{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kelly.house.gov/press-release/rep-kelly-releases-year-end-report-2016", "Rep. Kelly Releases Year-End Report for 2016", "2016-12-22", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "PA", "Mike Kelly", "K000376", "kelly.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\u201cMaking a Difference Today, Preparing for Tomorrow\u201d \n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) released the following report today, to be e-mailed to his constituents throughout the Third Congressional District of Pennsylvania, to serve as a year-end overview of his office\u2019s legislative achievements and constituent relations throughout 2016.\nDear Constituent:\nAs we embark on an exciting new year, I would first like to thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you in the U.S. House of Representatives, or as I prefer to call it, the People\u2019s House.\nMuch was decided about our country\u2019s future over the last few months. Since the start of this year, my House colleagues and I have been planning for the 115th Congress and the new windows of opportunity that will be opened by the incoming administration. Many policies and reforms that were, until recently, unachievable are now not only possible, but are sitting at the top of our agenda and very likely to be realized.\n\tJust last week, while Congress was out of session, my colleagues and I on the Ways and Means Committee went back to work in Washington to plan the first overhaul of our nation\u2019s tax code in three decades and the responsible repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Our goals for the new year are crystal clear: a fairer tax code, a stronger economy with new jobs, and long-awaited relief from Obamacare\u2019s higher costs and broken promises. With the right principles guiding our work, you and your family can look forward to a future with lower, simpler taxes and more affordable and accessible health care insurance that is choice-filled and patient-centered.\nThroughout every bit of planning for the future, I made sure to stay focused on my most important duties: representing Western Pennsylvania\u2019s best interests, bringing your voice to Washington, and making sure the federal government is properly delivering you the services you depend upon. Each day I stepped foot inside the U.S. Capitol, I was guided by our shared values of hard work, common sense, and straight talk. As I begin my fourth term in Congress, my commitment to you and your family will remain unwavering.\nWith every new challenge that 2016 brought us, there also came many great successes. Week after week, my staff and I worked diligently on every issue to produce the best results for you and your neighbors. The following report is meant to provide you with an overview of the most important legislative business that we conducted on your behalf over the course of this year.\nMeeting the Needs of Our Constituents All Year Round\nHere is a summary of how our four offices directly assisted and communicated with our constituents throughout 2016. We\u2026\n Attended/organized 83 constituent outreach meetings with different individuals, groups, schools, hospitals, etc. throughout the Third District;\n  Toured 15 local businesses and factories to meet with employers and employees about issues affecting their industries;\n  Helped 2,099 constituents with navigating the federal bureaucracy;\n  Corresponded with 14,918 constituents in response to 29,234 phone calls, pieces of mail, e-mail, and faxes;\n  Maintained 3 full-time constituent offices throughout the Third District;\n  Hosted a tele-town hall meeting to address concerns and answer questions about Medicare enrollment, which included 3,063 participants from the Third District;\n  Hosted a live seminar for prospective U.S. Military Academy cadets in the Third District to learn more about the congressional nomination and application process;\n  Sent 1,058 American flags to constituents;\n  Assisted hundreds of families with 201 official tours, including 122 tours of the U.S. Capitol; 42 tours of the White House; 8 tours of the U.S. Supreme Court; 12 tours of the Library of Congress; and 12 tours of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts;\n  Expanded my social media presence, ending the year with 14,200 fans on Facebook (690 added since last year) and 7,000 followers on Twitter (1,385 added since last year); and\n  Conducted hundreds of interviews with local, regional, and national newspapers, radio shows, websites, and television programs.\n Turning Solutions Into Law\nThroughout this year, despite having a divided government, my congressional colleagues and I were able to successfully turn multiple good ideas into not just good bills, but good laws.\nIn July, the House passed major legislation to combat the ongoing nationwide opioid epidemic by an astounding bipartisan majority of 407-5. The bill \u2013 the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S. 524) \u2013 tackles this crisis from every angle through specific, targeted solutions. It authorizes the Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to address addiction to heroin and prescription opioids, and make various other changes to federal law to combat opioid addiction and abuse. It was passed in the U.S. Senate by an overwhelming vote of 92-2 and then signed into law on July 22nd.\n\tThis legislation is strongly supported by such Pennsylvania-based organizations as the Bridge to Hope Family Support Group, the Center for Youth & Community Development, the Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance, National Family Dialogue, and more than 200 other public health groups in communities nationwide. Its enactment is a victory for bipartisanship, for cooperation, for Western Pennsylvania, and for countless of our fellow citizens. I invite you to read more about this new law here, here, and here.