Drug Epidemic

Safe Disposal of Opioids Act of 2021 (H.R. 5086):

Congressman Mooney partnered with Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) in introducing the Safe Disposal of Opioids Act of 2021 (H.R. 5086). This bill would help prevent drug abuse by creating and maintaining 10,000 prescription drug disposal bins across the country. Disposal bins would be placed in pharmacies and health clinics where patients pick up prescriptions.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome:

• Congressman Mooney cosponsored The Protecting Our Infants Act, a bill that helps babies suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, a painful condition from being exposed to drugs in utero. This bill passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by the President.

In the District:

Congressman Mooney is passionate about getting ideas for how to stop the drug abuse epidemic from people in district.

• He has held two community round tables on this issue, where he heard from law enforcement officers, doctors, community leaders, and people in recovery.
• He also accompanied two Charleston police officers on a “ride along,” where he observed how law enforcement works every day to stop drug traffickers in our state.

Other Bills (Bill Numbers from the 116th Congress):

• • H.R. 2922 – Respond Now Act and H.R. 2466 – State Opioid Response Grant Authorization. These bills will provide critical resources for states to provide medication-focused treatments, help children impacted by the crisis, educate people on the dangers of drug abuse, and train new medical professionals to respond to opioids.
• • H. Con 8 – Training Doctors for Better Opioid Prescribing Practices.• H.R. 5172 – the NOPAIN Act. This legislation would make it easier for Medicare patients to obtain safer, non-opioid alternatives to treat their pain following surgery.
• • H.R. 4810 – the Opioid Prescription Verification Act. This bill requires pharmacists to check the photo identification of anyone who picks up a prescription to ensure addictive medications are dispensed responsibly and safely.
• • H.R. 4817 – the VA Directly Returning Opioid Prescriptions (DROP) Act. This bill would create a safe place to dispose of unwanted opioids to VA health facilities
• .• H.R. 3974 – Prescription Drug Monitoring Act of 2019. This bill would require registered healthcare professionals to consult with the prescription drug monitoring program from their state before prescribing controlled substances (like opioids) to prevent abuse.

Funding to Combat the Drug Epidemic. 

• Voted for the appropriations package, H.R. 1865, on December 17, 2019, which included crucial funding to combat the opioid crisis. This included:
  • $5.7 billion for substance abuse disorder prevention, treatment, recovery and non-opioid pain management.
  • Increases funding for the FDA by $91 million. A portion of this funding will be used to combat the opioid crisis.
• Rep. Mooney submitted a funding request to the House Appropriations Committee to combat the opioid epidemic by supporting the Drug Free Communities Program.

Education

Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the “Stop CRT Act” (H.R. 3179). This bill would combat the spread of Critical Race Theory (CRT) by codifying President Trump’s executive order banning CRT from being used in trainings for federal employees.

Congressman Mooney cosponsored the “Preserving American History Act” (H.R. 514). This legislation would ensure that former President Trump’s 1776 Commission, which produced a patriotic history of our Founding Fathers and heritage, is codified into law. If passed, this bill would ensure that the 1776 Commission will continue, even under the Biden Administration.

Reopening Schools

Congressman Mooney is committed to ensuring kids return to in-person learning. He signed two letters to the Biden Administration requesting they follow CDC guidance and create a framework to allow children to return to in-person schooling as quickly as possible. Online schooling is simply not a proper substitute and the CDC has made it clear that children can return to the classroom safely with basic precautions. President Biden needs to listen to the scientists, not the teachers unions, when it comes to reopening our schools.

Education-Related Cosponsored Bills
• Congressman Mooney cosponsored House Resolution 66, celebrating the contributions of Catholic schools in the United States.
• In 2020, the congressman cosponsored the “Equal Treatment for Faith-Based Organizations Act” (H.R. 6099). This bill would reverse the discriminatory Obama-era policy that required faith-based providers of social services to both disclose their religious affiliation and refer clients to other providers. Additionally, the bill would ensure that faith-based organizations have an equal opportunity to apply for federal funding relative to secular organizations.

Energy & Mining

Energy:

• Congressman Mooney cosponsored the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (H.R. 3) that passed the full House by a bipartisan vote of 266-153. Allowing the Keystone Pipeline will create good paying jobs for American workers and further enhance the countries energy opportunities.
• Congressman Mooney has focused on cracking down on out of control environmental regulations from President Obama by cosponsoring, H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which will ensure that Congress has the opportunity to stop these job killing regulations.
• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. R. 702 to lift the decades old crude oil export ban which will open American crude oil to the world market and ensure American energy sources remain globally competitive. This legislation has been long overdue and will be a boon to American energy producers.
• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. Con. Res 105 that expresses the sense of Congress that the international climate change agreement in Paris should not go into effect until the world agrees to comply with the same standards as the United States. Congressman Mooney is also working to ensure that federal tax dollars do not go towards funding international projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the EPA Maximum Achievable Contraction of Technocrats of 2015, H.R. 3939, which will reduce the EPA’s workforce by 15 percent to prevent the agency from crafting more onerous job killing regulations. 

Coal:

• Congressman Mooney introduced and passed H.R.1644, the STREAM Act.  This bill would prevent the Obama Administration from implementing a new regulation intentionally designed to shut down mining in the Appalachian region and kill as many as 80,000 coal jobs. The House passed the bill on January 19, 2016 by a bipartisan vote of 235-188.
• Congressman Mooney added two amendments to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
  • The first amendment would help strengthen transparency and oversight at the EPA by providing additional funding for rigorous oversight of the agency.
  • The second amendment would cut funding from the office at the EPA responsible for coming up with the agency’s regulatory policy.
• Congressman Mooney is an original cosponsor of the Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015 (H.R. 2403) which will ensure that coal miners and their families receive the healthcare and pensions they deserve. This includes ensuring that black lung benefit claims are handled in a timely manner and those miners suffering with black lung receive the care they need.
• Congressman Mooney helped lead the fight against President Obama’s so called Clean Power Plan which had a devastating impact on West Virginia’s economy, the coal industry and raised energy prices on working families. He cosponsored and voted for Congressional Resolutions of disapproval for these new power plant rules which were vetoed by President Obama.

Environment:

• Congressman Mooney cosponsored H. R. 1388, the Clean Air, Strong Economies Act which will ensure that West Virginia counties have the opportunity to comply with stricter air quality standards before more stringent regulations are put in place. Not only are the new standards nearly impossible to achieve, the stricter standards have not even been fully implemented.
• Congressman Mooney is a lead cosponsor of the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area Act of 2015, H.R. 693, which will protect the open space, the environment and natural heritage in the Appalachian region. The heritage area will encompass lands in Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire and Morgan counties and will bring federal recognition to the regions forest legacy and mountain culture.

Agriculture:

• Congressman Mooney has been fighting back against President Obama’s Waters of the United States regulation that will allow the federal government to regulate ditches or trickles of water on private property. This rule will disproportionately impact West Virginia Farmers. Congressman Mooney cosponsored the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act, H.R. 594, which would prevent the EPA from implementing the Waters of the United States regulation from going into effect.

Family Values

Pro-life:

• Congressman Mooney introduced H.R.816, the Life at Conception Act, which will undo the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and define that life does indeed begin at the moment of conception. The Life at Conception Act currently has 134 bipartisan cosponsors. This legislation is critically important since in the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, the court ruled that life had not been defined, it could not protect it under the 14th amendment.
• Congressman Mooney is adamant that taxpayers should not pay for abortions. He has cosponsored H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Full Disclosure Act of 2015 which ensures that tax dollars do not pay for abortions and requires the Affordable Care Act to offer insurance plans that do not cover abortion procedures. That bill passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 242-179.
• After learning of the horrific practices of Planned Parenthood, Congressman Mooney cosponsored H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 which prohibits federal funding for Planned Parenthood for one year until a full Congressional investigation into their practices can be completed. This bill passed the full House by a vote of 241-187. He also cosponsored the End Trafficking of the Terminated Unborn Act (H.R. 3215) which would ban the sale of fetal tissue for profit.

Religious Freedom:

• Congressman Mooney introduced the bipartisan H.Res. 514-Protecting Religious Freedom in America. This resolution protects all Americans’ right to act in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs. Furthermore, it condemns any action by federal, state, or local governments that attempt to abridge that right.
• This resolution is supported by the Family Research Council, the American Center for Law and Justice, and the Liberty Institute.
• Congressman Mooney also fights for religious freedom abroad. He is a cosponsor of H.Con.Res.75, a resolution that expresses the sense of Congress that atrocities against Christians, Yazidis, Kurds and other religious minorities for ethnic or religious reasons should be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, H.R. 2802, which would keep the federal government from discriminating against anyone who believes or acts in accordance with the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

Seniors:

• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of H.R. 1882- Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act.
• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act. This bill would keep Social Security benefits from being taxed twice, keeping more money in our seniors’ pockets.
• The Congressman also signed a letter to protect Medicare Advantage from cuts by the Obama Administration.

Health Care

Obamacare:

The Fiscal Year 2016 Reconciliation bill repealed some of the most harmful parts of Obamacare. This bill was first passed by the Budget Committee, of which Congressman Mooney is a Member. He voted for the bill in Committee and on the Floor. Congressman Mooney believes that Obamacare should be replaced with patient-centered policies.

• Congressman Mooney voted to repeal the harmful Medical Device Tax provision of Obamacare.
  • This tax was harmful because it hindered the ability of companies to continue manufacturing life-saving treatments, like insulin pumps and oxygen tanks.

Meaningful Use:

Congressman Mooney advocates for doctors who have been harmed by the Administration’s meaningful use standards. The HITECH Act, signed into law in 2009, requires doctors to make “meaningful use” of electronic health records. While electronic health records can be useful and important, the benchmarks required by this legislation are too much too soon. Many doctors cannot keep up with the requirements and need more time to comply with them.

• Cosponsor of H.R. 3940- Meaningful Use Hardship Act- would protect physicians from penalties from not complying with Meaningful Use Stage 2.
• Cosponsor of H.R. 3309- FLEX-IT 2 Act- halts all rulemaking on meaningful use until at least 75% of hospitals have had time to comply with the requirements already in place.
• Congressman Mooney signed a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and Office of Management and Budget calling for a delay in Meaningful Use stage 3.

Diseases:

Congressman Mooney is passionate about helping people who suffer from diseases in our district. In the Second Congressional District we have high incidence rates of arthritis, diabetes, and various cancers.

• He is a member of the Congressional Arthritis Caucus.
• He co-sponsored H.R.1427-the Medicare CGM Access Act, which would require Medicare to cover the cost of life-saving continuous glucose monitors for people with diabetes.
• He is a cosponsor of H.R. 1220- Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2015, which would require Medicare to cover patient colonoscopies whether a polyp is found and removed or not.

Rural Healthcare:

• Congressman Mooney is a co-sponsor of H.R. 663- the Rural Hospital Access Act
• Congressman Mooney fights for critical access hospitals. He, and the entire West Virginia delegation, have sent two letters to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on behalf of our state’s critical access hospitals.
• The Congressman is a cosponsor of H.R. 592-Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act- this bill would allow pharmacists to be reimbursed for care they provide, such as diabetes and nutrition counseling. This is needed in rural areas where a doctor might be far away and a pharmacist might be the only healthcare provider a patient has access to.

Second Amendment

• Congressman Mooney introduced the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act along with Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA). This bill would remove unnecessary burdens on law-abiding gun owners and improve the ability for members of our military to exercise our Second Amendment rights.

