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1050 WORDS | 8.1 MINUTE READ
Hi John,
I’m hoping you and your loved ones are preparing for a relaxing and meaningful Memorial Day. Before you head off for a sunny long weekend, I’m checking in with a few updates! From inspiring conversations in springy Minnesota to casting consequential votes in Washington, it has been a productive and fulfilling month, so read on for details:
Hopeful Conversations
Nothing leaves me more optimistic for our future than hearing directly from high school students about their hopes, dreams, and priorities, which is why I was so thrilled to meet up with our 2024 Youth Advisory Council last month. These extraordinary students joined me in using a simulator to explore the impact innovative policies could have on combating climate change and confronting the national debt crisis. Listening to and learning from young people always leaves me hopeful about our collective future and reenergized in my work on behalf of all of you.
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| Gratitude to these students for working together and ideating on ways to solve our nation’s top issues. |
Civics 101
Speaking of optimism, I visited Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Armstrong high schools to talk with students about the importance of civic engagement - and to encourage them to explore careers in public service someday. I left our conversation knowing the future is bright and feeling incredibly inspired by more remarkable students!
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| Meeting with students in our community and answering their thoughtful questions is always a highlight! |
Change the Outcome
The opioid crisis continues to impact families right here in our backyard, which is why I headed to Bloomington Kennedy High School to attend a session facilitated by Change the Outcome. Change the Outcome is a Minnesota nonprofit founded by Colleen Ronnei after she lost her son to a drug overdose while he was attending high school in Minnetonka. Now, she’s fighting to end substance use disorder through opioid crisis education in our community and beyond. During this session, I heard from students about their lived experiences with mental health and substance use issues and left with lifesaving knowledge on how to prevent substance use disorder and actively address the opioid epidemic.
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| To the remarkable students willing to share their stories, you are an inspiration to us all! |
Congratulations to our Winner!
As usual, meeting all of the talented artists at our art competition reception was a highlight of my spring. Here’s to supporting the next generation of creative minds – I’m in awe!
Our panel of distinguished judges has spoken, and the winner of Minnesota’s Third Congressional District’s 2024 Congressional Art Competition is Sarah Konz from Maple Grove High School! Her outstanding piece, "Ignorance is Bliss” will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol later this year.
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| Ignorance is Bliss by Sarah Konz. |
Cub Pharmacy Tour
While back home, I visited Cub Pharmacy in Edina and met with leaders from Cub, UNFI, and Jerry's Foods. We talked about the importance of community pharmacies and the challenges they are facing with supply chain disruptions, drug shortages, and pressure from increasingly consolidated pharmacy benefit managers. During my visit, I had the pleasure of running into several members of our community who shared their stories on the impact drug shortages have had on their lives.
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Thank you to the leaders of Cub, UNFI, and Jerry's for a productive conversation and for all your hard work on behalf of our community members.
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Countering Antisemitism
The ongoing, tragic conflict in the Middle East has led to a surge in antisemitism both in the United States and around the world, especially on college campuses. The freedom of speech and the right to assemble are among the awesome privileges afforded American citizens. Both must be fiercely protected, even when we might virulently disagree with or take offense to the words. Institutions of higher education are designed to be places in which students can explore new ideas, challenge beliefs, and commit to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. Instead, the world is watching as campuses across the U.S. have devolved into chaos, with Jewish students being threatened, harassed, and prevented from engaging safely in university life. Such hatred will not achieve lasting peace and will only serve to vilify and divide.
That is why, back in Washington, I voted for and helped pass H.R. 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the house on a vote of 320 to 91. This bill would reaffirm the Department of Education’s existing ability to consider the IHRA working definition of antisemitism as it investigates anti-Jewish discrimination and enforces federal civil rights law. The IHRA definition is a valuable tool and guide for examining instances of antisemitism and strengthens the Department’s ability to respond to anti-Jewish hate on college campuses.
We in Congress must get serious about resourcing the implementation of the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism that was released by President Biden in May 2023. That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 7921, the Countering Antisemitism Act. This legislation, introduced by the co-Chairs of the House and Senate Bipartisan Task Forces for Combating Antisemitism takes a comprehensive approach to address antisemitism across the U.S., including by establishing the first-ever National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism and appointing a senior official within the Department of Education responsible for countering antisemitism on college campuses.
Protecting the Boundary Waters
The BWCA is one of Minnesota’s natural treasures and is the nation’s most visited wilderness area. For more than 100 years, the BWCA has been protected by both the U.S. Government and the State of Minnesota, and it is intact today because of these protections. For that reason, I voted no on H.R.3195, the Superior National Forest Restoration Act and was disappointed to see it narrowly pass the House on a vote of 205-210. This bill would rescind Public Land Order 7917 – an order than has brought mining and industrial operations in Northeast Minnesota to a halt.
Repeated scientific review has revealed that mining projects near the BWCA pose the risk of irrevocable damage to our natural resources and threaten future generations. That's why I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of H.R. 668, the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act, which protects the BWCA by permanently removing roughly 234,000 acres of federal wilderness lands and waters from risky sulfide-ore copper mining. Preserving our precious waters is an American issue, not a partisan one, and we cannot allow sulfide-ore copper mining in the BWCA.
Keep the faith and keep in touch,
Dean Phillips
Member of Congress
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