Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, shared information regarding worries from constituents over misinformation that Congress is looking to cap nurses’ salaries.

Roe, who chairs the House Public Health Committee, said she is one of many legislators whose constituents have asked if there is an effort to place a Congressional cap on salaries for nurses.

“Nobody is proposing a limit on the salaries of nurses,” Roe said.

Three members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, including Rep. Tom Cole, Rep. Frank Lucas and Rep. Markwayne Mullin, joined a bipartisan group of nearly 200 other members of Congress to send a letter dated Jan. 24 to the White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeffrey Zients.

The letter states that “certain nurse-staffing agencies are taking advantage of these difficult circumstances to increase their profits at the expense of patients and the hospitals that treat them.”

“The nursing shortage has significantly increased since 2020, and many hospitals have little choice but to contract with nurse staffing agencies to fill their available positions,” Roe said. “Last month’s letter, signed by nearly 200 members of Congress from both parties, asks for an investigation into these agencies to determine if any are padding their own bottom line with taxpayer funds meant for economic relief rather than passing the bulk of the hospitals’ payments along to the nurses”

In addition to serving as a legislator, Roe continues to practice nursing while not at the Capitol. She has been a registered nurse for 39 years and a nurse practitioner for 22 years.