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Dear Friend,
After a busy week in Congress, I’m back home in eastern Connecticut. Here with an update on my work to improve Social Security, protect health care and social workers, and avert of government shutdown. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.
Reminding My Colleagues: The American People Want Us to Improve and Strengthen Social Security, Not Cut It
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress created the Social Security insurance program in 1935, a promise was made to the American people that seniors and children who have lost a parent could rely on Social Security benefits to protect them from life’s vagaries. Congress has made reforms in the years since, but it has now been over 40 years since Congress last acted to improve Social Security.
To avoid an upcoming 2034 shortfall and ensure Social Security can be relied on for future decades, Congress needs to act. The clear, comprehensive solution is Rep. John Larson’s bill, Social Security 2100. I spoke on the House floor, urging my colleagues to pass it instead of launching a closed-door commission on Social Security as House Republicans have proposed.
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| Over 155,000 people in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District receive a total of $293 million in monthly Social Security benefits. Social Security 2100 would raise benefits by 2% across the board and ensure they remain dependable through 2066. Click here to watch Rep. Courtney's floor speech. |
Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Remembering Reverend Greg Perry
On Monday, I joined elected officials and community leaders in New London and Norwich for inspiring marches in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The annual New London march from the Town Hall Building to Shiloh New London Church is one of the largest in our state. This year, speakers addressed the need to continue Dr. King’s work to secure the right to vote amid efforts to curtail it around the country following the 2020 election. Dr. King’s words provide us a road map for how we serve our communities and overcome the challenges we face: working for racial equality and social justice, advocating for peace, and protecting voting rights. Today, we recommit to this work.
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In Norwich, we remembered Reverend Greg Perry, a long-time lead organizer of the march and a pillar of community service in southeastern Connecticut, who passed away suddenly earlier this month. For many years, Reverend Perry was a beacon of kindness, caring, and strength. He has left an enormous, inspirational impact on the Norwich community, serving as pastor of the Greenville Congregational Church, chaplain of Norwich Hospital, chairman of the NAACP’s Religious Affairs Committee, and president of the Norwich Area Interfaith Association.
I had the privilege to know Reverend Perry as a friend and joined him for many years at ecumenical vigils, MLK marches, and youth programs. He was a beautiful soul with a deep belief in the goodness of people. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
Calling on My Colleagues to Pass Protections for Health Care & Social Service Workers
Last October, eastern Connecticut mourned tragic murder of Visiting Nurse Joyce Grayson while she was working alone at the home of a registered sex offender in Willimantic. Joyce Grayson was an angel. She led a 36-year career in nursing, embraced caring for patients in behavioral health and addiction treatment, and was named Foster Care Parent of the Year by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.
Following her murder, Joyce Grayson’s family has made it clear that they want to see change. For years, health care and social workers have faced the highest rates of on-the-job violence. We all rely on this workforce to care for us, and it's time we do the same for them. On Tuesday, I spoke on the House floor to urge my colleagues to pass my bill, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.
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| Rep. Courtney has been leading the effort to create safer working conditions for health care and social workers for over 10 years. Click here to watch his floor speech. |
My bipartisan bill is supported by 76 health care organizations, particularly those centered around nursing. If passed, it would compel OSHA to create an enforceable, provenly effective standard to ensure that employers are creating safe workplaces – whether in a hospital or in someone’s home – that their employees deserve. Click here to read more about the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.
Speaking in Support of Long Island Sound Protections
I’ve always worked across the aisle and across the Long Island Sound to protect eastern Connecticut's waterways and natural heritage. This Congress, I’ve partnered with Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY), who represents much of the northern Long Island coastline, to reauthorize the EPA’s Long Island Sound program through 2028. This would ensure that Congress can continue to invest in the preservation and protection of the Sound. Yesterday, I joined the House Natural Resources Committee for their committee meeting on our bill. Watch below.
Connecticut's long, population dense shoreline supports a huge amount of economic activity, and much of it relies on the Long Island Sound remaining a valuable ecological resource for decades to come. In December, we announced that $4.6 million in federal funding is on its way to organizations across Connecticut’s 2nd District to protect the Long Island Sound watershed. Now, the advancement of the Long Island Sound Stewardship and Reauthorization Act through the Natural Resources Committee is a step toward delivering continued federal support for the Sound.
Averting a Government Shutdown
Yesterday, I joined 313 Democrats and Republicans to extend federal funding until early March with a short-term continuing resolution – averting a harmful and costly government shutdown. In eastern Connecticut the short-term spending bill will ensure that federal employees, including roughly 9,000 sailors and officers at the Groton submarine base, will not have their pay disrupted, as well the Coast Guard Academy personnel in New London. Their important work will continue uninterrupted.
Importantly, this package includes $2.2 billion for the Columbia-class submarine program. Work on the Columbia program is underway in Groton, and this funding will ensure it continues uninterrupted.
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| The short-term continuing resolution to keep the government fully funded until March passed by a vote of 314-108 |
This short-term spending package will also allow House leadership to continue negotiations to finalize a full fiscal year budget which is urgently needed to meet the needs of all Americans and safeguard our nation. House Republican leadership must put infighting aside and allow the established, bipartisan coalition do the work of the American people.
Thank you for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to give my Norwich office a call at (860) 886-0139. Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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