E-News From Congressman Murphy
Statement
In This Week's Edition of E-News...
Congressman Murphy Introduces Legislation to Expand American Energy Production, Create Jobs
Medical Malpractice Reform Bill Clears Committee
Congressman Murphy Named a Guardian of Seniors' Rights
Rep. Murphy, Western PA Delegation Fight to Help Stave Of Gas Shortage
Murphy Tours DCK Worldwide
Congressman Murphy Introduces Legislation to Expand American Energy Production, Create Jobs
On Thursday, Congressman Murphy and the Bipartisan Energy Working Group announced the introduction of HR 1681, the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act. This legislation is the only bipartisan, comprehensive plan that will help secure our energy future, put Americans back to work, and rebuild our nation's ailing infrastructure. Most importantly, Congressman Murphy's bill achieves all this without having to raise taxes or increase the national debt.
"A gallon of gas now costs four dollars, heading to five, and while we send $1 billion each day to foreign nations for oil, OPEC exerts control over world oil prices and wants it to be $200 per barrel," said Murphy. "And while nearly 14 million Americans are out of work and wondering how they will put food on the table, they have to pay more than double for gas than they did in 2009."
Meanwhile, America's transportation and energy infrastructure is also in serious need of major repairs. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that it would take $2.2 trillion to rebuild all of our structurally deficient roads, bridges, highways, locks and dams. Our old coal plants must be modernized with new technologies in order to clean up our air and water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And we must begin to move forward with the development of renewable and alternative energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal, and invest in energy efficiency for our buildings and factories, which waste between 20 and 40 percent of the energy they consume.
Rep. Murphy introduces the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act in Congress.
All of these are serious concerns that require serious solutions, not the same political rhetoric. Towards that end, Congressman Murphy recently formed the bipartisan House Energy Working Group. The group, which includes Representatives Tim Walz (D-MN), Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Jim Costa (D-CA), is committed to energy independence and have pledged to leave politics aside in order to formulate common-sense solutions and achieve concrete results. The group met privately, without the influence of lobbyists or special interests, to create a plan that not only puts America back on the path toward energy independence, but also makes significant investments in our future.
"We want clean air and water, we want to see our roads and bridges fixed, and we want cleaner power plants that lower energy prices and don't pollute our environment. This is a bipartisan bill that for the first time brings forward a comprehensive plan to take back our energy future and create millions of new jobs," said Murphy.
The legislation introduced by Rep. Murphy and the Energy Working Group seeks to harness the vast natural resources that lie untapped off America's coasts to reduce our oil imports by one-third over the next decade. U.S. offshore resources are enough to replace oil imports from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for the next 80 years and enough clean natural gas to fuel American industry for the next 63 years, yet remain largely untapped. The Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act allows the safe, responsible expansion of offshore oil and gas production, and uses American resources to create American jobs and take back our energy destiny from potentially hostile overseas governments.
By using our own resources we can begin creating jobs and helping our economy right away. But Rep. Murphy's legislation goes much further than just opening up domestic production. It takes the increased federal revenues gained from new offshore leases, royalty payments and other income sources and makes direct investments to create jobs, speed up the development of clean energy technologies, restore our environment and rebuild our transportation infrastructure. The specific investments made by the bill include:
-Infrastructure renewal, to fix our roads, highways, bridges, locks and dams;
-Renewable energy and energy efficiency, so we can develop all kinds of clean, renewable and alternative energy sources;
-Clean coal technology, to replace our old coal plants and invest in carbon capture and sequestration, and utilize the best technologies to prevent the release of greenhouse gases into our environment;
-Environmental restoration, to clean up our lakes, bays, rivers, streams, forests and wildlife refuges;
-Conservation, to make America efficient and stop wasting energy;
-Carbon-free technology and nuclear energy development;
-Clean water and new wastewater infrastructure investments; and
-Deficit reduction and paying off the national debt.
"This is a plan for energy and jobs in America," said Rep. Murphy. "We can use our own resources, stop buying from OPEC, and do it in a way that is environmentally sound so we can create jobs and have energy independence for this and the next generation."
Medical Malpractice Reform Bill Clears Committee
On Wednesday, the Energy and Commerce Committee passed HR 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act with Congressman Murphy's support. The HEALTH Act seeks to improve access to care by reforming medical malpractice laws while maintaining strong protections for patients.
As the cost of medical malpractice insurance climbs for doctors across the country, many physicians are unable to take on more new patients. In some specialties, physicians have avoided adding new high-risk patients because of fears of potential lawsuits.
Fears of expensive liability lawsuits are forcing many doctors to practice "defensive medicine", ordering tests and procedures that may be unnecessary that drive healthcare costs up and dilute the quality of care a patient receives. Defensive medicine adds anywhere between $70 and $246 billion a year to the nation's $2.4 trillion healthcare system.
The HEALTH Act lowers medical liability rates and eliminates junk lawsuits; protects patient rights to recover the full cost of medical bills and lost wages and future income; caps the amount of non-economic, such as pain and suffering, damages at $250,000; and prohibits punitive damages unless other money is awarded.
The bill would also prevent the practice of double recovery, in which a plaintiff receives an award by both an insurance company and court judgment.
