Weekly update from 7th District Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach

Press release on Tuesday, November 9 (WITH VIDEO)

 

November 11, 2021

SUBMITTED

Congresswoman Fischbach (second from left) with Minnesota Chamber of Commerce leadership following their recent discussion about budget reconciliation, infrastructure, immigration and economic recovery from the pandemic.

Well, last week was a doozy. The Democrats were able to sneak their infrastructure bill through Friday night at, quite literally, the eleventh hour. As I've always said, I am absolutely in favor of true infrastructure - roads, bridges, and expanding broadband access for rural communities - but this infrastructure bill was a Trojan Horse for the far-left Green New Deal agenda.

The Judiciary Committee also decided to hold a hearing on the Texas Heartbeat Act, which is being put in front of the Supreme Court. As you all know, I believe life is precious from conception until natural death, but this hearing set out to accomplish nothing. This is a Texas issue and a Supreme Court case, not a matter for Congress.

Thankfully, federal courts have already been at work to block President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates. If this mandate is allowed to go forward, employers of companies with 100 or more employees must require COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing, or face a high penalty. This is unnecessary and unconstitutional and the courts agree. The first, likely of many, federal panels ruled that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have the authority to call for such a mandate. Several state attorneys general are suing the Biden Administration for the same reason. These are promising steps and I look forward to seeing a lot more of this pushback.

This Week in Ag

This week, I participated in a House Agricultural Committee hearing on the immediate challenges to our nation's food supply chain. It was a great discussion and I got to hear from several witnesses like the American Trucking Association, the National Grocers Association, and Schwebel's Baking Co.

(HD VIDEO) Video from a House Agriculture Committee hearing on November 3, 2021 titled "The Immediate Challenges in our Nation's Food Supply Chain".

I was able to ask Mr. Cinco from Schwebel's Baking Co. about causes of inflation on things like sugar, yeast, and gluten for his company. He told me that on things like yeast, there is a roughly 10% increase and it's entirely due to issues surrounding freight.

I also got to ask the panel about the Hours of Service emergency declaration, which is set to end November 30. This has been an incredibly important tool in managing the uncertainty of the supply chain. It's allowed them to get orders from the distribution dock to the store as best they can, especially when the reliability of freight is so uncertain. These groups made it clear that if this emergency declaration isn't extended, we're likely to have an even hard time stocking shelves and supplying America with things like school lunches.

You can watch my entire line of questioning in the embedded video on this article.

 

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