Jan's Plans & Pans - December 12, 2022
Last week was another busy week in Washington! After 24 years in Congress, I am finally moving to an office in the Rayburn House Office Building that has a beautiful view of the United States Capitol. I look forward to welcoming you to my incredible new space!
On Thursday, Congress sent another monumental piece of legislation to President Biden’s desk. The Respect for Marriage Act will require states to recognize same-sex marriages, so long as they are valid in the state where they were performed. It also repeals the harmful and disgraceful Defense of Marriage Act, which said that marriage should be between one man and one woman. Earlier this summer, the rogue Supreme Court broke long-standing precedent and stripped bodily autonomy away from millions of Americans with its disgraceful decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should reconsider marriage equality, putting in danger the millions of legal same-sex marriages across the country. We passed this legislation to enshrine same-sex marriage into law and to make it clear that love wins. While we celebrate the passage of this momentous bill, we recognize that our work continues to ensure everyone in our LGBTQ+ communities can live authentically and free from hate and discrimination. As the proud grandmother of LGBTQ+ grandchildren, I will not stop fighting until everyone is accepted for who they are.
On Tuesday, I was part of a bipartisan group of Energy and Commerce Committee leaders who wrote to Ticketmaster raising concerns about potentially unfair and deceptive practices in the live ticketing industry. During a hearing back in 2020, Ticketmaster’s president told us they were committed to transparency, but we have seen quite the opposite. We all saw the chaotic ticket pre-sale for Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour. We need answers. We requested, at a minimum, a briefing from Ticketmaster so we can figure out what went wrong.
The lack of equity in health care and housing did not just happen overnight. I was honored to participate in a press conference in Evanston with my colleague, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, to advocate for her bill which will study the effects of slavery and discriminatory policies on African Americans and recommend appropriate remedies, including reparations. It is well past time for our nation to reckon with its history of slavery and systemic racism.