"Medical liability insurance is not only one of the drivers of increased healthcare costs, it is also causing some doctors to leave their practices and discouraging potential doctors from pursuing a career in medicine," said Rep. Murphy. "America's aging population means we will need more doctors in the future who can provide high-quality healthcare. We must reform our liability laws to encourage doctors to provide the best care they can give while never compromising on patient safety."
The legislation is modeled after a successful program undertaken by California. According to a recent study by the RAND Corporation, California has seen significant declines in lawsuits as patient safety measures have reduced adverse outcomes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that medical liability reform saves taxpayers $54 billion over 10 years mainly by lowering federal healthcare expenses. Having passed by the Energy and Commerce and Judiciary Committees, the HEALTH Act now moves to the full House for consideration.
Congressman Murphy Named a Guardian of Seniors' Rights
On Thursday Congressman Murphy received the Guardian of Seniors Rights award from the 60 Plus Association. The Association recognizes Republican and Democratic members of Congress who have a history of supporting seniors' issues, fight to protect Social Security and Medicare, and commit to vote against wasteful spending of tax dollars so seniors don't bear the brunt of a government that doesn't live within its means.
Jim Martin, 60 Plus Chairman, thanked Congressman Murphy for his "commitment to look out for America's greatest generation as well as the Congressman's promise to always work to preserve Medicare and Social Security for future retirees, our children and grandchildren."
Receiving the Guardian of Seniors Rights award with 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin.
The award comes as the Social Security and Medicare Trustees reported that both programs are running out of money much faster than expected. The Social Security program has already begun running deficits, and will continue to do so until the fund is exhausted in 2036, at which point it will only be able to pay 75% of promised benefits according to a report in USA Today. The situation for Medicare is direr, with the fund now projected to run out of money in 2024, and unless steps are taken to protect the program by 2045 will also only be able to pay 75% of benefits.
As the Co-Chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus, Congressman Murphy has been a strong defender of Medicare and Social Security, and has recently introduced legislation to ensure Congress stops raiding the funds and replacing them with IOUs. HR 1630, the Social Security and Medicare Protection Act, would require that money in the trust funds of both programs be used only to pay beneficiaries. Further, it would force the government to pay back all borrowed funds.
"At a time when Congress is running a massive budget deficit and there remain serious concerns about our ability to repay the national debt, it is the height of irresponsibility to take money out of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds only to replace them with IOUs that may not be there in the future," said Murphy. "Ensuring Social Security and Medicare are able to pay all promised benefits now and in the future remains one of my highest priorities in Congress, and I will continue to fight for the long-term health of the programs."
Rep. Murphy, Western PA Delegation Fight to Help Stave Of Gas Shortage
On Friday Rep. Murphy, along with Representatives Jason Altmire, Mark Critz, Mike Doyle, and Mike Kelly pledged that they would continue urging the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend a requirement that gasoline distributors begin selling a "summer" blend of fuel despite shortages affecting local stations.
The EPA announced on Friday that it would not grant Pennsylvania's request for a waiver that would have allowed gasoline terminals in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties to continue selling a winter blend of gasoline through the end of the month to mitigate supply shortages caused by a recent outage at a New Jersey refinery and a since-repaired leak in the Buckeye pipeline that connects the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets.
Western Pennsylvania's gasoline supply issues are further compounded by flooding on the Mississippi River, which is disrupting oil shipments from Canada on their way to Southern states for refining.
The Western Pennsylvania congressional delegation released the following joint statement:
"Rising gas prices are already causing pain at the pump for Pennsylvania's families. While disappointed in today's decision by the EPA, we urge the agency to monitor on a moment-by-moment basis the supplies in Western Pennsylvania and react swiftly should the situation deteriorate. We will work together to do all that we can to ensure this issue is resolved quickly."
Murphy Tours DCK Worldwide
On Friday May 6, Congressman Murphy toured DCK Worldwide's International Headquarters in Jefferson Hills. DCK Worldwide specializes in developing, managing, and building highly complex construction projects, and Murphy was invited to meet with the firm's employees and senior managers to discuss the important issues facing our nation's business community, especially in the commercial and government construction sector.
"DCK Worldwide is a tremendous example of the high-caliber companies we have in Southwestern Pennsylvania," said Murphy. "Their work on military bases in the U.S. and abroad helps create jobs right here at home and benefits our local economy and our national security. We need to continue fighting to ensure our government is doing all we can to help American job creators compete in the global marketplace."
Meeting with employees at DCK Worldwide in Jefferson Hills.
Rep. Murphy answered a wide range of questions from the firm's employees, ranging from healthcare issues, strategic business planning, and the effect of the Natural Gas industry on construction. Regarding questions about rising energy costs, Murphy highlighted the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act, the centerpiece of the work done by the Bipartisan House Energy Working Group that will greatly reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and create millions of new jobs in the process without increasing taxes or adding to the national debt.
"Repairing our roads and bridges, investing in renewable energy sources and clean energy technologies, and restoring the environment must be a national priority," said Murphy. "Southwestern Pennsylvania has many growing construction companies that are creating thousands of new jobs, and using our own resources to meet our energy needs will help them and the rest of our economy grow and prosper. I look forward to working with job creators across the region as we work to pass this important legislation to help jump-start our economy and take back our energy future."
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