'The law is a train wreck that will cost Americans trillions of dollars.'

Congressman Lamar Smith today (5/16) voted to repeal Obamacare, the costly and ineffective government takeover of healthcare.

Congressman Smith, who chairs the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, is a cosponsor of the bill, H.R. 45, which the Republican-led House of Representative passed by a strong margin.

"Three years after its enactment, one thing is clear about Obamacare: the law is a train wreck that will cost Americans trillions of dollars," said Congressman Smith. "As we approach the implementation deadline in 2014, President Obama’s broken promises are piling up."

Congressman Smith noted the President promised that no families making less than $250,000 per year would see their taxes go up as a result of Obamacare. But Obamacare includes 21 new or higher taxes that will cost $1.1 trillion over the next decade.

A Judiciary Committee hearing held today (5/15/13) at which Attorney General Eric Holder testified on the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations that IRS employees intentionally targeted conservative organizations, spurred Congressman Lamar Smith to noted the following:

"The alleged actions by government employees to target conservative organizations are dangerous, unconstitutional and possibly criminal. Targeting organizations for their political views threatens our democracy and violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. And IRS employees who singled out conservative organizations for additional scrutiny may well have violated criminal laws.

'Congress has a responsibility to make sure the laws of the land protect Americans rather than endanger them.'

Congressman Lamar Smith and Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy this week (5/6/13) introduced the Keep Our Communities Safe Act (H.R. 1901) to stop the release of dangerous criminal immigrants into American communities.

As a result of earlier court rulings, the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have had to release thousands of criminal immigrants. In the last four years, nearly 17,000 immigrants with orders of removal were released because their own countries refused to take them back. Justice Department officials have stated that these criminal immigrants include rapists, child molesters, murderers, and other dangerous criminals.

Congressman Lamar Smith writes guest editorial in The Hill

Congressman Lamar Smith this week (5/6/13) wrote on the risks of enacting another round of illegal immigrant amnesty -- or whatever term is used by amnesty advocates -- in a guest editorial for The Hill, a capitol hill chronicler.

"America already has the most generous immigration system in the world, admitting an estimated one million legal immigrants each year," wrote Congressman Smith. "Those in the country illegally can always do what generations before them have done: get in line and wait their turn to be admitted."

'We should put the interests of American taxpayers and American workers first.'

Congressman Lamar Smith today (5/7) gave the following remarks on the House floor regarding a recent study on the cost of amnesty as called for in a Senate proposal:

“A new study by the Heritage Foundation warns that the Senate immigration bill would cost $6.3 trillion. That’s because over their lifetime, illegal immigrants given amnesty would receive $9.4 trillion in government benefits while paying $3.1 trillion in taxes."