\nLast month, the House passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34) by a bipartisan vote of 392-26. The legislation is a medical innovation package to improve patient treatments by promoting advancements in technology, eliminating regulations that stifle competition, providing resources to combat the growing opioid epidemic, ensuring critical support for those struggling with mental health, and supporting cutting-edge research and the next generation of scientists. The package includes the Medicare Advantage Coverage Transparency Act of 2015 (H.R. 2505), which I introduced in May of last year and which was passed unanimously by the House last June. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide an annual report on the program's enrollment data to Congress.\nThe Cures Act is wide in its reach and dramatic in its impact yet squarely focused on a singular goal: helping American patients beat their diseases and become healthy again. Thanks to this historic package, the future of American health care and medical innovation is brighter than ever. Our moms and dads and sons and daughters who face illnesses, along with the family members who care for them, can take heart that their fight is receiving brand new life-changing and, we pray, life-saving support. President Obama signed this bill into law on December 13th.\nI was particularly proud that this powerful legislation included my bill to make Medicare Advantage coverage more transparent for the benefit of our nation\u2019s seniors. The bill will bring key Medicare enrollment details into public view and equip lawmakers with important information so that we may make better decisions on behalf of our elderly constituents. I was also very glad to see my friend Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA)\u2019s transformational mental health reforms included in this package and applaud him for his tireless work in helping carry it past the finish line.\nEarlier this month, the House passed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (S. 612) by a bipartisan vote of 360-61. The legislation is a House-Senate compromise version of the previously passed Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016. Like that bill, the WIIN Act authorizes the key missions of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and addresses the needs of American harbors, locks, dams, flood protection, and other water infrastructure critical to the nation\u2019s economic competitiveness. It accomplishes these tasks in a fiscally responsible way by establishing sunset dates for new authorizations as well as de-authorizing $10 billion in unnecessary projects, which will fully offset the same amount in new authorizations contained in the legislation.\nThe WIIN Act is a win for American workers and a win for the Great Lakes. In fact, the WIIN Act represents one of the most important pieces of Great Lakes legislation in generations. Among its vast benefits, the bill will ensure the maintenance of waterway infrastructure essential to the construction of the upcoming ethane cracker facility in Western Pennsylvania and the 6,000 jobs it\u2019s expected to create. On December 15th, this bill became law.\nStanding Up for Religious Liberty\nAt the beginning of this year, I joined with Representative Diane Black (R-TN), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) to submit a bipartisan amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, signed by 207 members of Congress, in support of each religious nonprofit and charity challenging Obamacare\u2019s HHS mandate, including the Little Sisters of the Poor. The challenge was heard in the case of Zubik vs. Burwell.\n\tThe Little Sisters and six other religious non-profit organizations finally took their fight against Obamacare's unjust contraceptive mandate to the highest court in the land and argued, in essence, for the exact same exemption that the Obama administration has already given to non-religious organizations like Exxon Mobil and Visa.\nFrankly, I found it disgraceful and unacceptable that the Little Sisters had to take time to come to their nation's capital to argue for their God-given constitutional rights against this administration. The contraceptive mandate was a hideous component of a disastrous law that puts government's power above people's rights. It puts this administration on the wrong side of our nation's long and cherished history of religious liberty and tolerance.\nThankfully, in May, the Supreme Court delivered good news to the Little Sisters.\nAccording to the American Center for Law and Justice, \u201cthe Supreme Court unanimously ordered lower courts to help the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious organizations work out a compromise with the Obama administration. ... The high Court also made clear that because the government was aware of the objections made by the religious organizations from the outset of the litigation, no taxes or penalties may be applied against the organizations. In other words, the abortion-pill mandate is delayed until the parties have sufficient time to resolve any issues at the lower courts.\u201d\nThe Court\u2019s announcement is a win for these nuns and all those whom they so nobly serve. In the words of Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial for the Little Sisters of the Poor: \u201cAll we have ever wanted to do is serve the neediest among us as if they were Christ himself. We look forward to serving the elderly poor for another 175 years to come.