Congresswoman Jackie Speier Reports:

July 3, 2014

Dear Friends,

As we celebrate our country’s 238th birthday, we gather with family and friends and appreciate the good things in our lives. Over the last few months I have seen wonderful success stories here in the 14th Congressional District: students graduating, businesses launching and veterans receiving long-overdue benefits. But I have also seen many of you struggling to make ends meet.

While our economy continues to improve, our housing costs are soaring and some families grapple with tough choices between paying the mortgage or paying for a child’s college tuition. For other families, the decisions can be as existential as choosing to pay the rent versus buying food. I am deeply concerned about the chasm between the rich and the poor. Unless we close it, we fail to live up to the values our founding fathers so aptly expressed in the Declaration of Independence. We have to create opportunities for everyone to make America succeed.

Here’s what I’ve been working on:

Veterans

My office has helped secure more than $4 million for local veterans as the region’s Veterans Administration in Oakland had one of the largest backlogs of disability claims in the country. Some of the veterans who reached out to my office were waiting for years to have their claims approved. Now the country is witnessing another failure within the VA with outrageous - and in some cases fatal -delays in access to medical appointments. I will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on Monday, July 7 with Congresswomen Anna G. Eshoo to access if this is a problem at the Palo Alto VA Hospital. If you have experienced delays in medical care at the VA, please call my District Office at (650) 342-0300.

Campus and Military Sexual Assault

One-in-five women in college will be sexually assaulted or raped, an epidemic that has until recently been kept out of the headlines. My work over the last four years to reform how the military addresses sexual assault cases has alerted me to this rampant problem on our nation’s college campuses, including at UC Berkeley and Stanford. I’ve met with many survivors and have introduced several pieces of legislation over the years to protect our service members in the military from sexual assault and will soon introduce legislation, the Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency (HALT) on Campus Sexual Assault Act, to provide more vigorous enforcement of campus sexual assault.

Women’s Small Business Owners

I was proud to host Ready, Set, SUCCEED: A Women’s Small Business Seminar held last month. Women entrepreneurs are the fastest growing segment in the small business community. However, while women have made great strides to reach economic parity with men in the world of business, major challenges still persist. The seminar was designed to help women overcome these challenges. When women succeed, America succeeds.

Sea Level Rise

Many scientists agree that the sea level will rise by at least three feet by 2100. San Mateo County is particularly vulnerable and has been dubbed "ground zero" for sea level rise on the West Coast. On Friday, June 27 I hosted in conjunction with San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine and Assemblyman Rich Gordon a conference on sea level rise that was attended by more than 80 located elected officials and city managers. The conference was designed to educate local land use policy makers about the profound impact of sea level rise and to start planning to protect communities on the Peninsula. More than 110,000 people, $24 billion in property, and San Francisco International Airport are at risk of sea level rise.

Consumer Protections

I continue my work on consumer protection issues. Last week, I introduced the Stop Selling and Marketing to Our Kids E-Cigarettes (SMOKE) Act in Congress. The industry has lured children and teenagers with aggressive marketing tactics to use its products. With flavors like gummy bear, cotton candy, and chocolate cake, and devoid of child-proof containers, our kids are literally gobbling these things up. The SMOKE Act does not outlaw e-cigarettes for consenting adults. The purpose of the bill is to make sure the products are safe, to keep consumers informed about important safety information such as dosage guidelines, and to keep these products out of the hands of teens and kids – especially the youngest children that run the highest risk of being poisoned.

The rest of 2014 promises to be as busy as these past six months were. I look forward to seeing you at one of my upcoming events. Please remember that my office is always here to help should you have a problem with a federal issue. You can find resources on my website at How My Office Can Help You. Please click here to participate in a telephone town hall July 9 at 7 p.m. to discuss my work in Congress and to take your questions.

As you watch the fireworks this 4th of July, remember that our country is built on the motto “E pluribus unum” – “Out of Many, One.” Have a safe and healthy holiday weekend!

All the best,

/s/ Jackie

Washington D.C. Office
211 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3531
Fax: (202) 226-4183

San Mateo Office
155 Bovet Road, Suite 780
San Mateo, CA 94402
Phone: (650) 342-0300
Fax: (650) 375-8270