Provided needed improvements to veterans' healthcare facilities.  Congressman Forbes supported the Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act of 2011, H.R. 2646.  This legislation provides authorization for needed improvements to a number of Veteran’s medical facilities across the country.
This bill passed the House by a vote of 412-3.

Supported Merchant Marine veterans of WWII.  Congressman Forbes cosponsored the World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act, H.R. 1288.  This important legislation would allow the Veterans Administration to accept a wider array of documentation as proof of service.  Today, not many WWII Merchant Marines remain. But for those who do, this would not only provide them the benefits they deserve, but show them that our nation recognizes the sacrifices they made on behalf of all Americans

Honored the fallen heroes of 9/11.  Congressman Forbes cosponsored the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, H.R. 2864, which would authorize the President, on behalf of Congress, to award a "Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Congressional Medal" to the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania, the National 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York and the Pentagon Memorial.  The legislation allows the Secretary of the Treasury to design three distinct medals that honor the heroes of each of the three sites.  It also authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to sell duplicate medals to offset the cost of designing and producing the medals.

Extended the U.S. Parole Commission.  Congressman Forbes supported the United States Parole Commission Extension Act, H.R. 2944, to extend the authority of the U.S. Parole Commission through October 31, 2014.  The Commission is charged with granting or denying parole to federal prisoners. 
This bill passed the House by a vote of 415-0. 

Bolstered reporting requirements for jails and prisons.  Congressman Forbes supported the Death in Custody Reporting Act, H.R. 2189, which requires states to report information regarding the deaths of any person who is detained, under arrest, or incarcerated in a jail or state operated prison or boot camp, to the Attorney General.   Failure to comply with this reporting requirement could result in a loss of funding.
This bill passed the House by a vote of 398-18.

Increased assistance for investigating mass shootings.  Congressman Forbes supported the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act, H.R. 2076, which permits the Attorney General or the FBI to provide assistance to local law enforcement, when requested, for investigations of violent acts or shootings occurring at schools, colleges, universities, non-federal office buildings, malls and other public places.
This bill passed the House by a vote of 358-9. 

Clarified appeal time of cases involving the federal government or an agency.  Congressman Forbes supported the Appeal Time Clarification Act, H.R. 2633, to clarify that the 60-day timeline for filing an appeal or motion for rehearing in a civil case applies to cases where one of the parties is the U.S. government or a federal agency.
This bill passed the House by a vote of 384-0. 

Opposed release of sensitive, personal information of judges. Congressman Forbes supported a bill, H.R. 1059, to protect the safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure reports. 
This bill passed the House by a vote of 384-0.

Opposed unfunded road sign mandates on states.  Congressman Forbes cosponsored H.R. 2257, a bill to address the Federal Highway Administration's new across-the-board deadlines that require individual localities to update and replace their road signs by 2015 and 2018.  This new unfunded mandate would require states to replace their road signs before the end of their natural lifecycle. This bill would waive the requirement that existing traffic signs be replaced before the compliance dates established by the Federal Highway Administration in order to allow local governments to meet the new standards when they replace signs at the end of their life cycle.

Called on the Administration to enforce immigration laws.  Congressman Forbes joined 74 other members of the Immigration Reform Caucus in sending a letter to President Obama in regard to the recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement to bypass Congress and use prosecutorial discretion to achieve amnesty for individuals who are illegally residing in the U.S. The letter calls the Administration to task for implementing a policy akin to amnesty whereby individuals that meet certain criteria, such as enrollment in four year colleges and clean criminal records, will not be prosecuted and deported. In response to this unilateral action by DHS, Congressman Forbes also cosponsored of the HALT Act, a bill to end any current or planned administrative actions that will result in mass legalization of illegal immigrants and that imply immigration laws should not be fully enforced.  A copy of the letter to President Obama is available here.

Supported workplace enforcement of immigration law.  Congressman Forbes voted in the House Judiciary Committee to support the Legal Workforce Act, a bill that could open up millions of jobs for unemployed American workers by requiring all U.S. employers to use E-Verify.  Created 15 years ago, E-Verify allows employers to electronically verify that newly-hired employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.  Specifically, the Social Security numbers of new hires are checked against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records in order to eliminate fraudulent numbers and help ensure that new hires are genuinely eligible to work.  The program quickly confirms 99.5% of work-eligible employees. Both businesses and the American people overwhelmingly support E-Verify.  The Legal Workforce Act enjoys support from a broad coalition, including Numbers USA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Restaurant Association, National Association of Home Builders, among many others. 
The bill was reported favorably to the House floor by a vote of 22-13.

Supported a strong US-Taiwan relationship. Congressman Forbes spoke at a Congressional Reception honoring Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party Chair, Dr. Tsai Ing-wen. Dr. Tsai is a candidate in Taiwan's Presidential election in January. He spoke about the longstanding relationship between the United States and Taiwan and the important role Congress has played in supporting Taiwan.

Worked to provide Taiwan with the new F-16 fighter jets it needs for self-defense.  Congressman Forbes cosponsored H.R. 2992, the Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act to provide Taiwan with the new F-16 fighter jets that it needs to maintain its capability to defend against the increasing military threat from the People’s Republic of China.  Following an announcement from the White House that these new jets would not be included in an arms package to Taiwan, Congressman Forbes and 16 of his colleagues in the House have cosponsored legislation that would force the Administration to carry out the sale of new F-16 fighters in line with the legal obligations of the Taiwan Relations Act. 

Urged foreign leaders to oppose Palestine’s unilateral declaration of statehood.  Congressman Forbes joined the chairwoman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in sending a letter to foreign leaders at the United Nations urging that they oppose the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral declaration of independence.  Congressman Forbes remains a staunch supporter of direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and maintains that only through direct negotiations can a long term framework for peace be laid out and adopted.  Moreover, Congressman Forbes believes that unilateral action taken by the Palestinians at the United Nations will only serve to further destabilize the region.

Urged the European Union to maintain its arms embargo against the People’s Republic of China.  Congressman Forbes cosponsored H.Res. 356, to urge the European Union (EU) and its member states to maintain its arms embargo against the People’s Republic of China.  This embargo has been in place since 1989, and was first put in place due to concerns that China has routinely sold defense items to the Iranian regime, fostered armed conflicts in Africa through weapons sales, and sought foreign military technology as a means of fostering its own military capability.  Congressman Forbes joined 14 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives in urging the President to take the appropriate diplomatic measures necessary to ensure that the EU continues is embargo on Chinese arms in principle and practice.

Increased children's access to health care. Congressman Forbes supported the Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act, H.R. 1852, to ensure children’s access to health care and the future of the pediatric workforce.  This legislation reauthorizes that graduate medical education (GME) program to maintain an adequate number of residents in children's hospitals residency programs.
This bill passed the House by voice vote.

Supported research for autism.  Congressman Forbes supported the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act, H.R. 2005, to investigate causes, and provide for education, early detection, and intervention for autism.  
This bill passed the House by voice vote.

Raised awareness of problem gambling and prevention and treatment opportunities. Congressman Forbes cosponsored H.R. 2334, the Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act that confirms problem gambling as a public health disorder and gives the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration the authority to establish programs for researching, preventing, and treating problem gambling. Last year there were over 6 million adults with a gambling problem, and the cost to society from problem gambling was $6.7 billion as families and communities were impacted through bankruptcy, divorce, and job loss.