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Rep Anna Eshoo

Anna's Weekly Report - November 19, 2021

November 19, 2021
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Friday 19 November 2021
Weekly Report From Your Congresswoman

This week House Democrats came together (finally!) to pass the Build Back Better Act, legislation that lives up to its name by making the largest investment in the people of our country in more than half a century.Dear friends,

As Chairwoman of the Health Subcommittee, I'm proud that the bill allows Medicare to negotiate the prices it pays for prescription drugs, just as the VA has for many years. The bill also caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors at $2,000 annually, caps the monthly price of insulin for patients with diabetes at $35, expands the Affordable Care Act to lower insurance premiums by an average of $600 per person per year, and brings health insurance coverage to 4 million uninsured Americans.

We voted to tackle the climate crisis with the largest clean energy investment in our country's history. Climate change poses an existential threat to our country and our planet, and this bill recognizes the scale of these problems by putting the U.S. on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and meet our climate goals under the Paris Agreement.

The legislation dramatically lowers the cost of childcare and makes Pre-K universal for all 3 and 4 year olds in our country, with the vast majority of American families paying no more than seven percent of their income on childcare. We also voted to improve elder care by investing $150 billion to provide quality home-based care for seniors and people with disabilities.

The bill also guarantees four weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers so families can care for loved ones during medical emergencies and mothers can recover and spend time with their babies after childbirth.

Every American family with an income of less than $150,000 will continue to receive monthly payments from the expanded Child Tax Credit for another year. This tax credit has already lifted three million children out of poverty.

Very importantly, the bill restores deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT). Prior to the harmful $10,000 cap that was put into place in the 2017 Trump tax cut law, my constituents claimed an average SALT deduction of $63,083. This bill raises the cap to $80,000 until 2030, without adding a cent to the deficit.

All these policies are fully paid for without raising taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year. Revenue is raised through a new 15 percent minimum tax on businesses that report more than $1 billion in profits to shareholders. This ends the shameful practice of large, profitable businesses paying zero in income taxes. It also raises taxes on the wealthiest 0.02 percent of Americans with a 5 percent surtax on incomes of more than $10 million and a further 3 percent on incomes over $25 million. Finally, the bill provides robust funding for IRS tax enforcement to crack down on tax cheats which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will raise $207 billion in revenue.

The Build Back Better Act is an economic launching pad for the middle class and working families.

Update on Vaccines

This week the FDA announced that every person 18 years or older can receive a booster shot. This expands eligibility for tens of millions of people. Once the CDC signs off on this new and sensible policy which is expected today, any adult who received a second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago is eligible to get a booster as soon as this weekend. Dr. Fauci stated at our Virtual Town Hall Meeting last week that the efficacy of booster shots is highly favorable to prevent people from getting infected and he strongly recommended everyone get their booster shot.

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If you or your children age five and older have not been vaccinated yet or want to get a booster shot, you can sign up immediately for an appointment at your County's website below. Families are also encouraged to check with their primary care physician or their local pharmacy to see if they're offering vaccine appointments for children as well.

San Mateo CountySanta Cruz CountySanta Clara County

Legislation Anna Introduced and Cosponsored This Week

The Online Privacy Act

This week I introduced the Online Privacy Act, comprehensive legislation that creates user data rights, places limitations and obligations on companies collecting and using user data, and establishes the Digital Privacy Agency (DPA) to enforce privacy laws. Too often our private information online is stolen, abused, used for profit, or grossly mishandled. My legislation will restore and protect the American people's right to privacy by ensuring every person has control over their own data, that companies are held accountable for privacy intrusions, and that the government provides tough but fair enforcement. Public interest groups have called this bill the strongest bill introduced in the House or Senate, and I'm proud of all the support my legislation has received.

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Resolution

This week I co-introduced a bipartisan resolution to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and to support the designation of November as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. No early detection test is yet available for pancreatic cancer and as a result, by year's end pancreatic cancer will have killed an estimated 48,220 Americans. This deadly cancer is the third largest cause of cancer-related death in our country, and an estimated 60,430 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year.

Restore Honor to Service Members Act

Prior to the repeal of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in 2011, more than 100,000 service members are estimated to have been discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation. Many of these veterans were dishonorably discharged, limiting their ability to access VA benefits. Veterans dishonorably discharged because of their sexual orientation are able to correct their military records to restore honorable discharge status, however, many are not aware of this process and others struggle to prove they were dismissed because of their sexual orientation.

This bill, which I've cosponsored, enhances existing efforts to correct the military records of LGBTQ veterans by establishing a team within the Defense Department to conduct outreach to veterans about the status correction process. The bill also directs military historians to study the circumstances of discharges related to sexual orientation and make their findings available to veterans seeking to correct their records. Lastly, the bill requires the military to review status correction requests from all veterans, including those who cannot produce documentation showing they were discriminated against.

Major Votes in the House This Week

Censure of Rep. Paul Gosar

As Members of Congress, every day we go to work we represent hundreds of thousands of constituents in our districts. We bring their voices to the halls of the Capitol building, the tabernacle of our democracy, and we work and speak on their behalf. When Congressman Paul Gosar used his platform on the national stage to share an animated video of himself killing a Congresswoman and attacking President Biden, it fell on those of us in Congress to hold him accountable and uphold the integrity of the U.S. House of Representatives. That's why we voted to censure Rep. Gosar, one of the most severe forms of punishment in the House, and stripped him of his committee assignments.

Advancing Important Health Bills

The Energy and Commerce Committee this week voted on 12 bipartisan bills, including 8 bills that were passed by the Health Subcommittee I chair. We advanced children's health legislation to reduce the impact of childbirth, newborn hearing loss, and birth defects; bills that improve cardiac care and oral health literacy; and a provision to provide loan repayment for health care workers. We also voted on major health legislation to advance treatments for ALS patients, allowing more patients to receive experimental medicines through compassionate care programs. These bills will now move to the floor of the House for a vote.

You can watch the markup of these bills HERE.

Town Hall Meeting

Last week I hosted a Virtual Town Hall Meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, to discuss Covid-19. Over 2,000 constituents participated and we answered dozens of questions. If you missed the meeting you can watch the recording HERE.

This week I returned to my regular weekly Telephone Town Hall Meeting with constituents in Campbell, Saratoga, and Monte Sereno. Dr. David A. Relman, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, was our special guest. We discussed Covid-19, legislation I'm working on, and the infrastructure legislation.

If you missed the meeting you can listen to it HERE. Stay tuned for an invite to next week's Telephone Town Hall Meeting.

In the Words of My Constituents

Every week hundreds of my constituents call and write to me to express their concerns, share their passions, and ask questions regarding legislation and policies. Over 134,521 constituents have contacted me so far this year. I actually read every communication and every constituent receives a personal response to their specific questions and comments from me. This week, 3,533 constituents contacted my office about issues including:

  • 562 messages in support of the Build Back Better Act
  • 161 messages in support of censuring and expelling Rep. Paul Gosar for his violent post on social media
  • 141 messages in support of including paid family leave in the Build Back Better Act

Newspaper Articles About Anna's Work

Anna's Recommended Reading

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I close with this thought. Always know how deeply grateful I am for the trust you've placed in me to represent you.

Sincerely,
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Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress