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Dear Friend,
It's been a busy week, and I’m here with an update for you on our work on behalf of eastern Connecticut. Thanks for starting your weekend here with us!
A New Bill to Create Safer College Campuses for Students
This week, I introduced a bill to help improve safety on college campuses, where accidental injuries are the leading cause of death. Students go off to college and university with the goal of gaining experience, skills, and accreditation for opportunities later in life. It’s one of greatest things a parent gets to witness—to see our kids work hard and achieve these opportunities—and while not every tragedy can be prevented, we need to know that schools are taking meaningful steps to keep students safe on campus. Our new bill, the COREY Safety Act, would help ensure they are by requiring them to disclose not just criminal activity, but all accidents and incidents that result in serious injury or death in their annual safety report.
Improving the data we have on fatal accidents and serious injuries on college campuses, as well as increasing transparency surrounding these tragic incidents, will ultimately make for better strategies to keep students safe. The COREY Safety Act would amend the CLERY Act of 1990 and help ensure that institutions of higher education start treating these incidents with the gravity they deserve. Learn more about the bill here.
The COREY Safety Act is inspired by Corey Hausman, a student from Westport, Connecticut who passed away in September 2018—only 15 days into his freshman year—in a simple pedestrian accident on his university’s campus, over 2,000 miles away from his family. Corey was the third student death at his college in the first 15 days of that semester. Nearly four years later, the university has still not repaired the pathway where Corey fell, despite it being documented by the University as problematic. I’m proud to have worked with the Hausman family and my colleague Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04) to introduce the COREY Safety Act.
Protecting the Right to Contraceptives & Marriage Equality
In the weeks after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, my office continues to hear from people in eastern Connecticut expressing concern over the future of Americans’ right to privacy. Reproductive rights remain the law of the land in our state, but the concurring opinion in Dobbs is being used as a foothold in many states to go after other unenumerated privacy rights—from same-sex marriage, to access to birth control. This week, to head off any attempt roll back these freedoms on a national scale, the House voted to codify the right for adults to marry freely and to access contraceptives into law.
I spoke a bit about both of these bills following passage this week, watch below.
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| Click here to watch Rep. Courtney break down the need for Congress to codify critical privacy rights |
The right to contraception, in particular, has a special meaning for Connecticut. It was the 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut that established the right of privacy to use contraceptives. Estelle Griswold of New Haven was arrested after helping women access contraceptives, and she and her lawyer, Catherine Roraback, took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. There, they successfully argued that Americans have a right to privacy, and therefore a right to use birth control—even though it wasn’t specifically included in the Constitution. The same is true for American adults’ freedom to marry who they love, no matter their race or sex—that freedom isn’t explicitly enumerated in the Constitution, but it was established by Supreme Court case law in the 2015 Obergefell case.
The passage of these two bills—in addition to the House’s vote last week to codify reproductive rights—are prudent steps to lock-in Americans’ privacy rights. The Senate should not wait any longer to vote on all three.
Strengthening Our Alliances in the 2023 NDAA
Last week, the House passed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – a defense budget that provides needed support to our Naval servicemembers to carry out their mission to keep us safe at home. One of the most important parts of that mission is deterring growing lawlessness and militarization in the Indo-Pacific. I’m proud of our bipartisan work in this year’s NDAA to strengthening our bond with Australia—an important democratic ally in that region.
China’s continued militarization of the Indo-Pacific is raising alarm bells for all democratic nations that value the post-World War II rules-based order. That’s why AUKUS, America’s new defense alliance with Australia and the U.K., is so important—submarines are crucial to upholding security and prosperity throughout the region, and the new alliance will provide our Australian allies with the world-beating nuclear propulsion technology our own U.S. Navy relies on to dominate the undersea domain. Last week, the House advanced a National Defense Authorization Act for 2023 that included two provisions I authored specifically to support the AUKUS alliance.
The first AUKUS provision I authored for the NDAA will ensure that Australia’s submarine officers are ready to pilot these new subs as soon as they’re delivered—it would establish a program for Australian officers to train alongside our own U.S. Navy. The second is equally important: it would add Australia and the U.K. as “domestic sources” under the Defense Production Act, helping to strengthen and secure the supply lines of critical minerals we need for everything from shipbuilding, to manufacturing cars and smartphones. These are bipartisan provisions, and now that they passed the House we’re working to ensure they become law.
An Update from Ukrainian First Lady Zelenska
This week, I had the privilege to attend Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska’s address to Congress. As Russia’s brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine continues, Putin’s forces are committing acts of terror on the Ukrainian people – clearly targeting civilians in rocket attacks on residential neighborhoods. First Lady Zelenska provided heartbreaking details of these attacks. Watch here remarks here.
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| On Wednesday, Rep. Courtney joined colleagues to hear Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska provide an update on Russia's terror attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Watch her remarks here. |
The Ukrainian people have Congress’s full support, as do all our democratic allies in Europe. I was very pleased this week to join my colleagues in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote supporting Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO. These countries’ bold decision sends a powerful message to Putin that the civilized world is united against his vicious attack on sovereign Ukraine and its people. The resolution passed by a vote of 394-18 – a bipartisan show of confidence in the people of these two nations, as well as a vote of confidence for Democracy and Rule of Law.
Join My Office as an Intern!
My office is accepting applications to intern in our Washington, DC office for Fall 2022! If you’re interested in learning about the legislative process and working on behalf of the constituents of Connecticut’s Second District, apply here by Friday, August 12th!
Thanks as always for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to my Norwich office at (860) 886-0139. Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Joe Courtney
Member of Congress
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