuation.

"This state of the art traffic system is a great advancement for the city and will provide citizens with safe and efficient travel throughout the area," Bilirakis said at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Tonight Gus spoke out against the Democratic health care plan during general debate of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act :

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark next month.

The Wall Street Journal has more:

Mr. Stern encountered tough questioning from Republicans, some of whom challenged the idea that the earth is warming. Others expressed fear that the administration will commit the U.S. to an economically ruinous schedule of emissions reductions.

“The longer we wait, the worse it gets,” Mr. Stern told the panel. “At some point, people are going to recognize there’s too much carbon in the atmosphere.”

Mr. Stern was testifying a day after Senate Republicans largely boycotted a meeting of a Senate panel weighing a proposal to cut U.S. emissions roughly 20 percent beneath 2005 levels by 2020. The Republicans complained that the bill’s potential impact on the economy had not been sufficiently vetted by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Echoing similar concerns, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R., Fla.), told Mr. Stern “the last thing we need coming out of Copenhagen is an energy tax.” Mr. Bilirakis said he feared the Obama administration will commit the U.S. to a deal that “will severely disadvantage American business and shift jobs abroad” to countries such as China and India that don’t cap emissions.

Gus continued:

"We most certainly should not agree to live by the terms and conditions of any international treaty or legislative body other than that of the U.S. Congress; especially when ceding our sovereignty in this area would devastate our economy and increase unemployment."

 Back in June Gus voted against the House "Cap & Trade" plan:

"As Floridians face double digit unemployment for the first time in 34 years, the last thing we need is an energy tax that will drive energy costs through the roof for families and hamstring small businesses who are trying to survive and create jobs. This deeply flawed bill will severely disadvantage American businesses and shift jobs to other nations like China and India who do not cap emissions. We must balance the need to protect our environment with the need for economic growth and job creation. Unfortunately this bill fails to effectively strike that balance and will do more harm than good.

“Congress should instead increase domestic energy production, promote energy efficiency, and encourage private investment in renewable energy technologies as part of a comprehensive plan to address our energy needs.”
 

UPDATE: Nonpartisan Congressional Scorekeeper: GOP Plan Lowers Premiums By Up to 10 Percent.

Today the House Republicans released their plan for reforming health care, which doesn’t raise taxes or cut Medicare like the Pelosi plan.

The Republican plan moves away from more government bureaucracy and instead builds upon our current system while lowering costs, preserving the quality of care and keeping individuals in charge of their own health care decisions.

Download the GOP Plan (.PDF Format).

The GOP plan incorporates many of the ideas Gus has advocated for months including lowering health insurance costs through tort reform, and strengthening association health plans so employers can join together to provide affordable health coverage. It also allows individuals to purchase health insurance on their own, or through their civic clubs, church or fraternal organizations, across state lines, so they have access to less costly policies.

The St. Pete Times has more:

With debate winding down in the U.S. House, the GOP today offered its own health care plan (summary here ) that focuses on reducing costs rather than extending coverage to most Americans.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, lauded it as a "common sense approach" and asserted that focusing on lowering premiums would make coverage more accessible. He touted an emphasis on tort reform, or what the GOP calls "junk lawsuits," and said the plan left Medicare Advantage funding untouched and does not impose new taxes. "These are consensus issues," he said.

Last Thursday Speaker Pelosi unvieled her health care bill, H.R. 3962 the Affordable Healthcare for America Act, which has a $1.2 trillion dollar price tag according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.  

Download H.R. 3962 (.PDF Format).

The Tampa Tribune had Gus's reaction to the bill:

Battling back even as U.S. House Democratic leaders congratulated themselves for crafting a brand new doorstop masquerading as a health care “reform” package, U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor) joined the chorus decrying the plan as a naked government takeover:

 “Instead of working to produce health care reform that would control rising costs and provide greater access to insurance for those who lack it, the Democrat’s today emerged from behind closed doors to repackage the same heavy-handed, big government approach they have proposed since day one. Their plan will slash Medicare for seniors, raise taxes and lead to fewer choices and more costly premiums while reducing the quality of care we all receive.

“We should move away from more government bureaucracy and instead build upon our current system while preserving the quality of care and keeping individuals in charge of their own health care decisions. Congress should be working on sensible answers that will lower costs and increase access to insurance such as tort reform, cleaning up fraud, strengthening insurance so it is portable and can be purchased across state lines, and expanding access to care through community health centers.”

Click here to read more about Gus's ideas for making health care insurance more affordable.

On Monday, Gus held his second annual seniors health fair in New Port Richey which provided free health screenings to area seniors and gave him an opportunity to discuss health care reform with seniors one on one.

Over 200 seniors attended and were able to receive free health tests and screenings for diabetes, cholesterol, oxygenation, hearing, vision, blood pressure, skin cancer, mental health and dementia-related illnesses.  Additionally seniors were provided with nutrition counseling, information on prescription drug coverage, Alzheimer’s care needs, employment information and veterans' services.

On Thursday Gus continued his push to have legislation available online for 72 hours before it is voted on in the House, when he joined AM Tampa Bay on News Radio 970 WFLA:

On Monday morning Gus sat down with ABC Action News in Tampa to discuss the pending health care legislation and the need for greater government transparency:

 Tampa Bay Congressman, Gus Bilirakis, (R-FL) says he has co-sponsored legislation that would mandate a 72 hour period between the time a bill is finalized until a vote.

"I think there should be a 72 hour waiting period so that it can be posted on the internet, so constituents get an opportunity to read the bill, so that members have an opportunity to read the bill and they should read the bill," Bilirakis told Reporter Kerry Kavanaugh.

In Print: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - View

On Sept. 17, 2009, 70 years to the day that the Red Army invaded Poland, President Obama pulled the plug on the U.S. plan to establish a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. This irony, reneging on an agreement with two partners in Central Europe and yielding to threats by the Russians, was not lost on our European allies, who viewed the shield as a substantial contribution to their safety.

More importantly, the decision leaves the United States less capable of responding to the growing ballistic missile threat from Iran. According to the head of the U.S. European Command, Iran would be able to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching parts of the U.S. by 2015. The European-based missile defense system would have provided a layer of protection against just such an attack on the eastern seaboard of the United States. As Iran and North Korea continue to defy the international community with missile testing and pursuit of nuclear capability, the Obama administration has cut missile defense funding by more than $1 billion.

Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported to the United Nations that “[t]he Agency … assesses that Iran has sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear device.” Even worse, the report revealed that not only does Iran have “sufficient information” to make a nuclear weapon, but it has “probably tested” a key component.

As if that was not reason enough to stick to the long-planned European-based missile defense system, evidence of a concealed nuclear plant in Iran recently became public, while at the same time they test-fired at least two missiles that could reach Israel — revelations that are sure to further destabilize an already tenuous region.

With all this evidence, it remains a mystery why President Obama decided to go against NATO — which is on record saying missile defense is necessary to deal with the Iranian threat — and our allies by removing a defensive missile defense system. While our policy toward Iran should be one of preventing their possession of nuclear missiles, U.S. national security demands that we also defend against such a contingency.

The administration has indicated that this is a “better way forward,” and that the U.S. needed to shift strategy due to changing intelligence about Iran’s short- and medium-range missile capabilities that the old plan didn’t protect against. However, the administration also stated that “our military will continue research and development on a two-stage ground-based interceptor, the kind that was planned to be placed in Poland, as a back-up.” As a back-up? This begs the question why President Obama would scrap an already-in-place long-range missile defense program for one that only protects against short- and medium-range threats with a promise to “continue research” for a long-range system. These two plans are not mutually exclusive, and the U.S. and our allies deserve a plan that protects against all threats.

In the realm of national security, perception is reality. There is no doubt we looked like we capitulated to Russia. We certainly let down our European allies, and for the moment, we are less protected against long-range missile threats.

Bilirakis serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.

On Friday morning, Gus joined FOX & Friends on the FOX News Channel to discuss ACORN: