Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks

R

Iowa – District 1
representative

News & Announcements

Jun 26, 2025
Press Release

Subcommittee on Environment Holds Hearing on the Beneficial Use of Coal Ash

WASHINGTON, D.C . – Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing titled A Decade Later: A Review of Congressional Action, Environmental Protection Agency Rules, and Beneficial Use Opportunities for Coal Ash.    “The expert witnesses we heard from today made it clear that coal ash recycling is a win-win for our environment and for American manufacturing,” said Chairman Griffith . “This hearing offered our members a chance to learn more about the impact of the EPA’s coal ash regulations. It’s time to unleash American technology and innovation to use coal ash in practical and responsible ways both in construction, and as an avenue for the large-scale recovery of critical materials.”  Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing: Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “For years, coal-fired power generation facilities have worked in Pennsylvania and throughout the entire United States, and they have worked to properly manage coal combustion residuals or coal ash. This is long been done either through disposal and monitoring or through beneficial uses such as the making of concrete or construction applications, as in drywall production. With the EPA's finalized 2024 legacy CCR rule, electric utilities will be faced with burdensome costs for sites where coal ash has already been safely disposed of and environmental concerns mitigated and beneficial use programs will be subjected to harsh regulations despite the evidence that they posed little or absolutely no environmental or health or safety risks.”   Congresswoman Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “I understand the critical importance of striking the right balance between protecting our natural resources and promoting practical science-based solutions to manage industrial byproducts, coal ash being a prime example.” Congressman Gabe Evans (CO-08): “We have a massive footprint in our area dedicated to producing the raw materials that build Colorado to include a lot of concrete and cement production in the area. I know that our producers are working as hard as they can because we all want clean air, clean land, and clean water. We also have the technology these days to see where a lot of the pollution is coming from in my area, double digit percentages of pollution along the Colorado Front Range are coming from China and the fact is, if we don't produce things in the United States, it's not like we get suddenly clean air, clean land, clean water, that production is going to go other places, and we're still going to inherit that pollution.”   ### 

Jun 24, 2025
Press Release

Health Subcommittee Holds Hearing on HHS Fiscal Year 2026 Budget

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, led a hearing titled The Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Health and Human Services Budget. “America needs a new prescription — a clear, bold vision for the future. We can no longer afford to simply throw more money at this problem and hope for change,” said Chairman Carter . “It is time to break from the old ways and embrace innovative, courageous ideas that will truly Make America Healthy Again.” Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing: Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-09): “One important tool in promoting drug development is the FDA's Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Priority Review Voucher Program, which has led to the approval of over 50 treatments for 39 different rare, pediatric diseases - 36 of which had no FDA approval treatments before the program began. I was very pleased to see the president's FDA budget allocate funding for this priority review voucher program, and I have bipartisan legislation that would fully reauthorize the program for years to come.” Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02): “I was just wondering if you can explain how HHS will be investing in rural America and specifically rural Iowa to ensure that Americans still have access to vital health care services.” Secretary Kennedy: “ We have a number of programs for expanding healthcare in rural areas. One of those that I'm most excited about are these innovations in telemedicine and AI nursing. That is going to deal with some of the treatment [and] the diagnosis issues. I've seen the systems in action, and they're extraordinary.” Congresswoman Kat Cammack: (FL-03): “Under the previous administration of Joe Biden, maternal health deserts expanded significantly, leaving over 2.5 million women without access to any sort of maternal health care. In fact, I believe it was 1 in 25 maternal health clinics [that] closed under the previous administration. And you've pointed out that there are more than 40 different maternal health programs scattered across HHS. From where I sit, that sounds like a lot of bureaucracy, and I want us to focus on patient outcomes and improving those, like you do.” ###

