As the saying goes, “A little progress each day adds up to big results.” Just as long-term pressure creates diamonds or water in a river eventually smooths stone, dedicated and persistent efforts often yield big results. As we mark the first 500 days of the Trump administration, our continuous efforts in the House of Representatives have added up to some impressive wins for the American people. Make no mistake, there’s still much more work to do, but we are getting our nation back on the right track and making a real difference in people’s lives.
This Congress, we’ve taken the lead on keeping our promises to the American people. So far, we’ve passed 695 bills out of the House, with 175 of them being signed into law by President Donald Trump. What are those bills we’ve passed? How about tax cuts that have led to more jobs and more take-home pay for working families across the country? How about bipartisan legislation to reduce the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids across our borders and to get these dangerous drugs off our streets? How about bipartisan legislation to give critically ill patients the ability to try innovative and potentially lifesaving medications? All of these and more have already been signed into law.
This week we also added two more major accomplishments to that growing list. President Trump signed the bipartisan Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act, the most significant pediatric cancer research bill ever passed by Congress. As the co-chair of the Pediatric Trauma Caucus and a proud father, I recognize how critical it is to care for our children, and this is another important step to help deliver hope and cures to children and their families.
Another piece of legislation that was signed into law this week was the VA MISSION Act. This bipartisan bill seeks to make good on one of our most sacred promises to take care of our men and women in uniform both before and after their service. By condensing all the various community care programs at the VA into one single program, we can empower veterans to more easily access a doctor who suits their unique needs. This bill follows the same principles of my bill, the Care Veterans Deserve Act, to make sure veterans can access private health care if they want.
While we celebrate these accomplishments, I know there is still a lot of work to be done. Unfortunately, there are still more than 500 House-passed bills that are collecting dust waiting on action in the Senate. These are not meaningless bills either — they are critical initiatives like improving job opportunities for veterans and helping to end human trafficking.
This Congress, Washington continues to be plagued by historic obstructionism by the likes of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi who would rather play political games than come to the negotiation table in good faith. However, I know there is too much at stake to give up. As your voice in Congress, I’ll continue to push for our shared values.
