Newsletter: Fighting Evil at Home

Statement

Dear Friend,

Human trafficking is the fastest growing organized criminal activity in the world, generating $32 billion each year for the lowlifes involved in the trade. Sadly, California's size and location make it one of the top destinations in the United States for the sale and exploitation of persons. This kind of evil is taking place in our own communities and affecting our homes.

We are all responsible for doing everything we can to combat the spread of this despicable practice. The first step in doing that is raising awareness of the issue and helping our children understand the threat. I was pleased last night to join Without Permission, a Modesto-based organization working to combat the spread of trafficking and educate young people, to speak about the federal legislation I've supported that can help.

This week the House sent a series of 12 bills to the Senate that I hope to see them take up immediately and send to the President to become law. The legislation I supported includes provisions to codify a national human trafficking hotline, help health care workers identify and assist victims, criminalize the advertisement of minors for commercial sex acts, improve practices within state child welfare systems when identifying, assessing and documenting sex trafficking victims and require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to train personnel in best methods for identifying victims and perpetrators of trafficking and methods to approach suspected victims.

Due to inclement weather, the Majority Leader's office changed our vote schedule this week and we did not take up the Secure Our Borders First Act I wrote about last week. I fully support this bill, which would make securing the border a requirement, not a goal, for DHS. I spent last weekend on a trip led by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul to the border including stops in San Diego, California, Tucson and Sierra Vista, Arizona, and McAllen, Texas.

As we begin a new Congress, I remain wholly committed to top-to-bottom reform for our broken immigration system. Border security has to take top priority so that we can prevent human traffickers, drug smugglers and terrorists from entering our country. Seeing firsthand the challenges the men and women of our Border Patrol face daily, I know that there is more we can do to provide them with the tools and resources they need to truly secure our borders. Border security must be the beginning of our discussion about ways to address every broken part of our immigration system, and I look forward to taking up legislation to start this process. I appreciate the feedback you sent me last week with your thoughts.

On Tuesday I met with the California State Sheriff's Association, my good friend and Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, Major Leader Kevin McCarthy, Congressman Steve Knight and sheriffs from Kern, Fresno, Sacramento and Orange counties. Having California-wide meetings like this one helps us all coordinate and keep each of our individual communities safer.

Yesterday the Senate passed a bill approving construction of the Keystone XL pipeline with bipartisan support. This is a great step forward in our efforts to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy and create jobs. State Department estimates predict the pipeline will create 42,100 jobs, and TransCanada has established a number of provisions to help make this pipeline the safest ever built. I spoke on the House floor in November about some of these safety provisions.

Lastly I wanted to mention one of the proposals President Obama planned to include in his upcoming budget. He announced during his State of the Union address that he planned to tax 529 plans, which many parents have been contributing to for years as a way to help their kids through college. I was shocked the President would propose such a measure, and his plan drew immediate backlash from families sending their kids to college using 529 plans and local financial planners overseeing these accounts in cities throughout the country. The House also responded with a plan to protect these accounts and ensure middle-class families don't have to bear the burden of our out-of-control spending. As a parent to two teenagers, I know how important it is to protect the savings we've put aside to ensure our children can have the brightest possible futures through education. The President did the right thing by announcing Wednesday that he would withdraw his proposal, and I hope that in the coming year he will work with Congress to find fair and balanced tax reform ideas that don't penalize working families or their children.

Hope you have a great weekend!

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