Pelosi's Priorities Go Up In Smoke
Friends,
As your representative, supporting you, your family and your livelihood are always my top priorities. Unfortunately, many in Washington don't share the same concerns. Last week, instead of working on COVID-19 relief or passing legislation that will help struggling Americans and small businesses, House Democrats showed that their priorities are fundamentally out-of-step with the American people.
On Friday, Nancy Pelosi took to the floor to vote on a bill that would legalize marijuana and allow marketing of marijuana to minors on television. This not only ignores established science regarding the psychoactive drug and laws in a majority of states, but reallocates taxpayer dollars to the marijuana industry and fails to include any common-sense safety measures. This vote followed another in the House on Thursday on legislation based on the Netflix show, Tiger King.
Let me be very clear: there are much more pressing issues facing this country than Tiger King and legalizing marijuana. One example – I have been calling on Speaker Pelosi to allow a vote on a bill to release $138 billion of unused Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds to support workers at America's 30 million small businesses.
These funds have supported over 50 million jobs so far – that's 50 million people in North Carolina and across America who were able to pay their bills and support their families as the Governor's lockdown continues to threaten jobs. Further delay by Congress only jeopardizes small businesses and their employees, who cannot wait until the political logjam has cleared.
Nevertheless, Washington Democrats have made it clear time and again that they are not serious about delivering relief for countless American workers and small businesses. American's deserve better than Pelosi's priorities that put cats and cannabis over COVID-19 relief.
While they continue to play politics, I continue to stay focused on providing common sense solutions like improving inequities in our nation's healthcare system that have been exposed this year.
Last week, I introduced H.R. 8845, the Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, that will ensure timely Medicare coverage of groundbreaking early cancer detection tests for our nation's seniors.
The bipartisan legislation recognizes exciting, cutting edge advances in our nation's fight against cancer by ensuring Medicare coverage for new, innovative tests that detect multiple types of cancer before symptoms develop. By increasing access to multi-cancer early detection screening tests, we can save lives in North Carolina and around the country by catching more cancers sooner and allowing treatments to begin before cancers reach late stages. I am proud to support this legislation and pave the way for you to access this life-saving technology.
We have a lot of challenges facing us. However, always know that as long as I am your Congressman, I will always stay focused on priorities that matter to you and your family.
Until Next Week,
Richard Hudson
Member of Congress