May 8, 2015

Statement

Dear Neighbors,

This past week the House Armed Services Committee took up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. This critical legislation sets our nation's defense policy and ensures that our service men and women have the tools they need to defend our nation. The process took more than 18 hours and finished in the early morning with a bipartisan vote of 60 to 2 to pass the bill out of Committee. I was pleased that 13 of my proposals were accepted in the bill. They included amendments that will increase government accountability and transparency in military spending, support domestic manufacturing of critical defense products, improve cybersecurity, and reduce barriers for small businesses trying to do business with government.

One of the amendments that I'm most proud of struck out provisions in the bill that would have caused an unnecessary delay in implementing crucial protections from predatory lending for Service Members. Under current law, Service Members continue to be vulnerable to abusive lending that causes incredible financial difficulty for them and directly impacts military readiness. Those who work every day to defend our nation deserve the strongest protections our government can provide without delay. My amendment passed by a vote of 32-30.

I also introduced an amendment, which passed unanimously, that will help increase the workload at our nation's arsenals, including the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, and reduce our over-reliance on foreign companies for goods going into our most sensitive weapon systems. You can read more about this amendment here.

Over the weekend I hosted a reception for all students who submitted an entry for the U.S. House of Representatives 2015 Art Competition. There were so many outstanding pieces from an array of 8th District High Schools. The winner of this year's competition was Ryoka Lulu Matsuno, a Senior at Conant High School. You can view her piece, "Tokyo," on my website.

Last week I also delivered remarks on the House Floor during debate of H.J. Res 43, a joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in adopting the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014, which makes it illegal to fire an employee based on their reproductive health choices. If H.J. Res 43 becomes law, it would overturn Washington D.C.'s locally passed non-discrimination law. I proposed an amendment to H.J. Res 43 during consideration of the bill in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that would have protected residents of the District of Columbia from facing retribution from their employer for using infertility treatments.

This week I celebrated National Small Business Week by introducing legislation to help Veteran-owned small businesses thrive. The Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act of 2015 would allow eligible, Veteran- owned small businesses to select and receive excess federal property that agencies do not need, like computers, office furniture, agricultural tools and construction equipment. Our Veterans deserve every opportunity to achieve the American Dream that they fought for. And as a member of the House Small Business Caucus, I firmly believe Congress should be doing everything it can to create an environment that allows small businesses to invest, grow and create jobs right here in Illinois and America.

I hope you are having a great week.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Duckworth

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