Economy and Jobs

“Unless changes are made to the flood insurance program, a lot of my constituents will soon be hit hard in their pocketbook. This effect was not intended by the original reform, but it requires an immediate fix. The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act provides some breathing room to prevent some of the worst unintended consequences. This bipartisan legislation is needed and I urge its swift adoption.”

This bill is extremely important for my constituents and our nation. The levee projects provide life-saving protection for residents throughout California’s flood prone Central Valley. The construction projects will rebuild our crumbling water infrastructure and create jobs. By revitalizing our ports, waterways, and natural habitats, this bill supports business development, including the agriculture businesses in my district that export their products around the world.

We can stop this madness and prevent another crisis in the future, but it’s going to take the House Republican leadership to once and for all stop catering to what the Wall Street Journal has labeled the Kamikaze Caucus. It means they’ll have to fear the lasting damage they’re doing to our economy more than they fear radical Members and outside groups. It means they’ll have to start listening to the vast majority of Republicans who don’t want to careen from crisis to crisis.

Congressman Garamendi denounces piecemeal budgeting and calls on Speaker Boehner and the tea party faction in Congress to let us vote to reopen the government.

Garamendi called for an immediate delay to impending flood insurance rate hikes caused by new flood risk maps produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Congressman Garamendi helps introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House of Representative that includes bipartisan ideas. He urges leadership in the House to allow a vote on the bill to fix America's immigration system.

A government shutdown is deeply harmful for our country, seriously disrupting essential government services and knocking our economy down at a time when we should be building it up. Instead of listening to Republican Senators and Governors, conservative newspapers, and business groups, House House Republican Leadership has thus far decided to listen to the Tea Party faction in Congress, which is dedicated to and even celebrating a government shutdown.

Garamendi led a group of Northern California Members of Congress in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior requesting specific information on past and future federal funding for the proposed Peripheral Tunnel project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The letter’s signatories also expressed strong concerns about the plan’s impact on Northern California’s economy.