Dear Neighbor,
Happy Friday. This was a packed week both in New Jersey and Washington, DC.
Here at home we marked the start of Pride Month. I was delighted to join our community in Asbury Park for the LGBTQ+ parade and pride festival. It was a beautiful day with a large turnout.
Celebrating the beginning of Pride Month with QSpot Asbury Park Marching Band at the Pride Parade and Festival in Asbury Park.
In our nation’s capital, Congress was busy, too.
Birth Control Under Attack
Since the Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe v. Wade, women’s freedom and health care has been under severe attack across America. Not content to ban abortion, many far-right extremists are now even targeting legal birth control.
In the U.S. Senate this week, Democrats attempted to begin debate on legislation that would create a federal right to birth control. Incredibly, the bill was blocked, with only two Republicans voting in favor.
Similarly, when House Democrats attempted to protect legal birth control in the 117th Congress, 96 percent of House Republicans voted no. This is outrageous.
But we are not giving up. So this week, I signed a discharge petition to bring the Right to Contraception Act to the floor. If every House Democrat signs it, we need just a handful of Republicans to win a vote..
This is not the Dark Ages. I stand unshakably in favor of legal birth control and will fight all efforts to restrict or ban birth control in America.
Fighting Private Equity Takeover of Your Health Care
One of the most troubling trends I see is private equity’s growing takeover of hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms, and other health services. Private equity’s prioritizing of profits over all other considerations is hostile to quality health care.
As the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee which oversees many of America’s health sectors, I have repeatedly used my post to probe private equity’s dangerous control over your health care options. So this week, I wrote to the Biden administration praising its aggressive efforts to expose private equity’s expansion into American health care.
Specifically, I called on the Biden administration to push for a “thorough inquiry” that pursues greater transparency, renewed protections of consumers, and stops Wall Street’s consolidation that puts profits over patients.
You are entitled to quality, affordable health care. We cannot allow corporate greed to ever endanger your care. In Congress I will keep shining a light on Wall Street’s threats to your health care.
Securing $1 Million for Emergency Services
This week I was happy to announce that we completed a major step to securing over $1,000,000 to help enhance emergency services in Metuchen.
At my direct request, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved $1,023,000 in federal money to replace Metuchen’s current Office of Emergency Management facility. Our new facility will include advanced communications equipment, new training capabilities, and sufficient storage for emergency equipment and supplies. It will be essential to Metuchen in case of emergency.
My federal aid request for Metuchen now moves onto the full committee, and from there it will get a full vote in the House. I promise I will keep pushing until it is signed into law.
Contact me!
If you ever need any assistance, please contact our offices either through my website, or call our offices directly (Middlesex County: 732-249-8892; Monmouth County: 732-571-1140.) My door is always open to you.
