House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy: House of Representatives addresses the drought in the west and Valley Fever

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) gives us his weekly view from Capitol Hill. In his own words:

 "This week, the House Natural Resources Committee passed out of their committee H.R. 2898, the Western Water and American Food Security Act.

 "We move one step closer to modernizing our water management system by moving legislation that can provide our communities relief from continued water rationing and higher costs. I

commend the House Natural Resources Committee for its longstanding work over the past few Congresses to help address California’s water problems, and most importantly for their swift, yet thorough, action so this much-needed bill can be considered on the House floor as early as next week.

 "Communities across California and America’s west cannot afford to wait longer as they face more and more water shortages. This bill offers an alternative to the status quo by clearing up the roadblocks and inefficiencies in complex and often contradictory Federal laws, regulations, and lawsuits that block water infrastructure and keep water from getting to the people that need it most.

 "Also, this week Congress passed H.R. 6, the 21st Century Cures Act.

"Every single person in this country has been affected by disease. In the Central Valley of California, for example, so many of our family and friends suffer from Valley Fever, one of the thousands of incurable diseases in the world.

 "Imagine what the world would be like if we could treat and cure those diseases. However, to do that, we have to make some major changes to how the government approaches medical research and innovation.

 "21st Century Cures is one of the most important bills we are considering this Congress because it can actually save lives. This bill preserves America’s place at the forefront of medical innovation by making a commitment to fund medical research, break down barriers to collaborations, and cut the time it take to get innovations from the laboratory to the doctor’s office. This legislation provides us an opportunity to work together and move forward to cure Parkinson’s, find new treatments for heart disease, put an end to Alzheimer’s, build on the current research on Valley Fever, and treat many more diseases. The House passed this bill because there is nothing more important we can do than to protect and preserve life.

 "These two critical pieces of legislation are driven by the concerns and impacts from our local community as we work to provide drought relief in California and the Western United States, and streamline treatments and cures for diseases that affect our friends and loved ones.