Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House passed a series of bills this week that continued its focus on Americans' top priorities – jobs and the economy, providing our veterans with the care they've earned and cracking down on human trafficking and protecting our children. While the President and Senate leadership talk about taking action, the U.S. House has actually taken action, passing more than 150 bills in the 113^th Congress that address some of our nation's most pressing needs.

Veterans Administration (VA) Reforms

As a 33-year military veteran, Congressman Scott Perry (PA-04) is outraged at recent events surrounding the Veterans Administration (VA) and the medical care provided to our veterans. Multiple news reports have raised allegations regarding preventable deaths and attempts to cover up treatment delays at VA health clinics. These allegations are appalling and can't be tolerated.

The House acted this week by adopting legislation, H.R. 4031, the “Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014", which seeks to confront the widespread and systemic lack of accountability for VA senior executives. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Congressman Perry, makes it easier to fire or demote senior VA managers who are failing our veterans. H.R. 4031 was approved by a vote of 390-33.

Jobs and the Economy

The U.S. House acted Tuesday to approve legislation to promote America's competitiveness and boost economic growth by approving a conference agreement with the Senate on H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA).  Many of the goods we create, sell, import and ship around the world go through America's seaports – accounting for $1.4 trillion worth of economic activity. This bill reforms federal water resource activities by cutting red tape and bureaucracy, streamlining the infrastructure project delivery process, fostering fiscal responsibility, and strengthening our water transportation networks. And unlike past water infrastructure bills, WRRDA contains no earmarks.

Passage of WRRDA continues efforts in the U.S. House to lay the groundwork for a stronger economy and increased opportunities for all Americans. Legislation already passed by the House would: reform and modernize federal workforce training programs to help millions of unemployed Americans get back to work; embrace American energy resources; lift barriers to clean renewable energy; give working families more flexibility and increase oversight of expensive federal regulations.

 “America doesn't work if it's no longer the land of opportunity,” said Rep. Perry. “Good-paying jobs are the foundation of an America that works. House Republicans will continue our efforts to bolster job creation and foster a healthy economy.”

Examples of jobs bills passed by the U.S. House can be reviewed here: http://www.speaker.gov/jobs.

NSA Reforms

The House attempted to address domestic surveillance programs that have collected a myriad of communications data on American citizens Thursday with passage of the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361). While Congressman Perry appreciates the House's commitment to address this issue, and was a previous co-sponsor of H.R. 3361, he voted against the bill because recent changes to it gutted critical reforms and may still allow for massive collection of millions of Americans' private information based on very broad selection terms.

Stopping Human Trafficking

In recent weeks, people across America have been outraged by the kidnapping of hundreds of girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram.  The sad reality is that human trafficking is much more prevalent in today's world than many realize. In the U.S. each year, as many as 300,000 American children are at risk of being trafficked, according to Justice Department estimates.  On Tuesday, the House passed five bills – the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (H.R. 3530), the Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act (H.R. 3610), the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Improving Opportunities for Youth in Foster Care Act (H.R. 4058), the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act (H.R. 4225), and the International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking Act (H.R. 4573) – aimed at cracking down on human traffickers, boosting resources for law enforcement, supporting victims and strengthening protections for children.

While the President talks about action – the U.S. House has taken action this week and throughout the 113^th Congress.  House members have put their cards on the table and sent bills to the Senate, waiting for them to pass their own versions so we could eventually come together to try and find some common ground. In nearly every case, these proposals were met with silence.  In a sign of progress this week, House and Senate leadership announced agreement on job training legislation to improve our workforce development system and help citizens get the skills they need to find work. 

Residents are welcomed to contact Congressman Perry and his staff at any of his offices, or via Perry.House.Gov, where they can sign up for e-mail updates and for his Facebook, Twitter and You Tube pages.