\u201d\nProtecting Presque Isle\u2019s Beaches\nIn February, I joined Representative Glenn \u2018GT\u2019 Thompson (R-PA) and Senators Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) in sending a joint bipartisan letter to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (for Civil Works) to insist that Presque Isle State Park in Erie remains a high priority project in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 (USACE) budget for fiscal year 2016.\n\tPresque Isle State Park\u2019s beaches are a precious natural resource and a powerful economic driver for our entire region. Stretching along seven miles of Lake Erie\u2019s shoreline, they require proper care and nourishment every single year. I expect the USACE to always recognize the importance of maintaining this treasure and to provide the necessary replenishment that millions of families and tourists \u2013 and the jobs they support \u2013 depend upon.\nRestoring Fiscal Responsibility\n\tLast winter, I was very proud to co-sponsor the Debt Management and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3442), which passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 267-151. This commonsense legislation establishes a new debt limit framework that enhances accountability, reduces disruptive risk, and ensures integrated debt reduction solutions. It requires the Secretary of the Treasury to appear before Congress prior to each potential debt limit increase and provide testimony and detailed reports on: the national debt and its key drivers; explicit short, medium, and long-term debt reduction proposals; and progress on debt reduction.\nFor me, this is not a political battle\u2014this is a fight for the future of our country. This is a fight for the sustainability of the greatest nation the world has ever known, and our ability to leave it in proper fiscal condition for our children and grandchildren.\nHelping Western Pennsylvania Hospitals\nLast month, I introduced the Fixing Medicare Hospital Payments Act of 2016 (H.R. 6399) with Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA). The legislation would create a Medicare wage index floor for hospitals in metropolitan areas with populations of two million or more, which would increase Medicare payments to hospitals in the Greater Pittsburgh area.\nThe current Medicare wage index is an unfair deal for Western Pennsylvania hospitals and their workers. Because the federal government currently assigns hospitals in our area a low wage index, employers throughout the region have to pick up the cost through increased insurance premiums for their employees. With this commonsense bill, a new wage index floor would be created, insurance premiums would decrease, hospital wages would increase, and Western Pennsylvania\u2019s economy would become stronger. Those who provide life-saving care to our neighbors, friends, and loved ones deserve nothing less.\nStopping the War on Coal\nThe Obama administration\u2019s regulatory war on coal has been a war on American jobs, families, and communities. In Pennsylvania alone, coal is responsible for 40,000 jobs and 40 percent of our electric power. The Associated Press rightly calls it \u201cthe workhorse of the U.S. power system.\u201d The EPA\u2019s so-called Clean Power Plan is a cruel attack on the needs of so many people \u2013 especially in Western Pennsylvania \u2013 who depend on coal's benefits every day. Whether it\u2019s lost livelihoods for families or higher energy bills for senior citizens, the pain of this President Obama\u2019s radical agenda will sadly be felt long after he leaves office.\nThis is why I joined 170 other members of the House and 34 U.S. Senators in February in submitting an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the plaintiffs in the case of State of West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. The brief supported petitions filed by 27 states seeking to overturn the EPA\u2019s controversial regulatory plan.\n\tThirty-nine lawsuits seeking review of the Clean Power Plan were consolidated in the D.C. Circuit Court. The Plan was stayed by the Supreme Court in February, and the D.C. Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the consolidated cases in June. In all likelihood, the Circuit Court won\u2019t decide this case until next year.\n\tDefending Americans\u2019 Retirement Security\nAs co-chairman of the House Retirement Security Caucus and a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security, I was especially disturbed by the Department of Labor\u2019s long-anticipated rule on fiduciary standards.\n\tIt seems to me that Washington bureaucrats think they know what\u2019s best for American families when it comes to planning for retirement. I believe the Obama administration\u2019s misguided attempt to regulate Main Street financial advisers will backfire, leaving more hardworking families without access to quality, affordable retirement advice. With increased compliance costs and regulations, these smaller advisers will be unable to provide workers and seniors with a full range of options to help save for a secure retirement.\nIn anticipation of this rule, last November I joined Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) in introducing the Retirement Choice Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 3922), which would provide the rule with a workable \u201cbest interest\u201d standard, which will in turn ensure that families can continue to receive affordable investment guidance for a secure retirement while making it easier for small businesses to provide retirement benefits to their employees.