Dear Friend,

After a somber week in the House of Representatives, I am back in eastern Connecticut and here with an update on my continued commitment to follow a bipartisan path to return the House to normal order. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.

A Sad Day in the House of Representatives

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. This is the first time in U.S. history that a Speaker has been removed through a Motion to Vacate – the latest consequence of extreme conservatives' choke hold on the Rules that govern the People’s House. Last January, in order to win the votes from a few disgruntled holdouts to become Speaker, McCarthy and his majority passed a reckless new rule which allowed a single member to bring a Motion to Vacate to the House floor for a vote. The threat of a “Motion to Vacate” paralyzed the House for the past nine months, and culminated in his removal. To be clear, efforts were made to solve this impasse last week on a bipartisan basis. Speaker McCarthy refused to even discuss a possible path forward saying, “I will win by Republicans, or I will lose by Republicans.” In 2023, with closely divided government, that strategy will not work.

In the coming days, an election for a new Speaker will take place. Although floor business is suspended until a winner is sworn in, committee work will continue as well as the work in my office to assist constituents with questions or problems involving the federal government. For example, as a recently appointed conferee to the House-Senate conference which will hammer out the National Defense Authorization Act, I will be meeting with staff, military officials, and my colleagues to move through the final negotiations for a bipartisan bill. Other committee business will resume as well.

The needs and concerns of the Second District are not in suspension during this impasse, and neither does my commitment to providing all the assistance and effort the people of eastern Connecticut deserve.

Building Strong Pipelines to Rewarding Careers

Job growth in our nation continues to remain hot. Today’s jobs report showed that the economy created 336,000 jobs in September. In eastern Connecticut, growth is being led by high-skill, good-paying, union jobs that provide fulfilling careers.

That was on full display in Danielson yesterday. I joined the Connecticut Technical Education & Career System (CTECS), the Connecticut Department of Labor, the Carpenters Union, and Pursuit Construction for the signing ceremony of carpentry student Christopher Harvey. Christopher is a 12th grade CTECS carpentry student, and he will now join an apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor and the Carpenters Union while employed by Pursuit Construction which is based in Essex. Congratulations on taking this exciting step, Christopher!

From left: CT Department of Labor Commissioner Bartolomeo, Jake Ertel of Pursuit Construction, Tawnya Ertel of Pursuit Construction, Christopher Harvey, Miguel Fuentes of Carpenters Local 326, Rep. Joe Courtney, and Superintendent of Schools Justin Lowe.

Thank you to Dante Bartolomeo, Commissioner of the CT Department of Labor, Don Shubert, President of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association, Dr. Justin Lowe, Superintendent of Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, Jen Jarmon, Principal of Ellis Technical High School, Tawnya and Jake Ertel of Pursuit Construction, and Miguel Fuentes of Carpenters Local 326 for making this moment possible.

As a senior member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, I’m working to ensure the creation of new jobs is met with expanded opportunities for skills training and apprenticeships. In the 2023 federal spending package, I helped to increase federal funding for career and technical education by $100 million.

Despite this increase, CTE funding levels are below where they were nearly two decades ago – adjusted for inflation. That’s why I, along with a bipartisan group of colleagues, requested a long-overdue funding increase in the 2024 budget. If we are serious about ensuring students have access to rewarding career and employers have access to highly-qualified candidates, we’ve got to substantially increase federal support for CTE programs—not cut it as House Republicans have proposed.

More Federal Assistance for First Responders

As a member of the bipartisan Congressional Fire Caucus, I’ve always worked to deliver resources to eastern Connecticut fire departments through federal grant programs. The New London Fire Department was recently awarded two federal grants totaling $38K for smoke & CO detector installation and a peer fitness training program. I visited Fire Chief Thomas Curcio, Fire Marshall Vernon Skau, and their team to hear how the funds will help keep firefighters and the people of New London safe.

Rep. Joe Courtney visited with Fire Chief Thomas Curcio, Fire Marshall Vernon Skau, and their team to discuss the new grants.

The two grants awarded to the New London Fire Department come through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Fire Prevention and Safety grant program, which were created in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Since the programs’ creation, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources necessary to protect the public.

As of last month, over 1,700 awards totaling $324 million have been granted to first responders across the nation.

Update: Drugmakers Agree to Enter Medicare Price Negotiation

Last month, I was excited to share a list of 10 medications which will undergo Medicare price negotiation – made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed last year. In total, the 10 drugs selected for negotiation accounted for $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for an estimated 9 million Medicare enrollees in 2022. These drugs are used to treat heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, cancers, blood clots, and other conditions.

Now this week, the White House announced another important milestone-- drugmakers have committed to negotiations with the federal government. Negotiation on these medications will take place in 2024, with their new prices taking effect at the start of 2026.

This is a positive sign in our efforts to finally reduce the cost of prescription drugs.