Representative Scott Peters

Dear [salutation],

Speaker Johnson has cancelled 63 out of 261 scheduled voting days since January 3rd, 2025. That’s almost 25 percent of the 119th Congress we did not spend voting on legislation that would make life safer and more affordable for the people who elected us to solve problems. Inflation is at record levels, the war in Iran is about to reach 200 days, our national debt hit an astonishing $40 trillion, and Artificial Intelligence experts are sounding the alarm on the need for regulations. Yet this Congress, under Republican control, has enacted the fewest bills into law in decades.

District Work Periods are valuable and important for meeting with constituents and organizations across CA50, but we should have spent the two weeks cancelled by Speaker Johnson passing legislation before going home for over a month. I did everything I could to advance my legislative priorities this week so they can become law when Congress is back in DC after the election.

Skipping Town Instead of Solving Problems

The average full-time, 9-5 employee probably worked about 165 out of the 243 days from January 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026. Congress held floor votes on just 65 of those days and enacted only 34 public bills into law. On several occasions, it seemed that Speaker Johnson cancelled votes to avoid contentious issues that would anger President Trump. In April last year, he cancelled votes after failing to block a vote to allow proxy voting (when a member designates a representative to temporarily vote on their behalf due to illness, bereavement, or parental leave). He kept the House out of session for weeks during last year’s historic shutdown. That move delayed Rep. Adelita Grijalva’s (AZ-07) swearing in for 50 days after she won a special election. He did that because she was going to be the 218th signature on a discharge petition to force a vote to release the Epstein files. He cancelled votes yesterday in order to prevent a vote on a resolution to impeach Secretary Hegseth.

As of last month, the average household in California has paid an additional $5,700 for goods and services due to rising costs under President Trump. His tariffs, war in Iran, immigration agenda, and healthcare funding cuts are bleeding families dry. Congress should be working to address this crisis. I was ready to continue working in DC for these next two weeks. Americans want us to work to solve this crisis. Republican leadership has stood in the way.

Momentum for my Bill to Save the Sequoias

On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on my Save Our Sequoias Act (SOSA). The House passed the bill in March, and I’m gratified to see the Senate taking steps to pass it as well. In just the last few years, nearly 20 percent of the world’s giant sequoias have been lost to catastrophic wildfire. SOSA would reduce dangerous fuel buildup, protect wildlife habitat, and cut through red tape so that paperwork doesn’t get in the way of saving these ancient trees. The kind of agreement between Republicans, Democrats, and experts that came out of this hearing doesn’t happen often. With this kind of momentum, we should pass SOSA as soon as possible to protect these giants for generations to come.

Progress to Lower Health Care Costs

Families in San Diego wouldn’t skip fixing their roof if it meant they had to pay three times more when a storm hits. But that's how Congress budgets health care: look at the costs of care in the short-term instead of decades from now. With better assessments from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the budgetary savings we gain from preventive health care, there will be more informed decisions on the long-term costs of illness and care. That's the blind spot my bipartisan Preventive Health Savings Act fixes, and I was glad it unanimously passed the Budget Committee this week so Congress can better assess how today's decisions impact patients and reduce health care costs in the future.

Watch my remarks from Wednesday’s Committee hearing here.

Scott’s Reads

The San Diego City Council took steps to regulate autonomous vehicles like Waymo. Read more about it in this article from the Times of San Diego.
AI regulations are top-of-mind for everyone right now. Read about the FRONTIER Act - bipartisan bill I'm an original cosponsor of that has the best chance of becoming law when we return to Congress.

Catch up on the first season of 72 and Sunny!

Click here for a comprehensive list of the actions I've taken to push back on the Trump Administration and protect San Diego.

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Thanks, and take care.

Scott H. Peters
Member of Congress

Skipping Town Instead of Solving Problems

Momentum for my Bill to Save the Sequoias

Progress to Lower Health Care Costs

Scott’s Reads

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