Heidi Heitkamp

Would nullify the rule from the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and HHS that would expand the duration of short-term health insurance plans.

Reauthorizes appropriations for the FAA and TSA, as well as $1.7 billion for Hurricane Florence disaster relief.

Would provide $855.1 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2019.

Medicare and Medicaid are both unconstitutional programs. The U.S. Constitution gives no authority to the federal government to pay people's medical expenses, no matter how poor or disabled they are. Such assistance should be handled by states, charity, or the free market. Any expansion of Medicare or Medicaid, which is what this bill authorizes, should be voted against.

To prohibit federal funding of Planned Parenthood.

Much of this spending falls outside the federal government's constitutionally delegated powers. The unconstitutional spending includes federal social-welfare programs such as food and farm subsidies and housing subsidies (under HUD). Also, lumping multiple appropriations bills together, as opposed to voting on them separately, reduces lawmakers' accountability.

The federal government needs to start reining in climbing federal spending (and deficits) somewhere in order to avert fiscal disaster.

The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to subsidize food or agriculture. Moreover, food subsidies have done little to lift people out of poverty, and farm subsidies have caused market distortions as the government essentially picks winners and losers in the food production industry.

This spending falls outside the scope of constitutionally authorized federal powers, and the federal government needs to start reining in ballooning federal spending (and debt) somewhere in order to avert fiscal disaster. The cuts in this bill comprise only a fraction of one percent of total federal spending, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, most of the unspent funding targeted by the bill would not be spent anyway. Yet modest cuts are better than none at all.

Haspel was complicit in the use of torture, including waterboarding, a violation of U.S. law as well as the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishments."

Regulation of the Internet is not a proper function of the federal government under the Constitution. The new FCC rule under Commissioner Pai was more of a hands-off approach to the Internet, allowing service providers to set their own rules. This is the correct approach, as any provider "throttling" service or overcharging customers will lose business to more competitive providers in a free market setting. Government, in scenarios such as these, will nearly always cause more problems than it claims to attempt to solve. Case in point: Regulations are not always applied equally, as under the Obama FCC rule some sites were forced to "play fair," while some of the big guys, such as Netflix and Google, could still set their own rules.

Would provide $1.3 trillion in wasteful and unconstitutional government spending.

Would remove U.S. Armed Forces from "hostilities" in Yemen that have "not been authorized by Congress."

The flood of illegal immigrants into the United States has risen to the level of an invasion swamping our Republic, and political entities that provide sanctuary to illegal aliens in contravention of federal immigration laws should not expect to do so while receiving federal aid.

To provide "conditional permanent residence" (i.e., amnesty) to DACA program recipients.

Would reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) through 2023, allowing secret FISA Court-approved surveillance of American citizens.

The tax cuts in this bill will keep more money in the hands of American businesses and consumers, where it can be invested into the economy, thus spurring economic growth. Unfortunately, however, the bill does not address federal spending, which needs to be reined in via other legislation.

Federal involvement in natural disaster relief is not only unconstitutional, but also wasteful, inefficient, ineffective, and often harmful. Disaster relief is much better handled by states, counties, and local communities, coupled with volunteer efforts from across the country.

Would cut $43 billion in federal budget authority in fiscal 2018.

The U.S. Constitution does not authorize the federal government to get involved in healthcare, and all government meddling causes more healthcare problems, such as rising healthcare costs.

The U.S. Constitution does not authorize the federal government to get involved in the Internet, which operates best without intrusive government regulation.

Would establish new sanctions and expand certain existing sanctions on Russian, Iran, and North Korea.

Would have expired the expansion of Medicaid, prohibited tax credits for healthcare plans that provide abortion coverage, banned federal funds for abortion, and repealed the ObamaCare mandates.

Confirms President Trump's appointment of John Kenneth Bush to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

To "affirm" that the U.S. remains "fully committed" to NATO.

Would impose new sanctions on Iran and Russia, and codify sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia.

Would provide $1.16 trillion in discretionary appropriations through September 30, 2017.

Would nullify a HHS rule that prevents states that distribute federal family planning funding from prohibiting receipt of funds by abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood.

The United States should stay clear of entangling alliances such as NATO. Moreover, NATO also obligates that the United States go to war if any member of NATO is attacked, which undermines the provision in the U.S. Constitution that assigns to Congress the power to declare war. Montenegro, which was part of communist Yugoslavia during the Cold War era, is now one of 28 countries the United States is obligated to defend under NATO.

Since the power of wildlife management was not granted to the federal government by the Constitution, it is reserved to Alaska and the other 49 states according to the 10th Amendment.

The rapid projected growth in future spending for social "entitlement" programs under current law is unsustainable due to both the declining ratio between workers and Social Security recipients, and also the fact that people are living longer. Plus, there is no constitutional authorization for these programs. Those who genuinely want to help the needy should recognize that the best way to do it is to phase out government social-welfare programs in favor of private alternatives.

Would remove $9.7 trillion worth of new debt and balance the budget by 2024.