McCollum Sworn-In To 115th Congress

Congresswoman Betty McCollum released the following statement after being sworn-in to represent the families of Minnesota's Fourth District in the United States House of Representatives in the 115th Congress:

I was honored to be sworn in today as the 115th Congress convened in Washington. I am very grateful to the families of Minnesota’s Fourth District for giving me the opportunity to represent our shared values in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As we all know, Republicans control both the U.S. House and Senate. On January 20th, Donald Trump will become President of the United States. It is no secret that I am strongly opposed to many of the policies they are proposing. Our Minnesota values will be under serious threat in the 115th Congress and I intend to stand up for the constituents and families I represent.

The dangerous Trump-GOP proposals include:

• Repealing the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Trump and Republicans have already laid the groundwork to repeal the Affordable Care Act, leaving millions of Americans uninsured and jeopardizing protections for people who have pre-existing medical conditions.
• Ending Medicare as we know it. House Speaker Paul Ryan has repeatedly advanced proposals to end the Medicare guarantee and turn this life-saving program into a voucher system, which would dramatically raise costs for seniors.
• Rolling back environmental regulations. President-elect Trump has stocked his cabinet with climate change deniers. Working with Republicans in Congress, he will also work to undermine the vital protections of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
• Deporting DREAMers and mistreating religious minorities. With President-elect Trump promising to deport immigrants who came to the United States as children and indicating support for forcing Muslims to register with the government, Congress may soon be asked to pass bills putting these despicable concepts into law.
• Cutting taxes for billionaires. A top priority for Republicans is a massive tax cut for billionaires, which would dramatically increase the federal deficit and exacerbate income inequality.

These Republican priorities are bad for Minnesota and bad for the United States. They would make it harder for us to build a stronger America where everyone has the opportunity to participate and succeed.

You can count on me to represent your voices by standing up and speaking out against policies that harm Minnesotans and our way of life.