Washington Review, January 9, 2017
While in Washington last week for the start of the 115th Congress I was sworn in, attended meetings, and introduced legislation.
On Tuesday, I was sworn into the 115th Congress by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. The entire membership of the House of Representative stood and took the oath of office just after 12:00 p.m. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the 115th Congress to tackle the issues facing our nation.
On Wednesday, I joined my colleagues at a Democratic Caucus Meeting where we heard from President Obama about the importance of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While the ACA is not perfect, it is comprehensively reforming our health care system. It has provided coverage for millions of Americans who would otherwise be ineligible or who couldn’t previously afford health care. Since its enactment, I have continuously voted against efforts to repeal or defund health care reform and I am committed to working with my colleagues to ensure that Americans have access to quality, stable, and affordable health care.
I also attended the first Congressional Hispanic Caucus meeting of the 115th Congress to discuss our priorities for this Congress.
Last week, I reintroduced H.R. 343, the Community Parks Revitalization Act. This legislation would provide matching funds and institute a new loan program to assist our communities in developing or redeveloping parks and recreational facilities. It would not only stimulate our local economic development, but would also help to fix our crumbling infrastructure as well as improve public health and recreational opportunities for children and adults.
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