Congressman Adam Schiff 28th Congressional District

Despite a flurry of bipartisanship late last year that achieved some notable victories

— a long-term surface transportation bill to rebuild our nation’s crumbling

infrastructure, an education bill, and a year-long funding bill — last year was one of

Congress’s least productive and most partisan in history. Even in such a hostile

environment, it is possible to seek out bipartisan agreement on important issues.

The key to doing so — in my experience — is to establish good working

relationships with people on both sides of the aisle, to avoid making policy

differences personal, and to recognize that your opponent on one issue may be

your best ally on another.

I wanted to share with you just a few of the issues where we have made progress

in 2015, and what I hope to advance further in 2016. First, we had major success

in funding a West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System, a critical tool to help

save lives and infrastructure. With the help of my colleague, Representative Ken

Calvert (R-add city), were able to secure over $8 million in federal funding to

construct this critical system, on top of a significant investment last year. Even a

few seconds of warning will allow surgeons to take out the scalpel, engineers to

shut down trains, and ordinary citizens to move to a safe place.

Second, we have been able to make substantial progress on our efforts to expand

the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) to include the

Rim of the Valley. The National Park Service released their draft report and within

the next few weeks, we expect it will issue its final recommendations on expanding

and protecting the Rim of the Valley corridor. The legislation that I authored to

initiate the study was signed by President Bush, funded by a Republican Congress

and supported by President Obama. Once that report is released, I plan on

immediately working with the community to author legislation to preserve this

open space for future generations.

Third, the issue that I hear the most about from my constituents and from others

around the country involves the threat to the homeland from ISIS and terror

groups. This past year, I was selected to be the top Democrat on the House

Intelligence Committee, and I worked on a number of bills signed into law

including cybersecurity legislation, a bill authorizing and overseeing all our

intelligence agencies, and a major reform to end the government’s collection of

phone metadata. On all of these bills, my Republican Chairman, Representative

Devin Nunes, and I worked together to make sure that partisan differences never

got in the way of the safety of our country. In light of the terrible attacks at the end

of last year in San Bernardino and Paris – I’ll continue to make sure no effort is

spared in combatting the scourge of ISIS until we defeat it on the battlefield and

put an end to its vile propaganda over social media.

Looking forward to this year, I am optimistic about the prospects for bipartisan

action to reform our criminal justice system and sentencing practices, and will

continue to advocate for passage of the comprehensive and bipartisan immigration

reform that earlier passed the Senate. I am far less sanguine about our chances

when it comes to passage of common sense gun safety legislation, like universal

background checks and curbs on assault weapons and extended ammunition clips.

I will be reintroducing my bill to repeal the gun industry’s immunity from liability

— a unique immunity not enjoyed by any other industry, and an issue that has taken

center stage in the Presidential race. But all of these gun measures will run into

staunch opposition from the NRA and will be even more difficult in a Presidential

year.

Even in a political climate known for its dysfunction, each new year presents the

opportunity to make progress on issues that are important to our district and to our

country. I hope you will share your ideas for areas where we can find common

ground and move the nation forward.