February 09th, 2023
COVID is over—even Joe Biden admitted it. It is far past time to start undoing the harm that COVID hysteria caused our country, and it starts by reinstating our healthcare workers who should never have been fired for refusing to take the vaccine, requiring federal employees to actually show up to work, and cutting wasteful COVID spending.
This week, the House passed four bills that I cosponsored to end the COVID pandemic:
H. R. 382, the Pandemic is Over Act, orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to rescind the public health emergency declaration and relinquish all emergency powers that the executive branch has assumed.
H. R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, ends the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and nullifies the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ vaccine rule.
H. J. Res. 7 declares the COVID national emergency is over. Biden has abused his self-declared emergency powers to justify his student loan scam and other unrelated liberal wish list items. This legislation will rescind the declaration of the COVID national emergency and terminate 120 special statutory powers only meant for times of actual emergency that are being abused by the Biden administration.
H. R. 139, the SHOW UP Act requires federal employees to show up to work again. According to one disturbing report by the Federal Times, just one in three federal workers has returned to their office full-time. Equally disturbing, a leaked memo from January 2021 to the then-chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services showed that between 20 and 30 percent of the Department’s employees did not log into work on any given day between March and December during 2020.
THREE OF MY AMENDMENTS PASS THE HOUSE WITH BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
I passed three amendments to the Strategic Production Response Act through the House of Representatives: two by unanimous bipartisan consent and one via a recorded vote with bipartisan support and five Democrats supporting the amendment. These important legislative provisions will deliver big wins for Colorado’s Third District by increasing government transparency, helping reduce gas prices, increasing American energy production, and protecting Colorado energy jobs.
With the historic changes to the House rules that I helped secure, the House is now functioning as it should, with Members on both sides of the aisle debating and voting on policy issues that will help the American people. The American people want solutions, not just rhetoric, and that’s exactly what we accomplished with these three amendments.
My Amendment No. 32 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will enhance congressional oversight and government transparency by requiring the Biden administration to submit its plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands to the relevant congressional committees.
My Amendment No. 137 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will require the Secretary of the Interior to identify areas for responsible energy leasing within Colorado’s Thompson Divide. This will provide a voice for local communities which were ignored and cut out of the process when Biden unilaterally locked up nearly 300,000 acres in Colorado—including the Third District—through the stroke of a pen. I have consistently opposed Biden’s decision to unilaterally lock up land in the Thompson Divide from energy development, and local stakeholders have spoken out about how this process unfairly failed to address their concerns.
Finally, My Amendment No. 33 passed the House with bipartisan support and five Democrats voting in favor. It will allow a 15% increase to responsible energy production on federal lands to help combat rising gas prices. On Biden’s watch, gas prices have increased by 40%, devastating families across rural Colorado. We need commonsense energy policies that work for rural communities, and my bipartisan amendment is a step in the right direction.
Committee
CONDUCTING CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT ON COVID FRAUD
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held its first hearing on government COVID waste, fraud, and abuse. Preliminary investigations estimate that at least $560 billion in federal funds were lost. About $400 billion in taxpayer money was stolen by fraudulent unemployment claims, with 70% of the money going to organized crime in China, Nigeria, and Russia.
Congress owes it to taxpayers to account for the money that was lost and to prosecute criminals who took advantage of the American people. I am working to ensure that federal agencies use all available resources to track down and recover the lost funds. back...
This week, the House passed four bills that I cosponsored to end the COVID pandemic:
H. R. 382, the Pandemic is Over Act, orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to rescind the public health emergency declaration and relinquish all emergency powers that the executive branch has assumed.
H. R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, ends the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and nullifies the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ vaccine rule.
H. J. Res. 7 declares the COVID national emergency is over. Biden has abused his self-declared emergency powers to justify his student loan scam and other unrelated liberal wish list items. This legislation will rescind the declaration of the COVID national emergency and terminate 120 special statutory powers only meant for times of actual emergency that are being abused by the Biden administration.
H. R. 139, the SHOW UP Act requires federal employees to show up to work again. According to one disturbing report by the Federal Times, just one in three federal workers has returned to their office full-time. Equally disturbing, a leaked memo from January 2021 to the then-chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services showed that between 20 and 30 percent of the Department’s employees did not log into work on any given day between March and December during 2020.
THREE OF MY AMENDMENTS PASS THE HOUSE WITH BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
I passed three amendments to the Strategic Production Response Act through the House of Representatives: two by unanimous bipartisan consent and one via a recorded vote with bipartisan support and five Democrats supporting the amendment. These important legislative provisions will deliver big wins for Colorado’s Third District by increasing government transparency, helping reduce gas prices, increasing American energy production, and protecting Colorado energy jobs.
With the historic changes to the House rules that I helped secure, the House is now functioning as it should, with Members on both sides of the aisle debating and voting on policy issues that will help the American people. The American people want solutions, not just rhetoric, and that’s exactly what we accomplished with these three amendments.
My Amendment No. 32 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will enhance congressional oversight and government transparency by requiring the Biden administration to submit its plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands to the relevant congressional committees.
My Amendment No. 137 passed the House with bipartisan unanimous consent. It will require the Secretary of the Interior to identify areas for responsible energy leasing within Colorado’s Thompson Divide. This will provide a voice for local communities which were ignored and cut out of the process when Biden unilaterally locked up nearly 300,000 acres in Colorado—including the Third District—through the stroke of a pen. I have consistently opposed Biden’s decision to unilaterally lock up land in the Thompson Divide from energy development, and local stakeholders have spoken out about how this process unfairly failed to address their concerns.
Finally, My Amendment No. 33 passed the House with bipartisan support and five Democrats voting in favor. It will allow a 15% increase to responsible energy production on federal lands to help combat rising gas prices. On Biden’s watch, gas prices have increased by 40%, devastating families across rural Colorado. We need commonsense energy policies that work for rural communities, and my bipartisan amendment is a step in the right direction.
Committee
CONDUCTING CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT ON COVID FRAUD
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held its first hearing on government COVID waste, fraud, and abuse. Preliminary investigations estimate that at least $560 billion in federal funds were lost. About $400 billion in taxpayer money was stolen by fraudulent unemployment claims, with 70% of the money going to organized crime in China, Nigeria, and Russia.
Congress owes it to taxpayers to account for the money that was lost and to prosecute criminals who took advantage of the American people. I am working to ensure that federal agencies use all available resources to track down and recover the lost funds. back...
