Dear Friend,
Well, it’s been a seriously hectic 140 days since Election Day 2020. Just about every imaginable and unimaginable political happening came to pass, all in the middle of the pandemic of our lives.
There has been an absolute tidal wave of information on everything from A-Z. As always, our challenge is to sort through the deluge to identify fact/truth and ignore falsehoods/lies.
The reason we have not done a newsletter until now is simply due to the political talking point monsoon that took place from elections, election integrity, January 6th, another impeachment proceeding, the inauguration, organizing the new Congress, the change of administrations, the pandemic and the vaccine rollout, and dealing with the rollout of the Pelosi-Schumer-Biden executive order and legislative launch of political operations aimed at an agenda which frankly, bears little or no factual resemblance to the promise of the campaign, inaugural address, interviews, or press releases of the last 140 days.
So, with that auspicious predicate, here we go:
COVID UPDATE
Despite weeks of calling for unity and bipartisanship, President Biden quickly reversed course after assuming office. Not only did he immediately sign several damaging executive orders intended to fulfill far-left campaign promises, but he teamed up with congressional Democrats to fast-track a highly partisan COVID-relief bill. This legislation is so costly and liberal that even Democrats are calling it "the most progressive piece of legislation in history.” Learn more below about the damaging side effects caused by this legislation’s untargeted funding, wasteful spending, and partisan priorities:
Increased Price Tag for American Taxpayers:
- Following the enaction of H.R.1319, Congress has now put nearly $6 trillion in funding toward COVID packages. To put this figure into perspective, this amount of new spending equals $17,000 per American, or $69,000 per family of four. It is also more than the GDP of every other country in the world besides China and the U.S.
Anti-Work Provisions:
- Spends $471 billion on job-crushing policies. More specifically, the continuation of $300 per week in additional Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits through September would mean almost 40% of Americans would earn more from unemployment benefits than from working.
Does Not Encourage Schools to Safely Reopen:
- Provides an additional $130 billion for K-12 education without any requirements that school districts return to in-person learning to receive funds. Only 5% of this funding will be spent this fiscal year.
- Blatantly ignores the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance that notes the cost of safely reopening America’s schools should be approximately $25 billion. To date, the federal government has already provided nearly $70 billion to states for this purpose.
Cuts to Medicare:
- In the course of a year, the federal government has added 25% to the budget deficit. A lot of work was needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and hindsight often plays better than foresight. However, in a rush to not waste a good crisis, the sloppy and politically-craven culture that has advanced with the Democratic majority has produced a certain quality of bills – including this latest stimulus package – which, without bipartisan collaboration, could have caused $367 million a year in cuts experienced by Nevada’s Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, since the stimulus package does not include an offset of the deficit increase in the bill, nationwide, annual Medicare spending would have to be cut by $36 billion starting in FY 2022 and continued over a ten-year period. Due to the bill’s deficit impact, Democrats were forced to do damage control last week through H.R.1886, legislation to prevent across-the-board direct spending cuts.
Additional Lowlights:
- Includes funding to expand certain tax credits, which have been billed as a progressive attempt to move us one step closer to Universal Basic Income, with the government providing monthly checks to individuals.
- Provides a third round of stimulus checks costing approximately $400 billion and will include households that have experienced little or no financial loss during the pandemic. Meaning, without a mechanism for legitimately identifying those who have been financially impacted by COVID, the government continues to spend billions of dollars that could be better spent elsewhere to help individuals who need it most.
- $12 billion for foreign aid. This is in addition to the more than $30 billion in foreign aid included in the omnibus passed in December. While $12 billion does not seem like a lot in the landscape of a $1.9 trillion package, it is crucial to remember that this is all borrowed money being expended.
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
When it comes to America’s immigration system, it’s not news to anyone that Dreamers are a special category of individuals who are viewed by most as being deserving of meaningful policy reforms that will provide certainty.
The only reason we have not been able to fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for Dreamers is not because the solutions aren’t out there, but because political operatives insist on using Dreamers as a vehicle for irresponsible and progressive policies.
A perfect example is H.R.6, an immigration bill the House voted on last week. Simply put, H.R. 6 is Groundhog Day. By titling the legislation the “Dream and Promise Act of 2021,” Democrats are hoping you won’t notice the fact that it will actually block law enforcement officials from accessing criminal databases currently used to identify violent offenders and gang members. In fact, this section of the bill 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. Finally, this bill will not only cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars, but it will further incentivize illegal immigration while enacting zero meaningful policy reforms to provide Dreamers with the certainty they deserve. I find it incredibly disrespectful to group these deserving individuals with violent gang members and convicts.
