In 2023, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) continued to advance the priorities of Missourians in the Senate, while standing up to the Biden-Schumer agenda. As a voice for Missouri, Senator Hawley acts on his constituents' needs and delivers on casework wins.

2023 Quick Facts

Serving Missourians: 

Senator Hawley’s office remains committed to working with Missourians on important issues they’re battling every day.

  • The top casework issue areas were: Department of State (DOS), Veteran Affairs (VA), Social Security Administration (SSA), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • Justice for Jana Elementary Act – A bill to require the cleanup or full rebuilding of Jana Elementary School, a contaminated elementary school in Florissant, Mo. passed the U.S. Senate
  • Radioactive Exposure Compensation Act amendment, to compensate victims of government-caused nuclear contamination in the greater St. Louis area, adopted by the U.S. Senate
  • Rural Post Office Reconstruction Act – Introduced by Senator Hawley to require the timely reconstruction of post offices damaged by natural disasters
  • Urged the State Department to provide relief for Christian missionaries in response to outreach from faith-based organizations in Missouri
  • Conducted an investigation into The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital following bombshell whistleblower allegations (The Center has since stopped performing gender-transition procedures on minors)
  • Stood up for the United Auto Workers (UAW) after they began their strike for a better deal; the Wentzville General Motors plant in Wentzville, Mo., also visited the picket line 
  • S.Res.457, A resolution honoring the distinguished service of Captain Samuel Farmer of the United States Marine Corps and the Marines and sailors of 1st Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, agreed to in the U.S. Senate

Legislative Priorities:

Working Across the Aisle

In 2023, Senator Hawley worked across the aisle on a variety of important bipartisan initiatives, including:

  • Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act – Introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.), and Peters (D-Mich.) and cosponsored by Senators Ossoff (D-Ga.), and Warnock (D-Ga.) to shore up the ability of rural hospitals to defend themselves from cyberattack, passed in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) 
  • Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act – Introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.) Warren (D-Mass.), Braun (R-Ind.), and Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) that would require that, in the event of a bank failures like Silicon Valley Bank, federal regulators claw back all or part of the compensation received by bank executives in the five-year period preceding the failure
  • DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act – Introduced by Senator Hawley (R-Mo.) and Peters (D-Mich.) to help prevent suicides among law enforcement personnel
  • No Section 230 for AI – Introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.) and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to clarify that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not apply to generative artificial intelligence
  • S.Res.412, A resolution introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.), Sanders (I-Vt.), Brown (D-Ohio), along with 31 Democrat colleagues in solidarity with UAW workers on strike
  • STOP CSAM Act – Reached an agreement with Senator Durbin (D-Ill.) to advance the STOP CSAM Act, legislation sponsored by Senator Durbin that cracks down on the proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. Favorably reported out of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary 
  • Preventing Child Labor Exploitation Act – Introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.) and Booker (D-N.J.) to prohibit companies that illegally employ children from securing federal government contracts
  • Ban Stock Trading for Government Officials Act – Introduced by Senators Hawley (R-Mo.) and Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to create stringent stock trading bans and disclosure requirements for Congress, senior executive branch officials, and their spouses and dependents

Advocating for American Workers

Holding China Accountable

  • COVID Origins Act of 2023 – A bill that was signed into law by President Biden. The legislation required the Biden administration to declassify intelligence related to any potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origins of the Covid pandemic 
  • No TikTok on United States Devices Act – A bill to prohibit the Chinese-based TikTok app from being downloaded on U.S. devices and to ban commercial activity with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance
  • Ending Normal Trade Relations with China Act – A bill that would revoke China's normal trade relations status to reduce our dependency and protect America’s working class
  • Raising Tariffs on Imports from China Act – A bill that would increase tariffs by 25% on goods imported from China until our bilateral trade deficit comes into balance. The measure was voted on as an amendment to the debt limit package 
  • No Funding for Chinese Companies – An amendment to prohibit Chinese entities or corporations from receiving any funding provided by the legislation. The amendment was adopted 61-36
  • S.Res.49, A resolution to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its blatant violation of U.S. airspace and call for transparency regarding the Chinese surveillance balloon incident, passed the U.S. Senate
  • This Land is Our Land Act – A bill to ban Chinese corporations and individuals associated with the Chinese Communist Party from owning United States agricultural land

