Dear [firstname],
Safety, security, and strength: these are the themes of my work recently. I’ve been working to restore pay for TSA workers and introduced two bills – the Preventing Future Vintage Plastic Pipeline Tragedies Act and the WARRIOR Act – in the past week.
Let me share more about my recent efforts on federal funding, local factory safety, and support for our military servicemembers. |
Maybe you’ve seen the videos of six-hour TSA lines stretching outside to airport parking lots. Or you’ve read headlines about nearly 500 TSA agents who have quit their jobs in the past few weeks. You might even have experienced the dysfunction in our airports yourself. No matter what, we all recognize that the chaos at our airports is unacceptable and unsustainable. And it’s time we in Congress finally do something about it. |
In the House, I’ve been working for weeks to get funds to TSA. I’m cosponsoring the Keep Air Travel Safe Act to ensure that TSA workers are paid during government shutdowns, and I’m cosponsoring a bill to fund TSA and most DHS agencies. I have also signed a discharge petition to force a vote on that bill, because air safety and TSA workers’ hard-earned paychecks simply cannot wait.
Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues in the House have refused to engage. Last week, the Senate voted unanimously to pass a funding deal like the one I’m cosponsoring in the House. But on Friday, Speaker Johnson blocked the House from voting on that deal. Instead, he offered a partisan bill doomed to fail. Then he sent us back to our home districts for two weeks. |
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As you may know, TSA is part of DHS, which also oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Following the killings of American citizens at the hands of ICE and CBP agents – and the Department’s failure to provide accountability for these deaths – I have been working to secure broadly popular ICE reforms that protect American lives.
We are demanding commonsense standards: things like body cameras on agents, the use of judicial warrants, and masks as the exception, not the rule. They’re not difficult or unreasonable asks. We already expect these same standards from the rest of our nation’s law enforcement. Trying to block these reasonable reforms is certainly not worth holding up TSA workers’ paychecks or playing games with air-travelers' safety – and yet, that’s exactly what Speaker Johnson has done. |
Then on Saturday, with no deal in sight, President Trump signed an Executive Order to pay TSA workers by pulling funds from other parts of the federal budget. I am relieved that our agents are finally getting the funds they need. But the question is, if this was always an option, why wait 43 days to do it? Why force TSA workers to spend over a month without pay? Why let thousands of travelers miss their flights after spending hours in line? Why send ICE agents, who are not trained in airport security, to monitor airports instead of simply paying those who are trained to do the job? Why are President Trump and Speaker Johnson playing politics with paychecks and safety?
I know that, lately, it can feel like Congress is addicted to dysfunction. It’s frustrating, and it’s not what Americans deserve. And while I can’t change President Trump’s or Speaker Johnson’s actions, please know that I can and will keep working to make our government more accountable, more effective, and more aligned with your needs. I hope more of my colleagues will join me in this effort so that we can finally secure permanent funding for TSA. |
This past week, I introduced a bill to address a safety concern close to our community’s heart. You may remember the 2023 explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company chocolate factory in West Reading, which tragically killed seven workers. In the aftermath, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the factory’s conditions and found that an outdated type of plastic piping, Aldyl A, led to this explosion. To prevent future tragedies like this, the NTSB recommended that hazardous Aldyl A piping in American factories be identified and replaced. |
Currently, we have no federal regulations on removing, repairing, or replacing outdated and dangerous plastic piping – but I just released a bill to change that.
On Tuesday, the third anniversary of the explosion, I officially introduced the Preventing Future Vintage Plastic Pipeline Tragedies Act to make sure an accident like this doesn’t happen again. This legislation ensures that Aldyl A is identified and reported, so that factories can repair or replace outdated plastic piping before it becomes a hazard. I introduced this bipartisan bill with ten of my Pennsylvanian colleagues, and I’m hopeful that, together, we can enact the commonsense safety standards our community deserves. |
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Last Friday, I was proud to announce another bill, the Women Add Resourcefulness and Resilience to Improve Operational Readiness Act – or the WARRIOR Act, for short. |
Women’s service in our Armed Forces has never been about special treatment. We earn the opportunity to serve just like everyone else. We are held to the same rigorous standards as our male counterparts. And we consistently meet and exceed those standards with honor.
But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has publicly cast doubt on female |
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servicemembers’ qualifications, solely because they are women. He says he wants “gender neutral” standards, but he singles out women servicemembers exclusively. His Department of Defense is currently reviewing the “effectiveness” of women in combat roles, and reporting indicates that the Department is already trying to edge women out.
And this is all happening as the Trump Administration seems poised to put boots on the ground in Iran. Now more than ever, we should be supporting each and every service-member who is willing and able to wear the uniform, not scrutinizing and pushing out qualified women simply because they are women. Honestly, I’m disappointed that even needs to be said. |
Right now, the law is written with female servicemembers as an afterthought. It does not prohibit exclusion based on gender, and it leaves women at the risk of being blocked from certain roles or assignments, even if they otherwise meet every single standard.
But with the WARRIOR Act, we create legitimately gender-neutral service requirements to ensure that qualified women cannot be excluded. America has strong standards for service. We have the strong women to meet them. And when we allow these strong women to fulfill these strong standards, our country is strengthened, too. |
I’ll be hosting the second event of my Affordability in Action Series, an Energy Costs Town Hall, in Pottstown on April 8th. I hope you’ll join us at Owen J. Roberts High School at 6:00 pm.
As your representative in Congress, my commitment to our shared safety and strength is unwavering. Thank you for the honor of serving you.
P.S. For all who celebrate, Happy Easter! And for those observing Passover, Chag Sameach!
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Chrissy Houlahan U.S. Member of Congress
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