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WASHINGTON -- Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) announced that he is a cosponsor of the BRIDGE (Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy) Act. This bipartisan legislation would protect undocumented young people brought to the United States as children, should the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program be discontinued.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., issued the following statement in response to the Congressional Budget Office's report on the Republican health care bill:

"The detailed and thorough analysis of the American Health Care Act by the nonpartisan CBO demonstrates that the Republican bill will force millions of Americans to pay more for less care. The report makes it clear that over the next ten years 24 million Americans will be left uninsured and billions of dollars will be cut from Medicaid.

CARMEL -- A Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare does not appeal to Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who this week said the alternative healthcare bill would cost more and "leave millions of Americans uninsured."

Following the unveiling of the replacement healthcare plan, called the American Health Care Act, by House of Representatives leaders Monday, Panetta said it would make insurance more expensive and "leave hard-working Americans without quality care options."

Panetta, hailing from what he called “the salad bowl” along California’s Central Coast, said that, even during the five-year drought, the No. 1 issue for his farmer constituents was the labor force. “I believe more people need to realize that specialty crops and immigration and labor go hand in hand,” he said.

U.S. Congressman Jimmy Panetta and Supervisor Zach Friend on Saturday, February 18 toured storm-damaged areas of Santa Cruz County, focusing on the Aptos area and the issues facing Valencia Elementary School in particular.

During a two-hour tour arranged by Friend, Panetta met with neighborhood representatives and school officials, as well as representatives from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office and Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District, to discuss the challenges storm-damaged roads have placed on neighborhood access, childhood education and public safety response times.

Panetta says the "any plan to alter health care "should not be made in haste.""