releases: https://medium.com/@RepBetoORourke/end-of-year-update-808ba317f354?source=rss-964ef69221bc------2
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://medium.com/@RepBetoORourke/end-of-year-update-808ba317f354?source=rss-964ef69221bc------2 | End of year update | 2014-12-31 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Democrat | House | TX | Beto O'Rourke | O000170 | medium.com | legacy | End of yearupdate December 29, 2014 I like to keep these updates as brief and to the point as I can. I know you get a lot of email, and you dont need more to read from me. However, since I conclude my first term in Congress this week and begin a new one in January, Id ask your indulgence as I provide a quick recap of our efforts in the 113th Congress and conclude with the last significant vote I took this year, a no vote on the spending bill. *** Weve done a lot during the 113th session of Congress: helped thousands of constituents in our El Paso office, voted on hundreds of important bills in the Capitol and held dozens of town hall meetings throughout the community. Theres no easy way to summarize and account for it all in this email, so I thought Id take you through three significant issues that are important both for El Paso and the country. The first is our obligation to our service members and their families. Soon after I took office we were forced to confront the consequences of the across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester. While the sequester hit every federal agency, one group that stood out to me was our service members. In particular, we learned that service members were to lose access to the Tuition Assistance program, which affords them up to $4,500 per year to attend UTEP, El Paso Community College or other schools of higher-learning. After hearing from family members of those stationed at Fort Bliss, we introduced a bill to restore 100 percent of the funding. We partnered with key Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee and ultimately were able to restore funding for the remainder of 2013. By listening to the families of our service members, working across the aisle and not accepting the status quo we helped solve the problem and kept faith with our service members across the country and especially the nearly 33,000 incredibly brave men and women at Fort Bliss. At the same time that we were addressing the impacts of the sequester, we realized that problems at the VA were worse than we first believed. While the VA insisted it was meeting access requirements for El Paso, I was hearing from hundreds of veterans at my town hall meetings and in our office about the difficulty of getting in to see a doctor or mental health provider. To resolve the discrepancy, I commissioned a survey of El Pasos veterans who confirmed what we had been hearing: one-third who attempted to get mental health care could not, and average wait times for primary care were over 80 days. We exposed a deep divide between the VAs message and the reality faced by many El Paso veterans. Due to this work, and our oversight efforts on the Veterans Affairs Committee, we were able to obtain a commitment from VA leadership to turn around El Pasos clinic. To date, that has translated into millions of dollars to hire additional providers, an improving customer-focused attitude, and new leadership. There is a long way to go, and we are far from satisfied, but we are making significant progress. Lastly, the border is an issue that defines us and provides our greatest opportunitieswhether we look at it economically, culturally or on its impact to our quality of life. For example, our international bridges carry $90 billion in U.S./Mexico trade every year. That trade is connected to 25% of the jobs in El Paso, nearly 500,000 in Texas and over six million throughout the U.S. We also are a perfect example of the positive impact that immigration has on border communities and the country beyond. In large part because (and not in spite) of the fact that we have such a large immigrant community, we are the safest city in America four years running. We have served as the Ellis Island for Mexico and Central America for decades and have contributed mightily to the growth and development of the America we know today. This should be a point of pride for El Paso, and another way for us to take our place as a leading American city. This unique position and perspective has led us to author a bi-partisan immigration bill and introduce bi-partisan legislation to improve conditions at our ports of entry. Its also compelled me to argue forcefully for a rational and humane approach to border issues in the national debate. *** And now to bring us up to speed on the latest legislative developments from the Capitol. One of the last votes I took this year was on the spending bill, H.R. 83, which would fund all major departments for the rest of the fiscal year with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded for three months. Funding the government is one of the most important responsibilities I have as your representative, and it is one of the most important jobs that we have as a Congress. I began the process of reviewing the details of what became known as the CRomnibus (for Continuing Resolution and Omnibus) with the intent of finding a way to support the legislation. For example, the CRomnibus provides more than $130 million to continue construction of the new hospital on Fort Bliss, funding to tackle the VA claims backlog and provide mental health services to our veterans, and a continued emphasis on hiring more Customs and Border Protection officers to staff ports of entry in El Paso and throughout the country. However, I voted against this bill because of two particularly troubling policy riders: The first would allow banks to engage in custom swaps, which were prohibited after the 2008 financial meltdown that caused the Great Recession. Much of the bill language to neuter this provision of Dodd-Frank was apparently written by lobbyists for Citigroup. The second would allow donors to spend vastly greater amounts to support the national political parties, from $32,400 per year to $324,000 per year and would bring the amount of money that wealthy donors can give to political parties, recount efforts and individual federal campaigns to nearly $5 million per couple per election cycle. Both issues will have a significant impact on our economy and our democracy, yet they received no hearings or debate as part of the omnibus negotiations and were slipped in at the last minute in a must-pass spending bill. Ultimately, I decided that we cannot trade 10 months of spending certainty for two permanent provisions that have the potential to cause long-lasting negative effects on this country. *** In spite of the disappointing provisions in the spending bill, its important to note that this was a much better process than last years, where political differences led to a government shutdown. Its easy enough to bemoan Congress and government in general; there is dysfunction enough to warrant it. But for me, and I hope for El Paso, next year holds much promise and opportunity. Examples of where me might make progress include: immigration reform, tax reform, defining our role abroad and connecting our position on the border to the national interest. Improving the VA, strengthening Fort Bliss, and bringing greater balance to our countrys budget. Reforming Congress, making it more accountable and reflective our priorities. I am grateful for the chance to work on these and other issues on your behalf. Thank you for giving me this opportunity and this responsibility. I am excited, energized and optimistic about what is to come. Buenas noches 2014. Buenos das 2015. Sincerely, Beto ORourke Member of Congress | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |