Record Herald
Incoming Chairman Bill Shuster, a Republican whose district includes Franklin County, welcomed 10 new Republican members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“The addition of these new members compliments the skills and knowledge of our existing members, and I look forward to working together on the committee to reform programs and strengthen America’s transportation networks to make us more efficient, more competitive, and more prosperous,” Shuster said.
New members are Steve Daines, Montana; Rodney Davis, Illinois; Thomas Massie, Kentucky; Mark Meadows, North Carolina; Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma; Scott Perry, Pennsylvania; Trey Radel, Florida; Tom Rice, South Carolina; Daniel Webster, Florida; and Roger Williams, Texas.
Shuster has been named a conferee to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013 by Speaker John Boehner.
“I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues to produce a strong bill that will ensure fiscal sanity while maintaining a strong and capable military,” Shuster said.
Shuster will represent the House Armed Services Committee during negotiations with the Senate in order to reconcile legislative differences between the two chambers. Shuster will play an active role in crafting the final combined bill that will authorize funding for the Department of Defense in fiscal year 2013.
Shuster is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chaired the Panel on Business Challenges in the Defense Industry. This panel examined the difficulties small and medium-sized businesses face when working with the Department of Defense and provided ideas to cut red tape and fight bureaucracy.
n PBS Coals Inc. and its affiliate RoxCoal Inc. are immediately idling its Roystown and Hart mines in Somerset County, as well as laying off 138 employees from various sites. Shuster says these cutbacks are due to out-of-control U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
“The EPA has put a strangle hold on the coal industry making coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation more difficult and costly,” Shuster said. “The EPA’s regulations have created uncertainty in the industry and are crushing the jobs of thousands of hard working Pennsylvanians.”
This summer PBS Coals laid off 225 workers, also in Somerset County. The company attributed these job losses to a softening demand for coal and costly regulations by the EPA.
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