LEGISLATIVE REPORT

Weeks of 10/16 to 10/27

1. JOINED a Supreme Court amicus brief, being led by Senator Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case that will decide whether businesses that are open to the public can discriminate against LGBTQ people by refusing to serve them. The brief will describe the history and importance of federal non-discrimination laws and argue that the kinds of religious and “expressive” business exemptions that are being sought in this case would undermine the protections those laws were intended to provide. The brief has been endorsed by such outside groups as: American Civil Liberties Union, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, GLAD, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, National Employment Law Project, National LGBTQ Task Force, National Women’s Law Center, People for the American Way Foundation, Equality Florida, and other groups.
2. COSIGNED A LETTER, with OGR Democrats, to OGR Chairman Gowdy, requesting that he issue three subpoenas related to former National Security Advisor General Flynn: (1) to compel the White House to produce all of the documents that this Committee requested on a bipartisan basis on March 22, 2017; (2) to compel ACU Strategic Partners to produce documents related to General Flynn; and (3) to IP3/IronBridge to produce documents related to General Flynn.
3. COSIGNED a FL Delegation letter, led by Reps. Hastings and Buchanan, to DHS & FEMA requesting that FEMA make senior officials available to Florida cities and counties to help guide them though the reimbursement and procurement process and additional concerns that have not yet been adequately addressed in the aftermath of the hurricane.
4. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Wasserman-Schultz, to Governor Rick Scott, inquiring as to his administration’s role in helping communities remove debris that remains in Florida post-Hurricane Irma. This is a follow-up to the exchange on the topic during the Delegation meeting with the Governor last week.
5. COSIGNED A LETTER led by Reps. DeGette, Slaughter, Chu & Lowey, strongly opposing to the Trump Administration proposed regulations regarding birth control that will cause harm by creating expenses that could put contraception out of reach for many women. The letter urges that the Administration should instead do what they were directed to do by SCOTUS in its Zubik decision: have an open and transparent stakeholder input process. The letter lists the ways that birth control benefits women’s health and public health, and argues that the proposed rules violate the intent of ACA by allowing denial of coverage for a preventive service that ACA clearly required to be both affordable and accessible. The letter is supported by Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice groups.
6. COSIGNED A LETTER led by Reps. Peter King, Costello, Bishop & Loebsack to NDAA Conferees, urging retention of critical DoD Biomedical Research programs. The Senate-passed version of the FY18 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included several provisions that would effectively eliminate the Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) and curtail most of the other Department of Defense medical research programs, many of which are not supported by NIH and other agencies. Last year, the Senate also included these provisions in their base NDAA bill, but they were removed by an amendment during Senate floor debate. No such amendment was adopted during this year’s debate due to the Senate’s condensed floor schedule. The programs primarily fund ground-breaking, peer-reviewed research that often would not get funding from other agencies or private sources. The letter is consistent with your previous support of appropriations for many of these research programs, including DoD’s Alzheimer’s and breast cancer research programs.
7. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Pallone, to Secretary Tillerson, urging him to stand up for LGBTQ rights in Azerbaijan. Over the past two weeks, the Azeri government has arrested and fined over 80 people and detained and tortured at least 45. Legal experts state this is one of the largest and most systematic anti-LGBTQ crackdowns the country has conducted. Additionally, the LGBTQ community in the country is stigmatized as a societal annoyance and believed to be diseased. This crackdown is part of a recent trend targeting LGBTQ people in several countries neighboring Azerbaijan. The letter urges a strong response against the human rights abuses and to work with the Azeri government to ensure all citizen are protected. The letter is endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, Council for Global Equality, and Human Rights First.
8. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Hastings, to President Trump urging him to approve FEMA Public Assistance Categories C-G funding and cost sharing for Puerto Rico. These categories of assistance cover repair of all damaged public infrastructure. You previously co-signed a letter seeking extension of this funding for Orange and other Central FL Counties, which was ultimately granted.
9. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Senator Nelson, to FEMA Administrator Long, urging swift approval of Puerto Rico’s request for assistance under the Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) program.
10. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Niki Tsongas, to House Leadership requesting legislation to provide long-term reauthorization and funding for Community Health Centers and the National Health Service Corps. This is a follow up letter to one signed by Congresswoman Demings on 9/13/2017, with increased urgency because the funding lapsed on 9/30/2017. Our nation’s Community Health Centers provide high-quality primary and preventive care to more than 27 million patients in nearly 11,000 communities nationwide. However, without action from Congress by September 30, they must either cut back on staff, limit health services, or close their doors altogether due to a 70% of their funding at the end of the fiscal year. Former State Representative Mia Jones has reached out requesting action on urgent funding for Community Health Centers.
11. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Gomez to White House Chief of Staff Kelly and Acting DHS Secretary Duke strongly urging the renewal of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, and Syria. As the 60-day decision date nears, the administration should consider current country conditions, contributions TPS recipients have made to our country, and the economic impact their leave would have on the U.S. economy. These countries have experienced a series of natural and humanitarian disasters that make returning unsuitable and pose a security risks to current TSP recipients, if they were to return. Consideration of these factors should warrant an extension of the expiration date. The Congresswoman has previously cosigned TPS letters for Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti and Venezuela.
12. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) to Acting DHS Secretary Duke, highlighting DHS’ September report that concluded the current number of border crossings is “the lowest number…since 2000, and likely since the early 1970s.” This letter highlights this DHS finding and urges the department to make evidence-based decisions when discussing border enforcement. This report was heavily cited by Democrats during the CHS mark-up of Chairman McCaul’s border security bill earlier this month.
13. COSIGNED A LETTER, led by Reps. Sewell and Abraham, to HHS Acting Secretary Eric Hargan and CMS Administrator Seema Verma to not finalize the calendar year (CY) 2019 Home Health Groupings Model (HHGM) in the proposed CY18 Home Health Prospective Payment System rule. Home health care is a critical service that allows over 3.5 million patients to be treated in the cost-effective setting they prefer most — their homes. The HHGM proposal, scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 31, would significantly redefine the Medicare home health benefit, imposing a 15% reduction in payment levels and an untested, wholly revised case mix adjustment model. Homecare and hospice providers are especially concerned that the current proposal is missing key data elements and thus it is impossible to measure impacts. In short, this is one of the latest in untested “cost-cutting” measures CMS is experimenting with, putting patients’ access to care at risk. The letter is supported by the Home Care Association of Florida.
14. COSPONSORED the Protect Access to Birth Control Act (H.R.4082), led by Reps. DeGette and Slaughter, that would negate President Trump’s so-called “religious freedom” birth control rule. This follows a letter Congresswoman Demings signed on 10/18/2017. The Trump administration’s rule dangerously allows virtually any employer or university to refuse to cover contraception in their group health plans on the basis of religious or moral objection. Individuals would also be able to request coverage that does not include contraception, and issuers would be permitted to opt-out of providing group or individual coverage on the basis of any religious or moral objection. Birth control and contraceptive are healthcare, plain and simple, and this bill would block the dangerous order. Senators Murray and Casey are introducing the Senate companion.
15. ORIGINAL COSPONSOR of the American Promise Act, being introduced by Rep. Velazquez that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to allow the DHS Secretary to adjust the status of persons that have been physically present in the United States for no less than 5 years and are TPS recipients or otherwise be eligible for TPS. The legislation also provides a case-by-case waiver for those who do not meet the 5 year requirement, which can be used in cases where the removal of the applicant seeking to adjust status would cause extreme hardship to themselves or their family members. The bill is supported by a number of immigration advocacy groups, including the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
16. COSPSONSORED the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (HR 113), which prohibits the transport, export, and sale of U.S. horses to slaughter for human consumption. American horses are not raised for food and are routinely given a series of drugs over their lifetime that can be toxic to human, if ingested. You have previously cosponsored an amendment, in the appropriations bill, that parallels the SAFE Act — prohibiting funding for horse meat inspection. The Humane Society supports this bill.
17. COSPONSORED the Humane Cosmetics Act (HR 2790), which would prohibit testing cosmetics on animals, effective one year after bill takes effect. Additionally, no cosmetics may be sold or transported if the final product or any component was developed or manufactured using animal testing, effective three years after enactment. The Humane Society supports the bill, which has received bipartisan support in the 113th and 114th Congresses.
18. ORIGINAL COSPONSOR to a Resolution honoring Minority Women-Owned Small Businesses that is being introduced by Rep. Adams. Women now own 38 percent of all business in the U.S. and 5 million small businesses are owned by minority women. Through the resolution, Congress recognizes that small business entrepreneurship expands opportunity for women of color to get ahead economically, serve their communities, and care for their families. Minority women entrepreneurs are an important segment of the U.S. economy and in order to sustain the economy, we must fully support and encourage growth of minority-owned businesses.
19. COSPONSORED the Congressional Sexual Harassment Training Act (H.R. 4155), which would require that all Congressional offices covered by the Office of Employee Conduct, including congressional and support offices, enroll their employees in this existing training which informs them of their rights and avenues for recourse. Additionally, offices would be required to enroll all employees in the training once every two years and enroll new employees within 60 days, just as they must for Ethics. All other federal offices have mandatory anti-harassment training, and this would provide Congressional staff members with the same education and protective members as their executive counterparts.

