Brad's Newsletter
As you may know, I made a quick, one-day trip to Washington last week to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act. This historic legislation is the largest ever investment in our nation's history to tackle climate change. It will lower the cost of health care by allowing Medicare to negotiate pricing on some of our most expensive prescription drugs and capping the out-of-pocket cost of insulin. It will bring down the cost of energy in the short run by expanding production here in the U.S.
Summer always seems to me the fastest moving of the seasons. It seems like we are just getting started when the calendar turns to August and suddenly we realize the flowers in the garden are starting to close up, we are running out of weekends to get away, and the new school year is just around the corner. But there is still plenty of Summer left, the days are still long, and hopefully we will have the chance to connect as I travel around the district.
Today marks one month since the heinous shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day parade. We carry the memories of Katherine Goldstein, Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Sundheim, Nicolas Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo in our hearts. We are lifted by news of the continued recovery of the dozens wounded, including Cooper Roberts. And we are thankful for the continued outpouring of love, care and support for friends, neighboring communities, indeed the entire nation. Highland Park is healing, the community is united, strong and resolved to honor the victims with action.
The House is in session this week wrapping up a busy July. Last week, among other bills, the House passed a "minibus" appropriations bill, consolidating funding for 6 of the 12 Appropriations committees. While the bill provides funding for diverse areas such as housing, transportation agriculture and veterans affairs, it also includes funding approvals for Community Projects across the country. I am pleased to share that all 15 Illinois Tenth District projects for which we sought funding are included in the bill.
The swirl of emotions after the murderous attack on the Highland Park Independence Day Parade is something unlike anything I've ever experienced. All the senses are distorted. Things don't sound quite right. The world doesn't look quite right. Time stops. Grief wells up from a deep, dark reservoir, only to be supplanted by waves of white-hot anger.
It's been over a week since evil attacked Highland Park, yet our hearts still ache for the families who lost their loved ones and everyone else touched by the events of that day, and the days that followed.
Con el horrible ataque en el desfile del Día de la Independencia de Highland Park todavía fresco en nuestra memoria, y la zona del tiroteo siendo una escena del crimen activa, nuestras almas se compadecen de las familias de los asesinados y de todos los afectados por los acontecimientos del día. El asesino destrozó lo que debería haber sido una celebración de la libertad, arrebató las vidas de siete personas cariñosas y cambió para siempre las vidas de innumerables personas.
With the horrific attack on the Highland Park Independence Day Parade still fresh in our memory, and the area of the shooting still an active crime scene, our souls ache for the families of those murdered and all those impacted by the events of the day. The killer shattered what should have been a celebration of freedom, stole the lives of seven loving individuals, and forever changed the lives of countless others.
I am writing to you from the plane home from D.C., still reeling from the Supreme Court's devastating decision today to overturn Roe v. Wade, upending nearly 50 years of established law protecting women's reproductive rights.
I wanted to start today's newsletter with a quote I think many of us can relate to:
"Like so many working moms across the country, I'm tired. I'm tired of working so hard day after day and still worrying about the bills. I'm tired of making impossible choices and robbing Peter to pay Paul." This is how Donna Price, a nurse and mother, described our country's economic situation in a Ways and Means hearing this morning.
Another week, more mass shootings. More than 250 already this year. More than 30 just since Uvalde. As so many others have said, other countries have mental health problems, but only the United States has daily mass shootings. More on that below.