EC from DC - February 14, 2014

It was a busy week in Washington. And a productive one. Yes, I said it. After hearing me speak so often about my frustrations surrounding the lack of compromise, and inability to act, I think it is appropriate for me to tell you that this week, we saw some movement forward. First, in a critical vote, Congress acted in a bipartisan way to pass a clean bill to suspend the debt ceiling. This doesn't add a single cent to the deficit - it means the Treasury is allowed to pay the bills for spending that Congress has already approved. 

This action speaks not only to all Americans, but to the rest of the world as well, that the full faith and credit of the United States is not in question. Defaulting on our debt obligations would have put those in Missouri's Fifth District, and around the country, at risk in many areas. Those areas include possibly delayed tax refunds, higher interest rates for mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and credit cards. We could have seen a drop in retirement savings, and a delay in benefits for disabled veterans and seniors. For example, a whopping 1.2 million people in Missouri have employer retirement plans that would have been affected. Over 183,000 students rely on student loans to go to college in Missouri. More than 201,000 Missourians took out a home mortgage, or refinanced their existing mortgage last year, and their rates could have increased had we not been able to take action on the debt ceiling. Taking bipartisan action averted a budget crises and I am pleased we were able to work together to keep unnecessary and damaging consequences from impacting our finances – and our families. 
 

Also this week, we saw a historic moment as the President signed an Executive Order (EO) raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour. This will assist hundreds of thousands of Americans, including so many, of course, in Missouri's Fifth District. The EO takes effect for new contracts on January 1st of next year. It will also include an increase in the tipped minimum wage, and it covers people with disabilities. 

It has been far too long since Congress took action to increase the minimum wage. It is not right that full-time workers are still falling below the poverty line, putting in the hours at work and still not able to put food on the table. This action will help. 
 

A QUESTION FOR WOMEN ON VALENTINE'S DAY
WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HELP??
 

"When Women Succeed – America Succeeds" - yes, that is a slogan we often hear in Washington these days. But the fact is, it's so much more than that. It's not just a catchy slogan, it's the truth. From pay equity to affordable child care, the women in our lives, in our communities, and in our country want to see government working for them. When Women Succeed, America Succeeds – and of course, men succeed too.  So what do you need this Valentine's Day? Please share with me your legislative priorities. What do you think Congress should focus on that would make life better, more fair, and more prosperous for you and your family?    Please take a moment to share with Congressman Cleaver the issues you think Congress should make a priority. If you are experiencing problems with the survey in this format,  click here to view this email on your Web browser.   Pay Equity Raising the Minimum Wage Paid Sick Leave Extension of Unemployment Insurance Improving Education Comprehensive Immigration Reform Quality affordable child care Other: *By responding, you are agreeing to receive periodic email updates from Congressman Cleaver. Your email address will only be used for this purpose and will not be shared with anyone.

This week, Chair Janet Yellen made her first appearance before Congress as the new Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Chair Yellen is the first woman to hold this position, and she joined us at the House Financial Services Committee to discuss the state of the economy. One of the things I asked the Chair about concerned efforts of Congress and the Federal Reserve to ensure we reach full employment in this country. We are increasing our GDP, lowering the unemployment rate, and improving the state of the hard hit housing market, but growth is still slow. I believe our nation's economic success depends on a very comprehensive and conscientious fiscal and monetary policy. 

A full copy of Chair Yellen's testimony is available here.

I want to continue my efforts to keep you updated on the latest news concerning the Affordable Care Act. The recent numbers of those enrolling have exceeded expectations. The goal remains to provide quality and affordable health coverage to millions of Americans across this country. No one should live in fear that an accident or illness will leave them in financial ruin. No one should pay more for being a woman. And no one, in the richest country in the world, should go without access to healthcare.

• New numbers show the enrollment for health insurance was up by 53% in January compared to the three previous months combined.
• Nearly 3.3 million people have now signed up for private health insurance plans.
• This number covers those signing up through federal and state Marketplaces between October 1st of last year through February 1st of this year.
• The largest area of growth is young people.
• Youth adult enrollment increased by 65% in January.
• All other age groups combined grew by 55%.
• According to a new Gallup poll the number of uninsured Americans continues to drop.
• The uninsured rate among 26-34 year olds is dropping faster than any other age group.
• Efforts to get Americans enrolled will continue with events throughout the area throughout the remaining days of the open enrollment period.

If you think you have some creative ideas that could help in the mission to make quality mental health care better and more available to veterans, a new competition may be just the thing you're looking for. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently announced the 2014 Mental Health Industry Innovation Competition. The goal is to identify, test, and evaluate new and innovative ideas that will assist veterans. That assistance will focus not only on increased access to care and improvement of quality, but also on enhancing the performance of VA operations, and cutting cost of delivering services. 

The competition will focus around three areas of importance:

• Upstream Suicide Intervention
• Improve veterans receptivity to treatment
• Innovative methods of incentivizing behavior to improve mental wellness

Veterans and their families sacrifice each day for every one of us, and for our country. They deserve to get the very best we have to offer. 

For more information about this competition, please visit: www.fbo.gov and/orhttps://www.innovation.va.gov/.

Ms. Alma Holland, my high school speech and English teacher, and I were legendary and mortal enemies. We were, as my family and classmates will confirm, the Count Dracula and Van Helsing of Booker T. Washington High School.

I, of course, was Abraham Van Helsing, trying to rid my school of the cruel ways of Ms. Holland, or what I called, Ms. Holland's vampirism. While I never attempted to sprinkle her with holy water, on several occasions I did bring garlic, in an attempt to destroy the evil of pop quizzes. It turns out that, without my conscious knowledge, Ms. Holland somehow transferred into me some of her vampiric spirit. Today I am a full-fledged vampire with regard to English. I want to scream when news reporters and others say, on air, "git" or "the reason why." I guess it just goes to show that teachers cannot be judged nor measured by the results of mere school years, but by the yields of decades to come.

Here I am in my 60s, writing about what I learned from Ms. Holland in the ninth grade. I would have been sick if someone had told me that, decades after graduating from high school, Ms. Holland's vampiric echo would live on through me. Imagine if we were to each other as a student is to a teacher - wary at first, but willing to learn. 

It is a holy thing to leave behind, for future generations, a memory of accomplishment and statecraft. This would be the truest measure of our service.