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Bring Back Our Jobs
Fred is fighting for southwest Michigan’s recovery and will be focused on bringing back our jobs. Job creation and building a healthy economy have always been two of Fred’s top priorities.
With the coronavirus crisis, we are facing a number of new challenges on the economic front. Folks lost jobs here in Southwest Michigan and across the country. We now need to do everything we can in the short term to provide those in the most need with relief and provide them with assistance to get through these challenging times. At the same time, we must be looking at ways to rebuild our economy and restore our way of life.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fred has been an advocate for the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans that can be converted to grants to support small businesses, help them keep their doors open, and keep their employees on payroll. In Michigan alone, this bipartisan program has provided 121,000 loans totaling more than $16 billion and protected more than 1.5 million jobs.
Fred remains committed to supporting small businesses, cutting red tape, removing burdensome regulations, getting D.C. bureaucrats out of the way of job creators, and enacting pro-growth economic policies.
Fred also has introduced a bold, bipartisan bill to expand broadband service in rural counties like here in southwest Michigan. Millions of Americans are home during COVID-19 working and running their businesses. To support them, we need to ensure more Americans have access to quality, reliable internet service.
Fight COVID-19
Since COVID-19 first landed on American soil, Fred has been leading the fight to defeat it and rushing assistance to southwest Michigan families and small businesses.
Back in March, Congress passed and Fred strongly supported the CARES Act that established the Paycheck Protection Program to support millions of small business jobs across the nation, enhanced unemployment benefits, distributed stimulus checks to individuals and families, and provided emergency funding for our hospitals, health care workers, and greater COVID-19 testing.
Fred has also led the charge to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) for our brave front-line workers who are working day and night to put an end to this vicious virus. In addition, he has worked with several private companies to get thousands of masks, gloves, gowns, and other medical supplies to hospitals and health centers in Southwest Michigan.
Expanded COVID testing is also a top priority for Fred, and he has fought to get testing supplies to Michigan so that we can begin to safely reopen our country.
Fred will continue his fight to protect the health and safety of all Michiganders, restore our way of life, and defeat this virus.
Get more information:
Pfizer to manufacture some of COVID-19 trial vaccine in Kalamazoo
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/05/pfizer-manufacture-some-covid-19-trial-vaccine-kalamazoo/3083599001/
Congressman’s help gets cruise ship worker home to West Michigan
https://www.woodtv.com/health/coronavirus/congressmans-help-gets-cruise-ship-worker-home-to-west-michigan/
PPP loan forgiveness for small businesses expedited under new Upton bill
https://riponadvance.com/stories/ppp-loan-forgiveness-for-small-businesses-expedited-under-new-upton-bill/
Making Our Communities Safer
Every family wants a safe, healthy, and prosperous community to call home, that’s for certain. Fred will continue to work with his federal, state, and local partners to create safer communities for all Americans.
Fred supports common sense law enforcement reform, having voted for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and cosponsoring the JUSTICE Act. Fred is also part of a bipartisan task force within the Problem Solvers Caucus to find consensus on a plan that could advance through the Congress and be signed by the President.
Fred is also opposed to efforts to Defund the Police. There are common-sense steps we can take to improve policing in our communities, but law enforcement serves in an important role in protecting our neighborhoods. Law enforcement needs resources for better pay, training, and equipment, like body cameras, to help them do their jobs and keep our communities safe. At the same time, we need to look at ways to enhance critical community services like mental health, youth development, housing, and education.
Growing Our Agriculture Industry
Agriculture has always had strong roots in Michigan, and Fred has long been an advocate and an ally of the farming community. Knowing that Southwest Michigan farmers quite literally feed the world, Fred has worked diligently to ensure they have the resources they need to continue producing a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply for American families.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Fred has been working overtime to support farmers across Southwest Michigan. Back in March, he strongly supported the passage of the Paycheck Protection Program, which funneled billions of dollars in emergency funding to small farms to help them weather this terrible storm. In addition to the PPP, he also worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide relief for specialty crop growers in Michigan.
During his time in Congress, Fred has been a fervent supporter of commonsense solutions that cut burdensome red tape and keep federal regulators out of day-to-day farm operations. Southwest Michigan farmers are the best stewards of their own land, and Fred will not allow federal bureaucrats to impose job-killing, harmful regulations on local farms that drive up energy and operating costs.
Fred is also a strong advocate of free, but fair, trade deals for our farmers. He knows that we must keep the playing field level for Michigan growers. That’s why he was proud to support the passage of the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement as this legislation will truly support our Southwest Michigan economy and put more money in farmers’ pockets.
Building a Healthier Michigan
Fred is absolutely committed to innovative solutions to expand access to quality care for all Americans and reduce costs.
