speier
December 28, 2012

Dear Friends,

During 2012 I had the honor and pleasure to meet many of you in person at events, in my office, by chance on the street, or at a store. Regardless of whether or not we met, I’m determined to represent you as best I can, here in the 14th – formerly 12th –Congressional District.

The holidays are a time to give thanks for what we have. I am honored to represent you and grateful for my family and friends. I hope you will use this time to help the less fortunate and consider visiting a food bank or homeless shelter to provide the support you can.

Please remember that my office is always there for you should you have a problem with a federal issue. Have a wonderful holiday and a bright new year.

All the best,

jackie

  1. Year Highlights
  2. Legislative Update
  3. My District Office Is Here To Help


Year Highlights

Congresswoman Jackie Speier meets with constituents; Lindsay Schulz (left) and Astrid Barrientos (right) landed full-time jobs after attending a Job Hunters Boot Camp.
Job Hunters Boot Camp
I held the eighth and ninth Job Hunters Boot Camp this year. Each time over 500 job seekers participated by connecting with local employers that were hiring as well as with experts who provided invaluable advice on how to find a job. The boot camp connected many people to job opportunities--take Lindsay Schulz who told her inspirational story at the October JHBC. She attended the March boot camp, interviewed with an employer and had a full time job two weeks later. If you are a JHBC “graduate” and have a success story, I urge you to contact my office and share the good news.

VA Fix It Meeting
I met with scores of veterans who had been
WWII veteran Jake Ventrello at the Fix It Meeting. He will finally receive VA benefits after a two year wait.
waiting too long for their service-connect claims to be processed by the VA. Nearly 300 veterans came to a “VA Fix It Meeting” I held in May in San Francisco. Their claims were reviewed and the majority of them have been awarded long-awaited benefits. For example, two days after the Fix-It event, a 94-year-old WWII veteran was given caregiver benefits that had been in the VA processing stage for more than two years.

The work of my office this year has resulted in nearly $2 million in benefits being awarded to area veterans with a service-connected disability. Our work wasn’t just about compensation—we also worked with VA medical facilities to help veterans receive the care they needed in a timely fashion. But more work remains to be done. Our troops are home from Iraq and many are returning from Afghanistan. The VA backlog persists. My office will be intensifying its outreach to veterans during 2013.

Seniors on the Move Conference
We celebrated the 25th anniversary of Seniors on the Move this year with 600 wonderful attendees. Among the many highlights of the conference was a presentation by “Sully” Sullenberger, the retired airline captain who safely landed a jet full of passengers and crew on the Hudson River after it was disabled by a flock of geese. We also heard from award-winning KGO talk show host Ronn Owens. If you missed it, you can watch videos of the presentations on my YouTube page.

Military Sexual Trauma
I continue to fight for the protection of survivors of rape and sexual assault in the military. In October, I visited Lackland Air Force Base in
Congresswoman Speier speaks at a press briefing that preceded the SFSU forum featuring students, health professionals and policy makers
Texas, the location of one of the worst sexual scandals in the military. One instructor was convicted of raping a trainee, and four other instructors were found guilty of inappropriate relationships with recruits. An additional 20 instructors face similar charges. All Air Force recruits go through Lackland, potentially exposing young, idealistic adults to abuse of authority by a trainer who has turned predator. Sexual abuse in the military must end.

Women’s Issues
During Women’s History Month in March, we held a forum at San Francisco State University on women’s health titled “Don’t Turn Back the Clock” and a meeting designed to inspire elementary and middle school students to make their dreams come true titled “When I Grow Up…” I was the one inspired by the children who wanted to be everything from scientists to secret agents to humanitarian directors to basketball players to actors to teachers to President of the United States.