\nProviding Relief for Working Families\nIn May, right before Mother\u2019s Day, I was very proud to work with Representative Linda S\u00e1nchez (D-CA) to introduce the Working Families Relief Act (H.R. 4867).\n\tThis legislation would increase the maximum amount that employees can set aside or employers can provide to the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), a flexible spending account which can be used to pay for childcare on a pre-tax basis. It would raise the cap from $5,000 to $10,500 and index it for inflation, and would also provide tax credits to employers who match the DCAP contributions in order to encourage them to offer this benefit.\nEarly education is critical for a child\u2019s healthy development and for giving him or her a fair opportunity to succeed in life. Unfortunately, working families often struggle to cover costs for quality childcare in today\u2019s economy, which can reach more than $10,000 a year. This bipartisan, bicameral bill will help parents overcome that difficulty by expanding and modernizing DCAP accounts, which currently help more than 1.3 million families pay for child and dependent care annually.\nThe companion piece to this pro-family, pro-common sense bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).\nRebuilding Our Nation\u2019s Schools & Infrastructure\nOver the summer, I had the opportunity to visit three different public schools in the City of Erie to evaluate the schools' ongoing infrastructure crisis. After the trip, I went back to Washington and introduced the Public Buildings Renewal Act (H.R. 5361, also known as \u201cthe Renewal Act\u201d) to help resolve the situation. The bill would permit state and local governments to access private activity bonds (PABs) for the financing of critical construction and infrastructure projects for qualified public buildings such as schools, hospitals, court houses, universities, police stations, and prisons.\n\tIt is a matter of fact that our county\u2019s public buildings are in a historic state of disrepair. This crisis cannot be solely addressed through traditional forms of public financing and project delivery options. Just like the qualified PABS authorized for transportation projects, private activity bond financing is needed for the nation\u2019s public buildings.\nIn the transportation sector, PABs are used to attract private investment for projects that have some public benefit. PABs leverage private financing to fund public projects through the creation of public private partnerships (P3s).\u00a0 In turn, P3s advance transportation and infrastructure projects in an efficient way that creates jobs and saves taxpayer money by streamlining project delivery, design, and construction.\n\tMy bill would expand eligibility beyond just transportation projects so that state and local governments can have access to more streams of potential financing for critical construction and infrastructure projects. Similar to today\u2019s P3s in the transportation sector, the Renewal Act would create $5 billion in PABs for eligible public buildings for states to access through the Treasury Department.\n\tI was very pleased to see this bill receive favorable attention from Jet 24 Action News, Erie News Now, the Erie Times-News, and POLITICO.\nPreserving Internet Freedom\nSince 2014, I have voiced serious objections to President Obama\u2019s reckless plan to transfer the Internet\u2019s critical functions to a multinational body like the United Nations. This year, after the administration began moving forward with its plan, I worked with my staff to take action.\nAmong my many concerns, I strongly believe that ensuring the sole, exclusive, and permanent American ownership of the .gov and .mil domains must be fully resolved before any transition in our stewardship over Internet functions can happen. By relying on a non-binding exchange of letters to keep existing policies in place, the Commerce Department is regrettably putting its trust in ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)\u2019s mere promise not to take any action adverse to our nation\u2019s interests, without a legally enforceable contract that gives our government the right to hold ICANN to its promises.\nAs a small businessman, I can say that I may exchange letters with my wife, but I write contracts with my business partners. This is why, in June, I introduced the Securing America's Internet Domains (SAID) Act (H.R. 5329) which requires our government to certify that it has secured .gov and .mil through a contract. The SAID Act is crucial for our long-term cybersecurity and for preserving Internet freedom.\nIn September, as the Obama administration\u2019s transfer of the Internet drew nearer, I introduced a resolution authorizing the Speaker of the House to sue the administration for unlawfully circumventing Congress with its plan, despite clear prohibitions against the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) using taxpayer funds to do so before 2017.\n\tAs the world\u2019s sole superpower, we have a duty to preserve Internet freedom for Americans and for the world. As a governing body, Congress has a duty to uphold our Constitution\u2019s separation of powers and to protect our own \u201cpower of the purse\u201d as intended by our founders, as well as our sole power to dispose of federal property. My resolution would help achieve all of these objectives, and help prevent the Internet from falling under the influence of bad actors abroad who despise the free flow of information.