MOVING CA 50 FORWARD

Accomplishments

Getting Things Done

Scott Peters has a proven track record in Congress as a problem solver who works across the aisle to get things done for San Diego.

Bills Introduced That Became Law

  • Scott introduced a bill that was passed and signed into law that allows all Purple Heart recipients – regardless of how long they’ve served – to gain full access to G.I. Bill benefits.
  • Scott introduced a bill that was passed and signed into law that named the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego in honor of Judges James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep.
  • Scott introduced and passed a bipartisan law that allows nonprofits to directly use homelessness assistance grants for those in need.  This cuts bureaucratic red tape that previously required non-profits to connect individuals with a government agency to receive aid, rather than administering it directly. The bill was included in the 2015 Highway Trust Fund Reauthorization that passed Congress and was signed into law.
  • Scott introduced the Unnecessary Government Printing Reform Act, which reduces government waste by preventing the Government Printing Office from printing and delivering copies of any document of the House of Representatives or Senate to member offices. Aspects of this bill were included in Legislative Branch Appropriations for FY17.
  • Scott introduced a bill that would allow the VA to hire more marriage and family therapists to serve veterans. A similar provision was included and passed as part of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act.
  • Scott introduced the Make Every Small Business Count Act with a Republican to incentivize prime contractors to utilize subcontractors at every tier of a project. Previously, prime contractors only received credit for using subcontractors in tier one. This language opens up more subcontracting opportunities for small businesses, and was added as an amendment that the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, passed, and signed into law.
  • Scott first introduced the Veteran HOUSE Act in the 116th Congress to expand eligibility for veterans with other-than-honorable discharges to participate in the HUD-VASH voucher program. Veterans with other-than-honorable discharges are more likely to experience homelessness due to an increased risk of mental health challenges, making access to housing and other supportive services critical. The bill became law as part of the annual defense bill at the beginning of 2021.
  • Scott introduced the Employer Participation in Repayment Act to incentivize employers help pay their employees’ student loans. The tax incentive will help young Americans enter into good-paying careers and begin to make investments like buying a home or saving for retirement. The bill was included in the CARES Act of March 2020 and received a five-year extension under the FY 2021 federal spending package.
  • Scott introduced the bipartisan and bicameral USEIT Act in the 115th and 116th Congress to support carbon utilization and direct air capture research. It will encourage federal, state, and non-governmental collaboration to facilitate planning and permitting of CCUS facilities and the carbon dioxide pipelines needed to enable large-scale deployment. It became law within the FY21 funding bill, which featured the most significant pieces of climate change legislation in a decade.
  • Scott introduced a resolution to reinstate the methane pollution standards put in place by the Obama administration. Scott has prioritized reducing methane pollution because it is a super pollutant more than 80 times as harmful as carbon dioxide and is responsible for about 25 percent of the human-made global warming. President Biden signed Scott’s resolution into law in 2021, marking the first major climate legislation passed by the 117th Congress.
  • Scott introduced the POWER ON Act to increase transmission capacity for renewable energy, boost electrical grid resilience to maintain reliable power, combat the climate crisis, and lower energy bills for American families. The bill was included and passed into law as part of the historic Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act.
  • Scott first introduced the STANDUP Act in 2019 after visiting Bernardo Heights Middle School and learning about their efforts to keep each other safe. President Biden signed the bill into law in March of 2022 and it will now help reduce school violence nationwide by increasing mental health awareness and teaching students and educators how to get help for those at risk of harming themselves or others.
  • Scott re-introduced the Methamphetamine Response Act in 2021. The bill will designate methamphetamine as an emerging drug threat and direct the Office of National Drug Control Policy to implement a plan to address the issue of addiction and overdose in our communities. He was honored to join President Biden in the oval office in March 2022 for a bill signing ceremony.

Amendments Passed by the House and Signed Into Law

  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, which became law, to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are collaborating on strategies to end veteran homelessness.
  • Scott also offered another amendment included in the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, to force the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to change an outdated formula used to distribute federal homelessness resources that had disadvantaged San Diego. This was part of an ultimately successful effort to require HUD to open the federal homeless funding formula to public comment to ensure San Diegans received their fair share.

