While I am relieved that taxes will not be raised on 98 percent of Americans and that the farm bill will be extended for another year, this bill had serious flaws. This legislation included extraneous, unnecessary tax extenders that were not relevant to resolving the fiscal cliff and should not have been included.

In addition, the two-month sequester postponement was merely a fig leaf. The House had a separate bill that would have postponed the sequester for one year while implementing meaningful additional spending reductions, which would have gone a long way to helping cure our nation’s spending woes.

For these reasons, I voted no on this bill. Washington’s out-of-control spending remains our country’s greatest problem, and this bill did not address that crisis. I look forward to supporting legislation in the 113th Congress that will help put our nation back on a sound fiscal path.

If you are a member of the National Guard or the Reserves, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program is here to help. The Defense Department agency helps Guard and Reserve members work with their civilian employers and assists in resolving conflicts arising from an employee’s military commitment.

The program is seeking nominations of supportive civilian employers for its 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award, the DoD’s highest honor for civilian employers, honors those who go to extraordinary lengths to encourage their military employees’ service. Recipients will be announced in early summer and honored at a ceremony this fall in Washington, D.C.

To nominate your employer, visit www.freedomaward.mil. The deadline is Jan. 21, 2013.

And to learn more about how the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve can help you, visit www.esgr.mil.