July Wrap-up

Above: Gottheimer announcing a new $278,322 federal investment for the Hackensack Fire Department. 

Congressman Gottheimer announced a new, $278,322 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) investment clawed back from Washington to Jersey to provide state-of-the-art swift water and boat training to help Hackensack firefighters respond and rescue people during flooding emergencies. The bipartisan Fire Grants Safety Act, which Gottheimer helped lead with Representatives Bill Pascrell (NJ-9) and Tom Kean (NJ-7), was signed into law by President Biden last week, reauthorizing the AFG and SAFER programs for another five years.

By clawing back more federal dollars to North Jersey communities, our mayors, councils, and first responders, Gottheimer has lifted significant costs off of our town budgets and helped provide critical tax relief to our residents on their property tax line.

Federal Investments for Hackensack Firefighters Highlighted By Congressman Gottheimer:

• A new, $278,322 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) investment clawed back from Washington to provide state-of-the-art swift water and boat training to help Hackensack firefighters respond and rescue people during flooding emergencies.
• $1,000,000 in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) to hire five additional firefighters.
• $125,000 in American Rescue Plan Firefighter Grant Program to replace ten sets of gear and personal protective equipment or PPE.

Federal Public Safety and Emergency Response Investments for North Jersey:

• Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG), which equip and train firefighters to better respond to emergencies. Congressman Gottheimer has clawed back more than $8 million through AFG for North Jersey since entering office. 
• Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER), which ensures that fire departments can hire and retain a 24-hour firefighting force. Congressman Gottheimer has clawed back more than $4 million through SAFER for North Jersey since 2018. 
• American Rescue Plan Firefighter Grants (ARPFFG), which helps local fire departments cover the cost of protective clothing and critical equipment. Congressman Gottheimer clawed back more than $3.4 million through ARPFFG for North Jersey since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Above: Gottheimer announces his new "Sunscreen Safety Plan."

Congressman Gottheimer launched his new “Sunscreen Safety Plan,” to ensure more Americans have access to the most effective sunscreens to fend off skin cancer — and that they understand the importance of using them. Because of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) bureaucratic approval process for sunscreens filled with red tape, Americans have less access to safe and effective sunscreens than their peers in Europe or Asia. The United States has not approved a new ultraviolet (UV) filter since 1999. Studies have also found that only thirty-five percent of U.S. sunscreens are strong enough to pass EU standards. Gottheimer’s “Sunscreen Safety Plan” aims to streamline the FDA’s approval processes and strengthen its public education efforts, so Americans are fully protected from sun damage and skin cancer.

Gottheimer’s “Sunscreen Safety Plan” Includes:

1. A letter to the FDA, urging them to follow through on a provision in the bipartisan CARES Act of 2020 and streamline the review process for over-the-counter products that are generally recognized as safe and effective like sunscreen. The CARES Act highlighted sixteen sunscreen active ingredients, available in Europe and Asia, that were ready for approval. The FDA does not plan to approve the most promising of these ingredients, bemotrizonol, until the end of 2025.
2. A call to the FDA and other federal agencies, urging them to step up public education surrounding sunscreen.
3. Support for the bipartisan FDA Modernization Act 3.0, which will establish a process for non-animal testing in drug development. This bill will replace animal testing with more precise non-clinical testing methods and get effective sunscreens onto the market faster.

Above: Gottheimer, Scutari, and Stack announce new federal action to crack down on benefits scams and help Jersey families in need.

Congressman Gottheimer, New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari (LD-22), and Union City Mayor and New Jersey State Senator Brian Stack (LD-33) announced new federal legislation, the Stop Scammers, Card Abuse, and Malicious Skimming Act or Stop SCAMS Act. This legislation, modeled after a bill that Senators Scutari and Stack introduced in the New Jersey State Senate, will require states to inform SNAP, WIC, and TANF benefit recipients about the risks of card skimming and other scams and address security issues inherent to EBT cards, namely the lack of an embedded chip.

Card skimming has become an epidemic. The FBI estimates that skimmers, which are covertly installed on top of payment terminals and ATMs, cost American consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion a year. Scammers have targeted EBT cards, which service SNAP, WIC, and TANF benefits, because they lack an embedded chip, making it easier to steal their card data. Between October 2022 and February 2024, New Jersey has reimbursed more than $2.8 million in benefits to more than 6,200 victims of skimming.

Gottheimer honored more than twenty community leaders as Fifth District Hometown Heroes to acknowledge their dedication to helping improve the lives of their neighbors, families, and communities. 

Among many other heroes, Gottheimer honored John Pecoraro, who helped remove rubble from the World Trade Center on 9/11 and has served for more than fifty years on the Paramus Rescue Squad; Kate Duggan, CEO of Family Promise of Bergen County, whose organization has served more than 250,000 meals to families in need over the past four years and helped families facing housing insecurity; and Matthew Letizia, a distinguished emergency medicine physician who coordinated more than forty blood drives to support people with blood cancers like his late father.

Above: Gottheimer with Fifth District Hometown Heroes

As always, if you’re experiencing an issue with a federal agency, Congressman Gottheimer's Constituent Service team is here to listen & help with VA benefits, Social Security, Medicare, & much more.

Call at 201-389-1100 or email [email protected].

You can also follow Congressman Gottheimer's Twitter here, Facebook here, and Instagram here.

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