Hi Folks!
This week, the House of Representatives held a vote to responsibly fund the government. Representatives also came together to support a bipartisan bill which protects Social Security benefits for millions of Americans and passed legislation to counter harmful sanctuary city policies. Additionally, the House passed a bill to increase security protection for presidential candidates.
Here are the items we'll cover in today's newsletter: - Voting to Fund the Government
- Supporting the Social Security Fairness Act
- Cosponsoring the Stop CMV Act
- Passing the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act
- Joint Subcommittee Hearing on Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reducing Emissions
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A Message from Rep. Brandon Williams:
Our 22nd Congressional District encompasses all of Oneida, Madison, and Onondaga counties, and a sliver of Oswego County. As always, I am working to support families in CNY and the Mohawk Valley, improve our local infrastructure, grow manufacturing, and rein-in energy costs through common sense engineering and business practices. As a Navy Veteran, I stand with and for our veterans. I am protecting Social Security and Medicare for our elderly, and I always speak up for our law enforcement, firefighters, and first responders.
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On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted on a measure which would have funded the government for six months, but the bill failed, with 206 Democrats voting against avoiding a government shutdown.
The deadline to fund the government is still October 1st. I will continue voting to keep the government open, to protect people whose pay relies on the government being funded. The stakes are too high, at home and abroad, for the United States to risk a government shutdown.
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On Thursday, I signed a House petition to force a vote on H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act. The bill protects retirees by repealing the WEP and GPO, which have kept many from fully benefitting from the system they've paid into their entire lives.
Rep. Garret Graves and Rep. Abigail Spanberger have been tireless advocates for this bipartisan legislation, which is the most-cosponsored bill in the House of Representatives. We owe it to our constituents to put the Social Security Fairness Act on the President's desk, and this petition is the best way to do so before the end of the year.
Read more here.
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I also joined 10 Representatives across America as a cosponsor of the Stop CMV Act, which will help to increase access to congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) screening for newborns in hospitals across America.
The legislation authorizes the National Institutes of Health to conduct research into congenital CMV and aims to authorize new funding to incentivize hospitals and other healthcare entities to screen newborns for the virus. The increased screening will both benefit caregivers and further research efforts which will help doctors to better understand and treat CMV.
Roughly one in five infants with congenital CMV will have birth defects or long-term health issues, such as hearing or vision loss, seizures, or developmental and motor delay. Nearly 90% of such infants appear perfectly healthy at birth, and it can take more than two years for any associated health problems to become visible. This is why early screening is so important.
Read more here.
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This week, Rep. Nick LaLota's No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act passed, with a bipartisan majority of votes, through the House of Representatives.
This bill makes cities and states ineligible for any federal funds they intend to use to benefit non-U.S. nationals (i.e., aliens under federal law) who are unlawfully present if the jurisdiction withholds information about citizenship or immigration status or does not cooperate with immigration detainers.
Specifically, such funds would be denied to any jurisdiction that has a law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any government entity from: - maintaining, sending, or receiving information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual;
- exchanging information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status with a federal, state, or local government entity;
- complying with a valid immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); or
- notifying DHS about an individual's release from custody.
The funding restriction would not apply to any law, policy, or practice that only applies to an individual who comes forward as a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense.
Read more here.
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On Thursday, I served as the chairman of a Joint Hearing between the Subcommittees on Energy and the Environment, for the purpose of discussing various approaches to marine carbon dioxide removal and its impact on efforts to reduce emissions.
Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) is an ascendant solution for long-term carbon dioxide storage. The ocean has the potential to hold up to 50x more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere, with the potential to become a vital, environmentally-friendly component of American energy independence.
The federal government has been working to build an understanding of mCDR, but is still in the early stages of determining how we might use it as a cost-effective, energy efficient carbon removal solution.
During the hearing, we spoke with witnesses with expertise in various approaches to mCDR, including nutrient fertilization, ocean alkalinity enhancement, and direct ocean capture. These approaches vary in the amount of carbon dioxide they can sequester, as well as the duration of storage. These different approaches are at different tech readiness levels and different stages of commercialization, but they all have the potential to mitigate hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
American energy independence hinges on our ability to identify opportunities like these and innovate accordingly.
Read more here.
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If you are experiencing difficulty with a federal agency, my office can help.
Trained caseworkers can assist with agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. While we cannot guarantee a favorable outcome, we will do our best to help you receive a fair and timely response to your problem.
NY-22 residents can contact our Syracuse (315-233-4333) or Utica (315-732-0713) offices for assistance. You can also submit a request on my website, here.
Thank you for reading this week's wrap-up! |
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Brandon Williams
Member of Congress |
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