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Dear Friend,
The U.S. Supreme Court's reversal today of Roe v. Wade overturns 50 years of well-settled privacy law protecting women's health care and reproductive choice. The constitutional rights of women and their doctors have been stripped by an extreme legal theory that the vast majority of Americans in poll after poll do not support. Even a casual reading of the ruling confirms that the decision isn’t just about abortion—Justice Thomas's opinion specifically cited his desire to reverse other privacy cases that protect access to contraceptives and marriage equality. This was a stunning step backwards for the right to privacy for all Americans, and I will continue to work on measures to reverse these attempts to turn the clock back in our country. You can read my full statement here.
For now, I’m here with an update for you on our work this week on behalf of eastern CT schools, families, manufacturers, and more.
Marking Up an NDAA with Serious Benefits for eastern CT
This week on the House Armed Services Committee, we undertook the annual markup of the National Defense Authorization Act. As Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, I spent months working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to carefully examine America’s most pressing security challenges and the needs of our servicemembers. At a time when many people wonder if Congress can work together to get things done, I’m proud that our committee and subcommittee has once again shown we can do exactly that – delivering a defense authorization that includes significant support for our servicemembers & their families, our ability to counter growing threats from adversaries, and shipbuilding in eastern Connecticut.
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| On Wednesday, the House Armed Services passed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act through committee, setting it up for a vote on the House floor |
This year’s NDAA authorizes important support for submarine production here in eastern Connecticut. It includes funding for a sustained two-per-year build rate on Virginia-Class submarines in 2023 and supports the second year of funding for construction of the first Columbia-class submarine, the USS District of Columbia which had its keel laying earlier this month. Following the President’s classification of the submarine workforce as essential to national security, the 2023 NDAA fully authorizes $750 million for submarine industrial base investments – including $541 million for submarine supplier development, shipyard infrastructure, strategic outsourcing, and technology opportunities as well as $227 million to support workforce development initiatives. I’ve long worked to bolster workforce development programs and manufacturing pipelines in eastern Connecticut to ensure we can continue to meet the demand of submarine production. This NDAA supports the work of manufacturers and suppliers in all corners of eastern Connecticut to deliver top-quality Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines for the men and women of our Navy. The 2023 NDAA is expected to be brought to a House in July. I look forward to passing it bipartisanly. Read more about the markup here.
A Bill to Strengthen Our Defense Partnership with Australia
In addition to the bevy of important wins we secured for our Navy and for eastern CT in this year’s NDAA, there was another exciting provision we voted to include in the annual defense authorization: my bipartisan bill, the Australia-U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act. This is a really exciting, bipartisan new bill that I just introduced last week to help ensure the successful implementation of the new AUKUS defense alliance between the U.S., Australia, and U.K., and now it’s officially included as part of the 2023 NDAA—a huge step forward in ensuring it’s signed into law.
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| Included in the 2023 NDAA is Rep. Courtney's bipartisan bill the Australia-U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act, which will help ensure a successful defense alliance between the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. Read more here. |
I introduced the Australia-U.S. Submarine Officer Pipeline Act last week—as founder and co-chairman of both the Friends of Australia Caucus and the new AUKUS Caucus, I was proud that the bill is Congress’s first official legislative action in support of the new undersea alliance. AUKUS is the most important national security partnership that America has entered into in decades, and at its core is the delivery of U.S. nuclear-powered submarine technology to our Australian allies for use in the critically important Indo-Pacific region. When those submarines are delivered, we need to be certain that our Aussie partners are ready to pilot them expertly—that's exactly what my bill will help do. The bipartisan bill will set up an education and training program for Royal Australian Navy submariners to come to the U.S. and train right alongside our own U.S. Navy sailors, which will maximize efficiency down the road when we’re working together beneath the waves. I introduced this bill with strong support from both sides of the aisle, and on Wednesday night the Armed Services Committee voted unanimously to include it in this year’s NDAA—a clear signal that our effort and the underlying AUKUS alliance both have strong, bipartisan support in Congress.
Extending School Meal Support for Students and Families
We know that healthy meals are absolutely crucial to a child’s growth and development, but across the country, so many families struggle day-to-day to put food on the table. When the pandemic hit in 2020, this problem only got worse. In Connecticut, 44% of households with children experienced food insecurity after the onset of COVID-19. Congress acted to address this issue by passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act – which expanded access to school meals programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and also boosted school’s ability to get meals to children while learning went remote. This waiver is still relied on by many students and is set to expire on June 30th. This week, the House acted to extend the waiver by passing the bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act.
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| On Thursday, the House voted in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion to pass the Keep Kids Fed Act |
One of my top priorities in Congress has been ensuring that students who were most impacted by the pandemic and remote classwork are able to make up for learning loss. The Keep Kids Fed Act helps to do that by extending waiver authority for school meal flexibilities that do not increase costs at this time when food prices are so high. The bill also helps to guarantee access to meal programs during the summer break, increases reimbursement rates for the 2022-23 school year by an additional 15 cents per breakfast and 40 cents per lunch, and provides enhanced support to the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP). I’m proud the House came together in an overwhelming bipartisan fashion to extend this critical support for students and parents. We've worked with the Senate to get this bill to the President's desk and it will soon be signed into law before the June 30th deadline.
A Historic Appointment for US Treasurer
This week, we celebrated a historic event for eastern Connecticut and Native Tribes. On Tuesday, Mohegan Tribe Chief Lynn Malerba was appointed as U.S. Treasurer. For the first time in our nation’s history, a Tribal leader and Native woman’s signature will be on U.S. currency.
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| On Tuesday, the President appointed Mohegan Tribe Chief Lynn Malerba as U.S. Treasurer, the first Tribal leader and Native woman to serve in the position |
The President’s appointment of Chief Malerba as U.S. Treasurer is an inspired choice of a person with the highest integrity and competence. She brings unique life experience to the position as leader of the Mohegan Tribe and through her years of service as a registered nurse. She’s caring, empathetic person who will always be focused on the public good. We could not be more proud of this well deserved and historic event. Read my full statement here.
Thanks as always for taking the time to read my update. If we can assist you in anyway, don't hesitate to reach out to my Norwich office at (860) 886-0139. Enjoy the weekend!
Sincerely,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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