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Rep Anna Eshoo

Anna's Weekly Update - June 9 2017

June 9, 2017
e-Newsletters

HERE'S WHAT CONGRESS DID THIS WEEK

Voted on H.R. 10, the Financial Choice Act 

Voted: NO

On Thursday, June 8th the House voted on the so-called Financial Choice Act, or as I call it, the Wrong Choice Act, legislation that will eliminate very important financial protections for the American people and undermine the fiscal security of families. It also endangers market stability and undercuts the ability of financial regulators to police threats to the financial system.

This legislation repeals several key reforms from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, including weakening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has helped 29 million consumers who were wronged by financial institutions recover nearly $12 billion in consumer relief since 2010. In my view, this bill will take us right back to the days that brought down our national economy and plunged our country into the Great Depression, which led to 11 million people losing their homes, $13 trillion in wealth lost and caused the unemployment rate to reach a staggering 10% and higher in some areas of the country.

LEGISLATION ANNA CO-SPONSORED THIS WEEK 

House Resolution, Expressing Strong Disapproval of the President's Announcement to Withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement

I joined my House Colleagues in signing a Resolution on the floor of the House condemning the President's deeply irresponsible decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord. With this action, the President has surrendered our American leadership to China on the world stage and put our planet at greater risk of catastrophic sea level rise, severe weather, and other impacts which threaten our health, environment, and national security.

The Automatic Voter Registration Act

This bill would require states to automatically register any individual who obtains services at state motor vehicle departments to vote in Federal elections. California implemented this policy in 2015, and this legislation would take this successful policy nationwide. In the 2016 election, at least 32 million eligible citizens were not registered to vote, and surveys show that close to 90 percent of adults have a driver's license or some other form of government-issued ID.

The Voices for Veterans Act

In honor of the more than one million LGBT veterans that have served in our nation's Armed Forces, my colleagues and I introduced the Voices for Veterans Act. This bill would reauthorize the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans (ACMV) for 2 years and extend the Committee's composition to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) veterans. The ACMV advises the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the needs of minority veterans with respect to compensation, healthcare, rehabilitation, outreach and other VA benefits and services, but has never considered LGBT veterans "minority group members" for the purposes of the ACMV.

LETTERS ANNA COSIGNED THIS WEEK

Letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Student Loan Servicing

I joined my House colleagues in writing to Education Secretary DeVos opposing the Department of Education's recently announced decision to substantially change its policy for selecting a new contractor to service federal student loans. The Department of Education's new policy reduces transparency and eliminates competition between servicers by contracting with a single firm compared to the nine firms that currently service loans. The changes also remove key requirements that would make the loan servicer adhere to standards jointly developed by the Department of Education, Treasury, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in order to reduce rates of delinquency and default. If carried out, these changes will increase delinquency and default, reduce customer service quality, make it more difficult for loan borrowers to manage their loans, and reduce loan servicing accountability, affecting more than 32 million Americans with federally managed student loan debt.

Letter to the Counsel to the President to Improve Cybersecurity at Mar-a-Lago

On June 7th I joined a letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn urging him to take immediate action to improve the state of cybersecurity at the Mar-a-Lago Resort.  Recent reports found significant vulnerabilities at the resort that could be exploited by cyber-criminals. This is particularly concerning given the amount of time the President spends at the Resort.

KEY STATEMENTS

Eshoo Condemns Trump's Decision to Withdraw from Paris Climate Accord (June 1st)

"The President's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement is deeply irresponsible and dangerous. This landmark agreement is a shining example of American leadership on the global stage and our commitments are firmly grounded in U.S. law. With this action, the President has surrendered that leadership and put our planet at greater risk of catastrophic sea level rise, severe weather, and other impacts which threaten our health, environment, and national security." To read the full press release, CLICK HERE

Eshoo Bill Providing Humanitarian Aid to Genocide Victims in Iraq and Syria Passes House (June 8th)

"Tens of thousands of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria continue to face persecution at the hands of ISIS and they need our help now. H.R. 390 will provide urgently needed humanitarian relief to the survivors of what both the Congress and the State Department have labeled as genocide and ensure we hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable" To read the full press release, CLICK HERE

Eshoo Calls for Suspension of Jared Kushner's Security Clearance (May 18th)

"Every day we receive more troubling reports about this Administration's complete disregard for our national security," Congresswoman Eshoo said. "Reports that Jared Kushner met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and Vnesheconombank, and did not report in U.S. disclosure forms that he had participated in these meetings raises national security concerns. He also reportedly asked the Russians to set up secret channels for future meetings. These are material omissions that potentially amount to a criminal offense." To read the full press release, CLICK HERE

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT

On June 7th I joined several House colleagues and dozens of national advocacy organizations in demanding transparency for the American people by calling on the House of Representatives to bring my legislation, the Presidential Tax Transparency Act to the floor of the House for a vote. We also demanded a vote on the Protecting our Democracy Act, legislation which creates an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate any ties that exist between President Trump and Russia.

Nearly 4 million Americans signed a petition to House Leaders, urging them to bring both the Presidential Tax Transparency Act and the Protecting our Democracy Act to the floor of the House for a vote.

In the last year, candidate Donald Trump and now President Trump has amassed dozens of ethical lapses, numerous troubling connections to Russian officials, and countless potential conflicts of interest, all while hiding his full financial information from the public. The American people deserve transparency and facts, and these efforts of millions of Americans are an eloquent expression of those values.

ANNA IN THE NEWS

Palo Alto Weekly- "Dozens rally against Trump's withdrawal from Paris climate agreement" (June 2nd)

"Rep. Anna Eshoo, whose district includes Mountain View, also released a statement on Thursday condemning Trump's decision, calling it a "deeply irresponsible and dangerous" motion that prioritizes politics over country.

"With this action, the President has surrendered that leadership and put our planet at greater risk of catastrophic sea level rise, severe weather and other impacts which threaten our health, environment and national security," she said." To read the full article, CLICK HERE

Newsweek- "4 Million Americans Petition for Independent Investigation of Trump's Russia Ties" (June 7th)

"Nearly 20 progressive organizations rallied in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to call for an independent investigation into the alleged connection between President Donald Trump's administration and Russia.

"Who does he owe money to? How much money does he owe, and to whom?" U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) asked Wednesday during the event.

The groups delivered the petitions on the heels of the weekend's March for Truth, organized nationwide by the Indivisible Project, which has adopted a Tea Party-inspired strategy to take on Trump and his supporters in Congress. In dozens of cities across the country, participants called for a full investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia ahead of Comey's testimony before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday." To read the full article, CLICK HERE

STAYING INFORMED

You can find more press releases, commentary and information on issues at my website, eshoo.house.gov. And please visit YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more ways to stay informed.

Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo