Bipartisan Accomplishments

Despite our divided government, I have found that through honest debate and discussion we can often find common ground.

While my first priority is to serve the best interests of Michigan’s 7th district and uphold the Constitution, I also look for opportunities to move good ideas forward by working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

In the 115th Congress, I was ranked by the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a non-partisan collaboration between Vanderbilt University and University of Virginia, as the most effective member of Michigan's congressional delegation. In the following session of Congress, the Center for Effective Lawmaking recognized me as the top Republican legislator on technology issues. Read below to learn more about my record of bipartisanship.

LEGISLATION SIGNED INTO LAW

• Strengthening Critical Workforce: Introduced H.R. 1032, Telecommunication Skilled Workforce Act, with Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) which would promote broadband deployment by closing the workforce shortage in the telecommunications industry. Our legislation was signed into law on November 15, 2021 as part of P.L.117-58.

• Promoting Accountability in Afghanistan: I successfully offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2022 (H.R.4350), to require an evaluation of the capabilities of the Taliban post-withdrawal to monetize the abandoned Unites States military equipment, property, and classified material by transferring those items to adversaries of the United States. The legislation was signed into law with my amendment on December 12, 2021.

• Reducing Medicaid Fraud: Introduced H.R. 233, the Medicaid Patient Abuse Prevention Act, with Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) to better identify Medicaid fraud and protect those who are served by the program. Our legislation passed the House on June 19, 2019 as part of H.R. 3253 and was later signed into law as part of H.R.133, Consolidated Appropriations Act on December 27, 2020.

• Government Accountability: Introduced H.R. 3830, Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act, with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) to make it easier to evaluate federal government spending by requiring a searchable online database of each agency’s programs and providing basic information on what the program does and how much they cost. H.R. 3830 passed the House on February 5, 2020 and was signed into law as part of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act on January 1, 2021.

• Combating Robocall Schemes: Introduced H.R. 3264, the Ending One-Ring Scams Act, along with a bipartisan group of colleagues, to protect consumers from bad actors who perpetrate this type of robocall scheme. The legislation passed the House on December 4, 2019 as part of the TRACED Act and was signed into law on December 30, 2019.

• Enhancing Retirement Security: Introduced H.R. 1439, the Increasing Access to a Secure Retirement Act, with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) to help more Americans have peace of mind in their retirement years. Our legislation passed the House on May 23, 2019 as part of the SECURE Act and was signed into law on December 20, 2019.

• Preventing Opioid Misuse: Introduced H.R. 5041, the Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act, with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to help prevent the misuse or diversion of unused medications by equipping hospice professionals with the legal authority to safely dispose of unused drugs after a hospice patient’s death. The bipartisan legislation was signed into law on October 24, 2018.

• Addressing Opioid Addiction: Introduced H.R. 5009, Jessie’s Law, with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and additional bipartisan support to ensure doctors have access to the information they need so they can safely treat their patients and prevent unknowingly prescribing powerful opioid medications to those struggling with addiction. The bipartisan legislation was signed into law on October 24, 2018.

• Promoting Affordable Energy: Introduced H.R. 1109 with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to reduce unnecessary paperwork burdens which hinder the expansion of affordable energy. The bipartisan legislation was signed into law on September 28, 2018.

• Eliminating Obstacles to Employment: Introduced H.R. 2155, the New HOPE Act, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) to encourage state governments to initiate occupational licensure reforms to ensure bureaucratic requirements are not creating unnecessary barriers for those seeking to enter the workforce. H.R. 2155 was included as part of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which was signed into law on July 31, 2018.

• Helping our Heroes: Introduced the Medal of Honor Priority Care Act to elevate living Medal of Honor recipients from Group 3 to Group 1 when enrolling for their VA health care benefits. H.R.272 was included as part of a larger Veterans Health Care and Benefits bill, which was signed into law on December 16, 2016.  

• Saving Taxpayer Dollars: Introduced the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act with Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) to require federal agencies to take action to identify and close out thousands of expired grant accounts with a zero balance. The bipartisan legislation was signed into law on January 28, 2016.  

• Post Office Dedication: Introduced a resolution with wide bipartisan support from my Michigan delegation colleagues to rename a Jackson post office as the "Officer James Bonneau Memorial Post Office Building." Officer James Bonneau was shot and killed in 2010 while responding to a domestic disturbance. The legislation was signed into law on December 16, 2014. 

• Combating Human Trafficking: In September 2013, I introduced HR 3081 which assists the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in their ability to help law enforcement agencies and first responders identify, locate, and recover victims of child sex trafficking.  H.R.3081 was signed into law as part of the bipartisan H.R. 3092, E. Clay Shaw, Jr. Missing Children’s Assistance Reauthorization Act. 

