Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Foreign Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rep. Roger Williams says small businesses can weather Mideast tensions, opposes limiting presidential war powers
Summary
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, told a television interviewer that recent tax and regulatory changes help Main Street businesses absorb short-term shocks from Mideast tensions and said he opposes a House move to limit presidential war powers while operations are under way. He expressed sympathy for U.S. service members killed in the conflict and called the situation "day by day."
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, said Thursday that Main Street small businesses are positioned to “deal with” short-term economic shocks from the conflict in the Middle East because of recent tax and regulatory changes.
"They want is to not have to worry about somebody threaten us every single day — 'death to Israel, death to America,'" Williams said, arguing that measures such as lower taxes and accelerated depreciation enacted last year help family farms and small firms manage higher prices and uncertainty.
The remarks came during a television interview in which the host noted the House was preparing to vote on a measure to limit President Trump’s authority on Iran. The program played a clip of Sen. John Fetterman criticizing his party; the interviewer asked Williams how he expected that to affect the House vote.
Williams said he opposes restricting the president’s war powers at this stage. "I think you can revisit it anytime," he said, adding that in the "first five, six days" U.S. operations were going well and that giving the president flexibility was warranted while the situation develops.
Asked about U.S. service-member casualties, Williams said losing troops is deeply worrying and expressed sympathy for the families of those killed. He added that the goal should be to "get it done as quickly as we can" while limiting future loss of life.
The interview combined questions about foreign policy and the economy; Williams tied his economic remarks to small-business concerns about price shocks, while his comments on war powers emphasized support for the administration’s current approach. The House was reported to be preparing a vote later the same day; the interview did not report a result.
No formal motions or votes were reported during the interview segment.
