Lewisville, TX— Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, issued the following statement following the announcement from the Bureau of Land Management to defer the sale of a parcel of land located under Lake Lewisville as part of a planned mineral rights auction in New Mexico.

“Following a continued and comprehensive dialogue between my office, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Fort Worth U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), BLM has announced that it will defer the sale of a parcel of land located under Lake Lewisville as part of the April 20 mineral rights auction.

“On February 16, 2016, I sent a letter to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Mr. Neil Kornze, requesting a delay in the sale of mineral rights until further evaluation can prove beyond a doubt that drilling under Lake Lewisville will pose no safety issues to the dam or our source of drinking water.

“A decision with such potential significant repercussions, as this sale has, deserves substantially more time for adequate evaluation and for the community that will be effected to weigh in. The safety and health of the residents of the 26th district should be the top priority for any agency or organization looking to operate within our district.

“I remain committed to continuing to work with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”

Read the announcement from BLM here. 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Congressman Michael Burgess M.D. (R-TX), joined by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), introduced the Living Donor Protection Act of 2016, to protect the rights of living organ donors.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not specify that living organ donors can take unpaid leave to recover from their donation and does not guarantee that donors will have a job waiting for them after surgery. Further, according to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Transplantation, as many as 11 percent of living organ donors experience difficulty securing or paying for insurance after their procedures because of discriminatory practices.

The Living Donor Protection Act would protect living organ donors and promote organ donation in three easy, low-cost ways:

1)  Prohibits life, disability, and long term care insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage and from charging higher premiums for living organ donors;

2)  Clarifies that living organ donors may use FMLA time to recover from the surgeries and procedures involved in their donation; and

3)  Directs HHS to update their materials on live organ donation to reflect these new protections and encourage more individuals to consider donating an organ

Representative Nadler, Representative Burgess, Senator Gillibrand, and Senator Kirk issued the following joint statement announcing the introduction of the Living Donor Protection Act:

“Every year, thousands of Americans donate kidneys, livers, and other organs to save the lives of family members, friends, and even complete strangers struggling with life-threatening illnesses. An organ donor’s decision to undergo these invasive procedures not only saves lives, it saves money. Organ donation cuts health care costs as much as two-thirds, saving Medicare millions of dollars every year. Yet, despite taking this heroic step to save a life, living organ donors many times face discrimination when they try to take medical leave or buy insurance. The Living Donor Protection Act, which has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, would fix that injustice. Rather than putting roadblocks in the way of living organ donation, Congress should encourage more individuals to become living donors and protect the rights of those donors to receive the insurance and medical leave they need.”

The bill has support from numerous groups that advocate on behalf of organ transplantation, including endorsements by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the American Society of Transplantation, the National Kidney Foundation, and the American Society of Nephrology. 

Washington, D.C.-- Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama’s vague, loosely constructed plan to close the Guantanamo Bay facility:

“At a time when the top concern of the American people is national security and safety at home, I am baffled as to why this President would make another attempt at convincing the American people and Congress that we should be welcoming the most dangerous of U.S. enemies into our country. This is an argument that he has already lost. His plan would bypass current law, which bars the transfer of detainees to the U.S.—a law which his own Attorney General publically acknowledged was clear late last year.

“For the last seven years, Congress has explicitly rejected the President’s irresponsible path to closing the Guantanamo Bay detainment facility.

“To refer to this submission as a plan is astonishing for the hubris implored. Barack Obama submitted a messaging document. And the only message that has been conveyed is that, once again, the Obama Administration is more than willing to play Russian Roulette with our national security.”

Washington, D.C.-- Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, issued the below statement following his visits to the Denton Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) and the Dallas VA Medical Center during National Salute to Veterans week.

“I was humbled by the opportunity to visit with some of our local veterans at VA North Texas Health Care System facilities in both Denton and Dallas during National Salute to Veterans Week. These men and women have made unimaginable sacrifices to defend the freedoms that we exercise every day of our lives. We are a nation in their debt. As we welcome home new generations of veterans, we must ensure that we have all of the programs in place to take care of future veterans and their families.”

View pictures from the visits here.