Jun 11, 2025
Environment

Subcommittee on Environment Holds Hearing to Discuss Onshoring American Innovation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing titled Short-Circuiting Progress: How the Clean Air Act Impacts Building Necessary Infrastructure and Onshoring American Innovation. “Today’s hearing made it clear that bureaucratic red tape has limited our ability to expand American manufacturing,” said Chairman Griffith. “As we heard from our witnesses, Congress needs to take commonsense actions to ensure the Clean Air Act works as intended while not hampering our country’s retention of steady, well-paying jobs, or limiting our ability to lead in manufacturing innovation.” Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing: Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01): “Balancing America's air quality with economic development begins with implementing common sense legislation. I think we would all agree on that. The EPA reviews the national ambient air quality standards, and on, on a five-year interval after establishing a national ambient air quality standard states assumed the primary responsibility for implementing it and enforcing these rules. This is an extremely time-consuming process, one that takes years and years. I've got a bill. It's called the CLEAR Act. Now we give states the time needed to implement standards without rushing the process, and I think that's very important. This bill also allows states the opportunity to correct deficiencies found by EPA and state implementation plans for NAAQS before EPA can issue a federal implementation plan. The CLEAR Act offers common sense solutions to make containing clean air standards realistic while giving states the time necessary to comply. Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13): “Important context for this hearing is understanding that America's air quality is among the best in the world, and that the U.S. emissions have steadily decreased over the past several decades, even as economic input and output has changed. We observed this trend because of the fact that reasonable clean air standards lead to economic growth and that this economic growth spurs innovation and investment in technology that ultimately reduces emissions without sacrificing output. We need to balance public health and clean air goals with the reality that unattainable standards will not only hurt the American economy, but also disincentivize development of the more efficient technologies necessary to continue to lower U.S. emissions.” Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01): “The United States has proven that environmental progress and economic growth aren't mutually exclusive. We've dramatically improved air quality while expanding energy output in Iowa, our farmers and manufacturers rely on stable smart policy to keep innovating and growing and also to compete economically around the globe. As we look to the future. any new regulations must support, not stifle, the backbone industries of our heartland.”

Letters

Oct 7, 2024
Letter

Chair Rodgers Leads House GOP in Demanding Answers Over FCC Fast-Tracking Democrat Mega-Donor’s Media Takeover Weeks Before Election

Soros-linked fund to acquire more than 200 local radio stations weeks before election Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) led 40 of her Republican colleagues in demanding answers from the Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding her recent decision to fast-track a media deal allowing the Fund for Policy Reform, a group aligned with Democratic mega-donor George Soros, to buy over 200 radio stations just weeks before the 2024 election. With a party line vote of 3-2, the decision at the Commission level by the Democratic members of the FCC to temporarily waive the required national security review and allow excessive foreign ownership of American radio stations is deeply disturbing. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “It is highly concerning that the FCC did not follow regular order for a transaction of this magnitude. Licensees and investors need certainty that the FCC will follow its rules and procedures when approving transactions so that the broadcast industry can have the resources it needs to continue serving the public.”  BACKGROUND: Audacy, Inc., a radio broadcasting group, which owns more than 200 radio-station licenses, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.  Audacy’s filings revealed that a George Soros-backed group known as the Fund for Policy Reform had acquired at least 40 percent of Audacy’s debt.   Audacy estimated that, upon emerging from bankruptcy, 25 percent or more of its stock would be indirectly foreign owned, which triggers FCC review.   This review process requires national security agencies to review the transaction and offer any policy or national security concerns.   On September 30, 2024, the FCC released an Order granting a temporary waiver of this review process, delaying a national security review until after the bankruptcy process is complete and allowing foreign control of a significant number of radio stations across the entire United States, weeks before a national election. CLICK HERE to read Breitbart's exclusive coverage. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

May 14, 2024
Letter

E&C Republican Leaders Press Biden EPA for Answers About Grants Awarded to Political Allies

Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Reagan, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Chair Buddy Carter (R-GA), on behalf of the Oversight and Environment Subcommittee Republicans, are pressing for answers about the recently-awarded Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) grants.  KEY LETTER EXCERPTS :  “As you know, the Committee has questioned how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) planned to distribute the $20 billion available to selected recipients under the new GGRF program, including the $14 billion for the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF). Specifically, the Committee cited warnings that the EPA could use these large awards to subsidize favored organizations. At a January 30, 2024, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers highlighted examples of former Biden administration officials and Democratic campaign staff in leadership roles of organizations vying for NCIF funding. Predictably, the EPA’s April 4, 2024, announcement of NCIF recipients confirmed our fears that this program would funnel taxpayer dollars to political allies.” [...] “Other individuals with ties to Democratic politics also lead organizations partnering with these recipients. While the EPA insists it had ethics rules and a fair competition policy in place, doling out billions of dollars to organizations led by politically connected individuals undermines public trust in the legitimacy of the federal financial awards process. It also furthers the concern that this program was created as an excuse to hand out funding to political allies.” The Chairs cited more than a dozen examples of politically connected leaders of organizations to which EPA plans to distribute billions of taxpayer dollars, and have requested a list of all of the nearly two dozen stakeholder meetings the EPA held in designing the program, including the dates, names of the individuals and organizations participating as well as any related minutes or memoranda by May 28, 2024. CLICK HERE to read the full letter. 

