Press Releases

2022 highlights:

1. Working to protect the sanctity of life
2. Working to protect Hoosiers’ Constitutional 2nd Amendment rights
3. Fighting to Secure the Southern border
4. Unleashing American Energy
5. Supporting Hoosier Law Enforcement
6. Supporting Main Street Business
7. Supporting Hoosier Farmers
8. Helping Our Veterans
9. Promoting Maternal Health and Well-Being
10. Increasing Access to Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Services
11. Protecting Seniors’ Access to Health Care
12. Supporting our Health Care Workforce
13. Ensuring Clinically Accurate and Analytically Valid Testing
14. Healthy Future Task Force
15. Increasing Internet Safety
16. Bringing Transparency to the FTC’s Rulemaking Process
17. Promoting Autonomous Vehicle Technologies
18. Supporting the Military’s Work in Indiana
19. Stopping the Biden Administration’s Unconstitutional Disinformation Board
20. Advocating for a Better Approach to Dyslexia
21. Promoting School Choice
22. Honoring Congresswoman Jackie Walorski’s Legacy

Dr. Bucshon’s Highlights from 2022:

Working to protect the sanctity of life

• In 2022, Dr. Bucshon received a 100%ratingfrom National Right to Life Committee and an A+fromSusan B. Anthony List for his voting record supporting the sanctity of life.
• Dr. Bucshon voted against bills like H.R.8296, theWomen’s Health Protection Act of 2022that would effectively overturn state laws and allow for elective abortions until birth,and against an appropriations bill (H.R. 8294) repealing the Dornan and Smith Amendments that previously restricted federal funding from being used to pay for elective abortions.
• Numerous letters were signed by Dr. Bucshon, asking Congressional leadership and the Administration to support the Hyde Amendment, to opposelifting guidelines and restrictions on chemical abortion drugs,to investigate terrorist attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers,and to investigate PPP funds going to Planned Parenthood.He also signed a letter celebrating the landmark Supreme Court decision inDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationto finally overturnRoe v. Wade.
• Dr. Bucshon cosponsored multiple pieces of pro-life legislation such as theProtecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act(H.R. 8814) and theHeartbeat Protection Actof 2021(H.R. 705).

Working to protect Hoosier’s Constitutional 2^ndAmendment rights

• Dr. Bucshon cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation to protect 2^ndamendment rights including theFIND Act(H.R.6970), to prohibit the federal government from entering contracts with entities that discriminate against firearm trade associations and businesses, and theHearing Protection Act(H.R. 95), which would remove suppressors from being controlled under the National Firearms Act and subject them to the same requirements that apply for the vast majority of firearms.
• Additionally, Dr. Bucshon cosigned letters to the Administration, opposing a proposal from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on ghost guns, and to credit card companies, expressing concern over creating firearm-specific Merchant Category Codes that could be used to track firearm purchases of law-abiding Hoosiers.

Fighting to SecuretheSouthern border

• Dr. Bucshon cosponsoredlegislation such astheEMAP Act(H.R. 7462), which would prohibit the Biden Administration from terminating Title 42 until at least 60 days after the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended, and the Immigration Transparency andTransit Notification Act of 2022(H.R. 6592), to require the Biden Administration to notify state and local officials before placing illegal immigrants in their jurisdiction.
• Dr. Bucshon cosignedaletter totheOffice of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Securityasking fora comprehensive review of the Biden Administration’s decisions. With a record-breaking 2.7 million border encounters this fiscal year, the crisis at the Southern border is worse than it’s ever been before.

