May 7, 2022
Dear Friends,
This week, we received the shocking report that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protection for abortion rights. If this report is accurate, the Court is set to reverse decades of precedent to strip away a long-standing right from millions of Americans, turning the clock back to the days when people seeking abortions could be denied the care they needed.
Congress, and the American people, are ready and willing to take action to codify the protections of Roe into federal law. In September, I joined my colleagues in the House to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 and send this critical legislation to the Senate floor. A majority of U.S. Senators support the right to choose, and nearly 6 in 10 Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Most members of Congress and a solid majority of Americans support Congressional action to protect this fundamental right. To take this action, however, Congress must once and for all do away with the antiquated Senate filibuster. This relic of a bygone age is not only blocking crucial action to protect abortion rights, it is also preventing other overwhelmingly popular measures, chief among them being preserving the right to vote and addressing gun violence.
According to Pew, 81% of Americans support making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks. On voting rights, 78% of Americans support making early, in-person voting available at least two weeks prior to Election Day. These are widely supported measures, yet time and again in recent years, we’ve seen legislation to achieve these common-sense goals killed on the Senate floor by Republican filibusters.
The creation of this outdated procedure that causes so much gridlock is regarded as something of a historical accident, a procedural loophole left open but almost never used until World War I. In fact, the modern filibuster didn’t come into being until the 1970s, when Senate rules changed to no longer require Senators to hold the floor to stop a bill’s passage, allowing a single Senator to halt widely popular legislation indefinitely with little or no political consequences. As a result, the Senate has gradually fallen from its historic heights as “the world’s greatest deliberative body” to what is now a depressingly partisan legislative graveyard.
Here's the bottom line: America’s founders set out to create a government of the people, by the people, and for the people—one that would represent the voters and govern by simple majority. The filibuster denies us that ideal government, allowing a minority of Senators to use endless procedural gridlock to bog down critical legislation to protect the right to choose, reduce gun violence, and preserve voting rights.
This week’s report on the Supreme Court’s readiness to overturn Roe v. Wade has brought the issue of the filibuster to the forefront once again. We’ve passed legislation in the House to ensure the right to an abortion is not eliminated by this potentially disastrous decision. Now the Senate must do its job, get rid of the antiquated filibuster, and pass this legislation to preserve the right to choose for generations to come. I will not stop fighting until Congress acts to protect the fundamental rights that are so crucial to American life.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- In recognition of National Small Business Week, the IRS is delivering information and resources for anyone interested in starting or maintaining their small business.
- The IRS has a variety of free resources available on IRS.gov to help employers meet their tax responsibilities as well as help their employees.
- When beginning a business, individuals must decide what form of business entity to establish, including sole proprietorship, corporations, and Limited Liability Company (LLC). The form of business being operated determines what taxes must be paid and how to pay them. The four general types of business taxes are: Income tax; Self-employment tax; Employment tax; Excise tax
- Individuals must also know when and whether to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number. used to identify a business entity. Generally, businesses need an EIN. This is a free service offered by the Internal Revenue Service and business owners can get their EIN immediately.
- See the following links for more information
