Fall has arrived in Tennessee’s 6th District, even though it still feels like summer today! This week in Washington, I met with students from the University of Tennessee, welcomed 6th District veterans to Washington for an “Honor Flight” visit, and was privileged to take home an award from the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC). Here are the top three highlights from the week that I wanted to share with you:
No More Ransom Payments
Remember when then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi famously said of Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”? With each passing day, it appears that Democrats in Washington have taken the same approach to President Obama’s reckless Iranian nuclear agreement, which I voted against. We now know with certainty that the Obama Administration paid Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, a secret $1.7 billion ransom in exchange for the release of five American prisoners who were unjustly detained. Then, the Obama Administration lied about it — to Congress and to the American people. These concessions to Iran will only fuel more acts of terrorism against the United States and our allies, which is why the House acted this week to pass H.R. 5931, the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act. The bill prohibits the U.S. Government from making any payments to the government of Iran until we can certify that Iran is not a money laundering concern or a state sponsor of terrorism. You can see how every member of Congress voted on the bill here.
Protecting Life and Taxpayer Dollars
Earlier this month, I wrote to you about the Obama Administration’s efforts to boost taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider — through the form of a backdoor government “rule.” Today, I responded by joining with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) to lead more than 100 members of Congress in a bipartisan letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging the agency to reverse course and withdraw the rule from consideration. I’m also working to raise awareness of this administrative overreach across the country, which is why I published an op-ed about the Obama Administration’s actions on FoxNews.com. Read my op-ed HERE and be sure to share it with your friends.
If You Have No Options, There Should Be No Fine
The President’s healthcare law is imploding in Tennessee and failing to deliver on its most basic promises across the country. With rising premiums, insurers leaving the Obamacare exchanges in droves, and our own state insurance commissioner describing the Obamacare marketplace in Tennessee as “very near collapse,” it is clear that something has to change. Worse, the federal government has NO law in place to protect taxpayers from Obamacare fines in the event that all insurers pull out of a particular marketplace. That means that, even if you had no insurance options to choose from, you would still be subject to Obamacare’s individual mandate, which levies a penalty for not buying insurance. That is why I introduced the Relief from Obamacare Exchange Failures Act this week — legislation shielding you from Obamacare penalties if more insurers were to pull out of Obamacare. I’ve previously voted to repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate altogether, but at the very least Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on scrapping this mandate for those who have no options. That is exactly what my bill would do.
