Senator Portman: Rob's Weekly Rundown

After attending the Buckeyes come-from-behind victory against Penn State at The Shoe on Saturday, Senator Portman returned to D.C. to continue his work on tax reform, with a focus on creating more and better jobs, increasing wages, and boosting the middle class. Portman has been a national leader on this topic. He will continue to receive input from Ohioans across the state as he works to deliver results for Ohio workers and families. Also this week, Portman urged the State Department to redouble its efforts against foreign propaganda, hosted a Facebook Live Town Hall, continued to promote his Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, and more. For a more in depth look at Senator Portman’s week, please see the following:
Sunday, October 29

On NBC’s Meet The Press, Portman Discusses Tax Reform, Jobs, Russia Probe & More

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) spoke with Chuck Todd on Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press about his belief that tax reform will create more and better jobs, increase wages, and boost the middle class. He also discussed the state of the GOP, President Trump, the Russia probe, and more.
Excerpts of the interview can be found here and a video can be found here.

Monday, October 30

Portman Questions Mattis, Tillerson on AUMF, Long-Term Syria Strategy

Portman, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the current Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) and their long-term strategy for defeating ISIS and securing peace in Syria. During his questioning, Portman said it is critical that the United States “get at the underlying causes [of turmoil in Syria that helped fuel the rise of ISIS] so that we don't have to go back again.” He stated that while that existing legal authorities might be sufficient for current operations, a new AUMF “can be worthwhile in providing greater clarity and guidance, including to our military commanders...I think it can help you establish a firmer base of political support for overseas operations. I think it can send a clear signal of resolve from the United States Congress as well as the administration to friend and foe alike.”
Transcript can be found here and a video can be found here.

On Fox News, Portman Highlights How Tax Reform Will Create Jobs & Boost Wages

During an interview on Fox News, Senator Portman again discussed how tax reform will help create more jobs and better jobs, increase wages, and boost the middle class. Portman, who has held six tax reform roundtables in Ohio with local business leaders in recent months, has been vocal on the national stage calling for tax reform, including just last week during interviews on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, and NBC’s Meet The Press.
Excerpts of the interview can be found here and a video can be found here.

Wednesday, November 1

President Trump’s Opioid Commission Endorses Senator Portman’s Bipartisan STOP Act & Prescription Drug Monitoring Legislation

Portman commended President Trump’s opioid commission for releasing a detailed set of recommendations to address the national opioid epidemic.  The report specifically endorses two bipartisan Portman-authored bills, including the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which would help stop dangerous synthetic drugs from being shipped into our country via the postal system, and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, which would help stop overprescribing.  Portman released the following statement:

“I commend the commission for putting forward a serious and detailed set of recommendations to help address this heroin and prescription drug epidemic.  I am especially pleased that the president’s commission has endorsed the STOP Act and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, bipartisan legislation I have championed that will make a real difference in helping to combat this crisis.  It’s time for the Senate to pass both of these bills.  

“While Congress has made some progress in addressing this crisis by enacting the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act and the 21st Century CURES Act last year, we can and must do more.  I look forward to fully reviewing all of the commission’s recommendations.  And I am hopeful that Congress will act with urgency in the coming weeks and months to review and address the recommendations outlined in this report.”

NOTE: The opioid commission’s full report can be viewed here.  Senator Portman has been a leader in the Senate’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis. In addition to the bipartisan Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, Portman is working on several other bipartisan measures to combat this crisis, including the Medicaid CARE Act and CRIB Act.

State Department Nominee Supports Portman Efforts to Counter Foreign Propaganda, Disinformation

In response to questioning from Senator Portman on Wednesday morning, Steven Goldstein, nominee for Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs, testified that he would, if confirmed, work to ensure that the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) is both funded properly and works, as intended, to effectively counter foreign disinformation and propaganda. In September, nominee for Under Secretary of State for Management Eric Ueland similarly confirmed his support of this effort to Portman.
Senator Portman has been a leader in the effort to improve the U.S. government’s ability to respond to sophisticated disinformation campaigns by our adversaries. Portman and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) are the authors of the bipartisan Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, legislation signed-into-law last year, which increases the authority, resources, and mandate of the GEC to include state actors like Russia and China as well as non-state actors like ISIS. Said Goldstein, “we have got to make this a priority and you have my commitment and the commitment of the people within the State Department that we will do so.”
Portman has called on the State Department to use the funds authorized in their legislation to get the GEC up and running so it can begin to develop, integrate, and synchronize whole-of-government initiatives to expose and counter foreign disinformation operations by our adversaries and finally begin to address an urgent national security threat that our nation must do more to combat. 
Transcript of the questioning can be found here and a video can be found here.