\nKeeping America Safe\nAs you know full well, the dangers to our homeland are growing, not shrinking, especially from radical terrorist organizations like the Islamic State (ISIS). Over the course of this year, I was proud to introduce, sponsor, and support many pieces of legislation to increase our national defense, strengthen our armed forces, and make sure our foreign policy is aimed at defeating our enemies and keeping Americans safe.\nIn June, my House colleagues and I unveiled a detailed plan to protect Americans that included more than 65 policy recommendations, including several specifically focused on defeating radical Islamists \u00a0at home and abroad. It discusses the importance of countering extremist ideology by amplifying countervailing views from former radicals and the need to push back against the surge of online radicalization.\nAlso in June, I joined Representative Peter Roskam (R-IL) in introducing the No Ex-Im Financing for Iran Act (H.R. 5608), which will prohibit American taxpayer money from being used by our government's Export-Import Bank to directly or indirectly support the Islamic Republic of Iran or any company it owns. According to a senior research fellow in regulatory policy at the Heritage Foundation, \u201cIn its [nuclear] deal with Iran, the Obama administration has dramatically increased the risk of death and destruction by the world\u2019s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. \u2026 Lawmakers must ensure that the Export-Import Bank doesn\u2019t help Boeing and other U.S. companies become tools of Tehran.\u201d\nIn September, the House passed the No More Cash Ransoms to Iran Act (H.R. 5931). Many of you called me about this important bill, and I'm glad to let you know that I strongly supported it.\nOn the day his flawed nuclear deal with Iran was implemented, President Obama announced that the United States and Iran had agreed to a prisoner exchange that would see Iran release several innocent American hostages in exchange for the United States granting clemency to and releasing seven Iranians serving sentences or awaiting trial for serious crimes, such as aiding Iran's illegal weapons programs.\nIn that same speech, the president announced that the United States would pay Iran $1.7 billion to settle a dispute over an aborted arms sale that had dragged on since the radicals that rule Iran seized power in 1979. The White House rejected concerns that this settlement amounted to a ransom for the release of the American hostages and refused to answer questions from Congress.\nWhen news broke that the United States secretly paid Iran the first part of this settlement \u2013 $400 million in cash \u2013 just as the hostages were released, it became clear that the president had rejected the advice of his own Justice Department and ignored a longstanding U.S. policy not to release prisoners or pay ransom in exchange for the return of Americans held hostage abroad. Not surprisingly, Iran has since taken several more Americans hostage and continues to fund terrorist groups that threaten U.S. interests and destabilize the Middle East.\n\tH.R. 5391 will officially affirm that the Obama administration violated longstanding U.S. policy by releasing prisoners and paying ransom; prohibit all cash payments to Iran; and require transparency on any future settlements with Iran in order to ensure they are not used to pay future ransoms.\n\tIn late September, history was made when both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly voted to override President Obama\u2019s veto of S. 2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which will allow the families of American victims of terrorist attacks to sue foreign states that aid and abet acts of terror that occur on U.S. soil.\n\tEarlier this month, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017 (S. 2943), compromise legislation with the Senate which will fully fund our Armed Forces and ensure that American troops have the resources required to successfully defend the homeland and achieve their missions abroad. The bill included my annual amendment to prohibit funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) for the implementation of the dangerous U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).\nAdditionally, here is a list of bills passed by the People's House over the last 12 months aimed at strengthening our counter-terrorism tools to help prevent homegrown and overseas terrorism:\n H.R. 4239 \u2013 The Tracking Foreign Fighters in Terrorist Safe Havens Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4408 \u2013 The National Strategy to Combat Terrorist Travel Act \n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4402 \u2013 The Foreign Fighter Review Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4401 \u2013 The Amplifying Local Efforts to Root Out Terror (ALERT) Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4314 \u2013 The Counterterrorism Screening and Assistance Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4403 \u2013 The Enhancing Overseas Traveler Vetting Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4820 \u2013 The Combating Terrorist Recruitment Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4240 \u2013 The No Fly for Foreign Fighters Act\n\t\t\u00a0\nH.R. 4407 \u2013 The Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act\n Serving Those Who Served Us\nIn January, I hosted a special ceremony at my district office in Sharon at which I had the immense honor of awarding multiple medals of distinction, including the Bronze Star, to Chester \u201cChet\u201d Burger of Hermitage for his military service in World War II. Mr. Burger is a U.S. Army veteran and a former prisoner of war.