Make it in America

Our second Make it in America event at the San Mateo County Fair was
a great success. Twenty American manufacturers – primarily local –showcased their products—
Over 10,000 people moved through the Make it in America exhibit.
motorcycles, beer, handbags, and more to over 10,000 people. I heard over and over again how people want to buy American products. And buying American creates jobs: if each of us spent an extra $66 per year on American-made products, we’d create 200,000 new jobs. Clearly, the growth of manufacturing jobs is key to our economic recovery.

In this spirit of Buy American, I encourage you to buy locally this holiday season. I am challenging myself to do my shopping at small businesses, buy American and make donations to charities in the name of loved ones.


Legislative Update

During the 112th Congress I continued my efforts on several important issues with bi-partisan support, such as Military Sexual Trauma, internet sales tax fairness, mass transit security, improved care for childhood cancer survivors, and whistleblower protections. Some of the bills I introduced include:

STOP Act
The Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act, or STOP Act, aims to fundamentally change how sexual assault is handled in the military by taking prosecution, reporting, oversight, investigation and victim care of sexual assaults out of the hands of the normal chain of command and placing jurisdiction in the hands of impartial experts.

Marketplace Equity Act
The Marketplace Equity Act would allow states to require out of state online retailers to collect and remit sales tax. (Introduced with Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas)

Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act
The Veterans Mental Health Screening and Assessment Act is aimed at reducing the high rate of suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by mandating mental health and TBI screenings.

Do Not Track Me Online Act
The Do Not Track Me Online Act would give consumers the ability to prevent the collection and use of data on their online activities. Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act The Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act, aims to improve and advance the treatment of childhood cancer survivors.

Equal Access to COBRA Act
The Equal Access to COBRA Act would ensure LGBT couples and families have the same access to health cover-age as heterosexual couples.

Filipino Veterans Fairness Act
The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act would make all WWII Filipino veterans eligible for benefits similar to those received by all WWII U.S. veterans.

Non-Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act
The Non-Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act encourages whistle-blowing by federal contractors who identify waste and misconduct in federal programs. I will be continuing my efforts on these important issues in the 113th Congress, and am also working on several new legislative initiatives, including health care price transparency and full separation pay for those who were discharged on the grounds of homosexuality under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.


My District Office Is Here To Help

My district staff helps constituents with federal issues every day. If you need help with a Medicare, Social Security, housing, veterans or immigration issue, please call my office. Here are examples of recently solved cases:

A constituent bought a home with her father in 2004. He passed away four years later, but she was able to continue making payments. Her difficulties started when her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 resulting in high medical and travel expenses. She and her husband have two more children to support. Her husband took a leave from work to care for the sick son. Then the constituent lost her job. She contacted the bank to request a loan modification, but was denied. My office contacted the bank in 2012 and asked for a new evaluation. She was offered a trial modification that the bank says will be made permanent in January. The young family is grateful that they can now focus on the child’s recovery.

A biotechnology company with a new drug about to enter clinical trials was facing a serious delay that threatened the viability of the trial. The company was trying to import a small batch of the new drug for use in the trial but was stunned to learn that the product required a permit from the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The medication, if successful, would treat a chronic and serious condition that has no other efficacious treatments. Our office explained the situation to the USDA and the permit application process was accelerated, cutting seven weeks off the typical eight week timeline. The clinical trials will now go forward as planned and hopefully someday this promising treatment will be proven effective and become available to patients throughout the country.

A Peruvian nun, diagnosed with a potentially malignant tumor, was offered treatment at a hospital in San Jose, California. My office contacted the embassy to expedite the visa application process. The Mother Superior, however, denied the Sister permission to seek a visa arguing that orphans cannot expect to receive such medical treatment. The Sister’s supporters rallied the religious bureaucracy and succeeded in getting that decision overruled. By then the hospital had withdrawn its offer, but a replacement hospital was found. Sister has travelled to the U.S. to receive treatment.

My office received this postcard from a Vietnam veteran who had his benefits claim “lost” by the VA. Years passed without action until we were able to set the record straight, resulting in a back benefits award of more than $80,000 for this veteran.

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