June 3, 2023

Dear Friends,

Rather than spending this week as planned in the Capital Region meeting with constituents, I was called to return to Washington to defuse a crisis of Republicans’ own making.

It did not have to be like this. For months now, I have been united with President Biden and House Democrats in calling for a clean debt ceiling bill that would avoid a catastrophic default without imposing cruel cuts on families. In last week’s newsletter, I outlined some of the most devastating impacts that would result from a default, and in particular, the pain that our veterans would have to endure as a result of this failure.

But Republicans—in pursuit of draconian cuts to health coverage, veterans care, food assistance, and more—were willing to sacrifice the full faith and credit of our nation. The Chair of the Republican National Committee even stated that while a default would be bad for the American people, it would be good for the Republican Party. This brinkmanship shows a callous disregard for our economy and for the livelihoods of working Americans.

On Wednesday, we passed legislation to ensure America paid its bills. I am thankful for the President’s steadfast leadership in charting a course to avert a Republican-manufactured default and for keeping out of this legislation some of the most damaging proposals originally demanded by MAGA Republicans. But this bill is far from harmless, containing concerning budget cuts and policies that harm working families and weaken landmark environmental laws.

These dangerous GOP-sought provisions include:

• Gutting some of our bedrock environmental protections under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
  • Diminishing the depth of analysis required under NEPA and limiting the types of projects subject to review
  • Codifying several widely opposed Trump-era NEPA regulations and provisions
• Mandating the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has racked up hundreds of water quality violations and is opposed by more than 750 frontline communities and environmental justice organizations
• Extending burdensome work reporting requirements for individuals up to age 54 to access SNAP benefits
• Clawing back more than $21 billion in funding that would help the IRS hold billionaire tax evaders accountable and make them pay their fair share.

This begs the question—why include cuts to environmental policies and new red tape for food assistance when we could have more easily and efficiently come together to pass a clean debt limit bill without these harmful, irrelevant provisions? Republicans claim it was in pursuit of reducing the deficit, yet the final bill they agreed to does precious little to curb spending. In fact, President Biden’s budget proposed months earlier would have brought deficits down by nearly double the current agreement (nearly $3 trillion over 10 years in the President’s budget compared to $1.5 trillion in this bill).

The reality is that Republicans in Congress wholly manufactured this debt ceiling crisis to achieve unrelated ideological aims, including slashing aid for the hungry, protecting wealthy tax cheats, and weakening environmental laws for their fossil fuel allies. While the provisions they’ve shoved through will be actively harmful to working families and the environment, these effects pale in comparison to the devastating impact that a default would have on these same people and on our economy as a whole. We cannot allow the economic progress we’ve made over the past two years to be erased, which is why I voted to pass this bill.

I stood firm in ensuring that we avoided a default and fully protected critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans’ health care. But preventing economic collapse should never have to come at the benefit of wealthy corporations and at the expense of Americans in need. Moving forward, I remain committed to advancing strong legislation that supports—not punishes—low- and middle-income workers, forces billionaires to pay their fair share, and takes meaningful action to combat the climate crisis and support our clean energy transition. I believe it is the least we owe to our communities.

As always, thank you for reading.

Your friend,

DID YOU KNOW?

My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates, announcements, and recommendations. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:

• After years working alongside our local health care workers and hospitals to fix a long-standing injustice in our health care system, a recent proposal could deliver a massive federal funding boost to our greater Capital region through what’s called the Medicare Wage Index.
  • The Medicare Wage Index (or MWI) is a calculation that determines federal Medicare reimbursement rates for hospitals.
  • By fixing this broken formula, we will bring more than $180 million to Capital Region health systems annually.
• When all is said and done, this funding would mean one crucial thing—better quality medical care for our communities.
• You have my pledge that I won’t let up in pushing for this transformational proposal to cross the finish line.
• With that in mind, I want to hear your thoughts and insights! What does local, quality care from our hospitals mean to you and your family?
  • Does it mean patient-centered care? Reduced wait times for appointments? Additional treatment options?
• Please take a moment to share your answer with me HERE.