July 30, 2020

U.S. House of Representatives 
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Representative, 

You will soon begin voting on H.R. 7617, the Defense, Commerce, Justice, Science, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.  On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I ask you to oppose the following amendments:

Division C:  Energy, and Water Development and Related Agencies  

Amendment 23 (#151) by Rep. Barragán (D-Calif.) that would raise the existing amount required for grants to deploy  solar and distributed energy systems in low-income and underserved communities to be raised from $200 to $225 million.
Amendment 28 (#167) by Rep. Jayapal (D-Wash.) that increases funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) by $250 million and WAP training and technical assistance by $3 million.

Amendment 30 (#173) by Rep. Malinowski (D-N.J.) that increases funding for the Vehicle Technology Office by $25 million.

Amendment 16 (#186) by Rep. Stanton (D-Ariz.) that provides an additional $250 million for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants. 

Division D: Financial Services and General Government 

Amendment 3 (#209) by Rep. Pascrell (D-N.J.) that increases funding for the United States Postal Service by $2 million to carry out pilot programs to expand its current postal banking services to surcharge free automated teller machines, wire transfers, check cashing, and bill payment.

Division F:  Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 

Amendment 97 (253) by Rep. Jayapal (D-Wash.) that prohibits funds for to carry out the Department of Education’s Interim Final Rule, the “CARES Act Programs; Equitable Services to Students and Teachers in Non-Public Schools.” 

Division G:  Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 

Amendment 34 (313) by Rep. Cohen (D-Tenn.) that prohibits funds from being used to eliminate dining car service on long distance Amtrak routes. 

I urge you to support the following amendments:

Division F:  Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 

Amendment 24 (225) by Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) that restricts funds from being used to withdraw the rule allowing Health Reimbursement Arrangements to be used to purchase individual market coverage.

Division G:  Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 
Amendment 53 (219) by Rep. Allen (R-Ga.) that reduces funds made available in Division F by 5 percent.
All votes on H.R. 7617 will be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2021 Congressional Ratings. 
Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW

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