BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS FROM LOBBYISTS

BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS FROM LOBBYISTS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)] [House] [Page H775] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS FROM LOBBYISTS The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Khanna) for 5 minutes. Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, President Trump campaigned around the country to drain the swamp. Yet, one of the first things he did was to reverse President Biden's executive order that banned White House officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists. Today, I am introducing the Drain the Swamp Act. It is pretty simple. It will ban any White House official from accepting gifts from lobbyists, and it will ban White House officials from becoming lobbyists during the Trump term. I believe that this bill will have support not just from progressives, not just from Independents, but from the MAGA movement. That is why I am calling on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to pass the Drain the Swamp Act and send it to President Trump's desk so that he can fulfill his promise. Deprivation of Medicare Telehealth Services Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, the Trump administration is stripping millions of American seniors of their coverage of telehealth on March 31. That is right. Starting March 31, doctors' visits via videoconference or Zoom or phone will no longer be covered for seniors on Medicare. This is going to impact over 12 million Americans, and the crazy thing is that the inspectors general have found that there is only 0.2 percent of fraud in telehealth. Why are we taking telehealth away from millions of seniors who are homebound or who have difficulty leaving their homes? It is most devastating for rural Americans. That is why I am introducing today the Telehealth Coverage Act. It will require Medicare to pay for telehealth services. Let us pass this act in a bipartisan way so that millions of American seniors aren't deprived of telehealth services because of the actions of the Trump administration. ____________________