Specifically, the bill would do the following:

1. Licensed dealers to transfer firearms (rifles, shotguns and handguns) to out-of-state buyers so long as the transaction complies with the laws of the state of both the transferor and the transferee.
2. Licensed dealers to sell firearms at out-of-state gun shows provided that the laws of the state of both the transferor and the transferee are complied with.
3. For face-to-face transfer of firearms between licensed dealers. Currently dealers must ship a firearm, significantly increasing the risk of theft in the process.
4. Members of the Armed forces and their spouses to purchase firearms as residents of their state of legal residence, the state in which their permanent duty station is located, and the state in which they maintain a residence while serving at their permanent duty station. Currently, members of the Armed Forces may only purchase firearms as residents of the state in which their permanent duty station is located.

Other Bills:

• Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor on many important bills that protect the Second Amendment, including:
  • Hunting Bills:
    • H.R. 3799- Hearing Protection Act of 2015
    • H.R. 2710- Lawful Purpose and Self Defense Act
    • H.R. 578- Recreational Lands Self Defense Act
  • Concealed Carry Reciprocity:
    • H.R.923-Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act
    • H.R. 986-Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015
  • Travel:
    • H.R. 4348- DC Personal Reciprocity Act
  • Ammo
    • H.R. 3802- Alternative Ammunition Manufacturing Act
  • Other
    • H.R. 3516-Social Security Beneficiary 2nd Amendment Rights Protection Act
    • H.R. 2611- Collectible Firearms Protection Act
• Congressman Mooney sent a letter, along with a group of other Members, asking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to stop its efforts to ban certain ammunition used for hunting and other purposes. Following receipt of the letter, ATF abandoned this effort.

Spending Cuts & Debt

Budget

Congressman Mooney is a member of the House Committee on the Budget. As such, he works hard to make sure that conservative, West Virginia values are reflected in what we spend our money on. He fights to make sure that our monetary policies are sound, resisting tax increases, and promoting fiscal responsibility.

Last year, Congressman Mooney had two energy policy ideas accepted into the House Budget Resolution.

• Congressman Mooney’s first proposal defunded the Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining’s harmful stream protection regulation.
• His second proposal defunded the Obama Administration’s proposed ozone standard regulations.

Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of the Default Prevention Act, H.R. 692. This bill passed was passed in the House in October 21, 2015. This bill is now awaiting action in the Senate.

• H.R. 692 would require the Department of the Treasury to continue to pay the principle and interest on our debt if the US reaches the debt limit.

Congressman Mooney believes that we should add a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.

• He is a cosponsor of a bill that would start the process of doing so, H.J.Res.55.

Transportation and Infrastructure

Congressman Mooney voted against President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s $1,200,000,000,000 NON-infrastructure bill. The bill is loaded with liberal priorities totally unrelated to infrastructure and transportation. The price tag far exceeds anything reasonable and further adds to our country’s ballooning debt. The $1.2 trillion bill will add $256 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. Congressman Mooney supports better roads, bridges, waterways, and broadband internet for the great State of West Virginia. He does not support attaching billions of dollars of wasteful spending and NON-infrastructure spending as a part of the deal.

The non-infrastructure bill is loaded with Green New Deal-inspired policies.

National Motor Vehicle Per-Mile User Fee Pilot
Establishes a pilot program for the Vehicle Mileage Tax Program, a new tax that charges drivers per mile they drive. This will hurt Americans living in rural areas like West Virginia who are dependent on their cars to work and see family.

Gas-Powered Vehicles – Paying More
If you have a gas-powered vehicle, you’re going to be paying more for maintenance, fuel, etc. This bill subsidizes electric vehicle ownership which will disproportionately help wealthy individuals living in blue cities and make car ownership more expensive for the rest of us.

Sexual Identity & Gender Orientation Language
Includes sexual identity and gender orientation language in puzzling places—like broadband expansion. It raises questions about how this will affect internet access for religious communities who reject the Left’s confusing rules about sexual identity.

Charging and Refueling Grant Program ($2.5 billion): Authorizes $2.5 billion over five years to establish a grant program at the Department of Transportation for Alternative Fuel Corridors. The program is designed to strategically deploy publicly accessible alternative fuel vehicle charging infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors or in certain other locations that will be accessible to all drivers of alternative fuel vehicles.

