INTRODUCING THE HOPE WITH FERTILITY SERVICES ACT

This week, I led several of my colleagues in introducing the Helping to Optimize Patients’ Experience (HOPE) with Fertility Services Act. This bipartisan proposal aims to improve access to infertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Every year, thousands of babies are born in the United States thanks to IVF. Unfortunately, there are many more couples out there struggling with infertility who want to have children but can’t afford the procedure. I’ve been working on legislation to address this issue since last year, gathering feedback from my colleagues to build a strong coalition of bipartisan support.

I’m proud to officially introduce the HOPE with Fertility Services Act, which will help more Americans start or grow their families and experience one of the greatest gifts and joys in life. As a proud mother of twin daughters, I’ll keep working across the aisle to improve health care access and affordability for women.

Learn more:

TAGGING ALONG WITH PORTLAND POLICE, LISTENING TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AT ROUNDTABLE

On Monday, I had the opportunity to ride along with Portland police from the East Precinct. A special thanks to Sergeant Anderson for helping arrange it, Officers Ciri and Stevens for letting me tag along, and Officer Jenson for the delicious coffee!

We had a wide-ranging conversation before heading out, covering everything from the need for better officer recruitment strategies to their stolen vehicle operations and retail theft missions. We also discussed homelessness and the need for a better system to track available beds. If there aren’t enough beds available, police are hamstrung in their efforts to help the homeless off the streets – making it easier for the unhoused population to go down a path of drug use and addiction. Unfortunately, officers aren’t always made aware of all the resources that are available. Working to improve information sharing will be something I look into moving forward.

On the ride along, we were able to see a lot in just a short time – it probably won’t surprise many of you to know that it was pretty easy to find a street corner with homeless individuals who had a history of drug use. We met one man who had been on the street for 29 years. This person told us he goes through about $60 of fentanyl a day and isn’t interested in pursuing addiction treatment.

We headed down a few blocks, where the officers stopped to clear an encampment on private property. At the other end of the lot, we met someone who moved down to Portland so he could trade in bottles and cans to support his drug habit. Finally, one of our last stops was to help PBOT clean a truck that had been illegally parked. The owner had refused to move despite receiving multiple warnings.

I learned a lot from this experience – it’s clear that our officers are overworked due to staffing shortages brought on by the “Defund the Police” movement; they are very compassionate despite all the political attempts to make it harder for them to do their jobs; soft-on-crime policies have hindered their ability to hold people accountable and uphold the basic societal rules that allow our communities to function; and bolstering mental health and addiction treatment services need to be a top priority for policymakers.

I look forward to taking what I learned with me back to D.C., telling their stories, and continue working to support our law enforcement community in Congress. I’m proud to lead bipartisan legislation like the DIRECT Care for the Homeless Act addressing the intersection of homelessness, mental health, and substance use disorders. Additionally, I’m a proud cosponsor of the Supporting the Health and Safety of Law Enforcement Act, which would help improve outcomes for calls related to mental health emergencies by providing grant funding to improve coordination between law enforcement and community health centers. To help with officer recruitment, I was proud to support the bipartisan Recruit and Retain Act, which has been signed into law.

After the ride along, I drove down to Salem and held a roundtable with local law enforcement from across the 5th District. Participants included Oregon State Police Captain Kyle Kennedy, Clackamas County Sheriff Angela Brandenburg, Linn County Sheriff Michelle Duncan, Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter, Silverton Chief of Police Todd Engstrom, and Silverton Police Captain Mark Gaither. I want to extend another thank you to all of them for taking time out of their days to join me.

It was a very informative conversation, and I enjoyed hearing their unique perspectives on the challenges facing their communities. Some of the topics were similar to what I heard from the Portland police, such as struggles related to officer recruitment and bringing back accountability to address the addiction crisis. Other topics were unique – we heard from the Oregon State Police that substances are now overtaking alcohol as the number one cause of fatal accidents. Silverton police expressed concerns relating to improving radio communications among agencies, and sheriffs’ concerns ranged from funding for search-and-rescue efforts to tackling violent and organized retail crimes.

In total, I’ve signed on to 46 bills relating to public safety and have led five of my own – covering everything from fentanyl to retail theft. I’ll keep working with my colleagues across the aisle to be a strong advocate for improving public safety by fully supporting our men and women in blue.

FEDERAL FUNDING COMING TO CENTRAL OREGON TO HELP EXPAND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $5 million grant for affordable housing projects in Bend!

I was glad to help secure this funding and will keep working to reduce homelessness and improve access to housing for Oregonians.

POLL RESULTS FROM TUESDAY’S TOWN HALL

Thank you to the thousands of Oregonians who joined my tele-town hall Tuesday evening! You all had a lot of good questions on everything from protecting Social Security & combating the fentanyl crisis to improving education & securing the border.

As promised, here are the results of the three poll questions:

MEETING OREGONIANS

It was great to meet students from Rex Putnam High School this week! I also had the pleasure of speaking with Oregon FFA members who were in D.C. for the annual Washington Leadership Conference. Thank you for everything you do to advocate for Oregon ag!

Additionally, I loved having the opportunity to meet our 2024 Congressional Art Competition winner, Rachel Khalili, and her family yesterday! Rachel's artwork will now be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Complex for one year.

Thank you for participating and congratulations on making Oregon proud!

WORKING TO PROTECT CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR SWEET HOME, SECURING WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT FOR CLACKAMAS COUNTY

This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Civil Works Program for projects to improve the nation’s water infrastructure.

As a member of this committee, I was proud to secure several provisions to help prevent contaminated drinking water caused by reservoir drawdowns, upgrade wastewater treatment services in Clackamas County, and support apprenticeships in corrosion prevention projects.

Specifically, the bipartisan bill includes $50 million for Clackamas County to complete water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades, which would help improve water quality before discharging into the Willamette River. Additionally, it includes language directing the Corps to produce a report on the effects of high turbidity on the Willamette River and recommendations for managing turbidity levels at the Green Peter and Foster Reservoirs -- a key step in preventing communities like Sweet Home from experiencing water contamination from future drawdowns.

Learn more about my priorities that were included by visiting my website:

ONE MORE THING!

It was fun to take the field Wednesday night with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the Congressional Women’s Softball Game to raise money for young adults battling breast cancer!

Thank you for reading my weekly newsletter. It's an honor to be your voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. Your thoughts, concerns, and comments are very important to me. Always feel free to get in touch by calling (202) 225-5711 or by visiting my website at chavez-deremer.house.gov.

Sincerely,