Unleashing American Energy

• This year, Dr. Bucshon promoted the American energy sector and pushed back against the flawed approach of the Biden Administration that has harmed businesses at home,empowered our adversaries abroad, and raised gas and utility prices for Hoosiers across Southwest and West Central Indiana.
• Dr. Bucshon cosponsored bills like theAmerican Energy Independence from Russia Act(H.R. 6858) and theMidland Over Moscow Act(H.R. 6748) which would take steps to increase domestic energy production and ensure our energy sector can support not only our own energy needs but those of our allies impacted by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
• Dr. Bucshon joined colleagues on letters sent to President Biden and other Administration officials regarding the threat of blackouts due to a potential power shortage last summer, the need to restart the federal government’s offshore oil and gas lease sales, and steps to take to ensure America is not beholden to Russia to meet our country’s energy needs.
• Dr. Bucshon also worked with colleagues to conduct oversight over thePromoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act, his bill that was signed into law in 2018 and instructs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to create an expedited permitting process for existing nonpowered dams. He signed a letter to FERC requesting information on what challenges FERC still faces in implementing the bill and whether additional regulatory or legislative action is necessary. Dr. Bucshon will continue working in the next Congress to ensure that America can unlock the untapped potential of hydropower—a proven, reliable source of clean energy.
• Dr. Bucshon also voiced these concerns on thefloorof the House of Representatives and duringhearingsof theHouse Energy and Commerce Committee’s EnergySubcommittee.

Supporting Hoosier Law Enforcement

• Dr. Bucshon cosponsoredtheQualified Immunity Act(H.R. 288), which codifies established Supreme Court precedent in favor of qualified immunity protections for law enforcement into statutory law, and theProtect and Serve Act(H.R. 3079), which establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting a law enforcement officer.
• Dr. Bucshon also cosponsored legislation to help recruit and retain more men and women as law enforcement officers, including theDavid Dorn Back the Blue Act(H.R. 3131), which would authorize $15 billion to help state and local law enforcement departments recruit and retain officers, and theSchool Resource Officer Act(H.R. 6712) to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services program at $500 million a year, and to direct thirty percent of that funding to pay for school resource officer salaries and benefits.

Supporting Main Street Business

• Dr. Bucshon keeps in regular contact with Chambers of Commerce and business Leaders in the district.
• Dr. Bucshon has long supported small businesses in Indiana and has been committed to helping them rebound after the adverse impacts of COVID-19. He co-led theCritical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act(H.R. 6152) to direct the Department of Commerce to conduct a study on the feasibility of manufacturing more goods that are key to critical infrastructure in the United States.
• Dr. Bucshon believes in lowering tax burdens to support businesses, and to that end has cosponsored theSNOOP Act of 2022(H.R. 6913) to repeal the requirement that businesses’ report gross transaction volumes of more than $600 to the IRS, theMain Street Tax Certainty Act(H.R. 1381) to make the 20% deduction of qualified business income permanent, theProtecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2022(H.R. 6658) to make certain 2017 tax cuts permanent, and theAccelerate Long-Term Investment Growth Now Act(H.R. 2558) to make full and immediate expensing permanent within the tax code.

SupportingHoosier Farmers

• Dr. Bucshon cosponsored theReducing Farm Input Costs and Barriers to Domestic Production Act(H.R. 8069) which would address rising farm input costs, rescind climate rules that are overly burdensome to small farmers, promote efficiency in the meat and poultry processing industries, and stop attempts to restrict access to herbicides and pesticides that farmers rely on to protect their crops and yields.
• Dr. Bucshoncosigned a letter to the United States Trade Representative advocating for them to prioritize items important for Hoosier farmers, like enforcing trade deals and alleviating supply chain bottlenecks.
• Dr. Bucshon cosigned multiple letters to President Biden detailing concerns of rising farm expenses and inflation on producers, and communicating the importance of the agricultural industry to the Hoosier state.

Helping Our Veterans

• The closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been detrimental to veterans and their families seeking to obtain the benefits promised them by the federal government for their service. Dr. Bucshon joined colleagues in writing to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to reopen the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to pre-pandemic staffing levels to reduce the backlog of requests from veterans. Following the letter, he co-led a bill (H.R. 7616) to compel the NPRC to resume pre-pandemic level operations.
• This year, Dr. Bucshon signed onto theMajor Richard Star Act(H.R. 1282), which would ensure that combat injured veterans with fewer than 20 years of service receive both disability compensation and retirement pay. Currently, combat injured veterans are unable to receive both of these benefits in full simultaneously.

