From the Office of:

Representative O. Zwerdling
Maryland
House Committee of Intelligence
To the Great State of Maryland,
In order to continue a channel of open communication, I am sending you this letter to keep you
up to date on the latest news from the 114th Congress.
My number one hope going into this session, was to help the people of not only Maryland, but of
this country deal with the large number of egregious errors on the terrorist watch list. Errors on
the terrorist watch list create cause for the names of hundreds of innocent people to be marked as
terrorists, when they have done nothing wrong. As a result I introduced House of Representatives
Bill #2, a Bill to Ensure the Accuracy of the Terrorist Watch List. This bill is designed to add
regulations for procedure within the National Counterterrorism Center, and effectively correct
the list. There is a 35% error rating and I want to see that percentage down to zero. The bill
would be cost neutral, as it is simply creating rules, not creating any new organizations. While
the bill passed through the House with only one opposed, the Senate did not find the time to look
over the bill.
Representative Gonzalez introduced House of Representatives Bill #1 The Zika Protection and
Prevention Act. The bill intends to use money previously set aside for Ebola research to fund
Zika research and finding a potential cure. This puts the price at a net zero, which should the act
be successful, will likely bring funds into the country. While Zika is not a major problem in the
U.S. yet, it is a fast-spreading virus and could become a threat at any moment and it is crucial

that we put a stop to Zika before it can spread to more of the country. The bill passed through
both the House and Senate, and was signed by President Grossman and I am proud to have been
a part of signing the bill into action.
The Back to the Source Act was introduced into the House of Representatives by Representative
Moglen. The U.S. gets an enormous amount of food from Mexican mega-farms every year,
however Mexico does not have the same food safety and worker safety regulations as the U.S.
does. We all enjoy our produce for a lower price, but it should not require our health to be at risk.
The Back to the Source Act requires the FDA to inspect foods, as well as to have produce
certified as safe before its brought for American consumption. Not only does this improve the
quality of food for Americans, but provides safer conditions for Mexican workers, making them
more likely to keep or seek jobs in Mexico rather than crossing the border and taking American
jobs. The bill passed unanimously through the House and then through the Senate, before being
signed into law by President Grossman.
One bill I was particularly opposed to was the Citizens Privacy Protection Act, as introduced by
Senator Fox. The bill proposed the restriction of government access to cellular devices without a
warrant. My proposed bill encourages the inspection of those on the terrorist watch list. How can
those on the terrorist watch list be kept track of if the law requires a warrant for every person on
the list. This would slow the government down a huge amount and reduce productivity. This also
could increase the number of horrible acts that happen in this county due to failure to find out
about events before they occur. The act is un-American and helps protect those who could be out
to harm our country. I could not support this bill and was very disappointed in the high approval
of this bill with a passing vote of 21-6 in the House, and even making it to President Grossman,

who signed it. This bill will put strain on the ability of our country to protect itself from terror
and I hope to see it one day it repealed.
I hope that you approve of how I have fought for the rights that we as a constituency believe in. I
feel that this legislative session produced many bipartisan bills, that will ultimately benefit this
country, as well as this state, and I plan to continue to push for protecting this nation from terror
into the next session. My number one goal is always to fight for you, the citizens of Maryland, I
thank you for your support, and belief in my ability to represent you as a people.
Sincerely,
Representative O. Zwerdling