Amendments Passed in Committee and Signed into Law

  • Scott offered and passed a bipartisan amendment to the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act that transferred $120 million to purchase 8 additional MQ-9 Reaper drones for the Department of Defense. MQ-9 Reaper drones are manufactured in Poway, meaning, in addition to giving our soldiers the technology they need, this amendment helped support high-paying jobs.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that reforms the Department of Defense’s acquisition processes to ensure that both small and large businesses are on a level playing field when competing for contracts. San Diego is home to many small, innovative companies that stand ready to contribute to our national defense.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to ensure that state Governors retain the ability to call upon National Guard firefighting units in the event of a disaster.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act asking the Department of Defense to report on the efficacy of its Energy Strategy and Sustainability office.

Amendments Passed by the House

  • Scott offered and passed a bipartisan amendment to the transportation and housing appropriations bill in 2015 that prohibits HUD from spending money on contractors that do not have LGBT non-discrimination policies.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvement Act that allowed the Department of Defense to issue rules to protect servicemembers and their families from abusive lending practices.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Energy Security Act that would require the Department of Energy to ensure that we have sufficient energy storage capabilities in the event of natural disasters and wildfires.
  • Scott offered and passed another amendment to the Energy Security Act, requiring the Department of Energy to report on the energy savings and emissions reductions of facilities like the methane capture plant at the Miramar Landfill. This will encourage the development of more innovative carbon capture plants that reduce harmful emissions and create energy.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Federal Power Act to allow a preliminary permit to be issued to a hydropower construction applicant for up to four years, instead of three.
  • Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that gives the Army Corps of Engineers the technology to assess our water infrastructure for vulnerabilities before natural disasters.

Growing San Diego’s Innovation Economy

  • Increasing Research Funding: Scott has been a consistent and vocal advocate for increasing funding for basic scientific research through the National Institutes of Health. As a freshman, he led his colleagues on a tour of the NIH so they could see the important work done there and around the country. He sent a number of letters to appropriators urging increases in the NIH budget, and  helped pass the 21st Century Cures Act, which provides an unprecedented $1.75 billion in annual mandatory spending on NIH research. This is in addition to more than $8 billion in annual authorizations. San Diego’s labs and universities depend on federal investment through the NIH to support jobs in science. The House passed a funding level of $49.4 billion for the NIH for FY 2022.
  • Standing Up for Innovators: In both terms, Scott led bipartisan opposition to the so-called “Innovation Act,” which would have threatened small innovators by making drastic, sweeping changes to the patent system. Universities, researchers, and inventors opposed the bill because it would have turned our innovation ecosystem inside out, chilled investment in new discoveries, and put small inventors at a disadvantage. Scott was credited with being instrumental in blocking the bill in part by leading a letter signed by a bipartisan group of 78 members of Congress.
  • Delaying Medical Device Excise Tax: San Diego’s innovation ecosystem creates new, innovative devices that improve the lives of patients with difficult illnesses. The medical device tax has slowed growth in the industry, leading to fewer jobs and less investment. Throughout his time in Congress, Scott has helped introduce the Protect Medical Innovation Act, which would repeal the tax established by the Affordable Care Act. At the end of 2015, Scott was credited by industry leaders with forcing a two-year delay of the tax as part of the government funding bill.
  • Supporting Small Businesses
    • Scott offered and passed an amendment that reforms the Department of Defense’s acquisition processes to ensure that both small and large businesses are on a level playing field when competing for contracts. San Diego is home to many small, innovative companies that stand ready to contribute to our national defense.
    • When Congressional leadership failed to come to an agreement, Scott joined a bipartisan effort to break gridlock and force an ultimately successful vote to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which helps small business owners sell their products to consumers outside the United States. In the last five years, the bank has supported nearly $2.5 billion in exports from Scott’s district alone.
    • In 2013, Scott helped introduce The Make Every Small Business Count Act that encourages prime contractors to subcontract with small businesses. The bipartisan policy change was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 and became law that December.
  • Promoting Job-Creating Trade: In 2015, Scott hosted both U.S. Trade Ambassador Froman and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez in San Diego to highlight the importance of trade to growing our region’s economy and to allow local labor leaders to voice their concerns with labor aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Scott was one of only 28 House Democrats to support passage of Trade Promotion Authority. Scott’s courageous vote, which crossed party lines, was critical to passage.
  • Backing Nuclear Energy Research: In 2016, Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act ensuring that innovative companies in San Diego would receive support for doing nuclear fusion research for the Department of Defense.
  • Supporting Warfighters and Expanding San Diego Jobs: In the 117th Congress, Scott led a bipartisan effort to increase the amount of MQ-4C Triton aircraft bought by the Navy in Fiscal Year 2022. With one more platform over the President’s budget submission, the amendment brings jobs to San Diego and makes our Navy stronger abroad.
  • Supporting a Growing Algae Industry: UC San Diego is leading the way in algae biotechnology research, which will reimagine the way we produce fuel and food. In 2021, Scott co-led an appropriations letter in support of funding the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Algae Systems program at $40 million and providing $10 million for research and development of carbon utilization using algal systems. The final House bill matched Scott’s requests for funding.

Veterans and Military Families

  • zero8hundred: San Diego has a strong veteran community prepared to offer services, but many veterans struggle to be connected with the help they need. Knowing this, Scott helped launch an organization called zero8hundred that works with service organizations and the military to get our veterans the services and support they need to make a successful transition to civilian life. In Congress, Scott has worked to pass legislation that supports public-private partnerships like zero8hundred that bring together military leaders and veterans organizations.
  • Getting Veterans the Care they have Earned: In 2013, when partisan gridlock held up the VA Access, Accountability, and Choice Act, Scott offered a motion that was credited with breaking the gridlock and getting it passed.  This bill makes it easier for the VA to fire bad employees, extends in-state tuition for veterans and their families, and allows veterans facing long wait times or who live far from a VA facility to receive private health care paid for by the VA.
  • Protecting Servicemembers from Fraud: Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvement Act that allowed the Department of Defense to issue rules to protect servicemembers and their families from abusive lending practices.
  • Helping Veterans Get Good Jobs: Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in 2016 that encourages the Department of Defense to prioritize the hiring of veterans for military construction projects like those at Coronado and Miramar.
  • Improving Mental Health Care: Scott introduced a bill that would allow the VA to hire more marriage and family therapists to serve veterans. A similar provision was included and passed as part of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. Scott also helped introduce and pass a bill that would ensure veterans who have trouble participating in group therapy because they took part in classified missions get the individual care they need. Coronado’s Dr. Howard and Jean Somers, who tragically lost their son to suicide after he left the military, brought this idea to Scott and he worked to make it law.
  • Supporting Military Children: Scott offered and passed and amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes the Department of Defense to provide resources for grief camps like Camp Erin in San Diego that helps children of military households who have been hurt by substance abuse or suicide.
  • Connecting More Veterans to Mental Health Support: In 2021, Scott introduced the Veteran Peer Specialist Act, which builds on his previous work to expand peer counseling services within the VA. Fellow veterans are in the best possible position to help guide their peers through the mental health and other supportive services offered by the VA.
  • Supporting Servicemembers in their Transition to Civilian Life: In the 117th Congress, Scott serves as the co-chair of the bipartisan Military Transition Assistance Pathways (MTAP) “Transition” Caucus. The goal of this caucus is to better advocate for servicemembers as they transition back to civilian life, and to engage with the VA to see how Congress can support initiatives that address community care issues.
  • Honoring Community Heroes: Scott’s bill to rename a Poway Post Office after WWII veteran, Ray Chavez, became law during the 116th Congress. In 2021, the post office was officially renamed to honor Ray, who at his passing, was the oldest surviving Pearl Harbor veteran. The post office stands as a tribute to his legacy, and to all those who’ve served our nation valiantly.

