Policy Proposals

Ortiz removed language added by the Senate to Corps of Engineers funding legislation for the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW), language that could potentially result in the closure of the GIWW. Ortiz forced a compromise on the language.

Ortiz arranged for the Water Resources and Development Act to authorize funding for several South Texas priorities:

• The Corpus Christi Ship Channel required a report from the Chief of Engineers (from the Corps of Engineers) approving new dredging for the channel. Eventually, the value of this work will be approximately $153 million.
• The flood control project in Willacy County (Raymondville Drain) is an expensive proposition and the bill included language directing the Secretary of the Army to alter the federal-local cost sharing agreement to reduce the local burden for the local sponsor The value of the flood control work will eventually be $250 million.
• For Packery Channel, long authorized as an ecosystem restoration and storm damage reduction, recreation was added as a purpose. The value of Packery Channel work will be approximately $30 million.

Ortiz introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to name the Brownsville Courthouse in honor of two South Texas judicial legends: Judge Filemon Vela and Judge Reynaldo Garza.

Ortiz supported allowing low-income immigrant children to be eligible for Food Stamp Program benefits regardless of the date they entered the United States.

Ortiz arranged for – in the final spending bill – language to provide for flooding the Bahia Grande for relief to the citizens of the area who are adversely affected by the dry, blowing sand in Port Isabel and the surrounding area.

Ortiz joined the South Texas Spaceport Consortium in announcing the first launches at the future South Texas Spaceport in Willacy County.

Ortiz supported a bill establishing two temporary grant programs to help state and local governments assess mosquito problems, and to coordinate and operate mosquito control programs.

Ortiz today co-sponsored the Southwest Regional Border Authority Act, a bill to stimulate economic development, emphasizing infrastructure, workforce, technology, community development, and entrepreneurship.

Ortiz today offered a unique way for South Texas seniors to get a detailed look at the monumentally complex Medicare Reform bill passed by Congress by explaining the nuanced legislation with an online calculator through which seniors – or their families – can finally calculate how the new law will affect individual senior citizens. The law will benefit each senior differently, based on their income and what they own.

Ortiz joined several of his colleagues to urge the House of Representatives to consider a bill, the bipartisan Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003 (HR 548). They attempted to force the House of Representatives to consider the bill through a rarely used measure known as a “discharge petition.”

Ortiz protected the overtime rights of millions of American workers by supporting an amendment to stop the implementation of the Administration's new regulation stripping overtime rights and pay from millions of workers. The amendment was to the annual Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, and it passed the House 223 to 193.

Ortiz joined 298 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives in support of a resolution calling for an increase in the rate of compensation for federal civilian employees in FY 2005 at the same 3.5% rate that has been proposed in the President’s budget for military personnel. Employees at the Corpus Christi Army Depot are civilian workers who would be affected by such an increase. The resolution passed the House 299-126.

Ortiz joined other House Democrats and Americans from across the country in unveiling the New Partnership for America’s Future. This new agenda was developed by House Democrats to address the needs of today’s middle class families, including good jobs, affordable health care and safe communities.

Ortiz cautioned seniors in South Texas to weigh the new prescription drug cards offered by the Department of Health and Human Services carefully before enrolling. Beginning May 4, seniors and people with disabilities began signing up for a new HHS drug discount card.

Ortiz cosponsored The Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2004, directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries and to create a guaranteed Medicare prescription drug option for all Medicare beneficiaries.

Ortiz joined other members of the House of Representatives in an attempt to force the House to consider a bill to do two things: direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prices on Rx drugs in Medicare; and create a guaranteed Medicare prescription drug option for all Medicare beneficiaries.

Ortiz joined other Texans in filing a resolution in the House of Representatives to force a debate and vote on H.R. 594 “The Social Security Fairness Act.” This bill would eliminate the provisions harmful to Texas teachers and public employees in the current Social Security code. Elimination of these provisions would allow teachers to collect their full Social Security survivor benefits.

Ortiz arranged for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide assistance for the shrimp industry in the Gulf and South Atlantic under the Fisheries Disaster Program.

Ortiz garnered support from Hispanic members of Congress for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Health Cohort Study for a long-term study to measure and track the degree and effects of all health disparities affecting the Hispanic population. The proposed Hispanic Health Cohort Study would focus on the Hispanic population along the Lower Rio Grande Valley region in Texas.

Ortiz cosponsored the MediKids Health Insurance Act to guarantee access to health insurance coverage for ALL children in the U.S., by enrolling them at birth into a health insurance program modeled after Medicare, but tailored to the health needs of children. [Those children covered by private insurance, S-CHIP, or Medicaid could remain in those programs, but MediKids would serve as a safety net for those who would otherwise fall through the cracks.]

Ortiz cosponsored The Medicare Disability Eligibility Improvement, which would removes the waiting period for disabled people who are classified as disabled, but who continue to wait another 24 months in order to qualify for health insurance under Medicare.

Ortiz cosponsored the Medical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act of 2003, to alleviate the shortage of medical laboratory personnel through scholarships and loans for health professions training. It allows schools of allied health, as well as health care institution-based programs that train medical laboratory personnel, to receive such awards.

Ortiz cosponsored The Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act to address the nationwide shortage of nurses; many are forced to work long hours and are leaving the profession. This legislation would strictly limit the amount of overtime that nurses are forced to work.

Ortiz cosponsored the Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act, to permit all high-risk individuals, and those over 50 enrolled in a group or individual plan health plan, to obtain access to regular colorectal cancer screening exams.

Ortiz cosponsored “Johanna’s Law: the Gynecological Cancer and Education & Awareness Act”, to authorize a national gynecological cancer early detection and awareness campaign directed at women and their providers.