From the Office of:

Senator A. O’Neal-Freeman
Iowa

Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

To the Great State of Iowa,

In order to be transparent, and keep my promise of open, honest communication, I am writing to you to
update you on what transpired during the latest session of the 116th Congress. Despite my best efforts, the
session closed with few successes.

This session my main goal was to ensure Congress spent time addressing real, important issues in
America today, instead of climate change. The reality of climate change, as I am sure you all are aware, is
being questioned by an increasing number of scientists. There are a multitude of issues that you, my loyal
constituents, are more impacted by, and have signalled are more significant to you. One of these issues is
skyrocketing prescription drug prices, which is why I introduced my bill, The Battling Unaffordable
Prescription Drugs Act (BUPDA), to the HELP Committee for review. Unfortunately the committee was
unsympathetic to my call for action, and refused to vote it out of committee, leaving people subject to
outrageous prescription drug costs across the United States helpless. My bill takes the first steps towards
solving the large, complex problem of unaffordable prescription drugs. BUPDA addresses the issue using
a two-pronged approach: mitigating the effects of expensive drugs on low-income communities, and
reining in the all-powerful pharmaceutical companies by requiring full transparency. It would not require
funding. It is nonsensical that a cost neutral bill that would benefit you, my dearest constituents, as well as
people relying on prescription drugs throughout America would not make it out of committee. My fellow
Iowans, you can be sure I will reintroduce it next session, and continue to fight for its passage.

During the session, myself and other patriotic Republicans rallied behind the Courts, Organization, and
Care Afforded to Carefully Oversee Lawful Aliens Act (COCA COLA Act). This bill worked to reinforce
border security while simultaneously expediting the legal immigration process. It would not change the
overall amount of immigration, but would push immigrants to immigrate legally instead of illegally. In
response to an ill-intentioned amendment to strike the entirety of the border security provision of the
COCA COLA Act, I pointed out that the two provisions work together in order to push immigrants to
legally immigrate, and striking one of them would leave an imbalance in the immigration system. In later
debate on the bill, I further supported it by reminding the Senate of the threatening, dangerous immigrant
caravans that led myself and you, my fellow Iowans, to fearing for our lives. I proudly voted for the bill,
and the COCA COLA Act passed with 23 senators voting in favor and 19 voting against. It then passed
the House of Representatives, and landed on President Whitney’s desk, where she vetoed it. Sadly, the
veto override attempt failed, with only 46 lawmakers out of both houses voting in favor of the override.

The Protection of Prisoners (POP) Act was also introduced during the past session. It is a bill focused on
reforming prisons and the voting rights of convicted felons. The POP Act limits the use of solitary
confinement in prisons, creates a Federal Parole Board, and, most importantly, gives voting rights to
prisoners before conviction and after release. As I am sure you know, our state of Iowa currently
permanently disenfranchises convicted felons. However, a movement led by governor Reynolds is
From the Office of:
Senator A. O’Neal-Freeman
Iowa

underway to amend the Constitution in order to solve this issue. I declared my support for the idea, but
voted against the bill because I believe this decision should be made by a government that more
intimately knows my constituents and state. The POP Act passed the senate with 22 votes in favor, 17
votes against, and 2 abstentions. It was then sent to the House, where it was tabled.

Finally, the one bill passed this session is the Prevention, Rehabilitation of Every Victim [of Opioids]
through Education and New Tactics (PREVENT) bill. At first a bill regarding opioids was passed in the
Senate, and a similar one passed in the House, so the bills went to Conference Committee in order to
create one joint bill. The result is the PREVENT bill. This bill offers an extensive, detailed plan to bring
the opioid crisis to a halt. The opioid crisis is a pressing issue across the United States, and even within
our very own state of Iowa the number of opioid overdose deaths is increasing. However, I spoke out
against this bill and highlighted two significant arguments against it. Firstly, the bill discusses establishing
education programs and rehabilitation centers, but gives no plan for how people living in outlying areas
will have access to these resources. In Iowa, and in many other states, people living in the “country” or
remote areas are hardest hit by the opioid crisis. Secondly, Congress is essentially writing a blank check
for these programs and initiatives due to the vague wording in the funding provision. The joint PREVENT
bill passed the Senate with 26 votes in favor, and 15 votes against. It passed the House as well, and
President Whitney proceeded to sign it into law.

Myself and my fellow Republican senators fought hard throughout the session in order to prevent the
out-of-control lawmakers on the other side of the aisle from throwing excessive amounts of taxpayer
money at insignificant issues, and from infringing on states’ rights. At one point, Senator Smith even
resorted to a filibuster to prevent the passage of the invasive POP Act. We succeeded on many counts,
and proudly stood up for our party and the American people. I advocated for you, my amazing
constituents at every possible moment, and always voted in your interest. My goal during this session was
to accurately represent you and address your needs, and it will be my goal for every session in the future.
I look forward to continuing to serve my home state of Iowa for terms to come.

Sincerely,

Senator A. O’Neal-Freeman