Brendan Boyle

Nearly half a million rape kits currently sit untested in police stations all across the country, an alarming stat that Brendan is fighting to change. He’s leading a bipartisan effort of 47 congress people who are calling on the Appropriations Committee to increase funding for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to $49 million. This Justice Department program aims to reduce the nation’s backlog, which tragically keeps growing mainly as a result of a lack of resources. Brendan first began fighting to address backlog issues on a state level as a State Legislator and now he’s taking that fight national. We’re rooting for him.

Sustainability and an environmentally-friendly future is something that young members of both parties are beginning to agree upon. In a virtual event hosted by the news outlet, The Hill, Brendan, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the government’s role is to create incentives and structures for companies to contribute to a more sustainable future. Those which follow environmental, social and corporate sustainability guidelines, would be rewarded with a tax credit. However, the balance is going to be a delicate one – the standards need to be achievable enough to get companies to participate, but strict enough that tax credits won’t just be handed out like candy. Candy sounds good, a clean planet sounds better.

Currently, the federal government does not provide federal Medicaid funds to states for services at Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD). An IMD is classified as a hospital, nursing facility or other institution that has more than 16 beds and engages in some sort of mental treatment. Brendan reintroduced legislation to expand access to recovery for certain disorders at IMD’s. Right now you are only eligible for Medicaid coverage at IMD’s if you are 65 and over. With Brendans legislation, many more people will now have access. As well, Brendan shot down rumors that he was running for Pennsylvania Senate. Maybe next go around?

Brendan co-sponsored two pieces of gun-control legislation that passed the House just three weeks ago which is now, sadly, looking quite prescient given this week’s two horrific mass-shooting tragedies. The first bill is the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, which would require background checks for all sales, including between strangers online and at gun shows. The second bill looks to close the Charleston loophole, which currently allows a gun sale to proceed if a background check is not completed within three days. “It has been 25 years since the government last enacted meaningful gun safety law,” he said, noting that more than 100 Americans are shot and killed every day. Brendan is furiously working to change that.

Brendan joined Senator Elizabeth Warren and others in introducing a proposal for the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act which looks to do just that: tax ultra-millionaires. Brendan, who sits on the House Ways and Means committee, remarked that “wealth inequality is at its highest level since the Gilded Age” with the wealth share of the richest 0.1% having nearly tripled since 1970. The proposed tax would garner 2% of households or trusts worth $50 million to $1 billion, and 3% for those worth in excess of $1 billion. Effectively, this would only tax about 100,000 American households, and economists estimate it would yield $3 trillion in revenue over the next ten years without raising taxes on 99.95% of Americans. Wow, that’s a lot of money. And it would cover the entirety of the stimulus package Congress just passed.

If you know anyone who has become a U.S. citizen lately, you have probably heard how tough the process is and you might be surprised to find out how much U.S. history they learned for their citizenship test. Brendan re-introduced legislation, the Citizenship Empowerment Act, that would require officials to provide voter registration forms in the citizenship packets provided to all newly sworn-in U.S. citizens, and would also allow election officials to set up informational tables outside naturalization ceremonies. This would make it easier for them to exercise their fundamental right as a citizen: the right to vote. Voting should not be a partisan issue, so hopefully Brendan can find some support for his bill across the aisle.

One only needs to read Brendan’s name to become aware of his Irish descent (his dad was an immigrant in the 1970s), but he goes one step further in his role in Congress by fighting for better relations between the U.S. and Ireland. He has reintroduced legislation that would allot certain visas currently reserved for Australian immigrants to the U.S. to Irish immigrants as well. The E-3 visa program allows up to 10,500 Australians in specialty occupations to enter the U.S., though only half of those are typically used. Brendan would like to extend the remaining visas to Irish people in the same capacity. The bill previously died in the Senate, as it needed to pass unanimously and fellow Political Playlist leader (and staunch anti-immigration lawmaker) Tom Cotton (R-AK) voted against it, but Brendan is hopeful that with Democratic control of the Senate he can get it passed.

Being an Irishman from Philly, Brendan ain’t one to mince words, which is why he was among the first to label the events at the Capitol an insurrection. He immediately called for Trump to be impeached, which he later voted for, has said the Senate must convict him, and now he has introduced a resolution in the House calling for a criminal investigation and possible prosecution of the former President. Brendan believes there is already sufficient public evidence to indict, arrest and put Trump on trial, “and if convicted, he should go to prison.” And speaking of Irishmen from Philly, Brendan had some poignant praise for President Biden, putting in perspective his family origins to where his clan now resides: The White House.

After the Constitutional Convention of 1787 Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?’ Franklin’s oft-repeated reply: ‘A republic if you can keep it.’ Brendan cited Franklin in his official statement, which also calls for an inquiry into the House members who claimed election fraud, saying it was “a ridiculous fantasy” and “nothing short of a seditious subversion of the will of the American people.” Brendan echoed Franklin’s words (as well as throwing in some expletives) on the House floor to defend the Pennsylvania electoral votes. He was also asked by Speaker Pelosi to deliver last week’s National Democratic Address, in which he stated that certifying the election results was about “the survival of our democracy” before voting to impeach the president yesterday.

You need look no further than Brendan’s name to know his Irish heritage and he has been one of the leading voices in Congress to address US-Ireland relations. Recently, he spoke about the US-Britain relationship post-Brexit – namely that the Biden administration will prioritize a deal with the EU over the UK because the EU economy is so much larger. Brendan previously expressed strong opposition to a US-UK trade deal if Brexit violated the 1998 Belfast Agreement (which settled the relationship between Ireland and Northern Ireland and led to peace in Northern Ireland after over 30 years of violence). This violation looks unlikely now, but Brendan is still hoping for a special envoy to Ireland in the Biden administration… perhaps an ideal role for the only member of Congress with an Irish-born parent??