Media

WASHINGTON— Following a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie on the VA's FY 2021 budget priorities, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) urged Secretary Wilkie to conduct proactive risk communication to veterans in response to growing public health threats of the coronavirus in the United States.

WASHINGTON— Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14) today held a conference call with local public health officials and health care providers to discuss coronavirus preparedness, response, and how the public can best protect themselves from infection. Underwood, a public health nurse who worked at the Department of Health and Human Services on the Department's responses to Zika, Ebola, and the Flint water crisis, has first-hand appreciation for the essential role of local public health and health care providers.

WASHINGTON— Today, in a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) questioned the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie on the VA's priorities, and how it will work to improve the quality of care veterans receive following the department's Fiscal Year 2021 budget request. In her questioning, Underwood expressed concern that the VA's budget request may not be sufficiently targeted to address ongoing gaps in care for women veterans.

WASHINGTON— Ahead of the April 15 tax deadline, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) continues her work to help Illinois communities unfairly hurt by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The Republican tax law enacted in 2017 applied a new 21% tax on parking and transportation benefits that tax-exempt organizations, including houses of worship and charities, provide to their employees.

WEST CHICAGO— Today, following the passage of the legislation in the House of Representatives to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) held a press conference to discuss the importance of the ERA. The legislation, H.J. Res. 79, would facilitate timely ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S.

WASHINGTON— Yesterday, the House Homeland Security Committee passed Vice Chair Lauren Underwood's (IL-14) Safe Communities Act of 2020 (H.R. 5667). The Safe Communities Act would help target resources to rural and suburban communities, which have historically experienced funding gaps, to ensure that first responders, schools, nonprofits, and houses of worship can protect themselves against terrorist attacks. The legislation was introduced with Representative John Katko (NY-24).