Emanuel Cleaver offers breakdown on Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, other bills

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

I want to relay the announcement of the Inflation Reduction Act. This proposal, announced last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin, contains many of the priorities that President Biden and I have been fighting for since the start of the 117th Congress. 

It would reduce the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans, lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, provide historic investments in climate action to reduce America's carbon emissions by 40 percent, and help pay down our national debt to combat inflation--and all of it is paid for by making giant corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.

While there are still many hurdles to climb over and hoops to jump through, I am hopeful that Congress can pass this reconciliation bill to lower costs on hardworking families, combat the existential threat of climate change, and ensure America's energy security for decades to come. 

As the proposal makes its way through the legislative process, I will be sure to keep you apprised of its movement through Congress.

Congress Sends CHIPS and Science Act to President Biden's Desk

As the global pandemic has strained supply chains, American families have seen prices rise, including the wide variety of goods that contain microchips. 

Whether you realize it or not, microchips are in everything from washing machines and refrigerators to cars and televisions--and one of the key reasons Missourians are spending more of their hard-earned paychecks on these items is due to Congress's failure to invest in the manufacturing necessary to create American-made semiconductors right here at home. But that is about to change.

Last week, I was proud to join my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 4346, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, which will help lower costs for hardworking families, strengthen American manufacturing, and create roughly 100,000 good-paying jobs in Missouri and other states across the country. 

The CHIPS and Science Act will do that by making a $52 billion investment to bolster America's semiconductor industry, fund critical research and development projects, strengthen our semiconductor supply chains, and reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers--which is critical to ensuring our economic and national security in the decades to come.

By making more of these components in America, we can help lower the cost of making everyday items like microwaves, cellphones, cars, and more--which should, in turn, lower the prices families pay for these critical goods. I know that inflation is at the top of mind for Missourians, and as the CHIPS and Science Act makes its way to President Biden's desk to be signed into law, I want you to know that I am committed to doing everything possible to lower prices for the public. I believe this legislation will help to do that in a major way.

You can find more information on my support for the CHIPS and Science Act here.

House of Representatives Passes Legislation to Protect Americans' Fundamental Freedoms

Missouri and other states in our union are already seeing the horrifying consequences of the extreme agenda to criminalize women's reproductive health decisions since the Supreme Court upended 50 years of legal precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade. 

For that reason, the House of Representatives has urgently worked to pass legislation that would protect fundamental freedoms Americans have relied on for decades. 

Four bills that the House of Representatives has passed, and that I proudly supported, would protect long-held rights that have been explicitly called into question by lawmakers and Supreme Court justices. 

These bills include:

The Women's Health Protection Act, which would once again make the legal protections of Roe v. Wade the law of the land;

The Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which would prevent State Legislatures from criminalizing, fining, or suing women who exercise their constitutional right to travel across state lines to obtain reproductive care;

The Right to Contraception Act, which guarantees the right to obtain and use birth control as established in the Supreme Court's Griswold decision, including oral contraception, emergency contraception, and IUDs; and

The Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine the right to marriage equality for same sex and interracial couples into federal law.

I believe a woman's health decisions are her own to make, in consultation with her doctor and loved ones--not to be dictated by state governments. 

While I find it baffling that some elected officials would prefer to roll back fundamental rights in an effort to exercise greater government control over women's bodies, I will continue to defend these freedoms for as long as I represent the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri. 

I have already called for the Senate to pass each of these bills, with or without the filibuster, to ensure this generation of Americans aren't afforded fewer rights than their parents--and I'll keep fighting to get these bills to President Biden as soon as possible.

You can find more information on my support for each of these important bills here, here, and here.