Promoting Maternal Health and Well-Being

• Dr. Bucshon’sTRIUMPH for New Moms Act(H.R. 4217) passedwith significant bipartisan support as part of theRestoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, becoming law upon passage of the government funding bill for fiscal year 2023 (H.R. 2617). This legislation will help protect the mental health of new mothers by increasingprevention, screening, diagnosis, intervention, treatment, and access to care for maternal mental health conditions.
• Dr. Bucshoncontinued to advocate for hisMaternal Health Quality Improvement Act(H.R. 4387), a bill aimed at reducing the alarming rate ofmaternal deaths in America and saving mothers’ lives. Indiana has anunacceptably high maternal mortalityrate—the third worst in the country. This bipartisan legislation will benefit patientsand communities that are currently struggling by providing them with the support and training they so desperately need, and by helping ensure that women in rural areas can have access to maternal health providers. H.R. 4387 ultimately became law, as it was included as part of a larger piece of legislation (H.R. 2471) that was signed by President Biden on March 15, 2022.

Increasing Access to Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Services

• Also included in theRestoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Actandpassed as part of H.R. 2617 was Dr. Bucshon’sH.R. 7238, the Timely Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Act. This legislation will increase patient access to opioid treatment programs by allowing these programs to care for individuals who have been addicted to opioids for less than one year.
• Dr. Bucshon introduced thePhysician Wellness Program Act(H.R. 8890—bipartisan legislation to expand mental health services for health care workers—alongside Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36).It became law as part of the H.R. 2617 package. In a post-COVID world where many people carry an increased burden and workload, it is critical that we remove barriers that may prevent providers from accessing wellness programs.

Protecting Seniors’ Access to Health Care

• Dr. Bucshon joined Rep.Ami Bera (D-CA-07) to introduce the bipartisanSupporting Medicare Providers Act of2022(H.R. 8800) to maintain existing levels of Medicare physician reimbursement for an additional year.Language from this bill was incorporated into the H.R. 2617 legislative package. These funding levels are critical to ensuring Medicare patients can continue seeing the health care providers they know and trust, as Dr. Bucshon describes inthis op-ed forThe Hill.
• After years of bipartisan, bicameral efforts to improve to process of prior authorization in the Medicare Advantage program, Dr. Bucshon played a critical role in helping to get hisImproving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act(H.R. 3173) passed in the House of Representatives in September. This important legislation would provide patients and their doctors with important coverage information in real time, avoiding delays in care that could otherwise be detrimental.
• Dr. Bucshon’sProtecting Seniors Through Immunization Act(H.R. 1978) was signed into law in August as part of a larger legislative package (H.R. 5376). Because of this legislation, seniors enrolled in Medicare will have access to certain recommended vaccines, such as the Shingles vaccine, free of charge.

Supporting our Health Care Workforce

• Dr. Bucshon introduced the bipartisanSafety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act(H.R. 7961), a bill that establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting or intimidating hospital personnel while they are at work. Health care facilities should be places for healing rather than violence, as Dr. Bucshon stated in hisop-ed for Modern Healthcare, and repeated attacks on doctors and nurses demonstrate a need for greater protections.

Ensuring Clinically Accurate and Analytically Valid Testing

• Dr. Bucshon continued his work onthebipartisan, bicameralVerifying Accurate Leading-Edge IVCT Development (VALID) Act(H.R. 4128).This bipartisan legislation would level the playing field by establishing a new risk-based framework for the review and approval ofdiagnostic tests, accelerating innovation and ensuring Americans can rely on the test results they receive.
• In the operating room, time is a precious commodity – even the smallest delay can be the difference between life or death for a patient. Recent advancements in diagnostic testing technology have transformed the speed and accuracy in which doctors receive this life-changing information. The VALID Act makes sure that a safe, accurate, and risk-based framework is in place to allow leading edge development and innovation to thrive in our hospitals and laboratories, while assuring doctors and patients that their test results are analytically and clinically valid.

Healthy Future Task Force

• Dr. Bucshon was selected to chair theHealthy Future Task ForceSubcommittee on Doctor/Patient relationships, which wrapped up its work this year. Through months of policy examination, stakeholder input, and roundtable discussions, the Subcommitteedeveloped a patient-focused agendafor the future.
• As outlined in aWashington Examinerop-ed, these proposals focus on improving the patient care experience by allowing providers to focus on patients over paperwork, modernizing antiquated processes that delay patient care, and addressing provider shortages through oversight of health care workforceprograms.

