Bill Flores Discusses the Latest from Washington

I issued the following statements regarding the passage of H.R. 6800, the "Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act", aka Pelosi's Socialist Wish List Act; H.Res. 965, a Democrat power grab that tramples our Constitutional system of representation and ignores over 200 years of historical precedent; and my introduction of H.R. 6885, the Safe and Secure Medicine Supply for Hardworking Americans Act.


House Democrats Choose Partisanship Over Protecting Americans

"Today, the House passed H.R. 6800, Speaker Pelosi's Socialist Wish List Act.  Even though she calls the bill the "HEROES Act", the bill is a $3 trillion monstrosity, drafted without any input from House Committees, her Democrat colleagues, or from Republicans.  It is an unwieldy smorgasbord of liberal policy proposals focused on Democrat messaging with ZERO chance of passing the full Congress and ZERO chance of being signed into law.  The bill does, however, embody what has become the Democrat's pandemic rallying cry, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

"Listed below are examples of some of the most egregious provisions buried in the more than 1,800-page bill that have nothing to do with helping Americans confront the economic and public health threat from COVID-19:

• Invites election fraud by putting Washington bureaucrats in charge of state and local elections and imposing top-down mandates on how states can run their elections, including banning state photo ID requirements, and demanding no excuse voting by mail.
• Provides tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires in high-tax Democrat states by repealing provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• Allows illegal immigrants to receive direct stimulus payments from US taxpayers.
• Expands Obamacare through a new Special Enrollment period, which has already been rejected by the White House.
• Excludes pro-life protections in the use of federal dollars to extend private health coverage.
• Includes more references to the word “cannabis” than it does to “jobs” or to “COVID19.”

"Instead of forcing a vote on this totally unserious messaging bill that will never become law, Speaker Pelosi should work with President Trump and Congressional Republicans to pass bipartisan legislation that helps American workers, businesses, and families stay safe and get back to work.  We should be working collaboratively with the White House to protect our vulnerable population (particularly our senior citizens), develop vaccines and therapeutics, expand testing, and address the root source of this outbreak and the subsequent coverup -- China.

"Earlier this week, Speaker Pelosi said that scrutinizing China's actions was a 'diversion.'  A significant majority of Americans strongly disagree with her.  The Chinese Communist Party's continued deception and fraud regarding the Coronavirus pandemic has hurt the health and economic well-being of tens of millions of hardworking Americans.  The Chinese regime is actively working to steal our Coronavirus research, disrupt our supply chains and bolster their military ambitions.  Instead of Pelosi's head-in-the-sand approach to governing with fantasy legislation in the middle of a pandemic, the House should instead focus its attention on China and their role in the spread of COVID-19.  It is because China was more focused on deceiving and lying to the world instead of containing the virus that we lost precious weeks in our effort to contain the virus.  Their behavior has not changed, despite the carnage they have caused and continue to cause all over the world. 

"Just this week, it was reported that China is hacking into our companies, universities, and government agencies to try to steal our research efforts to find a cure and save lives.  China is flooding our country with counterfeit personal protective equipment.  China is colluding with Russia, Iran, and other gloal irritants.  For the safety and security of our nation, Speaker Pelosi must work with Republicans to investigate China's role in the spread of the Coronavirus.  Passing messaging bills that do not address the needs of our nation while our families and economy grapple with COVID-19 is not what the American people need and deserve from Congress."


While Trashing More Than 200 Years of Historical Precedent House Democrats Squash Our Constitutional Representation System

"Today, the House passed H.Res. 965, which allows the House to pass ANY piece of legislation with as few as 22 Members present to debate and vote on the bill.  This unprecedented, purely partisan resolution flies in the face of 231 years of tradition and will have a long-lasting negative impact on the House of Representatives.  Both Republicans and Democrats recognize the need to find ways to operate in an environment where large gatherings of people are not recommended, but this resolution is not the answer.

"Earlier this year, Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy created a bipartisan task force to develop a solution that would allow the House to operate effectively while keeping Members and staff safe.  Republicans worked in good faith and put forward several proposals to consider.  Instead of continuing those bipartisan discussions, Democrats chose to jam through a rule that has serious constitutional and institutional repercussions.

"Earlier this year House Democrats changed the rules so they could pass legislation without letting Republicans offer any amendments.  Today's rule change is not about finding a way for Congress to work under the threat of a pandemic.  It is simply another tactic by Democrats to unilaterally ram through their liberal agenda.

"Worst of all, this resolution strips legislative power from our constituents.  The voting card that each Representative is issued at the beginning of each Congress belongs to the constituents back home in their respective Congressional districts.  Those voting cards are essentially 'loaned' by the voters back home to each Representative so we can vote on behalf of our constituents.  By changing the rules to allow proxy voting, the representation relationship between constituents and their representatives is broken, with the voting power being concentrated in a smaller number of persons dominated by Speaker Pelosi.  This action represents a reprehensible breach of trust between Representatives and their constituents."


Congressman Flores Introduces Legislation to Strengthen the Drug Supply Chain and Protect American Lives

"Today, I introduced the 'Safe and Secure Medicine Supply for Hardworking Americans Act'.  This legislation aims to ensure that pharmaceutical products sold in the United States are safe, free of contamination by shoddy foreign manufacturers, and ultimately, provided by a secure American supply chain.  The legislation includes tariffs on drugs from China and India, incentives to build a robust American pharmaceutical supply chain, and substantial penalties for the importation of tainted foreign pharmaceuticals.

"The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak and the deliberate deception by the Chinese government about its origins show that we cannot depend on foreign nations when it comes to the health and safety of Americans.  In addition, there have been numerous recent occurrences of tainted prescription drugs being imported from Chinese companies with careless manufacturing processes.  Some of these tainted medicines even included carcinogenic chemicals like byproducts used to make rocket fuel.

"It has become obvious that some foreign pharmaceutical supply chains dramatically increase the risk of intellectual property theft, interference by foreign governments, tainted drugs, and health care risks for hardworking American families.  This is a national security risk and it is imperative that we begin to move the production of life-saving products away from risky overseas facilities back to the United States.  This will help us guarantee that drugs meet the rigorous safety standards implemented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that we again lead the world in the development and production of innovative and lifesaving medicine."

The Safe and Secure Medicine Supply for Hardworking Americans Act does the following:

     •   Penalizes foreign manufacturing facilities if they produce tainted drugs, as well as the companies that import those drugs into the United States;
     •   Places tariffs on imported drugs from certain countries in to discourage companies from manufacturing drugs outside the United States;
     •   Creates a registry of all FDA approved drugs and any active ingredients manufactured outside the U.S.;
     •   Requires drug labels to indicate the country of origin for each active ingredient; and
     •   Provides incentive grants to drug manufacturers to increase their manufacturing capacity and workforce in the U.S.