Newsletter Archive

Honoring and Hearing from Law Enforcement As National Police Week (Sunday, May 13 to Saturday, May 19) wrapped up, I was pleased to join local law enforcement officials in Blair County to provide an update on what's been happening in Washington and to hear about the challenges our police face on a daily basis. In 1962, Congress established National Police Week to recognize... Read More

Withdrawing from a Bad Deal I very aggressively opposed the Iran nuclear deal from the start, so I fully support U.S. withdrawal from this flawed, dangerous deal. The conscious decision by the Obama Administration to push through this agreement, even with bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate opposing it, should have been a clear indication this arrangement... Read More

Efforts to Combat the Opioid Epidemic With the opioid epidemic continuing to devastate families and communities across Pennsylvania, I led discussions with local officials, first responders, and health care leaders in Danville and Kittanning. The goal of these conversations was to share what we've been doing on the federal level to address this growing crisis, but more... Read More

Protecting PA Jobs From Tariffs The administration's new steel and aluminum tariffs are threatening jobs at Pennsylvania manufacturers. Since these companies cannot adequately source domestically the specialty steel and aluminum inputs needed, they import them, but the new tariffs are having the perverse effect of giving a cost advantage to their foreign competitors. This... Read More

Rolling Back Illegal Regulations This week, the Senate approved legislation I authored with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) to undo an egregious overstep by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate car loans issued at auto dealerships. Using the Congressional Review Act, the Senate voted to end a CFPB guidance document that the Government Accountability... Read More

Statement on Paul Ryan's Retirement I have known Paul Ryan since we were elected together to the House in 1998. In addition to serving on the House Budget and Banking committees together, I consider Paul a good friend and speak with certainty in saying he is a terrific public servant, husband, and father. It has been an honor to work with Paul in Congress. He stepped into... Read More

Honoring Those Who Served It's been 45 years since the last American combat troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973. From the firing of the first shots in November of 1955 until far too recently, Vietnam-era veterans, who served bravely, often did not get the respect and appreciation they deserved. Sadly, many veterans, upon returning home, were greeted with contempt and... Read More

Keeping Our Communities Safe Police officers face a difficult enough job keeping our communities safe without also having to deal with restrictive edicts written by politicians that seek to exempt some classes of individuals from the law. One example are sanctuary city policies, which make it harder for law enforcement officials to keep dangerous criminals off the streets.... Read More

Fighting for Action on Gun Safety Legislation This week, I had a great meeting with local members of Moms Demand Action in Philadelphia. Together, we discussed ways we can advance common-sense gun safety legislation while respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. We all agreed that a way forward in this effort would be to strengthen our background... Read More

Working To Improve Our Gun Safety Laws This week, I introduced a new measure with Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) to keep guns away from those who have no legal right to them and enforce gun laws already on the books. The NICS Denial Notification Act requires the FBI to swiftly notify state law enforcement when a person who is prohibited from getting a gun, such as convicted... Read More

Keeping Families Safe from Violent Criminals This week, I've been working with my colleagues towards common-sense gun policy reform. I think we can make progress on gun safety while still fully respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. It is reasonable to make it as difficult as possible for terrorists, the dangerously mentally ill, and violent... Read More

Working Together Towards Common-Sense Gun Reform This week, President Trump signaled that he would like Congress to work together on common-sense gun reform. One proposal that I am eager to discuss with the president is my bipartisan legislation with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia that would expand background checks to all commercial gun sales as a means of keeping... Read More

Ending Dangerous Sanctuary City Policies I am disappointed that the Senate was unable to reach an agreement this week on immigration policy. I voted in favor of legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for individuals who were brought to the United States illegally at a young age and address other critical challenges within our broken immigration system, including... Read More

Justice for Murder Victims On Thursday, I introduced Eric's Law, a bill that aims to deliver justice to victims and their families in federal death penalty cases. Eric's Law is named for Eric Williams, a federal correctional officer who was murdered by an inmate at U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County in 2013. Although a federal jury found the prisoner guilty of this... Read More

Remembering Christopher Hill On Tuesday, I went to the Senate floor to recognize and honor the life of one of Pennsylvania's finest, Deputy U.S. Marshal Christopher Hill. On January 18th, Deputy Hill was tragically murdered while apprehending a fugitive in Harrisburg. Deputy Hill was a father, husband, and veteran who dedicated his life to serving and protecting first his... Read More

The Shutdown That Should Have Never Been Our government recently shutdown for nearly three days. I am encouraged that an interim, bipartisan agreement was reached to reopen our government, fund our military, and provide health care to nine million American children. We found ourselves in this dysfunctional mess because my colleagues across the aisle recklessly refused to... Read More

Tax Reform is Delivering More Money to Working Americans As 2017 came to a close, Congress passed and the President signed the most historic reform to our tax code in over three decades. In doing so, we achieved two major accomplishments for the American people. First, we lowered the tax burden on hardworking individuals and families. Second, we fundamentally restructured... Read More

Lower Taxes: Done Deal This week, the Senate and House passed the most historic reform to our tax code in over three decades. In doing so, we've achieved two major accomplishments for the American people. First, we lowered the tax burden on hardworking individuals and families. The vast majority of lower and middle-income taxpayers will pay less in federal taxes. Second,... Read More

Your Taxes Will Soon Be Going Down I am elated to share the news that this week, Senate and House negotiators reached an agreement on a final version of the tax reform bill because it puts us one step closer to delivering both direct tax relief and a better economy to all Pennsylvanians. To learn more, watch my opening remarks at the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Conference... Read More

For Tax Reform, the Finish Line is in Sight Last week, the Senate passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. Passage of this pro-growth tax reform bill brings hardworking Pennsylvanians one step closer to seeing a direct pay raise and better job opportunities. This bill directly lowers the tax burden for middle income families and fundamentally restructures the business tax code so... Read More