Dear Friend,

Late last week the House cast its 1000th vote since the new Congress took office in early January. The American people sent us to Washington to work together and find real solutions to the problems we face, and I am proud of what we have accomplished so far on behalf of Hoosiers and Americans across the country.

We showed our commitment to America’s veterans by passing the largest increase in funding for veterans’ health care in the 77-year history of the Veterans Administration (VA). In addition to $28.9 billion in funding to improve veterans’ access to health care, the bill also provided essential funding for renovations and maintenance on existing VA hospitals and clinics to prevent situations like those that occurred at Walter Reed.

I was also proud to join my colleagues in enacting the bipartisan 9/11 Commission’s recommendations for improving security at our airports and seaports and improve communications between first responders. For over 5 years, Congress has had a blueprint for preventing and preparing for future terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Enacting these recommendations was just a commonsense, long-overdue policy.

This Congress also passed the first minimum wage increase in a decade; boosting working families’ paychecks by $2.10 per hour – from $5.15 to $7.25 – over the next two years. At the same time, we were mindful of the impact employee wages can have on small businesses and passed $4.84 billion in tax cuts to keep small businesses healthy and growing.

And, best of all, Congress has accomplished all of this in a fiscally responsible manner; adhering to pay-as-you-go budget rules to ensure these policies don’t saddle our children and grandchildren with more debt.

You can learn more about these policies and other initiatives I am working on by visiting the 8th District Online Office.

Sincerely,

Brad Ellsworth