Women's Health
Last week, I joined nearly all Democrats in voting against passage of the shortsighted and harmful National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025. The original NDAA that passed out of committee 57-1 included numerous provisions that would make life better for service members and their families, including a 19.5% pay raise for junior enlisted troops, a 4.5% increase for all other service members, increased investments in childcare, and a restoration of the full Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
After seven straight weeks in Washington, I wish I could tell you that Congress passed legislation to better the lives of everyday Americans. Unfortunately, I cannot. House Republicans spent the majority of the time putting forward legislation that has no chance of becoming law. Last week was a perfect example. In a partisan power grab, House Republicans voted to censure Rep.
During his State of the Union address last Thursday, President Joe Biden emphasized that America is a story of progress, possibilities, and resilience. He delivered a strong speech that detailed how far we have come under his leadership, the hurdles we have cleared, and his bold, optimistic vision for the future.
After months of far-right extremists hijacking our appropriations process, Congress has completed the final part of the FY 2024 budget, which will help Americans deal with high prices, sides with the hard-working middle class, protects women’s rights, and reinforces America’s global leadership. I am pleased to report that my final community project funding request was approved, which means, in total, I will be bringing home nearly $19 million to the 9th Congressional District of Illinois.
Last week, I had the unique responsibility of questioning the CEO of TikTok when he came before the Energy and Commerce Committee. It is clear to me that in most ways, TikTok is like all the other Big Tech companies. They can use Americans’ data any way they want. Exclusively banning TikTok would be letting Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms off the hook and would leave our consumers and our children unprotected. We need a comprehensive data privacy bill.
This week, I discuss the continuing fight for the right to abortions for women. I also discuss legislation I introduced on price gouging and provide some other updates.
The United States is now on track to set a record in 2023 for mass killings. Just last week, a neo-Nazi with an arsenal of firearms killed eight people and wounded seven others at a Dallas-area shopping mall. These tragic mass shootings are in addition to the everyday shootings that we continue to see. We need action now. As a proud member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I have had conversations with my Republicans to see if there is anything at all they could agree to. We need universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and so much more.
I wish I could tell you that we have reached an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, which is really agreeing to continue paying the debts of the United States, but Republicans continue to insist on massive budget cuts. Cuts which, among many things, would strip health care from thousands of America’s veterans, seniors, and children. The Republicans in Congress are holding our economy and the American people hostage.
In this week's update, I discuss some of my visits around the district this week, and of course the leaked decision from the Supreme Court regarding abortion access in our country.