Emanuel Cleaver: Build Back Better, infrastructure bills desperately needed

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

As the Summer of 2021 comes to a close and the fall season begins, I wanted to provide you with another update of my work in Congress. 

This week, I returned to Washington, D.C. following our district work period in August. During that time, I had the pleasure of meeting with a wide variety of constituents, advocacy groups, small businesses, local officials, and more. 

With Congress continuing its vital work to craft a reconciliation package that will help our nation build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that I hear directly from those I represent in the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri to understand where the federal response is succeeding and where it needs improvement--and the district work period was a tremendous opportunity to do just that.

Now that Congress has returned, we have a fuller plate than Thanksgiving dinner, including funding the government and our national defense, passing President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda, protecting voting rights and a woman's right to reproductive freedom, and the list goes on. We made great progress on a number of those issues this week, and I won't stop working until our business on behalf of the American people is finished.

Financial Services Committee Passes Reconciliation Bill

Last week, I was proud to join my colleagues in the House Financial Services Committee (FSC) in passing our portion of the reconciliation package, which is the vehicle being used to pass much of President Biden's Build Back Better economic agenda. 

As the Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, I am thrilled to report that the FSC's reconciliation bill includes more than $300 billion in funding for new and existing federal housing programs over the next 10 years. 

With housing prices continuing to rise in Missouri and around the country, it is absolutely critical that Congress provide substantial funding, through tax incentives and other investments, to increase our nation's affordable housing stock. 

The package passed by the FSC is estimated to create, preserve, or retrofit more than 3.1 million homes, allowing millions more working class families to achieve the American Dream through homeownership.

The Speaker has announced that the House of Representatives will finish crafting the bill over the weekend and vote on the reconciliation bill, formally known as the Build Back Better Act, next week. 

I believe this is one of the most important pieces of legislation since I arrived in Congress, as it will provide a historic tax cut for the middle class; make desperately needed investments to combat the climate crisis; provide paid family leave; increase our nation's affordable housing stock; lower prescription drug prices; and ensure the ultra-wealthy and corporations are paying their fair share in taxes. I will keep you apprised of the Build Back Better Act's movement through Congress, and I remain hopeful that we will get it signed into law for the American people.

House of Representatives Passes Bill to Prevent a Government Shutdown, Provide Disaster Relief, and Help for Afghan Evacuees

This week, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution (CR) to avert a government shutdown while we continue our work on a more robust yearlong funding package and ensure that seniors get their Social Security checks, our troops get their paychecks, and our veterans receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. 

Included in the CR was more than $28 billion in relief for communities that have been devastated by recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Ida, wildfires, flooding, and more. 

I was proud to support the bill because I firmly believe that allowing the federal government to shut down in the middle of a pandemic would be the height of irresponsibility, and I believe strongly that we have an obligation to our fellow Americans to lend a helping hand when an uncontrollable disaster occurs. The bill also contains more than $6.3 billion to support our Afghan allies who were evacuated from the country.

You can find more information on the CR and my support for the legislation here.

House of Representatives Passes Bill to Fund National Defense

Every year the House of Representatives is obligated to pass a national defense bill that ensures our military is funded and our troops get the paychecks they are owed. 

This week, I was proud to join my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with overwhelming bipartisan support. 

Some of the provisions in this year's NDAA that I supported are providing our men and women in uniform with a 2.7% pay raise, increasing the allowable parental leave for military families, making critical improvements to military health care, including easier access to mental health services, combatting sexual assault in the military, and strengthening our alliances with allies around the globe.

I'm also pleased to report that three of the amendments I authored were adopted into the NDAA with bipartisan support. These amendments will help to protect TSA workers and airline passengers from COVID-19, strengthen our national security apparatus's ability to crack down on money laundering and other illicit financial activity from nefarious actors, and strengthen our relationship with western Europe by creating the Alcee L. Hastings Leadership Institute for Inclusive Transatlantic Engagement. While I have never seen an NDAA that I thought was perfect, I strongly believe that democracy demands compromise, and this year's NDAA is the result of a fair negotiation that will ensure the safety of the American people. For that reason, I was proud to support the bill.

More information on the NDAA passed by the House of Representatives this week is available here.

Next Week: Passing President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda

Next week, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (BID) and the Build Back Better Act. In conjunction, these two pieces of legislation will fulfill the promises of President Biden and tilt the balance of power away from the wealthiest 1% and back to the middle class--where it ought to be.

I believe that both bills are desperately needed to not only ensure a swift recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but to guarantee we build back better than ever before. While negotiating landmark legislation like this is always difficult, I remain ever hopeful that Congress will get this done for the American people.