Dear Friend, 

After another busy week in Congress, I'm back home in eastern Connecticut, and here with an update on all that happened this week. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.

Historic New Benefits for Veterans & Seniors

On Monday, I spoke on the House floor to highlight two major policies that recently took effect to improve health care benefits for veterans and lower costs for seniors. Watch here. 

On January 8th, under the PACT Act of 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded the list of "presumptive conditions" for Gulf-War and Post 9/11 veterans to include new cancers. Presumptive conditions remove the burden for Veterans to prove a service connection. to receive the compensation they are entitled to.

In Connecticut's Second Congressional District, veterans have filed more PACT Act claims than any other District in our state. For assistance accessing earned benefits from the VA, give my Norwich office a call. 

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the millions of seniors who are enrolled in Medicare Part D will now pay no more than $2,000 per year in out-of-pocket costs for their medications. Here in Connecticut, this is expected to lower costs for 255,900 seniors, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

This cost cap will be particularly transformational for seniors with chronic, high cost conditions. For example, before this law, the average out-of-pocket cost for a patient on the cancer drug Revlimid was $6,200/year and the Multiple Sclerosis Drug Avonex was $4,100/year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

And that's not all. Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced 15 more medications that have been selected for drug price negotiation with drugmakers, made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act. These medications join an initial list of 10 drugs which underwent negotiation last year resulting in significantly lower costs. 

The Inflation Reduction Act is directly lowering senior's prescription drug costs, and the PACT Act has become the largest expansion in veterans health care ever. The incoming White House administration and the Congressional majority must leave these successful laws in tact. 

The Future Columbia Class Submarine: The USS Groton (SSBN 828)

Groton is steeped in Navy heritage. It's the home of the 120 year old Electric Boat shipyard, our nation's oldest submarine base, 9,000 sailors, and so many Navy veterans. 

Now, once again, a U.S. Navy submarine will bear the name of the Submarine Capital of the World. The USS Groton (SSBN 828) will be the third ship in the Columbia-class fleet. Go Groton! 

A Ceasefire Agreement in Gaza

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached a long-awaited and overdue ceasefire. The agreement, whose structure was designed last May by the U.S. and endorsed by the United Nations, will finally bring relief to Israeli hostages and thousands of innocent non-combatant Palestinians who need immediate help. 

The tireless shuttle diplomacy of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his teammates, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, will be long remembered for saving lives and fostering a new direction towards stability in the Middle East.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Norwich 

Today, I joined the Norwich NAACP for the 40th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Luncheon – a meaningful tradition to honor the life of Dr. King and ensure the new generation understands his profound impact on our nation. 

No matter what time we are living in, Dr. King's words are always relevant. They are the road map for how we can serve our communities and create a better future: working for racial equality and social justice, advocating for peace, and protecting voting rights. 

At this year's lunch, the keynote speaker was a former intern in my office, Valeria Yraita-Zevallos (pictured above). Valeria is a student at Boston University and was a extraordinary part of my Norwich Office during her internship last summer. 

Continuing Bipartisan Work to Protect the Long Island Sound

The Long Island Sound is a treasure for eastern Connecticut. A unique body of water and a powerful engine to our fishing, shipbuilding, and ecotourism economies. For years, protecting the Sound has been a top priority of mine, and this week, I continued my bipartisan efforts to protect it for years to come.

Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY) and I reintroduced our bill, the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize critical EPA programs that protect the Sound through 2029. Then, we re-launched the Congressional Long Island Sound Caucus, an important group to drive efforts to protect the Sound. 

In July 2023, Long Island Sound Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Courtney and Rep. LaLota met with the Long Island Sound Citizens Advisory Committee.

Last year, in the 118th Congress, we successfully led our bill to passage in the House. Now, we're working to do it again in the 119th Congress, and I'm confident that with growing momentum in the House and the Senate, we will once and for all send our bill to the President's desk to become law. 

Working for Eastern CT on the Seapower, Education & Workforce Committees

This week, I renewed my House Committee assignments for the next two years in the 119th Congress and was appointed to serve as the Ranking Member of the Seapower Subcommittee.

The work on these Committees directly connects to my work back home in eastern Connecticut. The Seapower Subcommittee is responsible for authorization and oversight of all U.S. Navy shipbuilding, including submarine production, and it has played an increasingly important role in growing America's skilled manufacturing workforce to meet the rising demand signal for a larger Navy fleet. It's one of the most effective and bipartisan panels in Congress, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of aisle to carry out our constitutional duty to "provide and maintain a Navy".

Left to Right: Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), Chair of the House Seapower Subcommittee, Rep. Joe Courtney, Ranking Member of the Seapower Subcommittee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

The Seapower Subcommittee is also directly connected to my work on the Education and Workforce Committee, where I am focused on investing in workforce development programs that allow students and workers to skill-up and access the thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs across Connecticut. I look forward to working with my colleagues to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which powers eastern Connecticut's highly successful Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative.

The Strong Future for AUKUS 

As you know, I'm bullish on the AUKUS security agreement. It's a formidable alliance that, in just three years, has delivered real life results to strengthen capabilities and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Eastern Connecticut is playing a significant role in making the agreement a success – from training Australian submariners at the Groton Sub Base to the future sale of Virginia class submarines to the Australian Navy. 

Left to right: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Charles Edel, Australia Chair and Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Rep. Joe Courtney, Ranking Member of the House Seapower Subcommittee.

There is strong bipartisan support for AUKUS, seen clearly in U.S. Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio's full-throated support for the agreement during his confirmation hearing this week. On Tuesday, I sat down Rep. Michael McCaul, the former Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as Charles Edel of the Center for Strategic and International Studies to discuss AUKUS's strong bipartisan support and the work ahead in 2025.

Thanks for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to give my Norwich office a call at (860) 886-0139. 

Sincerely,

Joe Courtney
Member of Congress

OFFICE LOCATIONS