Dear John,

I hope you all had a great week!

I’ve been calling on congressional leadership and the Biden Administration to take action on the fentanyl crisis for a long time now. On Monday, President Biden signed my bipartisan END FENTANYL Act into law.

The signing of this bill means that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must update its manuals more frequently to identify new ways to prevent drug and human smuggling through ports of entry. My bill will also increase oversight of CBP by requiring the agency to notify Congress of any changes in protocol – including at the southern border.

The fentanyl crisis is a huge challenge facing our country – and it’s going to require cooperation from every part of the government to make progress on these issues. This bill is a good start – but we’ve got to keep working to keep American communities safe from this illicit drug.

Well, today the House passed the final piece of legislation needed to keep the government open and running for the rest of the fiscal year. The road to pass this government funding legislation was long and unnecessarily political – but it finally got done.

This legislative package provides funding for programs from Head Start to Flood Insurance. I want to share a few of the items that I was particularly pleased to see included:

• $19.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection to help with fentanyl detection efforts and hire more officers
• $2.8 billion – an increase of $20 million from last year – for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to support opioid prevention, treatment and recovery efforts across the country
• $14.2 billion for IDEA – an increase of $20 million from last year – to fund special education programs
• $285 million for Registered Apprenticeships and $65 million for strengthening Community College Training Grants

AND, I successfully blocked a raise for Members of Congress as part of this bill.

Of course, this legislation wasn’t perfect. But that’s what compromise is. This process showed us that we can’t get things done without bipartisan compromise – and I hope congressional leaders will continue to display a willingness to work together to make life better for all Americans.

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

Leading a push to designate March 21st as National Women in Agriculture Day
Women play an essential role in American agriculture – working as farmers, ranchers, producers, business owners, leaders and more.

This week, I introduced a bipartisan resolution designating March 21st as National Women in Agriculture Day to recognize and honor their hard work.

Monitoring postal service in the South Metro
The postal service continues to operate at unacceptable levels for Minnesotans.

This week, I met with United Postmasters and Managers of America’s Minnesota members to have a productive conversation about what needs to happen to improve service levels and working conditions across our state.

Meeting with the American Legion of Minnesota
It was great to meet with the American Legion Department of Minnesota this week to thank a few veterans for their service and discuss how we can ensure Minnesota’s veterans are able to access the high-quality care and support they deserve when they return home.

Behind the scenes with Rep. Craig:

Well, last week I showed you the tulips growing in front of my office in DC – and this week, it’s the cherry blossoms! While many things in DC are disappointing, the cherry blossoms never are!

There are no votes in DC next week – so I’m looking forward to what we call a district work week – where I’ll be meeting with folks in the district.

Enjoy your weekend.

Until next time,
 

Angie Craig

Member of Congress