\nIn May, I introduced a bipartisan bill to designate the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care center in Center Township in Butler County as the \u201cAbie Abraham VA Clinic.\u201d Mr. Abraham \u2013 who passed away in 2012 \u2013 was a man who exemplified extraordinary valor and lifelong service to the United States, both abroad and at home. He fought valiantly in World War II, during which he was captured, endured the Bataan Death March, and, as a prisoner of war for three and a half years, was beaten, stabbed, and shot, and then survived malaria and starvation until he was eventually rescued by the 6th Rangers. My legislation to name the VA clinic after him (H.R. 5317) was approved by the House unanimously.\nAlso in May, the House passed H.R. 4974, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, by a bipartisan vote of 295-129.\nIn October, I was privileged to help present the Ambassador of Peace Medal to 11 veterans of the Korean War in Meadville. The medal is a tribute from our allies in South Korea, given in endless appreciation for the heroic service of such great Americans in defense of freedom. The ceremony was co-hosted by the office of Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA).\nLast month, the House unanimously passed five pieces of legislation to support American military veterans and reform the VA. I was very proud to see Congress take such strong and united action for our nation\u2019s veterans. Each man and woman who serves our country in uniform deserves the fullest respect and appreciation from every single American. Lawmakers in particular have a sacred duty to defend those who defended us in the legislation we pass, whether it\u2019s to protect their benefits, improve their health care, or help them find work on the homefront. These commonsense bills meet all these objectives and make sure the VA is supporting veterans with the utmost care and accountability.\nRolling Back Job-Killing Regulations\nOver the past eight years, the Obama administration has issued more than 20,000 new regulations which have cost our economy more than $100 billion each year. This kind of radical red tape has indisputably harmed small businesses and killed jobs and wages for millions of hardworking American families.\n\tEven after the results of the historic presidential election, President Obama has made it clear that he is determined to push through more rules and regulations until the last minute of his presidency. These kinds of regulations are commonly known as \u201cMidnight Rules\u201d and, frankly, presidents in both parties have made a historic habit of issuing them.\n\tAccording to the House Judiciary Committee, Midnight Rules issued during this period are typically rushed through and not properly vetted by agencies. They impose high costs on taxpayers and ignore the will of voters who just elected a new Congress or president. As a small-businessman, I am personally familiar with how crippling these rules (issued when almost no one is paying attention) can be.\n\tLast month my House colleagues and I passed the Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2016 (H.R. 5982) which will amend the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to allow Congress to disapprove (and therefore stop) entire sets of regulations submitted for review within 60 legislative days of the end of a presidential term. Under current law, Congress can only use the CRA to disapprove one regulation at a time. This commonsense bill can help prevent serious damage to our economy while also bringing an all-new level of transparency to the rule-making process.\n\tEarlier this month, I called on President-elect Donald Trump to use his executive authority, once in office, to cancel, rescind, and undo those of President Obama's executive orders which have negatively affected American energy, gun rights, health care, immigration, religious liberty, small businesses, and the right to life. The result will be a stronger economy, rescued livelihoods, and reaffirmed rights. I believe such decisive leadership would herald a long-awaited new era in Washington and, ultimately, a brighter future for our entire country.\n* * * * *\nAs I\u2019ve wholeheartedly said so many times, representing you and your neighbors in the People\u2019s House has been the honor of my lifetime. Any time my staff in Pennsylvania or Washington can be of service to you with a federal matter in any specific way, please do not hesitate to contact us via the information and locations listed below.\nI look forward to having your back in Congress in 2017 and working with President-elect Trump and his administration to make our country greater, stronger, and more prosperous for every American. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you.\nHave a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!\nSincerely,\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nMike Kelly\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nBUTLER DISTRICT OFFICE\n101 East Diamond St\nSuite 218\nButler, PA 16001\nPhone: (724) 282-2557\nFax: (724) 282-3682\n\u00a0\nERIE DISTRICT OFFICE\n208 E. Bayfront Parkway\nSuite 102\nErie, PA 16507\nPhone: (814) 454-8190\nFax: (814) 454-8197\n\u00a0\nSHARON DISTRICT OFFICE\n33 Chestnut Street\nSharon, PA\u00a016146\nPhone: (724) 342-7170\nFax: (724) 342-7242\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, DC OFFICE\n1707 Longworth HOB\nWashington, DC 20515\nPhone: (202) 225-5406\nFax: (202) 225-3103\n\u00a0\n###", 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": ["http://kelly.house.gov/press-release/rep-kelly-releases-year-end-report-2016"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2123561464250088, "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"}