May 9, 2024
Press Release

E&C Republicans to HHS Secretary: What Law Requires You to Hide Sexual Abusers?

Secretary Becerra’s Extreme Legal Position Prioritizes Protecting Substantiated Abusers Over Victims Washington, D.C. — In a new letter , House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), and Representative August Pfluger (R-TX) asked Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide the Committee with the legal basis requiring HHS to redact or hide the names of researchers determined to have committed sexual misconduct.  The letter comes following Secretary Becerra’s appearance before the Subcommittee on Health during which he claimed he could not release the names of individuals determined to have committed sexual harassment to Congress because of legal prohibitions. The Members requested that Secretary Becerra provide the Committee with the legal basis for HHS’s decision to redact the names of abusers who have substantiated findings of sexual harassment or abuse by April 30, 2024.  CLICK HERE to read the letter.  BACKGROUND :  The Committee first launched an investigation into the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) handling of sexual harassment at grantee institutions in August 2021.   In October 2023, the Committee expanded its inquiry to include complaints involving NIH scientists.   After NIH’s failure to comply, Chair Rodgers subpoenaed NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli to produce documents in February of 2024.  Later that month, HHS responded on behalf of NIH to offer a rolling in camera document review to the Committee. Documents presented in the review have been highly redacted, including the redaction of the names of individuals convicted of criminal offenses, public news articles about individuals who have been found guilty of harassment, and redaction of the names of the institutions where the abuse occurred—preventing the Committee from understanding if NIH continues to fund work performed by substantiated abusers at other institutions—a practice known as “pass the harasser.”  FULL TIMELINE :  August 10, 2021 : E&C Republican Leaders Question NIH’s Handling of Sexual Harassment Complaints   August 11, 2022 : E&C Republican Leaders follow up with NIH on Insufficient Response to its Letter on the NIH’s handling of Sexual Harassment   November 30, 2022 : E&C Republicans to NIH: Turn Over Previously Requested Information Ahead of New Congress   March 14, 2023 : E&C Republicans Press NIH for Information on Handling of Sexual Harassment Complaints   October 6, 2023 : E&C Republicans Signal Intent to Issue Subpoenas to Obtain Information on NIH’s Handling of Sexual Harassment if Questions Go Unanswered   January 26, 2024 : Chair Rogers notifies NIH of Imminent Subpoecana   February 5, 2024 : Chair Rodgers Subpoenas NIH for Documents Related to Investigation into Sexual Harassment at NIH and NIH Grantee Institutions  February 20, 2024: HHS Responds on behalf of NIH to offer a rolling in camera document review to the Committee. Documents produced in the review have been highly redacted, including the redaction of the names of individuals convicted of criminal offenses, public news articles about individuals who have been found guilty of harassment, and redaction of the names of the institutions where the abuse occurred—effectively preventing the Committee from understanding if NIH continues to fund work performed by substantiated abusers at other institutions—a practice known as “pass the harasser.”  April 16, 2024 : E&C Republicans Expand Investigation into Sexual Harassment at NIH to now Include Review of HHS Office of Civil Rights Compliance Role  WHISTLEBLOWERS:    The Committee is seeking whistleblowers with knowledge of sexual harassment at the NIH or NIH grantee institutions, as well as those with knowledge of how the NIH handles such complaints.   The right for public employees to communicate with Congress, in their private capacities, is established in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, various U.S. laws prohibit retaliation against whistleblowers for providing information to Congress. However, individuals still take serious risks when they engage in whistleblowing activity.   To better protect your communications, do not contact the Committee using work resources, work contact information, or while you are working . Further, consider consulting an attorney experienced in representing whistleblowers before you make a disclosure.   Do not submit classified information or other information barred from release through this form or by email. Unauthorized handling of classified information could result in criminal prosecution.   The Committee respects your need to remain confidential and will use your contact information only to follow up with you regarding your submission. You may submit a disclosure anonymously. However, please be aware that anonymous disclosures may limit the Committee’s ability to respond to the information that you provide.   Individuals with information about harassment at the NIH may contact the Committee via email at:   ReportNIHAbuse@mail.house.gov    Individuals with information about harassment at institutions that receive NIH grants may contact the Committee via email at:   ReportNIHGranteeAbuse@mail.house.gov    Additional resources can be found HERE .