MAJOR BILLS

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I voted:

• NO on Final Passage of Senate Amendments to H. Con. Res. 71, the Republican FY18 Budget Resolution, an irresponsible plan that would disproportionately drive up spending, while paving the way for large tax cuts to the wealthiest among us. It would require raising taxes on working people or gutting programs like Social Security and Medicare that they depend on later in life. The measure passed 216–212, with no Democrats voting in favor.
• NO on Final Passage of H.R. 469, the Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, which would limit the process for using consent decrees or settlements to resolve litigation against the federal government, require the preliminary use of alternative dispute resolution procedures that includes industry and other stakeholders in negotiations prior to entering a consent decree, require the Treasury Department to publish information on its court-related payments, and expand Congress’s ability to intervene in cases involving constitutional challenges. Environmental and civil rights groups strongly oppose the bill because it would undermine the enforcement of federal laws and impede the resolution of various consumer protection, anti-discrimination, environmental, and public health cases in federal court by a host of burdensome — and, in some cases, ambiguous — steps for courts and parties relating to such consent decrees and settlements that would favor continued litigation over settlement.
• NO on Final Passage of H.R. 732, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act, which would prohibit federal agencies from requiring payments or loans to third parties as part of court settlements. Environmental, civil rights and charitable groups strongly oppose the bill because it would prevent agencies from tailoring remedies to address systemic or diffuse harms to un-identifiable victims, public health, or the environment.