Middle class families are really feeling the pinch of the rising costs of drugs and health care while paychecks have not increased much lately. Because the Tampa Bay area lags behind other metro areas when it comes to wages, I always am mindful when policymakers pass along higher costs to working families. The fact that the State of Florida has sided with the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress to eliminate the protections for 130 million Americans with preexisting health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, mental health and other health conditions is very concerning. We cannot return to the days when health insurers could bar people from coverage and condemn them to staggering medical bills or no care at all. Nearly 68 million women and girls nationwide would be targeted, including millions of pregnant women.

Meanwhile, just 4 percent of American workers have seen any kind of one-time bonus or wage increase. More than 60 percent of American voters say the GOP tax law will either have a negative impact or no effect at all on their families – as the wealthy and well-connected rake in their windfalls. Wall Street has been one of the biggest recipients the GOP’s massive giveaways, and will continue to be one of the biggest beneficiaries over the long-run, according to a report from Ernst & Young. Big Pharma companies are hoarding multi-billion dollar GOP payouts, spending tens of billions on buybacks to enrich wealthy shareholders while continuing to hike drug prices that seniors and families need. The debt from the GOP tax law also is growing. The CBO found that the reckless giveaways of the unpaid-for law will add even more to the debt than originally projected – further endangering Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. In fact, the House GOP budget released last week proposed massive cuts to families who rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

Meanwhile, America needs a modern and functioning system of immigration laws. Instead, the GOP is focused on a fevered anti-immigrant bill this week and the President is advocating for the long-term incarceration of families. Republicans in the House are pushing (dead-on-arrival) legislation that holds DREAMers hostage to the President’s wasteful border wall, harsh cutbacks in legal immigration and horrendous conditions for children of asylum seekers: indefinite family detention, an end to ALL court-ordered protections for children’s health and safety such as clean drinking water, working toilets and medical assistance, in a clear violation of children’s human rights, and an end to legal protections that guarantee children access to a judge or lawyer before applying for asylum or being deported.

I am an original cosponsor of the Keeping Families Together Act, which would permanently end the separation of children from their parents. Importantly, the bill includes policies and procedures that would allow parents and children to locate each other and reunite if they have been separated. I called on Energy and Commerce Committee chair, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden to immediately hold a hearing to address the reunification of children forcibly separated from their parents. House Democratic women sent a letter to HHS and DHS Secretaries Azar and Nielsen pressing them to reunify children and parents immediately. We also demanded HHS and DHS Inspectors General conduct an immediate investigation on how the agencies are keeping track of children separated from their parents by Trump’s cruel policy and report on the reunification of parents with their children ASAP. With no action by the GOP in the House, last night House Democratic women held a hearing with the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts to focus on the children and how to best move forward.

This week, Republicans in Congress have scheduled votes on the following bills:

H.R. 6157 – This bill authorizes $674.6 billion to fund the Department of Defense (DoD), including funding for a 2.6 percent boost in pay, $752 million for congressionally directed medical research initiatives for health issues that impact our service members and their families like breast cancer, TBIs and prostate cancer and $35 million for the Sexual Assault Special Victims’ Counsel Program. I introduced a bipartisan amendment to H.R. 6157 with my colleague from Florida, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL), that would prohibit oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico off of Florida, based a great deal on keeping sacrosanct the Military Mission Line. This is a vital training area for our military and the Department of Defense reiterated as late as May 9 of this year that it continues to be a strategic national asset critical to the lethality of our weapon systems and the readiness of our service members.

H.R. 2083 – This bill would amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to issue annual permits to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and six tribal groups to address the threat of sea lions to certain salmon and other fish populations.

Motion to Go to Conference on H.R. 5515 – The House passed the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on May 24 by a 351-66 vote, and the Senate passed the measure on June 18 by a 85-10 vote. The next step is for the House and Senate to vote to go to Conference on the bill, where differences between the House and Senate versions of the NDAA will be worked out into a final package. The House version of this bill authorizes approximately $708 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD), in addition to close to $10 billion in mandatory spending for a total of roughly $718 billion in spending. I helped champion the inclusion of investments at MacDill AFB including a 2.6 percent boost in pay, an expansion in the expertise and faculty at SOCOM’s Joint Special Operations University and $3.1 million for the KC-135 beddown to add flight simulator training at MacDill AFB.