Dear Colleague: Update on the Late April Work Period
Press Types
Internal
For Immediate Release:
April 22, 2022
Dear Colleague:
I hope that all of you had a productive and meaningful work period at home with your constituents, listening to their concerns and letting them know about all the work we are doing to ensure that we are delivering for our communities. Some of you, as I did, spent time traveling overseas to meet with American allies, aid workers, diplomats, and service members to gain firsthand insight into the challenges facing our country and the world, including Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the economic consequences of sanctions against Russia, and the global climate crisis. I was proud to lead a bipartisan delegation to Europe last week and connect with key NATO allies and partners in Germany, Denmark, and Poland to discuss our shared commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people. Clearly, much is at stake for the world as free nations confront dictatorships bent on violating human rights, destabilizing the world’s economy, and threatening global security. As we return to Washington next week, the House will again engage in a busy schedule of legislating and demonstrating that representative democracy provides an unrivaled stability and responsiveness that allows our government to deliver For The People.
This coming week, the House will consider legislation to defend democracy by making it easier to provide Ukraine with the defense systems it needs to defeat the Russian invasion of its sovereign territory. The Senate has already passed S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, and the House will follow suit next week. I want to thank Chairman Meeks of the Foreign Affairs Committee for his support in allowing for an expedited consideration of this important legislation. The House will also stand ready to act on the additional supplemental appropriations requested by President Biden this week to provide further support for Ukraine’s defense.
In addition, the House will take up H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, sponsored by Rep. Brad Schneider. This legislation will provide the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security with the tools and resources they need to monitor, investigate, and prosecute domestic terrorism cases and keep our communities, our military, and our democratic system of government safe from neo-Nazi and white-supremacist groups. In recent years, we have seen just how fragile even the strongest democracy can be as well as the serious and violent threat posed by extremist groups willing to engage in domestic terrorism.
Also next week, we will take up three bills under suspension to provide assistance to small businesses and help entrepreneurs get ahead. Already, we have seen a boom in small-business growth under the Biden-Harris Administration and the Democratic Congress. Last year, 5.4 million American applied for small-business licenses – we need to keep up that strong pace. To do so, we will consider three bills next week: H.R. 6441, Rep. Davids’s Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act; H.R. 6445, Rep. Golden’s Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act; and H.R. 4877, Rep. Delgado’s One Stop Shop for Small Business Compliance Act. Together, they will cut red tape and make more resources available to entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can grow, create good jobs in our communities, and help bring prices down for Americans. With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we were able to enact many of the infrastructure policies from the Make It In America plan; through the American COMPETES Act, we passed many of that plan’s education and skills training components. Now, we are making a strong start with these three bills on the Make It In America plan’s third leg, which is supporting entrepreneurship.
Our Caucus also remains focused on addressing inflation and lowering costs. The House has passed the America COMPETES Act and voted to go to conference with the Senate, but Leader McConnell and some Senate Republicans have delayed action to move forward toward negotiating a final version of a bipartisan innovation bill that can be enacted into law. Such legislation would directly address inflation by on-shoring more of our supply chains and promoting the growth of advanced manufacturing here in America. It would ensure that more of the critical components used in building today’s in-demand products and vehicles, like microchips and semiconductors, are themselves produced here. This will both help lower inflation and protect our national security. The Senate ought to take action without further delay so that we can proceed to a conference committee.
Again, I look forward to seeing everyone back in Washington on Tuesday. As we look ahead to the May legislative work period and beyond, I will provide additional details about our ongoing efforts to build a better and stronger America, including through addressing gas prices, potential COVID-19 relief, defense authorization, Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations, further support for Ukraine, and other priorities. Together, we will continue to show Americans how our Democratic House Majority is governing responsibly on their behalf and working to help more of our people make it in America – while defending democracy at home and around the world.
Sincerely,
STENY H. HOYER
House Majority Leader
I hope that all of you had a productive and meaningful work period at home with your constituents, listening to their concerns and letting them know about all the work we are doing to ensure that we are delivering for our communities. Some of you, as I did, spent time traveling overseas to meet with American allies, aid workers, diplomats, and service members to gain firsthand insight into the challenges facing our country and the world, including Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the economic consequences of sanctions against Russia, and the global climate crisis. I was proud to lead a bipartisan delegation to Europe last week and connect with key NATO allies and partners in Germany, Denmark, and Poland to discuss our shared commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people. Clearly, much is at stake for the world as free nations confront dictatorships bent on violating human rights, destabilizing the world’s economy, and threatening global security. As we return to Washington next week, the House will again engage in a busy schedule of legislating and demonstrating that representative democracy provides an unrivaled stability and responsiveness that allows our government to deliver For The People.
This coming week, the House will consider legislation to defend democracy by making it easier to provide Ukraine with the defense systems it needs to defeat the Russian invasion of its sovereign territory. The Senate has already passed S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, and the House will follow suit next week. I want to thank Chairman Meeks of the Foreign Affairs Committee for his support in allowing for an expedited consideration of this important legislation. The House will also stand ready to act on the additional supplemental appropriations requested by President Biden this week to provide further support for Ukraine’s defense.
In addition, the House will take up H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, sponsored by Rep. Brad Schneider. This legislation will provide the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security with the tools and resources they need to monitor, investigate, and prosecute domestic terrorism cases and keep our communities, our military, and our democratic system of government safe from neo-Nazi and white-supremacist groups. In recent years, we have seen just how fragile even the strongest democracy can be as well as the serious and violent threat posed by extremist groups willing to engage in domestic terrorism.
Also next week, we will take up three bills under suspension to provide assistance to small businesses and help entrepreneurs get ahead. Already, we have seen a boom in small-business growth under the Biden-Harris Administration and the Democratic Congress. Last year, 5.4 million American applied for small-business licenses – we need to keep up that strong pace. To do so, we will consider three bills next week: H.R. 6441, Rep. Davids’s Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act; H.R. 6445, Rep. Golden’s Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act; and H.R. 4877, Rep. Delgado’s One Stop Shop for Small Business Compliance Act. Together, they will cut red tape and make more resources available to entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can grow, create good jobs in our communities, and help bring prices down for Americans. With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we were able to enact many of the infrastructure policies from the Make It In America plan; through the American COMPETES Act, we passed many of that plan’s education and skills training components. Now, we are making a strong start with these three bills on the Make It In America plan’s third leg, which is supporting entrepreneurship.
Our Caucus also remains focused on addressing inflation and lowering costs. The House has passed the America COMPETES Act and voted to go to conference with the Senate, but Leader McConnell and some Senate Republicans have delayed action to move forward toward negotiating a final version of a bipartisan innovation bill that can be enacted into law. Such legislation would directly address inflation by on-shoring more of our supply chains and promoting the growth of advanced manufacturing here in America. It would ensure that more of the critical components used in building today’s in-demand products and vehicles, like microchips and semiconductors, are themselves produced here. This will both help lower inflation and protect our national security. The Senate ought to take action without further delay so that we can proceed to a conference committee.
Again, I look forward to seeing everyone back in Washington on Tuesday. As we look ahead to the May legislative work period and beyond, I will provide additional details about our ongoing efforts to build a better and stronger America, including through addressing gas prices, potential COVID-19 relief, defense authorization, Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations, further support for Ukraine, and other priorities. Together, we will continue to show Americans how our Democratic House Majority is governing responsibly on their behalf and working to help more of our people make it in America – while defending democracy at home and around the world.
Sincerely,
STENY H. HOYER
House Majority Leader