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RELEASE: Representative Khanna’s first term successes: two bills passed

December 13, 2018

Washington, DC – In his first term in Congress, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) passed two bills through Congress while serving in the minority party in both houses of Congress and while a Republican president occupies the White House. Khanna's second bill, The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), was passed by the House, and this week by the Senate.

The bill, which aims to digitize and modernize government services, is poised to become law. The IDEA, cosponsored by Representative John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), requires federal agencies to modernize and improve their website and citizen services by closing the tech gap between the private sector and digital government services. The bill promotes the option for digital forms, the use of e-signatures, improved security standards and greater access to government websites for people with disabilities.

The freshman Democrat's first major legislative achievement benefits veterans. The Veteran Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform (VALOR) Act was signed into law by the President in November 2017. Representatives Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) were the leading cosponsors of this bill making it easier for employers to offer apprenticeships to veterans.

Additionally, in November 2017, the House passed Representative Khanna's resolution, H. Res 599, with bipartisan support – by a vote of 366 to 30 – acknowledging for the first time that U.S. action in support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen was not authorized by Congress. The vote followed an hour-long debate, the first-ever extended discussion of the Yemen Civil War on the House floor.

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