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2021 in Review

December 20, 2021
Newsletter Archive

Happy holidays!

As 2021 comes to a close, I would like to highlight some of the work I have been doing in Washington, D.C. and in the South Bay over the past year to improve the lives of people in our district and across the country.

For more daily updates on legislation, letters, interviews, and public statements, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @RepRoKhanna.

Building Back Better

One of the most important pieces of legislation of 2021 was the Build Back Better Act. Last month, the House passed the Build Back Better Act, which would finally address the climate crisis, create good paying jobs, and make childcare accessible to all American families. Since then, I have continued to push for the Senate to pass this transformational legislation. Here are some of the ways the Build Back Better Act would help you and your family:

  • Lowers the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
  • Expands Medicare to cover hearing benefits.
  • Establishes free universal preschool programs for all three and four-year-olds.
  • Makes a historic investment in childcare to cut down costs for families.
  • Extends the expanded Child Tax Credit to ensure that 39 million households continue to receive up to $3,600 in tax cuts per child.
  • Extends the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to provide financial support to millions of low-wage workers.
  • Extends and expands clean energy tax credits, ensures new technology will be built in the United States, and advances environmental justice by investing in projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.
  • Lowers the cost of annual energy bills for families by an average of $500

This bill will help tackle inflation, give working families a tax cut to help pay for things like groceries and gas, and make childcare and prescription drugs more affordable. Everything in the bill is paid for by making the wealthiest individuals and giant corporations pay their fair share in taxes.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Becomes Law

Another monumental piece of legislation this year was the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which has now officially become law. In November, I was honored to attend the White House signing ceremony where President Biden welcomed members of Congress to celebrate this massive achievement.

I was happy to vote for the IIJA, which will make long overdue investments in our roads, bridges, railroads, airports, and dramatically expands broadband access. Specifically, this historic infrastructure package makes the largest federal investment in public transit ever, the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system, the largest investment in clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in American history and expands access to reliable high-speed internet.

In the coming months, we will see the IIJA deliver for California, providing internet access to the more than half a million Californians who currently lack it, providing billions to repair California's water infrastructure, improving public transit, and expanding its electric vehicle charging network.

Update on Local Funding

Our office has gotten questions from many of you on the local funding requests that our office has submitted for transportation, education, housing, and other local funding projects in our district. Our 10 Community Project Funding requests for CA-17 that passed the House won't pass into law this year, but we are hopeful they will be included in a full-year government funding package that is expected to pass into law in the first few months of 2022, before the stop gap measure to fund the government expires on February 18th. I will continue pressing the Senate to pass House approved appropriations bills that include funding for vital community projects in CA-17 and across the nation.

I will also keep pushing for transportation funding for CA-17's Member Designated Projects. While the Member Designated Projects were not included in the IIJA, we will continue to highlight the need for funding those projects through other funding mechanisms.  

Chairman of Environmental Oversight and Holding the Fossil Fuel Industry Accountable

This year, I assumed the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment for the 117th Congress. My priorities continue to be to fight both climate change and climate disinformation, create green jobs and protect communities left behind from the detrimental effects of climate change, and end fossil fuel subsidies.

To that end, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney and I held a hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Reform to examine the fossil fuel industry's long-running, industry-wide involvement in spreading disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing climate change. For the first time in history, executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, the American Petroleum Institute, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce testified under oath about the role their companies have played in spreading and funding climate disinformation. 

During the hearing, I questioned the executives and they repeatedly dodged my questions, refused to take responsibility for their companies' actions, and declined to commit to stop funding disinformation campaigns about climate change. Big Oil can no longer hide its multibillion-dollar spending on climate disinformation. That is why we announced subpoenas for the documents that our witnesses refused to provide.

Additionally, I partnered with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05), member of the House Committee on Appropriations, to introduce the End Polluter Welfare for Enhanced Oil Recovery Act. Our bill would repeal the tax giveaways that enable the fossil fuel industry to profit off capturing carbon emissions and using them to increase oil production.

I envision a nation that works towards 100 percent clean energy, low emissions, and communities with high quality sustainable jobs. Those are the goals that have guided my actions as Chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment, and I will do everything I can to make that vision a reality.

Withdrawal from Afghanistan

In August, the U. S. military finally withdrew from Afghanistan after spending 20 years and over $2 trillion. I believe President Biden made the right decision to withdraw our troops and end that unwinnable war.

However, the withdrawal did not go as smoothly as planned. Like many of you, I was heartbroken by the crisis that unfolded in Afghanistan. I was horrified to see the desperation of fleeing civilians and by the terrorist attack on the Kabul International Airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and an estimated 170 Afghans. My heart goes out to the families of all those lost that day.

