Dear Friend,
As we break for the August District Work Period, I wanted to keep you up to date on the exciting things going on in Congress. I know many of you have been watching discussions here in Washington about health care reform, and I truly appreciate all the feedback my office has been receiving. It has been a busy couple of months!
It is important to me to stay actively engaged and connected with the residents of the 53rd District. If you would like to share your thoughts and opinions with me about federal issues or other matters of concern to you, please feel free to email me here, call my San Diego office at (619) 280-5353, or contact my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-2040.
If you would like to be unsubscribed from this newsletter for any reason, please click here.
It continues to be an honor to serve you in Congress!
Warm Regards,
Susan
i. Upcoming Events
This is a list of forums, events, and workshops I will hold in San Diego during the upcoming weeks. Mark your calendars, and I hope to see you there!
Consumer Credit and Identity Theft Workshop
DATE: Monday, August 24, 2009
TIME: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
LOCATION: Bayside Community Center, 2202 Comstock St., San Diego, CA 92111
Please join me for a workshop on protecting your credit and preventing identity theft. Learn about recent federal reform of the credit card industry, how to build a better credit report, and get information on how to avoid, report and recover from identity theft.
Water Workshop
DATE: Tuesday, August 25, 2009
TIME: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
LOCATION: USD Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110
Join me along with representatives from the City of San Diego Water Department, the San Diego County Water Authority, the San Diego Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association and the University of San Diego’s Facilities Management Department as they share the best practices for conserving water for outdoor use.
Grants Workshop
DATE: Wednesday, August 26, 2009
TIME: 12:30pm – 2:30pm
LOCATION: NTC Promenade Command Center, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, CA 92106
*Parking is available in lots adjacent to the Command Center
Join me to learn the basics about how to find and apply for federal and private grants. This event focuses on grants for organizations and will also provide information on how to access funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Housing Clinic
DATE: Saturday, August 29, 2009
TIME: 10:00am – 2:00pm
LOCATION: City Heights Center, 4305 University Ave., Sixth Floor, Room 640
Join me for a workshop to help distressed homeowners. The workshop will include HUD approved housing counselors, Housing Opportunities Collaborative’s Home Clinic attorneys, real estate and mortgage industry professionals, housing counseling agencies, fair housing agencies, and other public agencies at one location to connect distressed homeowners to legal assistance, consumer protection assistance, credit counseling, and fair housing resources. Space is limited so please RSVP by calling (619) 280-5353.
Green Jobs Forum
DATE: Saturday, August 29, 2009
TIME: 12:00pm – 1:30pm
LOCATION: San Diego Workforce Partnership, 3910 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92105
Join me, the San Diego Workforce Partnership and other community and business leaders at this Green Jobs Forum. This is a unique opportunity to learn about job training and employment opportunities in San Diego’s growing green jobs sector, including many green projects scheduled to begin in 2009 and 2010.
Lemon Grove/La Presa Neighborhood Day
DATE: Saturday, August 29, 2009
TIME: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
LOCATION: Spring Valley Branch Library, 836 Kempton St., Spring Valley, CA 91977
ii. Healthcare Update
As you know, the House has been working hard to pass healthcare reform. Earlier this month, I held roundtables in San Diego to get input on this from a variety of leaders in the 53rd district’s health field and talk about what aspects of reform are most important to San Diego. I met with constituents, representatives from non-profit advocacy organizations, hospital administrators, staff from pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies, representatives from San Diego’s community clinics, and staff from national and local health plans.
These meetings helped prepare me for the close to 20-hour discussion, review and debate of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) in the Education and Labor Committee. Two amendments I offered were included in the final version of the bill passed out of Committee. The first would extend COBRA coverage for the unemployed until they find another job offering coverage or until health care reforms take effect. Those who have lost their jobs need some way to keep their insurance until they can get coverage elsewhere.
H.R. 3200 will also put guidelines into place that all health insurance policies will need to cover, such as prescription drugs and hospital stays. While serving in the California Assembly, we passed laws to ensure all Californians had quality health insurance, including direct access to OB-GYN care and to “second opinions.” I offered another amendment requiring that state laws will be considered and states given direct input while establishing new health coverage standards for the nation.
H.R. 3200, which seeks to curb skyrocketing costs, provide care for everyone, and maintain quality care, is expected to reach the House floor in September if the bill keeps moving forward. The legislation puts new guidelines on health insurance policies to guarantee that Americans can access coverage regardless of an illness in their medical histories – known as a “preexisting condition.” Also under the bill, you cannot be dropped from coverage by an insurance company or ever reach a “lifetime” limit should you or a member of your family suffer from a serious illness. Finally, H.R. 3200 gives you the ability to keep the insurance coverage you have if you like it. You can read more about healthcare on my website here.iii. Climate Bill
The House recently passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act on June 26, 2009. This comprehensive legislation plans to create millions of new green jobs, lower consumers’ energy costs, boost America’s energy independence, and cut global warming pollution. It sets up a system that will hold the biggest polluters accountable.
Among many things, this bill requires electric utilities to meet 20 percent of their electricity demand through renewable energy sources by 2020, works to prevent tropical deforestation, limits the amount of mass emissions put into our atmosphere, modernizes our electricity grid, and promotes research and development of more energy efficiency solutions.
