Dear John,

I’m writing to you from Washington, DC today – where tomorrow the House is scheduled to vote on a series of national security supplemental funding bills – including long-needed support for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza - among other items.

This foreign aid package is long overdue. Ukraine has been courageously defending itself from Russian aggression for more than two years now as Putin attempts to re-litigate its borders in Europe – something that has not happened in decades. We must help Ukraine stop them now - to avoid even the possibility of American troops on the ground later with our NATO allies.

Following Iran’s direct attack on Israel last weekend, this support will help our ally rebuild its defense capabilities as it faces threats from Hamas, Hezbollah and now directly from Iran. Importantly, this package also includes humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza - as well as sends a strong message to China on our continued support for Taiwan.

I’m not sure how all of this will play out this weekend. Already, some of my far-right colleagues are threatening to take down the bills and their own Speaker, Mike Johnson. Stay tuned! It’s going to be an interesting weekend.

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

Pushing to expand rural broadband access
The Affordable Connectivity Program provides affordable internet service to rural communities – but full funding is set to expire by May, putting the internet risk of 244,000 Minnesota households at risk.

This week, I urged House leaders to extend this critical program to make sure Minnesotans can stay connected.

The Stay Safe Act: Requiring carbon monoxide detectors in every hotel and motel room
A few years ago, Lakeville resident Leslie Lienemann and her son were travelling out of state for a hockey tournament when they were hospitalized with serious illness due to near-fatal carbon monoxide levels being left undetected in their hotel room.

That should never happen. We have the tools needed to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and save lives – we should be using them.

I reintroduced my Stay Safe Act this week to require carbon monoxide detectors be installed in every hotel and motel room across our nation – just like Minnesota has – so that all our nation’s citizens are protected.

Welcome to DC, Woodbury Mayor Anne Burt!
It was great to meet with Woodbury Mayor Anne Burt and Community Relations Manager Shelly Schafer in my DC office to discuss how we can remove PFAS from our environment and prevent more of these forever chemicals from endangering our communities.

Behind the scenes with Rep. Craig:

Your congresswoman is back in the Congressional Women’s Softball Game again this year! Well – at least back to practices!

Here’s hoping for another Team Congress win this year!

That’s my update for you all today. I’ll be back in Minnesota after votes wrap up this weekend.

Talk soon!

Until next time,
 

Angie Craig

Member of Congress