Dear Friend,

Good news: the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, HR 3, passed committee and will soon make its way to the House floor! I encouraged my Energy and Commerce Committee to pass the bill that will allow negotiation for the highest-priced drugs in Medicare and extend the savings to neighbors with private health insurance. I have been championing policies to ensure lower drug prices since before I ran for Congress. To learn more about the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, click here.

Congress can do more beyond HR 3 to lower health care costs for families, and I will press Trump administration official Seema Verma during a hearing this week on the administration’s harmful policies that have increased costs and increased the number of Americans without affordable health insurance, including children. Open enrollment for Medicare (Oct 15-Dec 7) and the Affordable Care Act (Nov 1-Dec 15) health policies is underway and I encourage you to check out and compare options at Medicare.gov and HealthCare.gov.  Local independent SHINE volunteers and USF navigators can help you sort through your best options. Read about the legislation I introduced to stop the expansion of Trump-approved junk plans that often leave family and friends, especially with preexisting conditions, on the hook for massive expenses here.

Climate update: The Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will hold a hearing entitled “Solving the Climate Crisis: Natural Solutions to Cutting Pollution and Building Resilience.” Our natural systems, including forests, wetlands and agricultural lands are key to storing carbon pollution and creating more resilient communities.

Democrats will bring these important bills to the floor this week before we honor our colleague, the late Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland on Thursday:

H.R. 4617, Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act – This bill would protect the U.S. against foreign interference in future elections by:

• Creating a duty to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and their agents.
• Closing loopholes that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to spend in U.S. elections.
• Restricting exchange of campaign information between candidates and foreign governments and their agents.
• Prohibiting deceptive practices about voting procedures.

The recently released bipartisan Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence and Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) found that in 2016 Russia had an information warfare campaign that was broad in scope, meant to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances, and support Donald Trump’s chances, all at the direction of the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. In short, “the most amazing blitzkrieg ever seen in the history of information warfare.” Further, the committee specifically found the denial of knowledge of these actions by Putin to be “false.” According to the Mueller Report, the Trump campaign had over 270 interactions with Russians throughout the course of the 2016 campaign.

The bipartisan report states that the “amazing blitzkrieg” continues in the 2020 cycle. The SHIELD Act is critical to our country’s efforts to protect against foreign interference. Unfortunately, it appears that President Trump abused his power by encouraging malign outside nations to interfere in our elections.  The impeachment inquiry is proceeding to determine all of the facts. In the meantime, Congress must take every step necessary to defend against foreign interference and ensure safe and fair elections in Florida and across the country.

H.R. 2513, Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 – This bipartisan bill would require companies to disclose their true, beneficial owners at the time the company is formed to prevent bad actors from using anonymous shell companies to thwart law enforcement and hide their illicit activities. Florida has long been home to nefarious activity by those involved in shell companies, including a Sarasota resident that committed securities fraud in a case that cost investors more than $6 million. This legislation is a much-needed step to increase transparency in the corporate world and hold individuals accountable for fraudulent activity.  It also is important to understand the extent of foreign interests like China and others in the extensive real estate purchases in our communities.

Finally, thanks to Colonel Stephen Snelson, personnel at MacDill AFB, our local students and families who joined me at MacDill on Saturday for another great Academy Day!