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Today, the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health reviewed legislation to continue ongoing efforts to strengthen the Medicaid program.

The bills discussed would encourage more transparency, allow more patient access to clinical trials, give patients with special needs more power over their own special needs trust, and allow more participants into pilot programs using the PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) model of care.

Today, on this National Prisoner of War, Missing in Action Day, Congressman Bilirakis introduced H.R. 3558. This legislation will create a forever stamp depicting the National League of Families POW/MIA flag.

By a 241-187 vote, the House of Representatives has approved a bill that would cut off federal money for Planned Parenthood. The bill isn't expected to pass in the Senate — and President Obama has said he would veto any bill that defunds the group.

Last year, Planned Parenthood received around $528 million in government funds that came to it through two federal programs that are aimed at lower-income Americans: Medicaid and Title X. (Our It's All Politics blog recently gave a detailed rundown of the group's funding.)

This week, as the Planned Parenthood investigation continues, members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the U.S. House overall, continue efforts to protect infants.

Today, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs advanced multiple bills to help improve the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure efficiency and effectiveness for our nation's Veterans.

Included in the legislation was Congressman Bilirakis's bill to authorize a survey of GI Bill users about their experience in choosing a school and the adjudication of their claim by VA. This legislation continues his ongoing efforts to improve educational opportunities for Veterans.

Here in Washington, D.C., on this somber anniversary, my colleagues and I face a unique series of votes regarding a foreign policy pact like none I have encountered before. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a product of many months of negotiations between Obama Administration officials and other world leaders, will have a lasting impact well beyond this Congress and Obama's presidency. This international gamble will affect generations of Americans and Middle Easterners hoping to live in a more peaceful world.

Today, the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health reviewed six bills to strengthen Medicaid for our nation's most vulnerable. As part of our effort to improve Medicaid efficiency, we discussed my legislation, H.R. 1570, the Medicaid and CHIP Territory Transparency Act. H.R. 1570 would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to include similar information on the Medicaid and CHIP Programs in the territories on its website as it provides to the states.

When it comes to generating jobs and rebuilding the American economy, no single factor is more important than access to reliable, low-cost electricity. It is the fundamental building block of high-tech industry and the competitive advantage that many U.S. firms have used to hold steady against foreign competition.

That's why threats to the reliability and the affordability of energy are particularly dangerous. That's also why conversations about the future of energy are more important than ever for power providers and their customers.