ICYMI – VOX: ‘HOUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE PASSED NEARLY 400 BILLS. TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS ARE IGNORING THEM.’
The House Has Passed More Than 275 Bipartisan Bills that Are Awaiting Action in the Senate
WASHINGTON, DC – In Case You Missed It, Ella Nilsen reports for Vox:
"For months, President Donald Trump has fired off tweet missives accusing House Democrats of "getting nothing done in Congress," and being consumed with impeachment. Trump may want to look to the Republican-controlled Senate instead. Democrats in the House have been passing bills at a rapid clip; as of November 15, the House has passed nearly 400 bills, not including resolutions. But the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee estimates 80 percent of those bill have hit a snag in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is prioritizing confirming judges over passing bills. . . .
"Trump is accusing Democrats of doing nothing as he refuses to work with them. Lately, Republicans and Trump are accusing Democrats of single-mindedly pursuing impeachment at the detriment of passing bills. Again, the more accurate picture is that Democrats have been passing a lot of bills in addition to investigating the president. But split control of government and Trump's fury at being investigated by Democratic committees paralyzed Washington's legislative functions well before impeachment proceedings began in the fall. . . . .
"As we near the end of the year, much of the media focus will continue to be on impeachment. House Democrats will also be focused on a vote on a major bill to lower prescription drug costs (something Trump has said is a priority for him), the Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act. Just because impeachment is the main story in Washington doesn't mean policy work isn't happening. It just means it isn't getting talked about as much, and that the president — a figure who could apply pressure on McConnell to take up some of the bipartisan legislation currently gathering dust — has other priorities. . . .
"House Democrats have passed a wide range of bills since they came to power in January, ranging from a sweeping anti-corruption and pro-democracy reform known as H.R.1, to bills to save net neutrality, pass universal background checks for guns, and reenter the United States into the Paris climate accords.
They have also put a large emphasis on health care, a defining issue of the 2018 election after Trump and Senate Republicans attempted to pass a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Democrats have focused on bills to lower prescription drug costs, protect preexisting conditions, and condemning the Trump administration's legal battle to strike down the ACA in the courts. And although Medicare-for-all is driving the conversation in the 2020 presidential primary, it has not gotten a vote in the House.
Much of this agenda is sitting in the Senate. There have been a few things House Democrats and Senate Republicans have agreed on: disaster relief aid, reopening the government after the shutdown, the resolution to end US involvement in the Yemen war, a bill to protect public lands, and a resolution disapproving of Trump's use of emergency powers.
But on major policy issues — like health care and infrastructure, or even bipartisan ones like net neutrality, the Equal Pay Act, or even a simple reauthorization of the longstanding Violence Against Women Act — Democrats' bills are continuing to languish in the Senate. House Democrats are expecting to take up House Resolution 3, a major health care bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs, before the Christmas break."
Read the full article from November 29th, 2019 HERE.
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE NUMBERS:
(As of November 15, 2019. Bills only, resolutions not included.)
- The House has passed nearly 400 bills this Congress as Democrats continue to deliver For The People.
- But more than 300 bills, or 80% of the bills the House has passed, are stuck in the Senate.
- Most of the bills that are stalled in the Senate - more than 275 - are bipartisan.
- Bipartisan legislation stalled in the Senate includes bills to:
- Give American workers a long overdue raise by raising the minimum wage and making sure women are paid fairly for their work.
- Protect the retirement of Americans who worked hard all their lives.
- Enact gun safety background checks.
- Cut taxes for Gold Star families.
- Protect consumers from being ripped off by fine print contracts.
- Protect people with pre-existing conditions, reverse health care sabotage & lower drug costs.
- Support veterans (more than 30 bills).