Congresswoman Tenney's Weekly Newsletter Have questions? Contact Me Here Fighting to Hold Big Tech Accountable This week, I signed Congressman Ken Buck’s discharge petition to force a vote on the House Floor on the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act. This is an important bill to hold Big Tech companies accountable by giving states more power in the litigation of antitrust cases. It will ensure that Big Tech does not push cases to venues of their choice, thereby tipping the balances of justice in their favor. This is a bipartisan bill that passed out of the House Judiciary Committee last year by a 34-7 vote. This year, it was supported in a letter by 48 state attorneys general, including 24 Republicans and 24 Democrats. This is a commonsense measure that both Republicans and Democrats can get behind to hold Big Tech giants like Facebook and Twitter accountable. These companies dominate the digital public square and they continue to use their outsized influence to strangle competition and silence diverse viewpoints. As a member of the House GOP Big Tech Censorship and Data Task Force, I am continuing to lead the fight to protect our First Amendment rights, hold big tech accountable, and safeguard our personal data. Not only have Facebook and Twitter made a habit of censoring conservatives online and harvesting our private data, they've also started playing a partisan role to influence our elections, as I recently exposed. It's time Big Tech plays by the same rules as everyone else, and I am committed to making sure they do. Introduced the Bipartisan Women's Business Centers Improvement Act This week I joined with Congresswoman Sharice Davids to introduce the Bipartisan Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act. The Women’s Business Centers (WBC) program is a national network of entrepreneurship centers that offer low-cost counseling and training to women interested in starting, growing, and expanding small businesses. As a longtime small business owner, I understand the unique challenges women face in starting and growing small businesses, especially in rural areas. The Women’s Business Centers program empowers female entrepreneurs across our communities, helping them cultivate their skills and build their businesses. This bipartisan bill reauthorizes the WBC program through Fiscal Year 2025 and increases the cap on individual center grants for the first time. This bill not only strengthens the program, it also provides additional oversight and good governance measures to increase its effectiveness and accountability. Exposing Attempts by Chinese Entities to Target and Silence American Companies READ MORE: GOP Lawmakers Say Dem Appointees Doing Chinese Spy Firm’s Bidding I joined with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio this week in asking Cheryl Johnson, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Sonceria Ann Berry, Secretary of the U.S. Senate, to reject efforts by Chinese entities to use their offices to silence American companies. Earlier this year, there were reports that Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company (Hikvision) urged these congressional officers to investigate Internet Protocol Video Market (IPVM) for supposed lobbying disclosure violations. In doing so, Chinese state-controlled Hikvision attempted to exploit congressional processes to silence an American company for its unfavorable reporting about the video surveillance company. Attempts to use Congressional ethics rules to silence free speech and dissent must be called out and stopped. Hikvision is a Chinese state-directed surveillance equipment firm and has been shown time and again to be complicit in the Chinese Communist Party’s mass detention and surveillance of Uyghur populations. Their cynical effort to intimidate IPVM, an American small business, should not be tolerated. Congress and its officers should not entertain this smear campaign and should be aware that other companies may try to replicate these efforts in the future. The full text of our letter is available here. Highlighting Our Local Small Businesses In a House Small Business Committee hearing on Wednesday, I took a moment to highlight upstate New York small businesses within the creative economy and to recognize the widespread challenges that so many of our businesses are still facing in the wake of last year's COVID-19 lockdowns. I also recognized our region's deep roots within the arts industry, noting individuals like Dick Clark, who once called our beautiful region home! Demanding Answers from the Biden Administration About Its Opaque and Overreaching Federal Election Order READ MORE: House Republicans Demand Investigation Into Biden’s Order To ‘Promote Voter Registration’ As co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, I joined with Congressmen Ted Budd, Mike Garcia, and over thirty of our colleagues in a letter to Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young. The letter seeks answers about President Biden’s recent unilateral attempt to federalize elections through an Executive Order (EO) that empowers unrelated federal agencies to craft and execute plans related to voting and elections. Voting is one of our most sacred rights as Americans. Efforts to federalize our elections and empower shady third-party organizations to meddle in the process are not only unconstitutional, but they also diminish the power of the vote and the American people’s confidence in our electoral process. The Administration should be transparent about this EO, openly address concerns regarding the role that left-wing activists played in crafting it, and immediately release any formal plans to the American people. The full text of the letter is available here. Urging Secretary Blinken to Re-List Iran-Backed Houthis as Foreign Terrorist Organization READ MORE: Pressure Mounts on Biden Admin To Reapply Sanctions on Iran-Backed Houthis Yesterday, as a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I led a group of my colleagues in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken again urging him to reconsider the decision to de-list the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The Biden Administration de-listed the Houthis last year. This letter, which follows a similar letter I sent in March 2021, comes on the heels of the deadliest attack on United Arab Emirates soil in recent years by Houthi fighters in the region. The Houthis continue to de-stabilize the region and reject good-faith efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict there. Unfortunately, the