While this bill alone won’t solve this issue, it is a good start. It is also important for each of us to make personal changes in our habits and lifestyles. This will mean conserving more, using less, and making sure that our homes and our vehicles are as environment-friendly as possible. To read more about what is being done to help the environment click here .
iV. Project Labor Agreements
To help keep the voices of working San Diegans heard during these difficult economic times, I sent a letter to the General Service Administration and the Department of Defense to urge federal agencies to use Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) in their large-scale construction projects in the San Diego region. PLAs ensure that workers on construction projects have access to healthcare and are hired locally, and they encourage the inclusion of women, minorities, veterans and other underrepresented groups.
v. Elections Bills
Just this week the House passed one of my election reform bills, the Absentee Ballot Track Receive and Confirm (TRAC) Act (H.R. 2510). This legislation makes it possible through a grant program for states to establish absentee ballot tracking systems that will allow voters to easily find out, online or through an automated phone system, whether an elections office has sent out a ballot, whether a completed ballot has arrived back at the registrar’s office and whether the ballot was actually counted.
This is the first in a trio of bills I have been working on to make the elections process more fair and transparent. The Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act (H.R. 281) would give everyone nationwide the option to vote absentee for any reason. The Federal Election Integrity Act (H.R. 512) would prohibit a chief election official of a state from serving on federal campaign committees or engaging in other political activity on behalf of federal candidates in any election over which the official is supervising. Both of these bills were approved by the House Administration Committee and forwarded to the full House of Representatives. You can track these bills and read more about them here.VI. Defense News
Working with the Department of Defense and my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee, I was able to secure authorization for funding to support military personnel as well as critical San Diego programs and projects in the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act.
As Chairwoman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I worked to ensure a 3.4 percent pay raise for servicemembers and $1.95 billion to allow for family housing programs that will help expand and improve on current housing for military families. In addition, the bill continues funding to replace storage tanks at the Point Loma Naval Station where a fuel leak has resulted in a large fuel plume contaminating the ground in and around the facility.
Also, the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act, which passed earlier this summer, included an amendment I authored to reduce government waste in the defense contracting system by encouraging the unbundling of defense contracts. This will give small businesses greater opportunities to secure contracts, which will increase competition, reduce costs, and streamline the entire process.VII. Courthouse Update
As I mentioned in previous E-Newsletters, I continue to champion the construction of the new San Diego courthouse annex. Some of my San Diego colleagues and I have worked hard to bring this project to fruition. I was so pleased when the House Appropriations Committee included in the Fiscal Year 2009 omnibus appropriations bill the additional $110 million needed to begin construction.
As you know, a great deal of work has been done locally to prepare for the San Diego courthouse construction project. The site for the new courthouse annex has been sitting empty and cleared for some time now. The City of San Diego has closed adjacent streets and moved public utility lines for construction of the building. Unfortunately, a groundbreaking scheduled for June was postponed. However, I assure you I am working diligently here in Washington, DC, to ensure that this project moves forward expeditiously.viii. Equal Justice For Our Military
As Chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, I have long been a strong advocate for our servicemembers. I am therefore pleased to tell you that the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy recently convened a hearing on my bill, H.R. 569, the Equal Justice for our Military Act, to allow all servicemembers with cases pending in the military judicial system access to the Supreme Court. I was pleased to testify at the hearing, along with retired Major General John D. Altenburg, a former Deputy Judge Advocate General, and attorney Dwight H. Sullivan. In addition, the subcommittee held a mark-up of the bill and reported it favorably to the full House Judiciary Committee for consideration.
Under current law, most members of the military who are convicted of offenses under the military justice system do not have the legal right to appeal their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is unjust to deny members of our armed forces access to justice as they fight to preserve justice for the rest of us. I look forward to working with the Judiciary Committee on behalf of our nation’s servicemembers.iX. 2009 Congressional Art Competition
I am pleased to announce that the winner of the 2009 Congressional Art Competition is Emily Weiss from Coronado High School. Her piece entitled, “Multiple Races, Singular Devotion,” appropriately fit this year’s theme, “Celebrating Unity Among Diversity.” Emily’s artwork will hang in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC for one year. To see a photo of “Multiple Races, Singular Devotion” or to learn more about the annual Congressional Art Competition, please visit my website here.X. New Member of Team Davis
I would like to thank everyone who responded to my recent job announcement. My office received over three hundred applications for the one open position. The recommendations from so many of you were very helpful, and it was extremely difficult to decide between the all of the capable, talented San Diegans who applied.
I am proud to announce that our new Washington Staff Assistant/Legislative Correspondent will be Quinn Dang. Quinn graduated from Jackson Elementary in City Heights and later from Mira Mesa High School and Harvard University. During college, she worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where she received great praise for her skills as a tour guide and visitor greeter. Quinn has done extensive research on environmental and foreign affairs issues and has a passion for public policy. We are excited to welcome her as the newest member of “Team Davis,” and I hope that you will say hello to her next time you call the Washington office!
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DISCLAIMER: I cannot guarantee the integrity of the text of this letter unless it was sent to you directly from my Congressional e-mail account: Susan.Davis@mail.house.gov. Please note that this account is unattended. If you would like to be removed from my e-mail update list, please click here. If you would like to subscribe to the update list or send me a message for any other purpose, please do so through my website, www.house.gov/susandavis. Thank you.
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