Pushing Back on Big Pharma

Keeping Congress in Check  

  • PELOSI Act – A bill to prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks. The bill will require members found in violation to return their profits to American taxpayers
  • Eliminating Executive Branch Insider Trading Act – A bill which would ban the trading and holding of individual stocks by senior Executive Branch officials, many of whom have decision-making power that impacts the work being done in their respective agencies, endorsed by Biden's Energy Secretary 
  • Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance Act – A bill to establish a Special Inspector General to oversee the military and non-military assistance to Ukraine
  • Ending Corporate Influence on Election Act – A bill to prohibit publicly traded companies from contributing to federal political campaigns or SuperPACs

Battling Big Tech

  • As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, held the first major congressional hearing on generative AI, including testimony from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
  • Guiding principles for the future of American artificial intelligence (AI) legislation – Principles that seek to protect Americans' privacy as AI continues to develop at a pace that threatens to upend many aspects of American life

Protecting Families & Kids

  • Reintroduced the PROTECT Act – A bill to both toughen the sentence for possessing child pornography and stop judges from sentencing offenders below the federal guidelines
  • Parental Data Rights Act – A bill to require Big Tech companies to give parents control over their children’s data and hold accountable companies that fail to comply
  • Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act – A bill to allow minors harmed by gender-transition procedures to sue the providers involved
  • MATURE Act – A bill to prohibit social media companies from offering accounts to users under age 16, and hold social media companies accountable by creating an audit process and a private right of action
  • Federal Social Media Research Act – A bill to commission a government report on the harm of social media for kids
  • END CSAM Act – A bill to allow those harmed by child sex material posted online to sue web platforms that do not remove it

Holding the Biden Administration Accountable

  • Fought for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Mayorkas to take accountability for allowing abuse of migrant children, and to explain why the Biden DHS has reassigned hundreds of special agents  charged with important investigations to menial tasks at the southern border 
  • Demanded DHS terminate their "Intelligence Experts Group," in the Administration's latest efforts to undermine protected speech
  • State Border Defense Act – A bill to empower states to fight back against President Biden's failed immigration policies that are flooding America's streets with deadly narcotics and enabling a rise in child trafficking
  • Pushed for transparency from the Biden Administration into the Chinese spy balloon that flew over U.S. soil for days, and demanded answers from DHS 
  • Called out the FBI's targeting of American Catholics as 'violent extremists' and demanded Attorney General Merrick Garland answer for his false testimonyon the Department of Justice's involvement  
  • Urged the firing of a pro-Hamas spokeswoman employed by DHS  

Notable Speeches:

  • Speech at Heritage: ‘China and Ukraine: A Time for Truth’ 
  • Senate Floor speech on the Kansas City Chief's LVII Super Bowl Victory 
  • Speech at Heritage: 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit; Conservatives at a Crossroads 
  • Senate Floor speech on Senate's Passage of the Justice for Jana Elementary Act
  • Senate Floor speech introducing Sen. Schmitt ahead of Missouri colleague's maiden speech 
  • Senate Floor speech honoring U.S. Marine Corps Captain Samuel Farmer, Marines and Sailors of his Platoon 
  • Senate Floor speech calling out Congressional Leadership for betraying nuclear radiation victims & stripping compensation from NDAA

Notable Opinion Pieces: 

  • The Washington Post: 'Congress must act to keep kids off social media' 
  • Fox News: 'Where's all the Ukraine money going? This person can help find the truth'
  • New York Post: Cap credit-card interest rates to help Americans hammered by Bidenomics
  • Fox News: Not one taxpayer dime for Gaza until Hamas frees all the hostages 
  • Real Clear Politics: Don’t Let Government Get Away With Poisoning Americans
Issues
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