His historic 21st Century Cures Act, which he introduced with Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and was signed by President Obama in 2016 – is already making invaluable contributions to health worldwide. Thanks to Cures, we’re able to better prevent and screen cancer, we have a better understanding of the human brain, and we’re improving the field of stem cell science. We’ve seen a record number of new drugs approved, including new generics, which have helped lower health care costs for millions of Americans. And we’re on the cusp of finding a cure for sickle cell. And because Cures expedited the approval of life-saving cures and devices, we will have a COVID-19 in record time.
DeGette and Fred have teamed up again and introduced Cures 2.0, new bipartisan legislation that builds on the successes of 21st Century Cures and will help us take the next step toward finding and delivering more life-saving cures for patients in Michigan and across the country.
Fred is also committed to finding bipartisan consensus on a health care plan that guarantees coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, kids on their parents’ plan, and protection for those who get coverage under Medicaid expansion, like here in Michigan.
Drug prices are too expensive for too many Americans, and lowering the cost of prescription drugs remain a top priority for Fred. Folks here in Southwest Michigan should have access to transparent pricing information, and we need to boost competition in the market to drive prices lower. In 2019, Fred cosponsored H.R. 19, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act. H.R. 19 will help reduce drug costs on patients, advance cures for devastating diseases, and can pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law.
In 2018, Congress took a monumental step to combat the opioid epidemic, a crisis that has ravaged southwest Michigan and communities everywhere. Thanks to a bipartisan effort, we passed and President Trump signed the Substance Use-Disorder that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which represents the most significant congressional effort to confront a single drug crisis in American history.
Preserving and Strengthening Our Environment
Growing up on the shores of Lake Michigan, Fred has a deep appreciation for Michigan’s wildlife, natural resources, and, of course, our state’s greatest treasure – The Great Lakes.
As a member of the Great Lakes Task Force, Fred has long fought to protect the Great Lakes and conserve their beauty. That’s why he strongly supported the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in nearly two decades and provides robust funding to address a wide range of problems including lake pollution, invasive species, and contaminated sediment. Fred has also led the charge against the long-term storage of nuclear waste anywhere near the Great Lakes.
Most recently, Fred voted for the Great American Outdoors Act, a landmark conservation bill that will help ensure national parks and public lands are preserved and protected by providing $900 million a year to address a $20 billion maintenance backlog on federal public lands.
Southwest Michigan is home to some of the most beautiful outdoor recreation spots in the entire world, ones that Fred cherishes just like you. Fred will always fight for a cleaner and healthier environment that protects southwest Michigan’s abundant natural resources.
Protecting Our Seniors
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on older Michiganders, exacerbated by the state’s policy of keeping COVID-positive seniors in nursing homes. This mandate has truly caused avoidable pain for families who have lost loved ones, and Fred worked diligently with his Congressional colleagues to challenge this disastrous policy.
Fred knows our seniors are among the most vulnerable in our society, and that we must do more to better care for their safety. That’s why he has also fought to make long-term care for older Michiganders and their families more affordable and convenient. The cost of long-term care should not prevent our seniors from receiving the quality care that they deserve.
Fred will also always fight to protect Social Security and Medicare. Michigan seniors have paid into the Social Security system and Medicare program throughout many years of hard work, and Fred will not allow these benefits to be reduced in Congress. Simply put, those who have earned their benefits deserve to get those benefits.
Delivering for Our Veterans
With U.S. troops defending our nation around the world, it is more important now than ever that we provide our soldiers and their families the resources they deserve both on the battlefield and here at home.
When a vote to help veterans comes to the floor, it is the easiest vote Fred takes – it’s always ‘YES.’ Fred has worked and will continue to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get veterans back to work, ensure veterans receive a quality education, improve the disability benefits system, and protect the health and well-being of our veterans.
In 2019, Fred marked the beginning of the VA MISSION Act, bipartisan legislation he supported that expands access to medical care for veterans.
Taking care of our veterans is one of our most important responsibilities, and Fred is proud to support initiatives that put our veterans and their wellbeing first.
Supporting Our Next Generation
As a new grandpa and father of two, Fred understands the importance of ensuring that our children receive the quality education that they deserve. Fred truly believes that an educated workforce creates a stronger and more stable economy, and he will always fight to ensure our children have the tools they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
In his commitment to enhance educational opportunities for Michigan students, Fred has been a proud supporter of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics programs, which promote STEM education. Today in the United States, our own students are being outperformed in math and science education by other countries, and programs like FIRST Robotics look to close this gap.
Fred has also been a strong advocate of reducing the costs of attending college. With tuition rising year after year, the financial burden on our students and their families is a real problem, and Fred has worked to keep higher education affordable for all Americans by expanding federal loan programs and reducing interest rates on millions of student loan borrowers.
Fred knows that the future is bright, and he will always fight to expand educational opportunities and provide the necessary resources for our children to succeed.[157]
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