Dear John,

My prayers and deepest condolences go out to the servicemembers, civilians and families affected by this horrific act of violence committed yesterday in Kabul, and I condemn those responsible in the strongest possible terms.

Right now, it is urgently important that the federal government step up efforts to safely evacuate every American citizen and ally from this worsening situation. This attack makes clear that Congress has to continue its support for our intelligence and counterterrorism capabilities in the region to monitor and confront what are serious and ongoing threats to our national security.

As I've been saying for years, passenger rail will bring better and higher paying jobs to our area.  Now, Amtrak itself sees the economic value of passenger rail in NEPA: In a new report, they estimate that a rail connection from Scranton to New York City would contribute $87 million into our region's economy every year.

The success of this vision hangs on passage of the infrastructure investments in the Build Back Better plan, which I'll be focused on passing in the coming months in Washington.

Democrats' recovery plans have helped create 4 million jobs and grow our economy at a historic rate since the beginning of this year. But it is not enough to simply return to the way things were before the pandemic.

That's why this week we advanced a major infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better plan to deliver more jobs, tax cuts for working families and lower costs. A lot of NEPA residents ask me: How will we do it?

These plans are paid for by ensuring the wealthy and huge corporations stop cheating the tax code and finally pay their fair share. Then we invest in hardworking Americans. 

The Build Back Better plan will give working families much needed tax cuts while lowering their health care and education costs. Plus, enabling Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, as we're proposing, will help tackle a major expense Americans face.

This historic legislation gives working families and their kids a better chance at a brighter future. We still have more work to do, but I was happy to help move it forward this week.

There are more federal dollars on the way to our local first responders so they can continue protecting us in emergencies. Four departments are set to receive a total of more than $250,000 that they can use to purchase protective equipment, breathing apparatus and other resources they need to do their jobs effectively, and conduct fire safety awareness outreach. The latest awards:

• $193,229.52 for the Westfall Township Volunteer Fire Department
• $18,000.00 for the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department
• $67,810.10 for the Hanover Township Community Ambulance Association
• $42,857.14 for the City of Scranton 

I'll keep working to support our first responders as they protect us.

Protecting our democracy is hard work and as Americans, we have a responsibility to defend it. This week, I voted to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which will strengthen the freedom to vote and ensure a transparent electoral process we can trust.

Now, I'm urging the Senate to take up this critical legislation so we can send it to the President's desk to be signed into law. 

Be safe and well,