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Resources Committee passes mineral production bill
The House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R.4402, the Natural Strategic and Critical Minerals Protection Act, with bipartisan support, to expand critical mineral production.
I introduced this bill in April because duplicative regulations, bureaucratic inefficiency, and lack of coordination between federal agencies are threatening the economic recovery of the Silver State and jeopardizing our national security by increasing our dependence on foreign sources for needed resources.
I’m thankful for the support of my colleagues in recognizing that the length of the permitting process has a material impact on the minerals industry in Nevada. In the 2012 ranking of countries for mining investment, the United States ranked last in permitting delays.
Stay tuned as the bill moves to the House floor for final passage hopefully this summer.
Stronger protections for domestic violence victims
I voted in favor of H.R. 4970, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2012 (VAWA), of which I am an original cosponsor. The legislation is designed to prevent and prosecute violence against intimate partners, with general language that does not exclude victims of any age, race, sexual orientation or background.
As the father of two daughters, this legislation is very important to me. It increases resources for investigations, prosecutions, and victim services, while strengthening penalties and promoting educational awareness to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. And because good intentions aren't good enough, this version of the bill would help ensure taxpayer resources go to help victims rather than build Washington bureaucracies.
The bill would provide for a five-year reauthorization of every VAWA grant program at the same funding levels as the Senate version (S. 1925). This funding would assist groups like the Reno-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, whose mission is to train judges to understand the unique dynamics of domestic violence and to provide appropriate legal relief to victims and their families.
The bill would also address concerns raised by various Indian tribes that federal prosecutors are failing to pursue cases against non-Indians who commit abuse on tribal lands.
I heard from tribes in my district, including the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Tribal Council, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, and the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe about this issue and I can assure them that this bill would not only provide increased funding for federal law enforcement and prosecutors to pursue these cases, it would also empower Indian victims to seek protective orders in U.S. District Courts against abusers.
Originally signed into law in 1994, VAWA established within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services a number of grant programs for state, local, and tribal governments. DOJ’s Office on Violence against Women, which was established in 1995, administers three formula-based and 14 discretionary grant programs.
Voted to extend rate on new Stafford student loans
I recently voted in favor of H.R. 4628, the Interest Rate Reduction Act, which would prevent, for one year, interest rates increasing on July 1, 2012, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on new federally subsidized Stafford loans to undergraduate students.
The extension would be offset by repealing the Prevention and Public Health “slush” Fund (PPHF), created in ObamaCare. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that preventing the interest rate increase would cost nearly $6 billion, while repealing the PPHF would save $12 billion. The additional $6 billion in savings would go to deficit reduction.
The PPHF, which this vote would repeal, is administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), who has full discretion on how to spend funds without further congressional action or oversight, including even lobbying activities, which is a clear violation of HHS rules governing the use of federal funds for lobbying and political education. It is the equivalent of an executive branch earmark unlimited discretion slush fund and it is bad fiscal policy at its most extreme.
