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Friends, 

The hottest days of summer are upon us, but that's not slowing me down as I work to get Congress to pass bills and policies that will help Iowans and protect our communities.

Over the past few weeks in Washington, I've secured some important wins that I wanted to share with you.

Read on to learn more!

President Biden Signed My Bill to Ensure Crime Victim Programs Have the Resources They Need!

With my colleagues Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Ayanna Pressley, and Senator Amy Klobuchar at the White House on Friday for the signing of our bill to support crime victims

Last week, I joined President Joe Biden at the White House as he signed legislation that I co-sponsored to make critical improvements to victim services programs that receive federal grant funding from the Crime Victims Fund (CVF).

Policy changes at the Department of Justice threatened cuts to CVF grants — which fund services for those who have been impacted by crimes like domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, trafficking, and more.

For me, these potential cuts were unacceptable. That's why I've been pushing Congress to pass a straightforward fix that would prevent them since December.

I was proud to see this bill signed into law to prevent those cuts, shore up the CVF, and offer much-needed flexibility for states and victim service providers looking to help those in need.

Learn more about the bill that just became law, the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act, by clicking here.

Getting Scam Victims Their Money Back

For the past forty years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has fought to return money taken in scams, frauds, and other financial misrepresentations to victims.

In fact — in just the last three years, the FTC has secured repayments for more than 65,000 Iowans.

But a recent Supreme Court ruling took away the FTC's authority to force scammers and other companies that have defrauded Americans to pay back that money.

At a time when reports of fraud and scams are on the rise because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to have every tool necessary to make victims of fraud whole again.

It’s unacceptable that bad actors might be allowed to keep the money they took from unsuspecting Iowans, and that's why I backed legislation that the House passed last week to restore the FTC's power to get folks their money back if they were ripped off.

Learn more about the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act by clicking here.

Ensuring Iowa Farmers are Covered for Derecho Losses

I saw the damage that last year's derecho caused for our farmers up close. I've been fighting ever since to ensure their losses can be covered by federal relief programs.

Last year, Iowans learned the name of a new kind of threat to our communities: the derecho.

In a matter of minutes, extreme winds tore through our state – devastating our communities and damaging hundreds of thousands of acres of crops just before harvest.

Iowans have been resilient in rebuilding after that terrible day – and I’ve been working in Washington ever since to ensure that our federal disaster programs are in place to make our communities, families, and farmers whole again.

This week, my colleagues and I on the House Agriculture Committee passed a long-overdue fix to reauthorize the disaster relief program that covers agricultural losses - including the fix I've worked toward that ensures folks affected by last year's derecho are covered.

Learn more by clicking here.

Protecting Access to Clean Drinking Water in Iowa

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals - commonly known as PFAS - have been linked to adverse health effects including cancer and impaired child development, and represent a clear and urgent public health threat to Iowa — especially to the young children and expectant mothers who could face lifelong effects if exposed to these harmful pollutants through our drinking water.

I want to ensure our local utilities and community water cleanup efforts have the resources they need to clean up these toxic 'forever' chemicals - and that's why I joined my colleagues last week to pass the PFAS Action Act out of the House.

The PFAS Action Act would establish a national drinking water standard for select PFAS chemicals, designate the chemicals as hazardous to enable the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up contaminated sites across the country, and support local utilities and community water systems in cleanup efforts.

Learn more about what the PFAS Action Act will do for Iowa by clicking here.

Whether it's protecting access to clean water or helping those who've been hurt by disasters, crimes, or scams — I'll never stop fighting for Iowans.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Wishing you a healthy, fun, and cool August,

Cindy