On Bloomberg TV, Portman Highlights How Tax Reform Will Boost Middle Class, Create Jobs & Increase Wages

During an interview on Bloomberg TV, Senator Portman discussed how pro-growth tax reform will give the economy a shot in the arm by increasing wages, creating more and better jobs, and boosting the middle class.
Excerpts of the interview can be found here and a video can be found here.

Thursday, November 2

Portman Statement on House Tax Reform Bill Introduction

Portman issued the following statement on the introduction of the House tax reform bill:

“For years, Americans have called on Congress to fix our broken tax code. Chairman Brady and Speaker Ryan today released a proposal that moves us one step closer to answering that calling, and I commend them for their hard work. I look forward to reviewing the details of the House’s tax reform plan as we in the Senate continue to finalize our proposal. The Senate Finance Committee has held 70 hearings on tax reform over the last five years, and I’m looking forward to a full debate and committee consideration of our proposal in the coming weeks. It is now time to deliver results for the American people by reducing the tax burden on the middle class, helping American businesses grow and prosper, and creating better jobs and wages for our workers. We have a significant opportunity before us, and I’m optimistic we can get tax reform done.”

On Fox News, Portman Pushes for Redesignation of North Korea as State Sponsor of Terror

Last week, Senator Portman, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the State Department to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, saying that “the case is clear” and “this would be one more important step to exert peaceful pressure on the North Korean regime and has received broad, bipartisan support in Congress.” Last night, the deadline for the State Department to act passed without North Korea being listed as a state sponsor of terror.
A report on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier highlights Portman’s efforts to relist North Korea a state sponsor of terror and hold the rogue regime accountable for its destabilizing and dangerous actions around the world.
The Fox News report can be seen here and excerpts of the report can be found here.

Friday, November 3

Portman, Blumenthal, Thune, Nelson Welcome Additional Tech Industry Support for the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act

Senators Portman and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL), and other core sponsors of the bill announced several technical and clarifying changes to the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (S. 1693), with the support of the tech community’s Internet Association. The changes to the bill were included in a Thune/Nelson/Blumenthal amendment filed today in advance of the committee’s markup scheduled for next Wednesday, November 8.

“This important bill will hold online sex traffickers accountable and help give trafficking survivors the justice they deserve,” said Portman.  “I’m pleased we’ve reached an agreement to further clarify the intent of the bill and advance this important legislation.  This bill has now achieved a broad consensus that includes anti-trafficking advocates and law enforcement from around the country, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Urban League, and Internet Association.”

NOTE: The purpose of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act is to (1) allow sex trafficking victims to get the justice they deserve by eliminating federal liability protections for websites that knowingly assist, support, or facilitate online sex trafficking; and (2) allow state and local prosecutors to prosecute websites that violate federal sex trafficking laws.  The Thune/Nelson/Blumenthal amendment makes several technical changes to further clarify the intent of the bill — changes that are responsive to several issues raised at the Commerce Committee hearing held on September 19. These changes, which do not change the purpose or scope of the bill, do three things:

• Make clear that all criminal charges are based on a violation of the federal human trafficking law so that there is a uniform standard.
• Clarify the definition of “participating in a venture” and ensure the standard for liability remains “knowingly” for websites that are assisting, supporting, or facilitating sex trafficking.
• Permit state attorneys general to bring a civil action against those who violate the federal human trafficking law on behalf of a state’s residents in federal court.