H.J.RES.17 – RESOLUTION TO RATIFY THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA)
Historical Context: In 1972, the 92nd Congress passed a resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution. That resolution, known as the ERA, was designed to guarantee that equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the federal government or by the states on the basis of sex. As required under the Constitution, any amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. However, the 1972 ERA failed to achieve ratification by the seven-year time limit established by Congress, and even with a constitutionally dubious extension to the ratification period to 1982, no additional states ratified during that period. Last week’s resolution seeks to retroactively remove the previously imposed deadline for the ratification of the ERA with the approval of a simple majority in the House. Keep in mind, this deadline was originally required to be passed by a two-thirds majority.
When discussing this issue, it’s interesting to note that the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also saw issues with the Democrats’ approach stating: "I'd like it to start over. There's too much controversy about latecomers – Virginia (ratifying in January 2020), long after the deadline passed. Plus, several have withdrawn their ratification. So, if you count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said, 'We've changed our minds?'"
The Bottom Line: House Republicans welcome a conversation about the best ways to protect women’s rights. However, there is a right way to go about doing that, and I must agree with the late Justice Ginsburg on this one – H.J.Res.17 is simply not it.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA)
Originally, VAWA was enacted to help prevent domestic violence, provide resources for law enforcement officials, and provide services for victims. When it was first enacted in 1994, domestic violence was considered a hidden crime. Today, domestic violence is still far too prevalent, impacting women at significantly higher rates than men. As the proud father of two daughters, this is an issue that is a top priority of mine. As such, since I was elected to Congress, I have always voted in favor of VAWA reauthorization when the bill adheres to its original mission of protecting women. At times, I have even broken from the majority of my Conference to support VAWA.
Unfortunately, H.R.1620, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021, falls far short of meeting these goals. In fact, the bill actually makes it more difficult to prevent future crimes because it:
- Jeopardizes the ability to protect victims by strongly discouraging compelling victim testimony and discourages the use of bench warrants;
- Endangers the safety and privacy of female prisoners, women, and girls in shelters by allowing biological males to access and utilize female-only facilities;
- Defines domestic violence as a “pattern of behavior,” thereby excluding prosecution for isolated domestic violence events; and
- Expands the list of those permanently prohibited from purchasing or owning firearms to those convicted of non-violent misdemeanor stalking. Further, it allows for the issuance of a temporary restraining order - imposed without notification, hearing, or right of appeal, and be renewed indefinitely - to preclude one’s Second Amendment rights.
This is another instance of turning every policy need into a Trojan Horse to advance a political agenda. If policy could come before partisanship, H.R.1892, Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) clean one-year VAWA reauthorization, of which I am a cosponsor, would pass under suspension in the House. Instead, the likelihood of H.R.1620 becoming law, especially with the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, is exceedingly slim. That said, Senate Republicans led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), are working on their own version of a VAWA reauthorization in a bid for much-needed compromise. I hope that a bipartisan VAWA reauthorization is produced from these efforts, passed out of the Senate, and that I have the chance to vote on it in the House.
ELECTION INTEGRITY – PELOSI POWER GRAB
Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leadership are currently attempting to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) and have signaled to the American public that they are willing to undermine the will of Iowa voters.
As you may know, in November, the bipartisan Iowa State Board of Canvassers certified Rep. Miller-Meeks’s victory after her opponent, Democrat Rita Hart, requested a recount which decreased Rep. Miller-Meeks’s lead to six votes. Since November’s recount, Ms. Hart has asked the House Administration Committee to overturn the outcome, despite having failed to challenge the certification in state court.
When considering the state of play, it’s important to note that although Democrats have maintained their majority in the House for the 117th Congress, it’s at a margin much narrower than the majority they maintained in the 116th – and it doesn’t appear the Speaker’s numbers problem is going to cure itself anytime soon. Now, in an attempt to increase her razor-thin majority, Speaker Pelosi is attempting to steal the race by unseating Rep. Miller-Meeks. This is also a good time to reflect on H.R. 1, the elections reform bill the House passed earlier this month that attempts to rig our nation’s election system in one party’s favor, removing the state legislators, that you elect, from the elections process and making them minions of the federal government.
The only way Speaker Pelosi could widen Democrat’s margin in the House is by ousting Rep. Miller-Meeks and replacing her with Ms. Hart – setting a dangerous precedent moving forward. As the House Administration Committee continues its review of Ms. Hart’s challenge, it should be noted that the Democrats’ attempt to unseat Rep. Miller-Meeks from her position in Congress is the height of hypocrisy.
When Republicans asked the Supreme Court to clarify how and when election rules should be changed according to the U.S. Constitution, Democrats claimed Republicans were trying to "overturn the will of the people." Now, the same Democrats who claimed Republicans were committing an “assault on our Democracy,” apparently have no shame in doing just that when the results aren’t in their favor.
As always, thank you for subscribing to the Amodei Report. I look forward to continuing to keep you up to date on the issues you care about most. For additional information, please visit my website at Amodei.house.gov or call my Washington office: (202) 225-6155, Reno office: (775) 686-5760, or Elko office: (775) 777-7705. To receive updates on what I am doing in Washington and in Nevada’s 2nd District follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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