Electric Vehicle Charging Formula Program ($5 billion): To complement the $2.5 billion for the Charging and Refueling Grant program at the Department of Transportation, the legislation appropriates $1 billion per year for five years ($5 billion total) to establish a National Electric Vehicle Formula Program at DOT to provide additional funding to states to deploy EV charging infrastructure.

Congressman Mooney has previously supported transportation funding bills subject to input from Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

• Congressman Mooney voted in favor the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 which reauthorized the federal highway program. This was accomplished without raising the federal gas tax. The bill included $205 billion dollars for highway projects and $48 billion for transit projects.
• Under the bill, West Virginia received $2.6 billion over the past five years for road projects. This funding is crucial to fix West Virginia’s crumbling infrastructure and to support ongoing projects like Corridor H and to widen Route 35.
• Congressman Mooney is working to ensure that West Virginia’s railroads are safe and reliable. He cosponsored H.R. 3652, the Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act that will ensure that new technology is applied to freight railcars to ensure that communities surrounding train tracks are protected.
• Congressman Mooney is cosponsor of H.R. 1062, the Pilots Bill of Rights, which will ensure that general aviation pilots are able to keep their licenses without needless bureaucratic regulations getting in the way.
• Congressman Mooney has fought for robust funding for the small watershed program which is crucial to protecting small communities from devastating floods.

Veterans

As the son of a Vietnam War veteran, Congressman Alex Mooney believes we must prioritize the health and well-being of our service members, veterans, and their families. Since taking office in January 2015, Congressman Alex Mooney has helped the House of Representatives pass more than 26 veterans-related pieces of legislation aimed at, improving Veterans Affairs (VA) and other services, increasing economic opportunity, and honoring our veterans.

Improving Services:

Congressman Mooney is a cosponsor of H.R.577, which would ensure that veterans living in rural areas, more than 40 miles driving distance from the nearest VA facility, would be able to obtain quality healthcare at local facilities.

Congressman Mooney is also a cosponsor of H.R969, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. This bill would extend coverage and associated benefits with “Agent Orange” exposure to an additional group of Vietnam veterans.

Congressman Mooney worked with both sides of the aisle in Congress to pass H.R.1994, the VA Accountability Act. This bill would bring increased accountability to the VA and institute a comprehensive process for handling complaints by whistleblowers.

Helping West Virginians cut through bureaucratic red tape is just as important as passing the right legislation in Congress. Since May 2016, Congressman Mooney has proudly hosted a disabled veteran, Jon, through the Wounded Warrior Program to better help open doors for veterans returning home to West Virginia.

Increasing Economic Opportunity:

Congressman Mooney helped pass two bills into law that help veterans reintegrate into civilian life. The first, H.R.2835 – Border Jobs for Veterans Act, improves efforts of the Department of Homeland Security to employ veterans as Customs and Border Protection Officers.

Also signed into law, H.R.2499 – the Veteran Entrepreneurship Act,  reduces fees on veterans and their spouses taking out loans through the Small Business Administration. Congressman Mooney knows that veterans have acquired important leadership and problem solving skills through their military service that can be used to help grow jobs and business opportunities in West Virginia. 

Congressman Mooney is also a cosponsor of H.R.1818 – Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act. This legislation would help streamline procedures to assist veterans who have completed military emergency medical technicians (EMTs) training to meet state standards to become EMT certified.

Honoring Our Veterans:

Congressman Mooney cosponsored and voted for H.R.1475 – Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act. This bill, which passed the House of Representatives, would improve the Korean War Veterans Memorial by listing the names of our service members who died in theatre in the Korean War.

Given the 2015 terrorist attack in Chattanooga, TN, it is a dishonor to our veterans and a disservice to our communities to continue placing restrictions on the gun rights of law-abiding trained veterans who wish to legally own firearms. That is why Congressman Mooney introduced H.R.2246, the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

Their bill would remove burdensome regulations on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, including members of the military and their spouses. It would loosen restrictions on the ability of these individuals to purchase firearms in their state of legal residence and the state in which they maintain a home.