{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-how-we-are-using-325m-e-nap-funds", "THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - How we are using $32.5M E-NAP funds", "2017-10-29", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "In this issue: October 27, 2017\n____________________________________________________________________________\n VA should study medical marijuana \nHouse Veterans' Affairs Committee Democrats are urging Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin to start looking at how medical marijuana could help veterans who suffer from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. We took this position because the Department\u2019s Inspector General has reported that addiction to opioids and opioid-related deaths are widespread among veterans. One in five veterans are prescribed these narcotics for the mental and physical injuries they sustained during their military service. We must do more to find effective alternative treatments for our veterans suffering from chronic pain and PTSD. With the VA\u2019s access to world class researchers and history of innovative treatments, the agency is well-suited to determine whether medical marijuana has a place in the treatment of our veterans.\n Chair agrees to Pacific vets hearing \nPacific area veterans, whose needs are often neglected, will get a congressional hearing next year as a result of a request from Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), Congresswoman Madeleine Z Bordallo (D-Guam), and myself. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Dr. Phil Roe (R-Tennessee) responded affirmatively on Tuesday to the request the three of us made on October 11 for an oversight hearing on the barriers facing veterans living in the U.S. Pacific insular areas. In his response, Dr. Roe said his top priority as Chairman is to ensure that all of our nation\u2019s veterans have access to the care and services they need to live full and healthy lives. And he promised to work with us to schedule a hearing during the second session of this Congress. I am very grateful to the Chairman for this commitment. Both Ms. Radewagen and I are members of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.\n CW cap delay hurts business, workers \nFour weeks into fiscal year 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has not yet announced the cap on the number of CW-1, Marianas-only foreign worker, permits to be issued for the year. I cannot speculate on why the Trump administration has not made this decision on time. But I do know that the delay is harmful to Marianas businesses and workers, who are waiting for the decision to find out whether they will get 2018 CW permits applied for. My position is that the 2018 cap should go down by one\u2014just one\u2014to 12,997. That would be the safest decision for the Northern Marianas economy right now. The Government Accountability Office report that I commissioned found that drastic cuts in the number of CW workers would likely result in drastic cuts in economic activity in the Marianas. Conversely, the 37 percent increase in workers in 2016 was matched by a 29 percent increase in GDP. \n Helping add to retirement savings \nAs Ranking Member on the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee, I work on finding bipartisan solutions to trying to ensure retirement security for all Americans. Yesterday, Subcommittee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and I introduced H.R. 4158, the Retirement Plan Modernization Act, which will reduce administrative costs in retirement plans for active employees by updating a two-decade-old standard for automatic rollovers. \u00a0This legislation will make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement plans and that is good for employees of those small businesses.\n Troop Store grand opening postponed \nThe grand opening of the expanded Army and Air Force Exchange Services Troop Store in Tanapag has been pushed back due to construction delays contrary to our report in last week's e-news. The AAFES troop store held a soft opening in August and a formal ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled to occur on October 26. The store will remain open while work is underway. We apologize for the error.\n Opportunities \n Grants \n Jobs \n \n\tPublic Comments \n Legislative Highlights \n THIS WEEK \n On the Floor \n Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.Con.Res. 71 \u2013 Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027 (Passed, 216-212)\n\tH.R. 732 \u2013 Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017 (Passed, 238-183)\n\tH.R. 469 \u2013 Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017 (Passed, 234-187)\n\tH.R. 4038 \u2013 DHS Accountability Enhancement Act (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3328 \u2013 Cuban Airport Security Act of 2017 (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3551 \u2013 C-TPAT Reauthorization Act of 2017 (Passed, 402-1)\n\tS. 504 \u2013 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of 2017 (Passed 401-2)\n\tH.R. 2142 \u2013 INTERDICT Act (Passed, 412-3)\n\tH.R. 4010 \u2013 Congressional Subpoena Compliance and Enforcement Act of 2017 (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3101 \u2013 Strengthening Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Coordination in Our Ports Act of 2017 (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3972 \u2013 Family Office Technical Correction Act of 2017 (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3898 \u2013 Impeding North Korea's Access to Finance Act of 2017 (Passed, 415-2)\n\tH.R. 1698 \u2013 Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act (Passed, 423-2)\n\tH.Res. 359 \u2013 Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3342 \u2013 Sanctioning Hizballah's Illicit Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act (Agreed to by voice vote)\n\tH.R. 3329 \u2013 Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017 (Agreed to by voice vote)\n  Legislation I Sponsored \n H.R.1057 - STOP Act of 2017\n\tH.R. 1098 - New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2017\n  NEXT WEEK \n On the Floor \n H.R. 2936 \u2013 Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017\n\tH.R. 849 \u2013 Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017\n\t\tLegislation to extend funding for the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Programs and other public health priorities.\n Committee Activity\nThursday, November 2\nHouse Veterans' Affairs Committee Markup", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-how-we-are-using-325m-e-nap-funds"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2411298230290413, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}