San Diego Priorities

  • Returning More Than $7 million to San Diegans: Since being elected, Scott and his congressional staff have focused on providing the highest level of service to constituents who are having difficulty navigating the federal bureaucracy.  As a result of their efforts, more than $7 million in benefits owed to them have been restored to San Diegans since he took office in 2013.
  • Getting San Diego its Fair Share of Resources to Fight Homelessness: Since 2013, Scott has led the charge to change an outdated formula used to distribute federal homelessness resources that has disadvantaged San Diego. Scott urged the Department of Housing and Urban Development, brought federal officials to San Diego to see the need for resources, and even passed a bipartisan amendment forcing HUD to consider changes to the formula. Then HUD Secretary Castro called Scott personally to tell him they were considering four options to replace the formula, all of which would bring more federal dollars to San Diego to help end homelessness.
  • Modernizing and Naming Courthouse: Scott introduced a bill that was passed and signed into law that named the federal courthouse in downtown San Diego in honor of Judges James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep. Scott also successfully fought for federal funding to improve security and build a new childcare facility at the courthouse.
  • Preserving Mt. Soledad: In 2014, Scott worked with a Republican Congressman from San Diego to pass legislation that transferred Mt. Soledad from the Department of Defense to a local non-profit to ensure that the cross will be maintained.
  • Port of San Diego Land Exchange: Scott wrote a portion of the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House and allows the Navy and the Port of San Diego to exchange land parcels in the Broadway complex to improve parking for parkgoers.
  • Helping Non-profits that are Helping the Homeless: Scott introduced and passed a bipartisan law that allows non-profits to directly use homelessness assistance grants for those in need.  This cuts bureaucratic red tape that previously required non-profits to connect individuals with a government agency to receive aid rather than administer it directly. The bill was included in the 2015 Highway Trust Fund Reauthorization that passed Congress and was signed into law.
  • Expanding Trolley Access: In 2015, Scott supported federal funding between SANDAG and the DOT to match the local funding for the extension of the trolley system known as the Mid-Coast project. Since then, Scott successfully pushed for congressional appropriations in the DOT Capital Investment Grant program to fulfill the annual funding needs. In November of 2021, the Mid-Coast trolley expansion of the Blue Line opened to connect residents to job opportunities, universities, the VA, etc.
  • Building Pure Water: As droughts become more frequent, prolonged, and severe, San Diego’s Pure Water Program is critical to securing our water independence. With Scott’s advocacy and support, Pure Water San Diego was selected as one of 12 projects to apply for more than $2 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) in 2017. In 2021, the Pure Water Project began Phase One. Scott’s Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II would provide further regulatory certainty to the City of San Diego as it continues to make significant progress. His bill passed the House in 2021.

Investments in Infrastructure and Job Creation – More than $1 billion for San Diego

  • Improving Border Infrastructure: Scott led Democrats and Republicans in securing almost $450 million for the San Ysidro Border Crossing that regional business leaders called San Diego’s top priority for job creation. The improved crossing will strengthen border security and create thousands of jobs by improving the flow of trade and commerce.
  • Funding San Diego Defense Priorities: In 2016, Scott successfully fought to include $280 million to complete construction projects in Coronado, including new training facilities for Coronado’s Navy SEALs and $154 million in accelerated funds to build new hangars to house F-35 Lightning jets at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in the National Defense Authorization Act. This investment will give San Diego’s military community the resources it needs and create high-quality jobs.
  • Boosting San Diego’s Defense Industry: Scott offered and passed a bipartisan amendment that transferred $120 million to purchase 8 additional MQ-9 Reaper drones for the Department of Defense in 2016. MQ-9 Reaper drones are manufactured in Poway, meaning that in addition to giving our soldiers the technology they need, this amendment helped support high-paying jobs.
  • Creating Jobs at the Port of San Diego: Scott sent a letter of support and spoke personally with Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx to back the Unified Port District’s application for a federal TIGER infrastructure grant to upgrade the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal. The grant request was approved, giving the Port $10 million to complete the project and make its operations more efficient.
  • Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant: Scott worked with the Department of Defense to support of San Diego’s application for an economic adjustment grant as a result of previously awarded defense contracts. In 2016, San Diego received a $1.8 million grant award.

Fixing a Broken Congress

  • No Budget, No Pay: During his first year in Congress, Scott voted to pass no budget, no pay, meaning that if Congress doesn’t do its job and pass a budget, it doesn’t get a paycheck. Scott continues working to make that law permanent because, like hardworking Americans, Congress doesn’t deserve a paycheck if it can’t do its job.
  • Reducing Government Waste: Scott introduced legislation to reduce wasteful government printing of documents and reports that are available online, and the provision was included and passed within the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act.