• Wage Claims: Introduced the Streamlining Claims Processing for Federal Contractor Employees Act in July 2013 with Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) to improve the efficiency of the Davis-Bacon Act by moving responsibility for wage claims adjustments for federally-contracted workers from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to the Department of Labor. The legislation was signed into law November of 2013.

• Serving our Veterans: In 2013, I introduced the Service Members Transition Improvement Act, to help facilitate the transition of members of the Armed Forces to civilian life by requiring the Department of Defense to share specified information on separating servicemembers with State veterans agencies in electronic format.The legislation was signed into law on December 19, 2014 as part of P.L.113-291, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2015.

BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION INTRODUCED

• Great Lakes Stewardship: Introduced H.R. 2141, the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Act, with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) to promote conservation efforts throughout the Great Lakes region.

• Fighting Human Trafficking: Introduced H.R. 3957, the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, with Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-MP) to ensure Department of Labor employees have the tools and resources they need to detect cases of labor or sexual exploitation while investigation workforce law violations.

• Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform: Introduced H.R. 2857, the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a bipartisan effort to curb abuses in the Civil Asset Forfeiture system, raise the level of proof, and increase transparency.

• Caring for our Veterans: Introduced H.R. 501, the VA Transparency Enhancement Act, with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to enhance transparency requirements at VA hospitals to ensure our veterans have access to timely, high quality care. 

• Increasing Transparency: Introduced H.R. 1004, the Regulatory Integrity Act, to require federal agencies to post, in a central location, all communications they issue during the proposed rule stage so that the public can fully participate and trust that the rulemaking process is neutral and unbiased. The bipartisan legislation passed the House on March 2, 2017.

• Securing our Energy Infrastructure: Introduced H.R. 3119, Energy Emergency Leadership Act, with Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) to elevate the energy security and emergency functions to a senior point person in the Department of Energy’s leadership, which will enhance DOE’s ability to appropriately and quickly address energy-related emergencies. This bipartisan legislation passed the House in July, 2021.

• Protecting Seniors from Scams: Introduced H.R. 1215, the Fraud and Scam Reduction Act, with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) to enhance our ability to prevent seniors from falling victim to fraud or scams. The bipartisan legislation passed the House on April 15, 2021.

• Building a Skilled Workforce: Introduced H.R. 1032, the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act, with Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) to help close the workforce shortage in the telecommunications industry. 

• Protecting Children's Online Privacy: Introduced H.R. 1781, the Preventing Real Online Threats Endangering Children Today (PROTECT) Kids Act, along with Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) to better protect children in today’s ever-evolving digital ecosystem. 

• Preventing Lead Poisoning: Introduced H.R. 5552, Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, with Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) to strengthen federal initiatives aimed at childhood lead screening, reporting, and prevention. The bill also codifies into law the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and tasks the committee with making recommendations and reporting to Congress and the public on lead poisoning prevention best practices.

BIPARTISAN AMENDMENTS INTRODUCED

• Protecting the Great Lakes: Offered a bipartisan amendment with Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) to direct additional resources to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to bolster efforts to eliminate grass carp from Lake Erie. The amendment was included in the House-passed Interior & Environment, Financial Services & General Government Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019.

• Civil Forfeiture Reform: Offered a bipartisan amendment with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to H.R. 3055 that reins in the federal government’s power to seize private property without due process. Our successful amendment prohibits funding for the Department of Justice to continue a practice known as adoptive seizures, a loophole that local law enforcement can use to circumvent state forfeiture laws.

• Wasteful Defense Spending: Offered a bipartisan amendment with Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) to H.R. 5293, the fiscal year 2017 defense spending bill.  Our successful amendment would stop future funds for the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund, a program which has been poorly run and is lacking in oversight.  I also worked with Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) to cut $50 million from the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund as part of the House-passed fiscal year 2016 defense spending bill, H.R. 2685.  

• Expanding Resources to Combat Heroin and Opioid Epidemic: Offered a bipartisan amendment with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to increase funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and enhance partnerships at the local level to combat this epidemic. The amendment was included in the House-passed Financial Services and General Government funding bill for fiscal year 2017, H.R. 5485.  

• Assisting Returning Veterans: Offered a bipartisan amendment to H.R. 2029, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill, to boost veterans’ job training and services to help them transition into the civilian sector. The amendment was included in the final House-passed version of the bill.

• Eliminating Wasteful Foreign Aid:  Offered an amendment to H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), to provide the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction with the ability to conduct effective audits to ensure the proper use of the remaining American taxpayer dollars appropriated for reconstruction efforts. The amendment was included in the final House-passed version of the bill.

• Protecting Hospitals from Government Overreach: Offered an amendment to the H.R. 2685, Fiscal Year 2016 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, to protect hospitals that administer TRICARE from government overreach by reiterating that treating private hospitals as federal contractors is poor public policy. The amendment was included in the final House-passed version of the bill.

To learn more about my legislative and voting record, please visit here.