Tuesday marked the official end of the 115th Congress. That, along with the start of a new year, brings a time for reflection on 2018, and there are many positive highlights that come to my mind. Last Congress, Republicans successfully reigned in 14 onerous regulations promulgated by former Obama Administration and provided the most significant tax reform in over 30 years. Our policies unleashed economic results that the country has not experienced in decades. Last year, the U.S. reached over 4% growth and the lowest unemployment in 50 years—with the number of unfilled jobs exceeding the number of unemployed Americans by more than one million. Consumer confidence also hit an 18-year high and wages rose to their highest in nine years. Although you wouldn’t know it from the mainstream media, economic prosperity only scratches the surface of the accomplishments made last year, others of which include:
Combatting the Opioid Scourge
H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act became law on October 24. I was an original cosponsor of this landmark legislation to establish new public health policies and reform Medicaid and Medicare to combat the country-wide opioid epidemic. This new law contains provisions from over 50 bills to advance treatment and recovery initiatives, improve prevention, protect our communities and bolster our efforts to fight deadly illicit synthetic drugs like fentanyl.
Rebuilding Our Military
The defense of our nation is the number one job of the federal government. After years of underfunding the Defense Department, Congress broke through gridlock and passed appropriations which—under the Obama Administration—had short-changed our military and jeopardized our national security.
Taking Care of Our Veterans
On June 6, the president signed the VA MISSION Act of 2018, which streamlines the VA’s duplicative community care programs into one cohesive program. This law strengthens the VA's internal capacity to provide high-quality care to patients within VA medical facilities by improving and expanding VA's ability to educate, recruit and retain the very best providers. It also expands the VA’s Post 9/11 Caregiver Program to all eras and extends the Veterans Choice Program, ensuring veterans can access the care they have earned.
Long-term Funding for CHIP
On January 25, the longest extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in history became law. This renewal ensures that the program will have ten years of secure funding to support the nearly 9 million children from low-income families who depend on the program for health care coverage.
Strengthening Career and Technical Education
On July 31, the H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act became law, updating federal policies aimed at helping students gain the knowledge and skills they need to compete for in-demand jobs. This law out of the Education and Workforce Committee empowers state and local community leaders to use federal resources to respond to changing education and economic demands. It also improves alignment with in-demand jobs by supporting innovative learning opportunities, building better community partnerships and encouraging stronger engagement with employers. Furthermore, this law reigns in the Secretary of Education’s authority, limiting federal intervention and preventing political favoritism.
Juvenile & Criminal Justice Reform
After three years of hard work and dedication at the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate and became law on December 18. This bipartisan legislation helps set young people up for long-term success. It provides state and local leaders greater flexibility to meet the needs of delinquent youth in their communities and improve public safety, improves support for prevention services, emphasizes evidence-based strategies and increases accountability to deliver positive outcomes for kids and protect taxpayers.
S.756, the First Step Act became law the very same day. The First Step Act is modeled after state-based reforms that have proven to reduce crime, prison populations and taxpayer expenses. This law helps low-risk inmates prepare to rejoin society successfully through evidence-based recidivism reduction programs. While preserving the maximum potential sentences for violent and career criminals, it also provides sentencing reform by granting greater discretion to judges in sentencing of low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who cooperate with law enforcement.
Coming Back to 2019
A productive 2018 does not provide an excuse to rest on our laurels. I have been looking ahead to this Congress with determination to continue the positive results and successful policies of 2018. In particular, I am focused on the continued transformation of American education and closing the skills gap in our nation’s workforce. However, this transformation begins with changing the way we speak about education. This week, I shared my thoughts about how the careless use of language creates misleading notions about essential postsecondary educational pathways in this Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Next Week
Next week, the House will resume its negotiations over border security funding. Under President Bush, the Secure Fence Act passed handily in the House and Senate, 283-138 and 80-19 respectively. Congress should not be divided on keeping the government open while fulfilling our duty to protect our nation. Nor should we allow politics to disrupt the services owed to American taxpayers.
Sincerely,
