Boehner vows to "break the logjam" on Capitol Hill

Just days after a resounding midterm election victory that handed Republicans control of both houses of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pledged to "break the logjam" on Capitol Hill.

"Republicans are humbled by the trust the American people have placed in us," he said in the weekly Republican address Saturday. "We'll honor that trust by listening to you, by making your priorities our priorities."

Boehner recited a number of agenda items that have already come from top Republicans in the days since the election, including a bill to fast track approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would carry crude oil harvested from Canadian tar sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. That project has been in limbo for several years, delayed by the federal government's review process.

Boehner said the pipeline "will mean lower energy costs for families and more jobs for American workers."

He also pledged to take on Obamacare's definition of a 30-hour work week as full-time, saying the provision threatens the "pay and peace of mind of so many Americans."

The law requires any employer with more than 50 full-time employees, defined as any employee who works over 30 hours per week, to provide health coverage for those employees. Democrats say the provision is designed to push employers to do right by their employees and offer health coverage, but Republicans say it's caused employers to cut employees' hours to stay under the threshold.

Boehner did not mention outright repeal of the law on Saturday - a top priority among many conservatives - but he and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, the likely Senate majority leader in the next Congress, wrote an op-ed earlier in the week renewing their commitment to repeal Obamacare.

While the proposals on Keystone and Obamacare are likely to draw fierce opposition from the White House and congressional Democrats, Boehner did mention several measures targeting veterans that could earn bipartisan support.

He said lawmakers "cannot rest" until the Veterans Affairs health care system is fixed in the wake of a scandal involving misconduct and crushing wait times at several VA facilities nationwide. He also pledged to take up the Hire More Heroes Act, which he said would "encourage employers to hire more of our nation's veterans."

In his own address on Saturday, President Obama also stressed the imperative of fixing the troubled VA health care system.

"That means health care that's there for them when they need it," he said. "It means continuing to reduce the disability claims backlog. And it means giving our wounded warriors all the care and support they need to heal, including mental health care for those with post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury."

And while he did not mention the Hire More Heroes Act, he president also cited the need to help veterans "find jobs worthy of their skills and talents."

"When our veterans have the opportunity to succeed, our whole nation is stronger," he said.