This week, my Health Subcommittee held a hearing entitled, "Empowered by Data: Legislation to Advance Equity and Public Health."  The gap in our public health infrastructure was highlighted in a very serious way during the Covid19 pandemic as public health officials worked to crush the virus and families needed information to protect their loved ones.

My critical bill, the Ensuring Transparent Honest Information on COVID-19 (ETHIC) Act would require reporting of COVID-19 data from States, localities, Tribes and territories to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and give the Department of Health and Human Services the tools needed to improve national public health data systems. In Florida, we have seen a troubling pattern of withholding or censoring data regarding nursing home infections and deaths, overall mortality data and more throughout the pandemic. It is dangerous to hide valuable information or cause confusion in health data reporting, and we are working in Congress to ensure that this does not happen again.

H.R. 239 – Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans: Last week, in an affront to female veterans, House Republicans blocked commonsense legislation that would treat female veterans the same as women in uniform and civilians when it comes to access to health care. This week, we voted once more to ensure that our veterans receive the best care after their service and sacrifice for our nation.

H.R.2062 – the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2021 (POWADA): Federal law does not currently protect the 4.8 million 46-64 year-olds in Florida’s workforce in cases of age discrimination, and today the House took action to level the playing field for older workers and restore their rights to fight back against age discrimination. At a time when more Americans are working later in life, I am committed to passing solutions to empower and protect our older neighbors.

S.J.Res. 15 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency relating to “National Banks and Federal Savings Associations as Lenders”: This resolution undoes harm to families by the Trump Administration and nullifies a rule that requires that to be considered a lender, a national bank or federal saving association must, as of the date of origination of the loan (1) be named as the lender in the loan agreement, or (2) fund the loan.

S.J.Res. 13 – Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission relating to "Update of Commission's Conciliation Procedures": This resolution expresses congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the Trump Administration that revises the EEOC settlement process to provide employers with the factual and legal basis that the EEOC relied on to make a reasonable cause finding of a discriminatory practice.