only people who are not paying attention are President Biden and Secretary Blinken. We must be clear-eyed about what’s happening in Yemen – the Houthis continue to act like a terrorist organization and engage in terrorist activity. I urge this Administration in the strongest of terms to re-designate the Iran-backed Houthis as an FTO and SDGT before they target more innocent civilians. I want to thank all those who joined me in sending this letter, including Michael McCaul, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Reps. Joe Wilson (SC-2), Scott Perry (PA-10), Darrell Issa (CA-50), Brian Mast (FL-18), Tim Burchett (TN-2), Gregory Steube (FL-17), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), and Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27). The full text of the letter is available here. Standing for Life: A+ Rating from SBA This week I was honored to receive an A+ rating from the Susan B. Anthony List on their National Pro-Life Scorecard. In Congress, I am committed to supporting pro-life policies, like the Hyde Amendment, which ensures taxpayer dollars are not spent on abortion. Life begins at conception and it is more important than ever that Americans stand together to fight for the lives of the unborn. My Votes Explained I'm committed to restoring transparency to government, which is why I explain every vote I take on the House floor. While we may not always agree, you will always know where I stand on the issues and how I vote in Congress. To read more about my votes, please click here. I voted “Yes” on S. 2959, the Supplemental Impact Aid Flexibility Act. This bipartisan bill will allow schools that disproportionally serve military families, Native American communities, and areas with a high proportion of federal land to have the resources they need to provide for their students. After the upheaval of the past two years, we need commonsense flexibly to allow our children to get back to normal and return to the classroom. This bill passed the House by a vote of 414-6. I voted “Yes” on S.452, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Willie O'Ree, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions and commitment to hockey, inclusion, and recreational opportunity. Willie O’Ree was the first black player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played as a winger for the Boston Bruins in the 1960-61 season. O’Ree is often referred to as the “Jackie Robinson of ice hockey” for breaking the color barrier and opening opportunities for future players and hockey enthusiasts around the world. In 1998, he became the NHL’s Director of Youth Development and an ambassador for the NHL Diversity program, allowing him to travel throughout North America to promote grassroots hockey programs and open the sport to disadvantaged children. This legislation passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 426-0. I voted “No” on H.R. 4673, the EVEST Act. This bill would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to automatically enroll eligible separating service members into the VA healthcare system. The VA then would be required to notify veterans of their enrollment status and information on how to disenroll, if they would like. I am firmly committed to ensuring all eligible veterans can easily access quality care through the VA. However, this bill would enroll veterans in the VA care system without their knowledge or consent leading to confusion, administrative burdens, and potential costs and disruptions for veterans. It also could have a significant impact on wait times, funding, staffing, and infrastructure needs. Congress does not yet fully understand its impacts since there has not been a hearing on the bill during the 117th Congress, barring the VA and Members of Congress the opportunity to share input, including on whether the VA could successfully carry out the bill’s directive. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 265-163. REMINDER: Please Join me for an Upcoming Webinar with Experts from the IRS As part of my ongoing commitment to ensure that the services and resources of the federal government are available to you, I wanted to invite you to a virtual webinar my office will be hosting with guests from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is open to all constituents of NY-22. This seminar comes at the beginning of this year's tax season, which will end on April 18 for New Yorkers. The virtual session will provide an overview of best practices for filing 2021 tax returns, share information about changes for this year, and allow you the opportunity to ask IRS experts your questions. I encourage you to call my office at 315-732-0713 with any questions prior to the webinar to ensure the presentation can be tailored to your specific areas of interest. I hope you will attend this session to learn more about this year’s filing information and ask your questions. Please also feel free to share this invitation with others who may be interested in our community. We are here to serve you! >> Click here to RSVP << Honoring Shirley Waters of Rome This week, I took a moment on the House Floor to recognize Mrs. Shirley Waters of Rome for her leadership and service to our community. Sadly, Mrs. Waters passed away in December 2021. Shirley was a staple in our community for decades as a newspaperwoman, an honorary member of the Order of Saint Barbara and the Northeast Air Defense Sector, a painter, and a mother to her five children. Her legacy will continue to live on in so many ways. To learn more about Shirley's incredible life, read this recent profile in the Rome Sentinel, which was done last year just before her passing. Rest in peace, Shirley. Meeting with Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Committee It was a privilege to speak with members of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Committee on Friday to discuss the state of affairs for businesses in New York's Southern Tier. I appreciate all these business and community leaders do to create jobs and expand opportunities for those in our region. I appreciated taking their questions on a range of important issues, including energy security and tax policy. Have news or updates to share? Email me! If you have updates regarding events in the community or other news to share from across New York's 22nd District, please visit the "Contact Me" page on my website to share it with me. My team will try to include as many of your updates from around #NY22 as we can each week. ‌ ‌ ‌ Rep. Tenney | 1410 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]