Dear John,

This week, I kicked off my district work period with my June Town Hall. On Monday, I was joined by State Senator Judy Seeberger, along with advocates Michele Hein, Abdirahman Warsame and Tucker Robinson for a discussion on how we work together to address the fentanyl crisis.

Throughout the town hall, I heard heart wrenching stories about the ways fentanyl poisoning has impacted Minnesota’s families and communities. Each story made it abundantly clear: the fentanyl crisis has touched every corner of our state.

I walked away from Monday’s town hall more motivated than ever to work to address this crisis.

I spent the rest of the week traveling around the Second District – meeting with several mayors and local officials to discuss our shared priorities and continue building strong partnerships across our communities.

Throughout the week, I was able to meet with Newport Mayor Laurie Elliot, St. Paul Park Mayor Sandi Dingle, New Prague Mayor Duane Jirik, Jordan Mayor Mike Franklin and Empire Mayor Trent Larson.

It’s a true honor to serve alongside such hardworking and thoughtful leaders.

Here's what else I was up to this week:

Investing in high-speed internet
In the 21st century, high-speed internet isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. I was proud to join U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and other Minnesota leaders to celebrate the $651 million in broadband funding coming soon to Minnesota, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law!

Working with local partners to expand access to mental health care
All Minnesotans deserve access to the mental health care they need to lead full lives. It was great to tour the Nexus-FACTS facility in Mendota Heights to learn about the work they are doing to make sure our youth and families can access high-quality mental health care.

Strengthening MN02 Infrastructure
This week, we broke ground on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s new Organics Recycling Facility! I teamed up with Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and leaders of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to secure $2.5 million in federal funding to construct a state-of-the-art water reclamation system and ensure the region’s water is clean of all environmental concerns.

Behind the scenes with Rep. Craig:

If you’ve read any of my newsletters recently, you have probably heard me talk about the importance of expanding access to naloxone – a medicine that is used to reverse opioid overdoses. Naloxone is quick and easy to administer, has no negative side effects and I’ve seen firsthand that this medicine can literally bring people back to life.

But naloxone can only work if people know how and when to use it – so it’s important we do everything we can to improve naloxone access and awareness throughout our communities.

Just yesterday, my team joined Melissa Kirby and Emma Sherman from the Indigenous Peoples Task Force for a training on how to administer Narcan, a commonly used form of naloxone. During yesterday’s training, they learned about the warning signs of an overdose and how to properly administer Narcan. Thank you, Melissa and Emma, for providing my team with this important training!

That’s the end of my update! 

I am wishing you and your family a wonderful Fourth of July!

The Fourth of July is a reminder of all the sacrifice, work and dedication it took to build this great country – and how lucky we all are to call the United States home.

It is an honor to serve this great nation in the United States House of Representatives. 

I hope you can take time to celebrate and enjoy some of the fireworks, parades and celebrations happening around the Second District this weekend!

Until next time,
 

Angie Craig

Member of Congress