Quotes from Charles Boustany

This country doesn't have a revenue problem - it has a spending problem.

Americans deserve the best health care system in the world - one that emphasizes quality but reduces cost so all Americans can participate.

Our engagement through international economics, trade, these trade agreements, is vital and is linked to our national security. This is a lesson we learned from the '30s, it is a lesson we learned post-World War II, and it plays to our strengths.

As a doctor, I saw firsthand the problems many patients face finding a doctor, navigating the system, and paying their health care bills.

I've supported the process of getting to a good Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.

The TPP supports economic growth and job creation in America while expanding access for American goods and services in the Asia-Pacific region.

America's small businesses and manufacturers are innovators ready to usher in a new wave of growth and opportunity if given access to foreign markets.

We need to make sure people continue to have access to retirement plans because everyone deserves the opportunity to retire with dignity and financial independence.

We can create more affordable coverage options for all Americans and help patients with pre-existing conditions - without forcing any satisfied Americans to lose coverage they like - through high-risk pools and reinsurance options.

The tax code's complexity adds enormous costs to families and businesses across the country and takes nothing short of an army of federal bureaucrats to enforce.

It is an honor to join my former colleague in Congress, Jim McCrery, and the very talented team at Capitol Counsel.

While Obama's economic policies have failed to spur growth, our anti-poverty programs have long failed to promote upward mobility and move people from welfare to work.

This federal welfare system is large, fragmented, and growing in cost. This system may have started out with good intentions, but it has become a confusing maze of programs that are overlapping, duplicative, poorly coordinated and difficult to administer.

The 1996 welfare reform law, for the first time, connected welfare benefits with an expectation that recipients would work or participate in training. That work requirement led to record increases in employment and earnings and a record decrease in poverty and welfare dependence after it was enacted.

Encouraging wellness and prevention helps improve quality of life and can lower costs, too. I saw too many patients who had poor health because of their decisions, but too often, all they needed was a doctor to help point them in the right direction.

The American people deserve their government to be open and accountable.

Too often, patients without a primary doctor go to expensive hospital emergency rooms for nonurgent care.

Medicaid is a deeply flawed program.

Having witnessed the success of Acadian Ambulance firsthand over the years, I became a champion for the employee stock ownership plan business model. This was easy to do based on the evidence that employee stock ownership plans are reliable, high-performing sources of retirement security.

Having access to affordable, available health care is not a Republican or Democrat issue.

Replacing your family's current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. In fact, it'll make health care much more expensive.

Working together in a bipartisan way, we can truly lower the cost of health care while improving quality for the American people.

Senator Vitter and I had a track record of working together on some key issues, restoring funding for our waterways and ports; he assisted me on the Senate side with the veterans' clinics. We have a working relationship where we look out for the interests of Louisiana.

Working together, we can help Americans get back on their feet and make businesses more competitive to allow them to hire and expand again and revitalize our economy. It requires Republicans and Democrats working in a bipartisan way, though.