July 26, 2024

Dear Fourth District Constituent,

This week, President Biden announced that he is not seeking a second term.  I deeply respect him for making this incredibly difficult decision.  President Biden is a good man, a great president, and an American patriot committed to defending the American people our democracy.  He took office at a critical moment for our nation.  He brought a light to our nation in a time of darkness. He led Americans out of the pandemic, and revived our economy. I am grateful for his faith in the next generation of leadership, as he passes the torch to Vice President Harris to continue this important work.

I thank President Biden for his words of wisdom that America’s unity and values are always more important than anyone’s personal ambition.  Throughout his presidency and his five decades of public service, he has led with honesty, decency, respect to defend freedom, justice and democracy. During the next six months of this historic and transformational presidency, I look forward to continuing to work with the administration to create a better future for our great nation.

WEEK IN WASHINGTON

GOP Chaos Continues as Republicans Fail to Complete Funding Bills Before August

This week House Republicans abandoned their plans to complete all 12 government funding bills before the August District Work Period amidst their own interparty chaos and infighting.  After hours of pointless debate on amendments designed to appease extremists in their party, House Republicans scrapped a final vote on their harmful fiscal year 2025 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies funding bill.  The bill turned out to be too extreme for even their own party. If passed, this bill would raise energy costs for consumers, threaten our clean energy economy, and fails to address the existential threat of climate change. This defeat comes after their Legislative Branch funding bill failed on the House Floor earlier this month.

Republicans also brought forward the bill funding the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I spoke on the House Floor about the extreme GOP bill that makes devastating cuts that would severely impact our ability to combat climate change – affecting not only the health and safety of all our communities, but also putting the U.S. at a global disadvantage. 

Watch my remarks here. 

Five and Thrive

This week I joined child health advocates at Capitol Hill “Five and Thrive Block Party” to celebrate a major milestone in global maternal and child health: more children are living to the age of 5 than ever before. This incredible progress means that more mothers are able to deliver their babies safely; and more children have access to vaccines, primary health care, and proper nutrition, no matter where they live.  This accomplishment wouldn’t have been possible without continued U.S. investment in global health initiatives like PEPFAR, USAID maternal and child health programming, and the Global Food Security Act. Achieving this important milestone in child survival is proof of what we already know: that these programs are working. As co-chair of the Global Health Caucus, I am committed to ensuring this progress continues and that every mother and child has the opportunity to not just survive, but to thrive.

ReConnect Rondo 

On Wednesday, Saint Paul’s ReConnect Rondo joined the inaugural Investing in America: White House Summit on Environmental Justice in Action. This Summit highlighted the Biden-Harris administration's progress in advancing environmental justice, creating healthier communities, and further action to build a more equitable and just future. The Summit was streamed live on YouTube. 

AT HOME IN MINNESOTA

Karen Organization of Minnesota

Today I met with Minnesotan leaders in the Karen/Burmese community in Saint Paul to discuss issues important to them and to share what I’m doing in Congress to elevate their voices. Earlier this year, I founded the bipartisan Congressional Burma Caucus with my colleague Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), the first-ever Congressional Burma Caucus to help Members of Congress and their staff understand the topics that directly affect the Burmese people and to hear the voices of the Burmese people across the United States. Nearly 17,000 Karen and Burmese refugees call Minnesota’s Fourth District home, and hundreds of thousands of others live in the United States.

 

US Census Meeting

 

I’d like to thank U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos for responding to my request to engage with Saint Paul community members about the regional misclassification of Hmong Americans in the 2020 census. On Wednesday, Director Santos and his staff met with local stakeholders, and I look forward to the Census Bureau’s continued engagement to ensure data collected for the 2030 Census accurately reflects the U.S. population.

 

Our Olympians

Today marks the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Our very own CD4 Constituents, Sunni Lee and Lara Dallman-Weiss will be representing Team USA! Lee, an all-around Olympic Gold Medalist from Saint Paul will be returning to compete with the US Gymnastics Squad. Dallman-Weiss of Shoreview has earned a spot on the US Sailing Team. The Land of 10,000 Lakes will be well represented in Paris by other Olympians with Minnesota ties, including those who are on teams representing other countries.
Reach more here and here.