The United States is considering launching a punitive strike against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, blamed by the U.S. and the Syrian opposition for an Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus. The U.S. has said a sarin gas attack killed 1,429 people, including more than 400 children, based on intelligence reports. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from a network of anti-governme... Read more

LANCASTER — With President Barack Obama asking Congress to support an authorization for military action in Syria, Fairfield County’s representative said he is open to hearing about the attack plan and the justification for military action. “I haven’t made any decisions,” U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers said. “But I start with a high bar he will have to meet for me to vote for the use of military force.” Stivers, R-Columbus, said he was glad the president decided to seek a vote in Congress before going a... Read more

By: Naomi Jagoda Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill that would expand leasing for offshore oil and gas drilling and allow the Treasury Department to use the revenue to issue bonds, the proceeds of which would eventually go into the highway trust fund and state revolving loan funds. “This legislation is a creative, simple solution to rising energy costs, high unemployment, and our aging infrastructure,” Stivers said in a release about the American-Made ... Read more

By Tom Borgerding As Congress prepares to vote on President Obama’s request to intervene in Syria area members of congress are weighing the prospects and possible consequences of U-S involvement. Third District Democrat Joyce Beatty is among those in Washington today for a classified briefing on the Syrian conflict. President Obama seeks congressional approval for intervention after reported use of chemical weapons. Fifteenth District Republican Steve Stivers represents areas south and west of C... Read more

Congressman Steve Stivers will hold a listening session in New Lexington, on Thursday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. at the Perry County Senior Center to talk directly with constituents about legislation before Congress and any concerns they may have with the federal government. Stivers will give a brief update on what is happening in Washington D.C. and will then take part in a question-and-answer session with constituents. Read more

By Alex Felser The Columbus Dispatch | Thursday August 29, 2013 11:44 PM LONDON, Ohio — U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers was welcomed to the Madison County Senior Center tonight as he answered constituents’ questions and talked about the need for a federal balanced budget. But before opening up to questions, Stivers, a Republican from Upper Arlington, reiterated his stance for sustainable government programs that have led him to move forward with an Article Five petition to balance the budget. He explain... Read more

By Jack Torry The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday August 28, 2013 5:59 AM WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has a difficult military decision to make: Deliver a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad or deliver a knockout blow to his regime? As the administration inched closer yesterday to military strikes against Syria for its apparent use of chemical weapons against rebel strongholds, analysts said Obama has a wide array of choices, ranging from launching cruise missiles from four U.S. destroy... Read more

By Jeff Bell, Staff Reporter - Columbus Business First Steve Stivers is taking another shot at convincing Congress to pass a bill he says will address rising energy costs, create jobs and help repair the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges. Legislation he has introduced in the U.S. House would allow expanded drilling for oil and natural gas in the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf and funnel revenue from lease and royalty payments by energy companies to highway, transportation and water projects... Read more

I respond to the June 21 Dispatch editorial “Reality is setting in” and would like to share my strong support of Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor as we face the harsh realities of the federal health-care law. The Ohio Department of Insurance has been clear in reporting that insurers expect the health-care law to make it 88 percent more expensive, on average, to cover health-care expenses for consumers because insurance companies are forced to offer more options that consumers may not even need or want. Thos... Read more

CINCINNATI -- John Yates, an African-American soldier who enlisted in the Union Army at the age of 13, lies in an unmarked grave in the 170-year-old Wesleyan Cemetery in Cincinnati. Civil War Capt. William Peter Strickland, a chaplain for the 48th New York Infantry, rests in the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y. Thousands of other veterans of long-ago wars share a similar fate. And under a recent policy change by the Department of Veterans Affairs, those buried in these graves will ... Read more