On August 1, Senators Portman and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and more than 20 of their bipartisan colleagues introduced the bipartisan Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act  to ensure justice for victims of sex trafficking and ensure that websites such as Backpage.com, which knowingly facilitate sex trafficking, can be held liable and brought to justice. The bill was introduced after the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ two-year inquiry which culminated in a report entitled “Backpage.com’s Knowing Facilitation of Online Sex Trafficking,” which found that Backpage.com knowingly facilitated criminal sex trafficking of vulnerable women and young girls and then covered up evidence of these crimes in order to increase its own profits.  In September, the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee held a hearing on the bill, which demonstrated a bipartisan consensus for action.
On Social Media:









Google’s Dominance in Washington Faces a Reckoning
Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., made a big bet on Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 presidential election. Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by workers at any other corporation, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt helped set up companies to analyze political data for the campaign. Mr. Schmidt even wore a badge labeled “STAFF” at Mrs. Clinton’s election-night bash…
In May, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio teamed up with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to work on a measure that would curb the immunity when it comes to sex trafficking. The bill would allow victims to hold internet companies liable for such content on their platforms in some circumstances.
Google officials, worried any carve out from the immunity law would open the door to more exceptions and lead to a rash of frivolous lawsuits, sought to get Mr. Portman to back off his legislation. The company dispatched a lobbyist who used to work for Mr. Portman to meet with the senator’s chief of staff.
At the meeting, on July 19, a Google lobbyist told the Portman chief of staff the company opposed the legislation and would defeat it, according to lobbyists who spoke to the Portman aide about the meeting.
The Portman aide countered that Google could hurt its reputation by opposing it. The Google lobbyist said Mr. Portman would be seen as a villain trying to regulate the internet. The meeting left a bad taste, Mr. Portman’s chief of staff later told the lobbyists.
Messrs. Portman and Blumenthal introduced the bill the next month with more than 20 co-sponsors. A spokesman for Mr. Portman’s office didn’t comment on the meeting and said he was confident that the Senate would pass the bill.
More recently, Google has changed its strategy. Susan Molinari, Google’s vice president for public policy, said recently in a blog post that Google has “a long standing commitment to eradicating human trafficking.” She said it had proposed amendments to Mr. Portman’s legislation that would give victims and survivors the right to civil litigation and enable prosecutors to hold bad actors accountable for their crimes.
(“Google’s Dominance in Washington Faces a Reckoning,” John McKinnon and Brody Mullins. Wall Street Journal. October 30, 2017)

Portman Lobbies to Keep Tax Incentives for 401(k)s in the GOP Tax Plan
Ohio’s Republican Sen. Rob Portman says he believes the GOP tax plan will encourage growth, stimulate wages and would at least NOT add to the deficit. But, as WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports, there’s one part of the package he’s fighting.
Portman says he’s been making the argument that cutting how much can be put into tax-exempt 401(k) retirement savings accounts is bad public policy. He says Americans don’t save enough as it is, and he’s been working on providing more incentives for saving since he was in the House of Representatives in the 1990s. Portman acknowledges, under the GOP tax plan, people would still have access to IRAs to save…
(“Portman Lobbies to Keep Tax Incentives for 401(k)s in the GOP Tax Plan,” M.L. Schultze. WKSU. October 31, 2017)

New tax plan unveiled
After months of talks and delays, Republicans officially unveiled their tax reform bill on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
They say it will simplify the tax code and allow taxpayers to keep more of the money they earned. The proposal would give middle income families a tax break, thanks to doubling the standard deduction and an increase in the child tax credit. Plus, the plan will look at changing what can be deducted regarding local property taxes and state income tax, from the federal tax form. We talked to Senator Rob Portman and he says the plan could help a lot of middle class Ohioans…
(“New tax plan unveiled,” Joseph Sharpe. Lima Your News Now. November 2, 2017)

Trump admin considering designating North Korea a state sponsor of terror
The Trump administration is considering putting North Korea back on the United States' list of state sponsors of terrorism, national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Thursday…
“They were removed from the list almost a decade ago with promises from the regime to limit their nuclear program,” one of the lawmakers, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, said in a statement.
Added Portman: “That clearly didn’t happen, and their destabilizing actions around the world have only continued. This would be one more important step to exert peaceful pressure on the North Korean regime and has received broad, bipartisan support in Congress.”
(“Trump admin considering designating North Korea a state sponsor of terror,” Alex Pappas. Fox News. November 2, 2017)