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Dear Friend,
It's Joe Courtney. After a packed week in Congress and eastern Connecticut, I'm here with an update on the latest tariff news, building momentum for submarine construction, and lots more. As always, thanks for staring your weekend here with me.
After New Tariff Announcement, Warning Lights Flash for the Economy
Within his first 100 days in office, President Trump has signed over 100 executive orders. Unfortunately, none of these orders have lowered costs for Americans, and there are serious warning lights flashing for the state of our economy: the most recent price index is rising, consumer confidence is down for the third straight month, and businesses are facing mounting uncertainty.
Instead of focusing on bringing costs down and creating economic growth, President Trump announced new tariffs this week, which launched us into a global trade war that will raise costs for Americans and has already tanked the stock market.
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| On Monday, Rep. Courtney spoke on the House floor, urging his colleagues to stop President Trump's tariff policies. |
Not only are these indiscriminate, so called "reciprocal tariffs" a bad policy which will hurt the U.S. economy, in many cases, they unjustly target some of our best friends and allies. For example, the U.S. has a trade surplus with Australia under a 2004 bilateral trade agreement which eliminated tariffs. Still, for no reason, President Trump imposed 10% across the board tariffs on Australia – the same rate as the country of Iran! If the policy was truly "reciprocal", Australia's 0% tariff's against U.S. exports, should result in a 0% tariff against Australian imports.
Incredibly, this is happening when Australia is making substantial investments in the U.S., creating American jobs. And under the AUKUS agreement, Australia is helping us build the U.S. Navy – in President Trump’s own words – “very fast, very soon”.
The American people are asking their government to lower the cost of living and focus on growing the economy. President Trump’s new tariffs will lead to higher costs on groceries and housing due to increased lumber costs. As a co-equal branch of government, Congress must act. Stop the chaotic policies. End the tariffs.
Eastern Connecticut Shipbuilders Set the Standard
Tomorrow in Groton, we will celebrate the commissioning of the USS IOWA, the 24th Virginia-class submarine. Momentum continues to grow for submarine construction. Later this year, the USS MASSACHUSSETTS is also set for commissioning. And the USS IDAHO is slated for delivery in December, followed by the USS ARKANSAS in 2026. That increased tempo is made possible by eastern Connecticut’s successful, federally funded workforce training programs and significant investment from Congress into the submarine industrial base.
As the Submarine Capital of the World, eastern Connecticut should be proud of this success for our Navy. Electric Boat hired over 9,000 new workers over the past two years and plans to hire 3,000 more in 2025. And the shipbuilder’s retention rate is a very strong 89%. Eastern Connecticut shipbuilders are the best in the world, and our workforce development programs are the role model for the nation.
Congratulations to USS IOWA Commanding Officer Greg Coy, the entire IOWA crew, and to the world-class eastern Connecticut shipbuilders on seeing the USS IOWA through from keel laying to delivery.
The Real Impacts of Proposed Medicaid Cuts
The GOP’s House-passed cuts to Medicaid would be devastating for children and families in Connecticut. 37% of children and 42% of new moms in our state receive care through Medicaid, called HUSKY in CT. And our hospitals, particularly pediatric hospitals, rely on Medicaid funding to operate. Today, Rep. John Larson and I visited Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford to meet with staff and discuss the real harm reckless Medicaid cuts will cause.
The Senate is voting on a House-passed 10-year budget bill tonight which would cut Medicaid funding by $880 billion (according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office) and pave the way for a billionaire tax cut. I voted against this bill in the House. The Senate must oppose it.
Vernon Marine Veteran Reinstated after Wrongful Firing by Elon Musk’s DOGE
Last month, I was honored to host Vernon Marine veteran Gabriel D’Alatri as my guest for President Trump’s address to Congress. Gabriel is a new father and was a top performing project manager at the IRS in Hartford until he was wrongfully and illegal fired by Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Thankfully, Gabriel has since been reinstated to his job following legal challenges to his and other federal employees firings. But now, his pay is being withheld while he waits to return to the office. Yesterday, Gabriel joined me in Norwich to discuss the latest.
Taking an indiscriminate sledgehammer to the federal workforce is not government efficiency. It’s wasteful and cruel. In Congress, I am continuing to push for bills that reign in Elon Musk’s unchecked actions.
Calling to Protect Home Heating Assistance
Many eastern Connecticut residents use LIHEAP to help with their energy bills and keep their homes warm. This week, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he was eliminating the office at the Department of Health and Human Services which provides LIHEAP with funding. Today, I joined my colleagues in calling on Secretary Kennedy to reverse his decision. Slashing important work like this is reckless and irresponsible.
Workplace Violence Prevention Re-Introduction
No worker – especially those we rely on for care – should be injured or killed on the job.
On Tuesday, I re-introduced a bipartisan bill with colleagues in the House and the Senate, aimed at curbing the rising rates of workplace violence facing health care and social service workers. This workforce endures more violence than any other in America. It's past time to Congress to address this crisis.
In 2023, eastern Connecticut experienced the tragic loss of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, who was murdered in Willimantic during a solo home-health visit to an extremely high risk patient. Joyce Grayson was an angel. Her preventable death must drive Congress to act. We must put proven safety standards in place nationwide for health care and social service workers.
Our bill, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, would require the government to create a long-overdue standard of workplace safety through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This standard would include proper workplace risk identification, employee training, whistleblower protection policies, and incident investigations.
The bill has received an outpouring of support from key caregiving groups, including the American Nurses Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Public Health Association, as well as union organizations, including AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers. I'm grateful for their support and tireless work to move this bill forward year after year.
Go Huskies!
Good luck to the UConn Women Huskies tonight in their Final Four matchup vs. UCLA! My office had our Husky pride on display in Congress this week.
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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