Dear John,

I want to start this week’s newsletter by remembering the innocent lives lost and the heroes who ran toward danger to save lives on 9/11 23 years ago – on the ground and in the skies. This week, I joined the President of the Association of Flight Attendants and Minnesota State Representative Kaela Berg at the Flight 93 Memorial in the Capitol to recognize the work flight crews do to keep us safe.

Every day, and especially as we mark another anniversary of this tragedy, we remember the sacrifice our first responders and servicemembers make to protect our nation and all Americans.

In Congress this week, our job was to pass critical government funding legislation ahead of the September 30th deadline.

This annual funding bill could have been used to benefit Minnesotans by keeping our economy and national security strong. This couldn’t happen though, because Speaker Johnson decided to play politics.

Speaker Johnson proposed legislation that attached government funding to a partisan messaging bill – ignoring his responsibilities as a leader to fund the government. His bill was so flawed that he couldn’t even get support from members of his own party.

Yes, I work on a bipartisan basis whenever I can. But I’ll also call out either political party when they’re screwing it up.

Johnson’s decision to attach bills that have nothing to do with funding the government over the needs of everyday Americans is harmful. I hope next week the Speaker commits to working toward bipartisan solutions, instead of taking us one week closer to a harmful government shutdown.

The bottom line for all of this is that Congress is broken, and I’m working every day – with members of both parties - to fix it.

I’m going to keep following this issue closely and will keep you all at home updated as the situation progresses.

Here’s what I was up to this week:

Supporting Minnesota family farmers

I met with the Minnesota Farmers Union in my DC office to talk about how we can ensure the final Farm Bill works for Minnesota family farmers by strengthening the farm safety net & supporting the next generation of farmers.

Fully funding education

Great to have the Minnesota School Boards Association in my DC office to discuss how we can work together on legislation, like my IDEA Full Funding Act, to ensure all Minnesota students and educators get the tools and support they need.

Working toward a Farm Bill

Wednesday, I met with the Minnesota Farm Bureau in my DC office to discuss how we can ensure the final Farm Bill supports Minnesota’s family farmers & invests in the all-of-the-above energy approach we need.

Behind the scenes with Rep. Craig:

This week I got to catch up with some of my favorite women in ag! I’m proud to work with Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small (she’s also my former colleague in the House of Representatives) and our great Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith to get results for family farmers. Minnesota women get it done for Ag!

I’ll be back in Washington next week for what I hope will be a more bipartisan and productive session... I’ll do my part, that’s for sure.

Until next time,
 

Angie Craig

Member of Congress