Despite that horrific attack, the U. S. military still managed to conduct one of the largest airborne evacuations in our nation's history. Over 120,000 people, including over 5,000 American citizens, are alive and well today because of the courage and composure of our men and women in uniform. I am humbled by and proud of the daily heroism of our troops who worked tirelessly to secure the evacuation of Americans and refugees from Afghanistan.

While the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan has come to a close, the U.S. has a moral obligation to increase its diplomatic engagement with the United Nations and regional actors to help stabilize the country and commit humanitarian assistance that meets the needs of everyday Afghans. Also, as a representative of the largest Afghan American community in the United States, I know the value the Afghan community brings to our country. That is why my office continues to work diligently to help everyone who wishes to leave Afghanistan do so with our focus being on American citizens and Green Card holders who have a CA-17 connection.

We must begin to heal the wounds of our longest war by bringing our troops home, caring for our veterans, and dramatically increasing admissions and resettlement efforts for Afghan refugees.

Endless Frontier Act Advances

In June, the Endless Frontier Act, passed with bipartisan support in the Senate as a part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. I originally introduced the Endless Frontier Act with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Todd Young (R-IN), and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) in April to provide major investments in science and tech innovation.

The Endless Frontier Act will increase investments in the discovery, creation, and manufacturing of technology critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. It will also create millions of jobs in America and ensure we remain the world's leader in science and technology in the 21st century.

In the House, I have been working with members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to build support for these diverse set of initiatives. Specifically, I worked with Subcommittee Chairwoman Haley Stevens and Rep. Jamaal Bowman to pass part of the Endless Frontier Act as an amendment to the annual National Science Foundation for the Future Act. It is now up to the House to pass the legislation. Based on its broad bipartisan support in the Senate, and backing by the White House, I am confident it will pass and become law.

The 21st Century Jobs Act

In July, I reintroduced my 21st Century Jobs Act to make the future of work accessible and sustainable for every American. Specifically, the bill allocates $900 billion in research and development funding for emerging technologies like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. It will also create up to three million good new jobs annually, administered by a newly created Federal Institute of Technology (FIT). 

Additionally, the 21st Century Jobs Act includes:

  1. Funding for better and more widespread STEM instruction in public schools, specifically focused on Computer Science. Currently, only 19 states give high schoolers access to Computer Science (CS) courses. Under my plan, CS will be a mandated component of any public-school curriculum for all K-12 students nationwide. 
  2. STEM scholarships for students left behind. Of the 331,000 STEM bachelor's degrees conferred in the U.S. in 2016, nearly 218,000 went to white students, compared to only 57,000 for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous graduates combined. My bill will provide the funds to close that gap and bring more Americans into the technology revolution. 
  3. Tax incentives for the federal government's contractors to locate part of their workforce in rural and forgotten areas across America. Companies will be eligible to claim the tax credit by hiring a person who attended a FIT or received the rural/minority STEM scholarship.
  4. $8 billion toward teacher training in STEM fields. America has underinvested in the very educators needed to make this vision a reality. My plan lays out a pathway to train, certify, and expand development programs for educators working in both local and higher education. 

No person should have to leave their hometown to get a job in the digital revolution. The 21st Century Jobs Act is intended to meet the need for a massive investment in science and technology and the spread of digital opportunities across the country. If we want to compete economically with China, we can't have every job concentrated in Seattle, San Francisco, or Boston. People shouldn't have to move to work in tech. Those jobs should be available in every community in America, particularly in communities that have been left behind. I am proud to reintroduce this important legislation to bring our country one step closer toward a stronger global economy for the 21st century.

State-Based Universal Health Care Act

In June, I reintroduced the State-Based Universal Health Care Act. This bill provides states with historic access to federal funding streams and the regulatory flexibility necessary to implement and support affordable, universal health care plans.

The State-Based Universal Health Care Act creates a waiver to allow states to develop their own plans to provide access to health care for all their residents by accessing federal funding. To apply for the waiver, participating states or groups of states must propose plans to provide health care coverage for 95 percent of their residents within five years. After that time, participating states would be required to demonstrate they reached coverage targets and provide a plan to cover the remaining five percent of their population. States that do not reach the 95 percent target after five years would have to revise their plan to achieve the targets, or risk losing their waiver.

Our struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more clear that universal health coverage is not optional, it's urgent and essential. We've seen the power in providing unfettered and easy access to rapid testing, treatment, and vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the wealthiest nation on earth, we must extend that kind of coverage to the whole of our health care system.

Supreme Court Term Limits Act

I partnered with Reps Don Beyer (VA-08), Barbara Lee (CA-13), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) to reintroduce the Supreme Court Term Limits Act in September. This bill would fundamentally reform the power of our nation's highest court by establishing 18-year term limits on any Supreme Court Justices approved after this bill's passage. After their 18-year terms, justices would then be allowed to continue their service on lower courts.

Current justices would be exempt from the term limits. Going forward, the bill would then create a regular appointment process to allow every president to nominate a new justice to the Supreme Court during each odd year, guaranteeing each president the opportunity to nominate two justices per four-year term.

