Dear Neighbors,
I hope this message finds you well. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact my office by calling (847) 413-1959, emailing me at [email protected], or sending a message through my website at https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/contact/email. For more frequent updates, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi discusses the impact of the OBBBA on MSNBC. (Click the image above to watch the full interview.)
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Last Tuesday, I joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Chicago to discuss the impacts of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and how it will negatively affect critical social safety net programs and the Illinoisans who depend on them. This legislation represents one of the largest cuts to social programs in American history. It will strip 17 million Americans of their health care; it cuts funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); it defunds Planned Parenthood and restricts reproductive health care nationwide; and it cuts Pell Grants and makes it harder for young people to afford to go to college. To add insult to injury, the OBBBA gives a tax cut to the ultra-wealthy and will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
This fight is deeply personal to me. My family depended on food stamps and public housing for a time when I was a child, and the generosity of the American people through these programs helped my family and me achieve the American Dream. Without these critical programs, I fear that other families will see their opportunity to complete their own American Dream slip away. As I said following the passage of the OBBBA, this is a setback, but not the end. I’m committed to speaking out against these challenges and irresponsible cuts, and I will keep pushing for accountability and for the programs millions of Americans depend on.
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Congressman Krishnamoorthi speaks about the dangers of the Republican OBBBA during a roundtable discussion with the ACLU.
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Last week, I joined with Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA) and 10 other members of Congress to introduce the bipartisan PBM Reform Act, legislation that will protect patients and independent pharmacies from harmful market practices used by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). More than 80 percent of all prescription drugs are filled by pharmacies associated with the three largest PBMs: Caremark Rx, Express Scripts, and Optum Rx. This has allowed these large PBMs to corner the market, driving smaller, independent pharmacies out of business while also clearing the way for them to drive up the costs of prescriptions, including drugs used to treat serious medical conditions such as HIV and cancer. In 2024, more than 2,000 local and independent pharmacies across Illinois closed, forcing Illinoisans, particularly those in rural areas, to switch from their trusted local pharmacy to a large chain.
On Tuesday, I introduced the bipartisan Fair Pharmacies for Federal Employees Act with Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN). Our bill would prohibit federal employee health plans from contracting with entities that both own or control pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and operate pharmacies, an arrangement that enables anti-competitive self-dealing and inflates drug costs to maximize profits. By leveraging the federal government’s enormous purchasing power to confront these vertically integrated giants, our legislation aims to establish a proven model for reform, one that curbs PBM abuses, restores fair market competition, and helps lower prescription drug costs for all Americans. You can read more about my PBM Reform Act here and more about my Fair Pharmacies for Federal Employees Act here.
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Last week, I joined with Congressman Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in calling on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to explain his recent decision at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In early June, Secretary Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel tasked with overseeing vaccines and immunizations. His hand-picked new members, some of whom have expressed concerning vaccine-skeptic views, have already gone against the advice of most public health officials by refusing to recommend certain flu vaccines and announcing it would review the child immunization schedule.
The ACIP panel has long been a non-partisan, science-based committee that has worked with public health officials to ensure the health and safety of all Americans. The decision to elevate anti-vaccine activists who push misinformation dramatically undermines America’s public health at a time when the nation is witnessing its worst measles outbreak this century. If attacks on independent public health institutions continue, kids will miss more school, will be less healthy, and could potentially lose their lives from treatable and preventable diseases. You can read my full letter to CDC Chief of Staff Matthew Buzzelli here.
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This Friday, July 18th, my office is partnering with Elk Grove Township to host a Passport Day for residents in need of new passports or renewals. The event will take place from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at the Elk Grove Township Meeting Hall, located at 600 Landmeier Road in Elk Grove Village. No appointments are necessary, and passport photos will be available on-site for $10. English-, Spanish-, and Polish-speaking agents will be on hand to assist. For a list of documents you’ll need to bring, call 847-437-0300 or visit the State Department’s website here.
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The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter (X) here, my Facebook page here, my Instagram here, my Threads here, and my Bluesky here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.
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