Increasing Internet Safety

• Dr. Bucshon helped formulate legislation to improve transparency and accountability in Big Tech, and to reduce the prevalence ofcyberbullyingon social media. He also helped develop draft legislation, which passed in the House Energy & Commerce Committee,to make the internet a safer place for Hoosiers by establishing a national privacy standard and encouraging companies and organizations to incorporate “Privacy by Design” into their operations to secure sensitive information from bad actors.

Bringing Transparency to the FTC’s Rulemaking Process

• Dr. Bucshon continues to advocate for theRECS Act(H.R. 2676)to require the Federal Trade Commission to submit economic analyses alongside recommendations for legislation. This will help bring greater transparency and accountability to agency proposals that can have huge impacts on the economy.

Promoting Autonomous Vehicle Technologies

• Dr. Bucshon helped advance US policies that will allow America to remain a leader in autonomous vehicle technologies byleading a letter to NHTSA asking them to update Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for autonomous vehicles, and expressing support for a national framework. He also served as an original cosponsor of legislation that would enact such a framework. Getting AVs on the road will help reduce the number of traffic fatalities on American roads, and improve the quality of life for disabled and elderly individuals.

• For the first time since 2019, Dr. Bucshon was thrilled to co-host the Crane Congressional Breakfast in Washington with fellow Hoosier Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun and Representative Trey Hollingsworth. The Breakfast brought together the leadership of the Army’s and Navy’s presence at Crane with members of the wider military community, defense industry, and academia whose work helps support Crane’s mission.
• Dr. Bucshon was proud to support theNational Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, which authorized a 4.6% pay raise for our men and women in uniform and additional funding to offset rising food and housing costs for servicemembers and families. The NDAA also furthers the military’s efforts to innovate and retain a competitive advantage over our adversaries, including through the establishment of a National Hypersonic Initiative and increased investment in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and autonomous systems.

Stopping the Biden Administration’s Unconstitutional Disinformation Board

• After the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the creation of a Disinformation Governance Board, Dr. Bucshon joined more than 170 colleagues inwritingto DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing strong opposition to the Board. Dr. Bucshon also cosponsoredlegislationthat would prohibit the use of federal funds in carrying out the Board’s work. This strong, unified effort helped force the Biden Administration to cancel its plans to establish the Board.

Advocating for a Better Approach to Dyslexia

• As an active member of the House Dyslexia Caucus, Dr. Bucshon continued his work advocating for more effective methods of diagnosing and treating dyslexia.
• Dr. Bucshon was proud to introduce the21^stCentury Dyslexia Actwith some of his fellow dyslexia advocates in the House and Senate, including the co-chairs of the House Dyslexia Caucus Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Julia Brownley (D-CA). The bill would modernize the definition of dyslexia under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ensuring earlier diagnosis of dyslexia.
• In July, Dr. Bucshon participated with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Representative Westerman, and dyslexia experts Dr. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz about the21^stCentury Dyslexia Actand the scientific research driving the bill. You can watch remarks on Facebookhere(start at 20:55).

Promoting School Choice

• Dr. Bucshon was proud to cosponsor theEducational Choice for Children Act(H.R. 8137), which would ensure charitable contributions to tax exempt organizations that fund scholarships for K-12 students enrolled in public, private, and home schools. Introduced by his late friend and colleague Representative Jackie Walorski, the bill would help ensure parents have greater freedom in choosing where their children attend school.

Honoring Congresswoman Jackie Walorski’s Legacy

• Dr. Bucshon joined the entire Indiana delegation in introducinglegislationto rename the VA clinic in Mishawaka, Indiana after Rep. Walorski. The bill passed both chambers with overwhelming support and was signed into law by President Biden on September 30, 2022.
• Dr. Bucshon was also proud to cosponsor theJackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act(H.R. 8876), which would reauthorize and increase funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. The Program delivers targeted funding to the most in-need communities to help mothers and their children. The bill passed the House with overwhelming support on December 2, 2022.