In This Week's Edition of E-News...

House Acts to End Taxpayer Funding to Planned Parenthood
Crisis Mental Health Reform Moves Forward
Steel Group Names Murphy “Steel Champion”


House Acts to End Taxpayer Funding to Planned Parenthood

Murphy delivered a statement on the Planned Parenthood Investigation at the Health Subcommittee hearing, click here to read.

As gruesome videos continue to surface revealing Planned Parenthood’s selling of aborted fetal tissue and baby organs, Congressman Murphy and House Energy and Commerce committee members took several important legislative steps to help protect innocent lives and strengthen existing laws.

On Thursday the Health Subcommittee reviewed two draft bills to bolster existing laws with enforcement tools at the state and federal levels: The Protecting Infants Born Alive Act, authored by full committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and the Protecting Infants from Partial-Birth Abortions Act, authored by Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC). These bills expand state authority to ban providers from Medicaid if they are suspected of violating either the Born Alive Infants Protection Act and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. States already have some tools at their disposal to ban providers under investigation or in violation of these laws. The bills discussed this week will help give states more tools to ensure that even a provider suspected of violating these laws and taking an innocent life are not allowed to receive taxpayer dollars through the Medicaid program. The bills also ensure that providers found guilty of violating these laws are banned from Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at the federal level.

The Oversight Subcommittee, chaired by Congressman Murphy, continued its investigation into the abhorrent actions of Planned Parenthood brought to light in a series of undercover videos released over the past couple of months. Prior to Thursday’s hearing, another sickening video was released that discussed the sale of specific body parts.

During the packed Health subcommittee hearing on Thursday, Democrat members attempted to refute the allegations against Planned Parenthood, saying they found no evidence of wrongdoing against the organization. However Chairman Murphy made it abundantly clear to all lawmakers and audience members that it is presumptuous to claim there is no wrongdoing when the investigation is far from complete.

“The investigation we are conducting, with invitations extended to our Democrat colleagues for every meeting and briefing, is far from complete," said Murphy. "In fact, the Oversight& Investigations Subcommittee is in the preliminary stages of its investigation into the practice of procuring and selling the tissue and parts from babies who have been aborted,” said Murphy. “Some witnesses have been interviewed, many have not. Some documents have been obtained; others will be sought and reviewed. The videotapes of these practices put very important issues into the public domain. It is our shared responsibility to collect the facts and present sound information to the American people. It will take a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of this practice and right now we simply can’t conclude there has been no wrongdoing.”

As the investigative process is moving forward with additional interviews, letters, and potential hearings, committee members also took several legislative steps to help protect innocent lives and strengthen existing laws. Correspondence related to the investigation is available online at the Committee’s website here.  

Capping off the week, the House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 3134, which Murphy cosponsored and voted in favor of, to put a moratorium on taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and instead transfers the funding stream to Community Health Centers to ensure women’s health services continue. None of that funding can be used for abortions.

The House also advanced with Murphy’s support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 3504), which strengthens a 2002 federal law that was enacted to protect the lives of infants who survive late-term abortions. Under current law, infants who survive a planned abortion are entitled to the same legal rights as any other human begin. However, the recently publicized undercover videos that have chronicled Planned Parenthood and  their partners’ abortion practices have revealed the organizations’ callous disregard for human life, demonstrating the need to update the 2002 law. H.R. 3504 amends federal code to ensure that abortionists who do not provide medical care to babies that survive an abortion are held criminally liable. However, the Obama Administration announced on Wednesday that it intends to veto the bill.

To share your thoughts on the Planned Parenthood investigation and taxpayer funding of abortion, click here.

Crisis Mental Health Reform Moves Forward

Listen to Murphy's floor speech here.

According to an article published earlier this summer in the Washington Post, law enforcement routinely engage with those in a mental health crisis. Police departments across the country are overwhelmed by an influx of 911 calls related to individuals with serious mental illness. As part of the consequence of the deinstitutionalization movement in the 1960s, many with untreated serious mental illness often cycle in and out of prison or homeless shelters because there is simply nowhere for them to go.

This week Congressman Murphy spoke to the Western Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association about how his legislation, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, H.R. 2646, provides treatment before tragedy and crisis intervention training to help law enforcement best respond to these scenarios. His bipartisan legislation currently boasts 118 members of Congress, and endorsements from national organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Treatment Advocacy Center, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association. More information on the bill can be found here. 

Murphy took to the House floor on Wednesday marking Suicide Prevention Month and discussed provisions in his bill to help families and caregivers be part of the frontline care delivery team. Currently, the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is part of federal law that has prevented millions of parents from knowing of the mental health status of their child away at college. Murphy’s bill empowers parents to be fully informed when their child is in a mental health crisis.

Murphy shared the story of Southwestern Pennsylvania natives Debbie and Charles Mahoney, parents of son Chuckie, who died by suicide in 2002. Although Chuckie sought counseling from his college and showed signs of mental crisis, his parents knew nothing about his struggle due to the FERPA law.

“Schools will be sure to remind you when the tuition check arrives,” said Murphy. “But because of FERPA, when it comes to your child’s mental health you only receive a call when it’s tragically too late."

Adding to the bill’s momentum, the Seattle Times’ editorial board on Friday published a piece calling for readers to help push the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act through Congress.

“The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act separates the two and refocuses fractured federal resources on treating serious mental illness” the Editorial Board writes. “It would end an antiquated Medicaid rule that banned funding for psychiatric hospitals larger than 16 beds. It gives families more tools to be involved in the care of a suffering loved one. It encourages telemedicine to improve psychiatric care in rural areas, where psychiatrists are scarce, and pays for mental-health training for police officers.”

Murphy will update his e-newsletter subscribers in the coming weeks regarding next steps for the legislation. 

To share your thoughts on the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, please click here.

Steel Group Names Murphy “Steel Champion” 

Mario Longhi, president and CEO of United Steel Corporation, presented Murphy the award.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) awarded Congressman Tim Murphy this week the “2015 Congressional Steel Champion Award” for his dedication to the steel industry and its workers. AISI is comprised of 19 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and approximately 125 associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.

As Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus, consisting of more than 130 members, Murphy spearheaded passage of legislation concerning antidumping and countervailing duty laws that was signed into law on June 29^th. 

“This is a challenging time for the steel industry,” said Gibson during the award ceremony. “The surge of foreign imports that continue to come into this nation unfairly, and at record levels, puts our economic health at risk. Congressman Murphy is, and always has been, a leader in the fight to pass trade laws that will help us work toward leveling the playing field on trade. We are grateful for his strong advocacy on so many issues that impact the American steel industry and the 20,000 steel industry workers in Pennsylvania. Tim Murphy is truly a steel champion.”

AISI president and CEO Thomas J. Gibson presented the lawmaker with the award in recognition of Murphy’s long-standing support of the industry. The award was presented in Washington, D.C. at the fall meeting of AISI’s Policy and Planning Committee, chaired by Mario Longhi, president and CEO of United Steel Corporation who chairs the Committee. 

“Working together we’ve achieved monumental victories in opening new markets to American-made steel products as well as ensuring laws against foreign unfair trade practices remain effective and fully enforced,” said Murphy. “I sincerely thank AISI, Thomas Gibson and Mario Longhi for this honor. For over a decade now, we’ve worked together to further the success and longevity of the American steel industry. In the 18^th congressional district and across Pennsylvania steel remains a cornerstone to the success of our local and state economies, generating and supporting more than 136,000 jobs. In the months to come, I look forward to finding more legislative solutions that will protect steelworkers’ jobs and positively promote domestic steel.” 

To share your thoughts on the steel industry, please click here.