The high-stakes and highly politicized confirmation hearings that occur every time there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court undermine the reputation of our highest judicial body. This legislation will address that issue by creating a regular, fair process that doesn't reshape the Court for decades at a time. There is broad support among the American people for reform and this bill would be a meaningful step towards standardizing and democratizing the Supreme Court.

Ending U.S. Complicity in the Saudi-led War in Yemen

In September, my amendment to the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibiting U.S. military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen passed the House.

My amendment would terminate U.S. logistical support, and the transfer of spare parts to Saudi warplanes conducting aerial strikes. It would also enshrine into law the Biden Administration's decision to end intelligence sharing that enables offensive strikes and ends any U.S. effort to command, coordinate, participate in the movement of, or accompany Saudi-led coalition forces in the war.

Unfortunately, House and Senate Armed Services Committee leadership stripped the amendment from the final NDAA package they negotiated, but I am already working to press for its inclusion in next year's final conference report so that President Biden can sign it into law. It is time to do what is morally right, hold Saudi Arabia accountable, and fully end U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led coalition's bombing of Yemeni civilians.

The Stop CHEATERS Act

I introduced the Stop Corporations and Higher Earners from Avoiding Taxes and Enforce Rules Strictly ("Stop CHEATERS Act") in February to focus more tax enforcement on the ultra-rich. I was proud to see elements from the proposal included in President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda, some of which were included in the Build Back Better Act. It is long past time we stop allowing corporations and high-income earners to avoid paying the taxes they owe. They need to pay taxes like ordinary hard-working Americans do.

Without raising taxes on anyone, the Stop CHEATERS Act would raise an estimated $1.2 trillion in revenue over ten years by investing $100 billion in IRS enforcement over the next decade. That money would expand auditing and reporting requirements to prevent tax cheating from the wealthiest corporations and individuals. This bill does not impose new requirements on small business owners, who would continue to prepare and pay their taxes as usual.

The Stop CHEATERS Act will make America's tax system fairer by giving the IRS the resources it needs to put an end to runaway tax evasion by the ultra-rich and the wealthiest corporations in the U.S.

Working to Serve You in the District

This year, our local Santa Clara office continued working through another year of the COVID-19 while facing a record number of federal agency cases (over 1,100). Casework evolved from a focus on the impact of COVID-19 (such as small business loans, unemployment assistance and stimulus checks) to a surge in passport applications before the rise of the Delta variant, followed by long hours put in during the ongoing Afghan refugee evacuation and resettlement crisis. Through it all, my team handled more immigration and visa cases than any other congressional office in the region.

Beginning in early in 2021, we pushed to facilitate access to COVID vaccines for all our constituents, especially those in vulnerable communities hard hit by the epidemic. We continue to help provide resources for those wanting information on vaccinations and boosters. Working together to get through this pandemic is a top priority.

In April, I began visiting the district in person more frequently again due to the easing of State/County restrictions on travel. My first visits were focused on health care, community service organizations and affordable housing. I was moved to hear the stories of constituents who have personally felt the challenge of these times and was grateful to be able to thank the essential workers who had been on the frontlines of the pandemic since early 2020. Later, I visited each CA-17 city and was given a tour by our mayors. I also visited pending Community Project Funding (see update above) and proposed infrastructure project sites, attended school openings, met with labor leaders and police chiefs, celebrated Mexican Independence Day, saluted those who served on Veterans Day and honored volunteers who helped the less fortunate, highlighting those in the Vietnamese and Muslim American communities. I was humbled to meet with Afghan families who escaped under harrowing circumstances. Finally, one of my favorite memories was going to National Night Out events in four cities where I had the pleasure of talking to people on a warm summer night in Silicon Valley. I look forward to seeing more of you in 2022.

Beyond in-person community outreach, we were also able to continue connecting via remote means. In addition to my monthly Facebook town halls, I hosted multiple forums and roundtables to tackle issues such as the insidious rise of hate targeted towards our AAPI community, the impact of the American Rescue Plan on COVID relief, assisting small businesses looking to return to normal following the pandemic, and continuing our Series on Race to delve into the social issues that have been only heightened since the events of the summer of 2020. We will continue to offer online opportunities to communicate, even after COVID restrictions are eased further.

A Few of My Op-eds

THE US GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO INVEST IN DIGITAL DESIGN

Wired

Ro Khanna and Shaun Modi

OVERRULE THE PARLIAMENTARIAN. OR END THE FILIBUSTER. AMERICANS NEED A $15 MINIMUM WAGE

Washington Post

Ro Khanna

U.S. HANDS BIG OIL $20 BILLION A YEAR TO SPEW GREENHOUSE GASES. CONGRESS NEEDS TO CUT OFF THE TAP

San Francisco Chronicle

Ro Khanna and Earl Blumenauer