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Dear Friend,
It’s Joe Courtney. After a packed week in Washington, I’m here with an update on the latest news. As always, thanks for starting your weekend here with me.
First, I want to invite you to my live telephone town hall. Next Wednesday, February 12th at 7:15pm, Connecticut’s Attorney General William Tong will join me to answer your questions. I look forward to hearing your concerns and sharing how we can work together. Sign up for the town hall here: 
The People of Eastern Connecticut Make Their Voices Heard
My office was flooded with thousands of calls and messages this week from Second District residents, rightly concerned, and even outraged, by Elon Musk’s overreach within our government. I’ve worked in Washington with Democrat and Republican controlled Congresses, and Presidents from both sides. What we are seeing now is fundamentally different.
The seizing of Americans’ closely guarded personal information at the Treasury Department by an unelected, unvetted political megadonor with billions of federal contracts, and freezing of federal funding already appropriated by Congress have put us in a totally unnecessary crisis. It was clear to me from the avalanche of calls, that eastern Connecticut values its private information – that has always been off limits to unauthorized and unqualified intruders.
Right now, these actions are being challenged in the courts, but as a co-equal branch of government, Congress must provide oversight. Yesterday, I co-sponsored a new bill, the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, which would protect Americans’ private information, including Social Security numbers, from Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency”. Here is a quick explainer on the bill:
This week, more details came to light about the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education. Make no mistake, this would weaken our nation’s future workforce and is not supported by the American people. The Department delivers direct assistance to Connecticut’s students at every level. In just the last year, Thompson and Westbrook high schools opened new welding labs with financial assistance from the Department of Education.
On the Education and Workforce Committee this week, I also spoke out against a proposal to tax academic scholarships. This would burden students with higher costs, all to pay for billionaires’ tax cuts. I’ll oppose any attempts to pad the pockets of billionaires like Elon Musk by shifting costs to students.
Local Impacts of the Funding Freeze
One week after the Trump Administration attempted to freeze all federal funding – an unconstitutional action – organizations in eastern Connecticut who provide critical services still face uncertainty. Before returning to Washington this week, I made a few stops in the Second District to discuss the latest.
Enfield’s Stowe Early Learning Academy provides child care and early learning services to hundreds of families, and they rely on federal funding Head Start program to operate. Last week’s funding freeze momentarily cut off their funding.
Eastern Connecticut families are in serious need of expanded access to affordable child care services – cutting off this funding is totally unacceptable. Thankfully, after a federal judge put a hold on President Trump's funding freeze, Stowe Early Learning Center is no longer experiencing issues accessing funding.
Fire departments across the Second District receive federal funding through the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFGs). The Mystic Fire Department recently used AFG funding to install a new exhaust system to protect staff from fire vehicle exhaust fumes. Chief Chirs Clarkin and his talented team briefed me on the upgrade. Shockingly, President Trump’s attempted funding freeze would have shut down the AFG program.
Then, in Washington this week, I met with community health centers who provide quality health care to hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents. They also lost access to federal funding during President Trump's funding freeze, and now, funding delays have forced community health centers to close or cut back on staff.
The Trump administration is still fighting to restore the freeze. As made totally clear in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution and again in the 1974 Impoundment Act, Congress controls appropriations, not the executive branch. I will do everything I can to uphold this cornerstone of our government.
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| Last week, Rep. Courtney provided a legislative update to the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. |
Electric Boat Plans to Reach 12,000 New Hires in a 3-Year Window
On Monday, I joined Electric Boat President Mark Rayha at the annual community update event where he projected EB’s hiring surge to continue in 2025 with 3,000 new hires – bringing the three year total (2023-2025) to 12,000 with the majority in Groton and New London. Congress has set a bold plan for submarine construction, and on the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, we have secured unique funding for our workforce, supply chain, and facilities to help shipbuilders meet the demand.
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| Congress has delivered $10 billion for the submarine industrial base since 2018, with more on the way in 2026 and through AUKUS. Today, Australia provided $500 million for the U.S. submarine industrial base, the first part of a $3 billion investment from our ally. |
During the update, I also spoke about the serious impact President Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada would have on eastern Connecticut consumers and businesses – particularly shipbuilding. Navy contracts rightly include “buy American” clauses to support U.S. industry, but we currently do not produce any uranium and very little nickel in the United States, both critical materials for submarine construction.
Shipbuilders need nickel and uranium from Canada to build more subs, and a 25% tax on the material would raise costs and slow construction times. President Trump’s tariffs on Canada are now paused for one month, but considering how much they would hurt our local economy, a temporary pause does not provide much consolation.
UConn Student Receives National Award for Anti-Drug Leadership
On Wednesday, I had the chance to meet with UConn student Neha Shanavas, who was in Washington to receive the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s Youth Leadership Award. Neha is a part of the Governor's Prevention Partnership’s Youth Advisory Board and Speaker’s Bureau and is also a STEM Scholar, Rowe Scholar, and Presidential Scholar at UConn majoring in molecular and cellular biology. Thanks to Neha for her work to combat substance use disorder and congratulations on this national award!
Supporting Students with Autism
Last week, I had a great meeting with Elizabeth Bauch, an advocate for Autism Speaks CT. We discussed how Congress can support families and schools to ensure children with autism can succeed. A key part of the support is funding autism research, and back in December, then-President Biden signed the Autism CARES Act into law, a bill I strongly supported which includes $2 billion for autism research and health care training. There is more we can do to support families. Thank you to Elizabeth for her advocacy.
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
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