Promises Kept

In the final days of the legislative session before the midterm elections, our Republican-led Congress took major steps to keep its promises to the American people. Passing key pieces of legislation during over the past few weeks, Republicans are ensuring Americans are better off now than they were just two years ago.

Major highlights of this legislation includes:

• Fighting the opioid crisis by creating better prescription guidelines for medical professionals; protecting seniors from opioid dependence and overuse; improving access to non-addictive pain medication and treatment; cracking down on illicit foreign drug producers who use international mail to ship dangerous synthetic drugs into the United States; funding efforts to quickly detect fentanyl and hazardous copycat drugs to prevent outbreaks and exposure; ensuring that mental health professionals have the latest technology to better serve patients and expand access to treatments in small towns and rural communities; making it easier for doctors, advocates, and local governments on the front lines of the opioid crisis to receive federal resources; and giving patients access to a wider range of treatment options so that they can receive tailored care suited to their specific needs.
• Lowering the cost of prescription drugs through passage of the FDA Reauthorization, which will accelerate the introduction of generic and biosimilar drugs, increasing competition.
• Building on tax reform: providing immediate relief for the middle class by doubling the standard deduction from $6,500 and $13,000 to $12,000 and $24,000 for individuals and married couples, respectively; going after multibillion corporations by closing loopholes while giving working Americans a tax cut; allowing small business owners to write off the cost of state and local taxes for up to $10,000; doubling the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000; and providing relief for current and aspiring homeowners, as well as seniors tied down with high medical expenses.
• Giving veterans the care they deserve, by providing the highest level of funding in history for the VA through the FY19 VA Funding Bill—an 8% increase above FY18 levels.