FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Christianné Allen, Christianne.Allen@mail.house.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Congressman Russ Fulcher (Idaho-01) issued the following statement after the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a full committee markup and successfully passed its portion of the House reconciliation bill.
Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is responsible for energy, environment, telecommunications, healthcare, and other aspects of commerce.
“After over 26 hours fighting for policies that put Americans first, my colleagues and I on Energy and Commerce have successfully advanced our portion of the House’s reconciliation bill to codify President Trump’s policy agenda into law,” said Congressman Fulcher.
“This legislation takes important steps to strengthen America’s leadership on the world stage by supporting rapid technological advancements in Artificial Intelligence, it reauthorizes spectrum auction authority to support the growing commercial applications in communications technologies, it reinforces our national security and lowers costs for Americans by increasing U.S. energy production, it recoups billions of dollars in unspent failed environmental programs, and it preserves the original intent of Medicaid by implementing common-sense guardrails to ensure it remains available for our nation’s most vulnerable for generations to come,” Congressman Fulcher added. “While I believe additional reforms will be needed, the committee’s actions this week deliver several policy wins and put important government programs on a viable fiscal path long-term.”
Bill Background:
The legislation generates revenue and implements savings across federal agencies, in total reducing the federal deficit by an estimated $900 billion. Provisions include:
Communications and Technology:
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Reauthorizes the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for 10 years, which is estimated to raise tens of billions in revenue to the Treasury;
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Modernizes the Department of Commerce to update IT systems and integrate beneficial AI tools, while guarding against a patchwork of state AI laws from undermining innovation.
Energy and Environment:
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Eliminates Green New Deal-style giveaways and slush funds;
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Expedites the U.S. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) export process;
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Supports vehicle consumer choice by ending Biden-era electric vehicle mandates;
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Begins to refill the dangerously low Strategic Petroleum Reserve and brings certainty to the permitting process for North American cross-border energy infrastructure.
Healthcare:
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Implements guardrails to keep out ineligible Medicaid beneficiaries and removes deceased beneficiaries who divert resources away from those who need care;
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Ensures that Medicaid only pays for American citizens and legal immigrants by strengthening citizenship verifications to determine eligibility, saving tens of billions of dollars;
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Increases personal accountability to help lift Americans out of poverty by establishing work requirements for able-bodied working age adults who do not have dependent children or elderly parents in their care;
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Bans the use of Medicaid for “gender reassignment” surgeries for minors and prohibits Medicaid from funding big abortion providers.
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