National Security and the Military

  • Providing for the National Defense: As a member of the Armed Services committee, Scott worked in a bipartisan manner to help craft and pass the National Defense Authorization Act four years in a row. This bill lays out defense spending priorities for the fiscal year, and in 2019, for his leadership, Scott was selected to be part of the conference committee that negotiates the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
  • Supporting Servicemembers’ Mental Health: In 2016, Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act encouraging the military to be more proactive in informing military families of the hardships servicemembers may be encountering during their service.
  • Expanding Missile Defense: Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act supporting the expansion of missile defense cooperation we currently have with Israel to other allies in the Middle East.
  • Increasing Military Energy Security: Scott has been a leader in supporting the military’s efforts to diversify its fuel supply and reduce its reliance on foreign oil. He was credited with the bipartisan defeat of three bad amendments to the national defense policy bill that would have undermined the military’s work to increase their energy security and invest in alternative fuel sources.
  • Funding San Diego Military Priorities: As co-chair of the Special Operations Caucus, Scott successfully fought for funding for a new training facility for Navy SEALs on Coronado and to accelerate funds to build new hangers to house F-35 jets at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
  • Backing DoD Energy Goals: Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act asking the Department of Defense to report on the efficacy of its Energy Strategy and Sustainability office.
  • Righting Wrongs: In 2016, Scott offered and passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act directing the Navy to investigate whether mutiny charges against a group of African-American sailors stations at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in 1944 was racially motivated.
  • Forging Relationships with Allies: Scott worked with Representative Michelle Fischbach to introduce the bipartisan Promoting Ties with Taiwan Act. If passed, it would foster closer relationships with Taiwan and other nations by requiring the State Department to build a strategy that encourages growth of relations between Taiwan and new international partners.

Gun Safety

Health Care

  • Reducing the Cost of Prescription Drugs: 
    • In 2016, Scott lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to prioritize the approval of cheaper generic prescription drugs. Just months later, the FDA acted on the request, meaning that the generic drug approval process will be streamlined and give consumers more affordable options when they go to fill their prescriptions.
    • In 2021, Scott worked with the White House and his congressional colleagues to negotiate a compromise deal on drug pricing reform, to be included in the Build Back Better Act. The historic deal keeps Democrats’ promise to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of older drugs in both Parts B and D. The deal is largely based on his Reduced Costs and Continued Cures Act.

Energy and the Environment

  • Encouraging Alternative Energy Savings: Scott offered and passed an amendment to the Energy Security Act requiring the Department of Energy to report on the energy savings and emissions reductions of facilities like the methane capture plant at the Miramar Landfill. This will encourage the development of more innovative carbon capture plants that reduce harmful emissions and create energy.
  • Increasing Energy Security: Scott offered and passed another amendment to the Energy Security Act that would require the Department of Energy to ensure we have sufficient energy storage capabilities in the event of natural disasters and wildfires.
  • Funding Wildfire Prevention: Scott brought then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to San Diego to show her the importance of funding the 10-year average for wildfire costs and reforming wildfire funding. He’s led the fight to fix the way the federal government funds wildfire prevention and response, and led a discharge petition to force a vote on the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act that gained 196 bipartisan signatures. A portion of the bill was subsequently included in the 2015 government funding bill and became law.
  • Leading Globally on Climate Change: In 2021, Scott introduced the bicameral FAIR Transition and Competition Act. It would establish a border carbon adjustment (BCA) on climate-polluting imports and ensure we address the climate crisis at home and abroad. In November of 2021, Scott traveled to Glasgow, Scotland to participate in COP26 – the United Nations Climate Summit. While there, he discussed the bill and other climate action proposals with policymakers from around the world.
  • Cleaning up Tijuana River Valley Sewage Spill: The San Diego congressional delegation secured $300 million as part of the USMCA to fund EPA grants under the Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP) and address sewage pollution on the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2021, EPA Administrator, Michael Regan, joined Scott and Representative Juan Vargas to visit the ongoing environmental crisis in San Diego. The White House has since proposed comprehensive solutions to address the pollution issue.

Equality

Education

  • Supporting Students’ Mental Health: In 2021, Scott introduced and helped the House pass the STANDUP Act to expand evidence-based student prevention and awareness training in schools, particularly for students in grades 6-12. By encouraging early prevention, teaching warning signs, and giving students, teachers, and administrators the tools they need to react properly to threats, we can prevent tragedy before it occurs.
  • Addressing Student Debt: To help young Americans begin to make investments like buying a home or saving for retirement, Congressman Peters introduced and helped pass the Employer Participation in Repayment Act. It incentivizes employers to help pay their employees’ student loans. The bill was included in the CARES Act of March 2020 and received a five-year extension under the FY 2021 federal spending package signed by President Biden.

Paid for by Scott Peters for Congress

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