Amodei Report: June Wrap Up - Health Care, Immigration, FY 20 Funding Bills

Immigration Update

House Votes on Supplemental Humanitarian Aid Package to Address Border Crisis

After eight weeks of House Republicans calling on Speaker Pelosi to allow a vote on an emergency humanitarian aid package, legislation is finally heading to the President’s desk.

I’m pleased to have joined the majority of my colleagues in the House last night in support of this bill. This supplemental funding measure was passed at a critical moment, as our border patrol officers are currently spread too thin and our facilities are inundated. The funding included in this bill will provide much-needed resources to properly secure our border, process immigration cases, investigate human traffickers, and ensure migrant families and children receive quality medical care and shelter.

While I’m pleased Congress has finally taken action, I’m still deeply troubled by House Democrats’ refusal to act until the eleventh hour, blocking 18 separate attempts from House Republicans to bring up legislation that would have delivered relief weeks ago. I find it completely unacceptable for Congress to take nearly 60 days to pass such critical legislation, and House Democrat leaders should not let this happen again – especially when there are lives at risk.

Although we were able to reach a compromise before funds were nearly exhausted, our work here is not done. When it comes to this issue, we must not forget our nation’s immigration system is still in serious need of repair. In fact, the extent of this crisis can largely be attributed to the fact that it’s been nearly 40 years since Congress has made any substantial reforms to our broken immigration system.

If anything, I hope these last several weeks will serve as a reminder of how our legislative process can work when we actually place the issues ahead of the politics and do what’s right for our country.

H.R. 6 – The American Dream and Promise Act of 2019

As you may know, the House recently voted on legislation surrounding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants. Based on the unique circumstances of each of these categories of immigrants, and the track record they have established as valuable members of their communities, I believe these individuals are viewed, by most, as being individuals who are deserving of meaningful policy reforms that will provide certainty.

Unfortunately, H.R. 6 is not that solution because House Democrat leaders included provisions in the bill that would block law enforcement officials from accessing criminal databases currently used to identify violent offenders and gang members. The section is so narrowly tailored that it will almost never exclude gang affiliates from obtaining a green card. The bill would also allow criminal aliens with multiple convictions – including DUI and firearm offenses – to be eligible for green cards. Republicans offered multiple amendments to fix these problems during the markup of this bill. Unfortunately, Democrats voted against all of them. I find it incredibly disrespectful to group hundreds and thousands of deserving individuals with violent gang members and convicts.

Please see below for more information surrounding the criminal enforcement portion of H.R. 6:

In addition to the nearly 418,000 TPS holders currently in the U.S. pursuant to the 10 TPS designations currently in effect, H.R. 6 gives green cards to aliens in the U.S. or outside the U.S. who were “eligible” but never applied for TPS, or who applied late. Aliens who received TPS under one of the three designations President Obama terminated (Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia) would be eligible for green cards even if they have already left the U.S. Aliens are also eligible for green cards if they currently have DED, or if they would have never been “eligible” for DED.

Health Care Update

It’s now been a decade since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law, and our nation’s health care system still remains a top concern for American workers and businesses. Unfortunately, Congress has failed to deal with the issue. As long as congressional inaction continues, administrations on both sides of the political spectrum will be forced to step in to deliver relief to Americans hit the hardest by higher premiums and fewer choices.

We’ve seen our current Administration do this as recently as last summer with the expansion of Association Health Plans, making it easier for employers to offer their workers affordable care at a lower cost. Elsewhere, President Trump is taking additional action to lower healthcare costs by bringing much-needed transparency to the system, arming patients and consumers with more information and promoting competition.

Putting Patients First Through Price Transparency

Earlier this week, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at improving price, quality, and transparency throughout our nation’s health care system. Specifically, the President’s proposal would empower patients by providing them with more information, such as the specific prices associated with their medical procedures. Under current law, such rates like cost of care and out-of-pocket expenses are difficult for patients to review prior to receiving medical care.

The idea is, if people have the ability to shop around for the type of care that fits their unique medical and financial needs, it will increase choice and competition within the market to ultimately drive down costs.

Click here to learn more about the specific measures included in President Trump’s Executive Order.

Appropriations Update

This week, the House voted on two large funding packages for Fiscal Year 2020, H.R. 3055, which includes the Commerce, Justice & Science; Agriculture, Rural Development & Food and Drug Administration; Interior & Environment; Military Construction & Veteran Affairs; and Transportation, Housing & Urban Development appropriations bills, and H.R. 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act.

Similar to H.R. 2740, the Labor; Health & Human Services; Education; Defense; State & Foreign Operations; and Energy & Water Minibus that passed out of the House last week, these packages are also written to unrealistic topline funding numbers. Meaning, without a bipartisan-negotiated budget caps agreement, these packages contain funding levels that are billions of dollars above current budget caps.

Additionally, there is still no consensus on a budget agreement for Fiscal Year 2020, which could lead to sequestration and result in devastating cuts to defense and domestic programs. I’m hopeful that recent discussions with the Administration will soon lead to Congress settling on a reasonable budget caps agreement, and that these concerns will be resolved in a final appropriations package.

Washington Visitors:

It’s always nice to see familiar faces while I’m in Washington. Below are some of the Nevadans I recently met with. Thanks for stopping by!

Nevada Rural Electric Students


National Council on Aging


Nevada Music Educators Association


Bobbi Shanks (Spring Creek, NV) - Nevada Nurses Association

In Case You Missed It: Reno’s Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Ribbon Cutting

Thank you to everyone who recently came out to the ribbon cutting for the newly constructed entrance to Reno’s Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Cemetery. It was an honor to host this ceremony alongside the American Legion Post 1, the City of Reno, and the Nevada AGC, all of whom were instrumental in getting this project off the ground. Although the entrance is just the beginning of this project, it’s the first step toward making the cemetery befitting of these war heroes and their families. I send my sincerest thanks to all those involved for teaming up with my office to honor these service members with the respect they deserve.