Congresswoman Tenney's Weekly Newsletter Have questions? Contact Me Here Special Edition: Mid-Year Review As we approach the end of summer, I wanted to take an opportunity this week to highlight some of my work in Congress throughout this year. As your voice in Washington, I am committed to providing compassionate and transparent representation to our communities. Below are just some highlights from this year that I wanted to share. As always, I want to hear what you think! Please share your feedback with me. You can do so by responding directly to this email, or by visiting my website here. It is an honor to serve you! Update #1: Fighting for American Energy Security and to Lower Energy Costs for Consumers Earlier this year, I introduced the American Energy is Global Security Act to lower costs for American consumers, power New York State into the future, and secure America's energy independence. The bill would incentivize New York to repeal the statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing by withholding funding from certain federal grant programs. Much of Central New York, Western New York, and the Southern Tier lie above the Marcellus Shale and the deeper Utica Shale formations. These resources have allowed neighboring Pennsylvania to become the 2nd largest natural gas producer in the United States, accounting for 20.5% of all domestic natural gas production. This energy development now supports 480,000 Pennsylvania jobs and collects over $500 million for statewide environmental protection funding. Similarly, these formations could power New York for decades and help restore economic prosperity to the region. But despite any firm environmental evidence, the administration of disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented a blanket statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing. The ban was then officially established in 2015 by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and codified in 2020 by the New York State legislature. This baseless anti-energy policy has stopped our state from accessing a local lower-carbon energy source with the potential to meet the state’s energy needs for decades and provide necessary economic development to Upstate New York communities. It is time for the repeal of this failed ban and a return to a fact-driven energy policy. As Americans struggle with record-high energy costs due to Joe Biden and Kathy Hochul’s energy and economic illiteracy, it is time we take actions to reverse this disaster and restore our nation’s energy independence. Americans need clean energy at lower costs now, and delivering on this commitment can and should start right here in New York. The bill’s text is available here. Update #2: Led the Charge to Overturn New York's Unconstitutional 2A Restrictions and Won Last year, I was honored to lead 175 of my House colleagues, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, defending the right to conceal carry under the Second Amendment to the Constitution in the case New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In this case, New York residents asserted they were wrongly denied a concealed carry permit for personal protection by state officials. This summer we were victorious! The Supreme Court overturned New York's law, reaffirming and strengthening our Second Amendment rights. As the defund the police movement goes mainstream in the Democrat Party and failed progressive policies like bail reform make our streets less safe, it is more important than ever to ensure law-abiding Americans can properly defend themselves inside and out of their homes. This vital issue was at the core of the Court's ruling This case was the most significant victory for Second Amendment advocates since Heller v. District of Columbia in 2008, which reaffirmed the right of Americans to keep and bear arms for personal protection. But make no mistake about it: the Second Amendment is still under attack by far-left politicians in Albany and Washington, including state lawmakers who pursued legislative action to undo the effects of this ruling. I will continue to strongly oppose these policies, which cut against our fundamental rights and make Americans less safe. I will continue fighting to protect the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, and I will always stand for the Second Amendment. Update #3: Introduced the American Confidence in Elections Act to Promote Election Integrity As founder and co-chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, I introduced the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act with Congressman Rodney Davis (IL-13) to restore faith in American elections. The bill bans Zuckerbucks, ends Biden’s Executive Order 14019 turning federal agencies into partisan get-out-the-vote operations, provides states with tools to boost election integrity, and prohibits non-citizens from voting. Americans’ faith in elections has cratered in recent years following debacles, such as the race for Congress in New York’s 22nd Congressional District in 2020, which was not certified until three months after election day and left the district without representation in the House of Representatives for more than one month. A recent poll from CNN found that a mere 16% of Americans are very confident in our elections. Free and fair elections are key to preserving our self-governing Constitutional Republic. Instead of pushing an overreaching federal election takeover, such as H.R. 1, the ACE Act would institute common sense reforms, while respecting the primary role of states in administering elections. With confidence in our elections at a record-low, now is the time to undertake these reforms to restore faith in and secure the integrity of our elections. The full text of the bill is available here. Update #4: Fighting to Secure our Border I have called for President Joe Biden's impeachment for his failure to secure our border, which amounts to a gross dereliction of duty. Earlier this year, I also joined with Congressman Lee Zeldin (NY-01), House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), and the other Republican members of the New York Congressional Delegation in a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to work with the state legislature to repeal disastrous state programs that incentivize illegal immigrants to come to New York. The crisis at the Southern Border has exploded under the Biden Administration. During fiscal year 2022 (FY22), which still has nearly two months left, the United States has already shattered the record of total encounters with migrants at the border by CBP agents, reaching over two million. New York’s misguided policies, which include awarding driver’s licenses, COVID-19 relief checks, and hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Medicaid services to illegal immigrants, have incentivized illegal immigrants to come to New York. Last year, the Biden Administration even began flying illegal immigrants directly into New York in the dead of night. You can read our full letter here. Update #5: Continuing to Press for Accountability in New York's Failed COVID-19 Response As lead sponsor of the Essential Caregivers Act in Congress, which now has 60 cosponsors, I sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to ensure New York State’s independent inquiry into the COVID-19 response is open, fair, and truly transparent and that it addresses continued questions regarding the State’s response in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, New York State imposed knee-jerk and draconian measures, like severe economic lockdowns, statewide mask mandates, school closures, and vaccine mandates. Notably, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo required nursing homes and long-term care facilities to accept COVID-19 positive patients in the early days of the pandemic, compromising the health and safety of this most vulnerable population. My calls on the independent inquiry to address the following questions, among several others:  Why was the decision made to transfer COVID-positive seniors into long-term care facilities, especially given that seniors were always assessed as a high-risk population? How many deaths can be attributed to the decision by New York State’s Department of Health to return COVID-positive patients back into long-term care facilities? What was the impact of isolation on seniors and other vulnerable populations who were cut off from their essential caregivers while residing in long-term care facilities? Last year, I introduced H.R. 3733, the Essential Caregivers Act, which would establish a new federal standard guaranteeing the rights of long-term care patients to access essential caregivers, even in future public health emergencies. One of the greatest tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic was the devastation caused by long-term isolation that occurred because of Governor Cuomo’s lockdown policies. The full text of the letter is available here. Update #6: Led the Push to Defund the Unconstitutional Disinformation Governance Board President Biden has attacked free speech and encouraged censorship from the very beginning of his failed Administration. Last year, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted that the Administration was encouraging Facebook to censor what it considered to be COVID ‘misinformation.’ Now, the President is proposing an unconstitutional ‘Ministry of Truth’ to silence dissenting views and stop the spread of information he does not like. This is entirely un-American and sets a dangerous precedent. The First Amendment protects every citizen’s right to free speech and ensures the government does not target specific political views. I am calling for Biden to drop this misguided policy immediately. In the meantime, I am cosponsoring two pieces of legislation to ensure no federal taxpayer dollars are used to fund the Ministry of Truth. I will continue to be a strong and principled advocate for the First Amendment. The first measure I co-sponsored was introduced by Congressman Mike Johnson (LA), and it bars federal funding for the Disinformation Governance Board. The second measure she cosponsored was introduced by Congressman August Pfluger (TX) and similarly bars federal funds from being authorized or appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security for the purposes of establishing the Disinformation Governance Board. Update #7: Introduced Mental Health Legislation that Passed the House of Representatives I introduced H.R. 7237, the Reauthorizing Evidence-based And Crisis Help Initiatives Needed to Generate (REACHING) Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act with Representatives Morgan Griffith (VA), Sharice Davids (KS), and Angie Craig (MN). This legislation would reauthorize and improve programs providing care and treatment for mental health, suicide prevention, substance abuse, and related issues. And in June, this bill passed the House of Representatives as part of a broader mental health package. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened mental health and substance abuse challenges for many. In the one-year period ending in April 2021, drug overdose deaths in the U.S. tragically increased 28.5% to 100,306, the highest ever, according to the CDC. Further, 4 in 10 U.S. adults have reported symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, compared with 1 in 10 who reported these symptoms in the first half of 2019, according to KFF. Despite this sad rise in poor mental health outcomes, New York State cut funding for 200 inpatient mental health treatment beds operated by the Office of Mental Health last year. The full extent of the dire psychological impacts brought on by the pandemic and related lockdowns is just beginning to be understood, but one thing is clear: our friends and families need access to mental health care now more than ever. I am honored to join my colleagues in supporting the reauthorization of critical programs to ensure that mental health resources continue to reach individuals who need them. The improvements in the Crisis Care program will also allow policy makers to better incorporate the needs of law enforcement. Update #8: Fighting for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers! I introduced the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act to strengthen penalties for attacking pregnancy resource centers and places of worship. Reps. David McKinley (WV-01), Don Bacon (NE-02), Tracey Mann (KS-01), and Madison Cawthorn (NC-11) joined me as original cosponsors. Senator Josh Hawley (MO) introduced the bill in the Senate. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, pro-life pregnancy centers and places of worship have faced unprecedented attacks from radical pro-abortion activists. At least 50 violent attacks against pro-life pregnancy centers and another 150 attacks against Christian churches have been recorded. In Amherst, NY, CompassCare Pregnancy Services was firebombed and threatened. Pro-life pregnancy centers provide lifesaving care to pregnant women in need. Radical pro-abortion terrorists have been targeting these pregnancy centers and Houses of Worship across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe. In New York, CompassCare Pregnancy Services was recently firebombed because of its work to protect life. This is unacceptable. That's why I am standing up to say enough. Those who support life should never be under threat in America. Specifically, the Pregnancy Resource Center Defense Act would protect pro-life pregnancy centers and places of worship from radical activists by strengthening penalties for attackers and increasing the minimum amount due to a center or religious facility that is attacked and sues successfully, including: Increasing criminal penalties from a misdemeanor to a felony for first-time offenses, and increasing the criminal fine from $10,000 to $25,000; Guaranteeing that pregnancy resource centers and religious facilities that successfully sue will receive no less than $20,000, a $10,000 increase from current levels; and Imposing a 7-year mandatory minimum when attacks involve arson, an increase from the current 5-year mandatory minimum. The full text of the bill is available here. Update #9: Supporting Rome Lab and our Military Servicemembers and Families As the mother of a Marine Captain, I will always back our military and their families. I testified in support of the Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate, also known as Rome Lab, at the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). I requested the Committee’s support for three key investments in Rome Lab in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to expand Rome Lab’s capabilities and in turn enable the United States to compete globally with our adversaries, dominate the virtual battlespace, and counter emerging threats. My requests included: $10 million to develop the first and only government-owned Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management System, which would lead to the development of revolutionary tools to counter small UAS’s that our adversaries use to exploit U.S. airspace and target Americans; $10 million for a Quantum Cloud Computing and Multi-Modality Network Testbed, which will help the US lead in the development of quantum computing technologies, especially given recent advances made by adversaries like China; $10 million for the development of the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) for Joint All-Domain Command and Control Future Flag Testbed, which will further our military’s AI capabilities, a critical technology that supports every aspect of the Pentagon’s mission. As part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, I successfully secured the inclusion of an additional $30 million in funding for Rome Lab. This included additional funding for the quantum network testbed, ion trap quantum computing, and the Air Force’s academic partnership intermediary agreements. Update #10: Introduced the Turn OFF THE TAP Act to Stand up to China I introduced the Turn Off Federal Funding of Threatening Entities that Thwart American Prosperity Act, or the Turn OFF THE TAP Act, to prohibit federal taxpayer dollars from lining the pockets of entities included on federal trade and sanctions lists, either directly or through third parties. A Senate companion was also introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (FL) and cosponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (TN) and Rick Scott (FL). There is currently no central ban on federal funds going to foreign firms explicitly identified through U.S. government blacklists, including dangerous Chinese companies. The Turn OFF THE TAP Act addresses this national security vulnerability by prohibiting federal funds from going to firms listed on several federal blacklists, including the Department of Commerce’s Entity List and the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List. As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its offensive against American national, economic, and industrial security, while also committing gross human rights abuses, American taxpayers should not be forced to line its pockets. The American people’s tax dollars should not be invested in blacklisted Chinese companies. Yet today, because of weak policies in Washington, they continue to be. It’s time we cut off the tap. The Chinese Communist Party’s predatory trade policies, significant human rights abuses, and threats to American security are absolutely unacceptable. In upstate New York, we have seen their disastrous effects firsthand. Enough is enough. It is time to step up and make common sense reforms to ensure Americans are not funding these entities. The full text of the legislation is available here. Providing quality constituent services is among my highest priorities in Congress. I want to make sure the federal government works for you! So far, my expert casework team has been hard at work for constituents across New York's 22nd Congressional District. More than 524 constituents have had cases resolved with favorable outcomes this year. This has resulted in more than $7.7 million in federal benefits or backpay being rightfully returned to them. If you need assistance with a federal agency, I encourage you to contact my office in Utica at 315-732-0713, or in Binghamton at 607-242-0200. You can also submit your request for help on my website here. My team is ready to help! It's Still Not Too Late: Schedule Your Summer Tour of our Nation's Capitol Today Planning to visit our Nation's Capital soon? Book your tour today! While tours have resumed at several locations, sites such as the U.S. Capitol are doing so incrementally. As such, we are still limited in how many constituent tours we can host each week. Please note, the White House requires 21 days minimum notice to accommodate any tour requests. Availability for both of these tours is extremely limited. I urge you to reach out to my office as soon as possible regarding all future tour requests. You can do so by accessing my tour request portal here. While my office may be unable to secure a Congressional tour for all the sites you have selected given the high demand and currently limited availability, there are a number of locations that remain available for public tours. I urge you to visit house.gov for more information regarding these opportunities. Such locations include the Supreme Court and the National Archives, which you can view here and here. You may also wish to register to receive your very own reader registration card through the Library of Congress, which you can do here. I would also suggest you contact your U.S. Senators, as they too have been successful in accommodating tour requests. You can submit a tour request to Senator Schumer's office here, as well as to Senator Gillibrand here. Have news or updates to share? Email me! If you have updates regarding events in the community or other news to share from across New York's 22nd District, please visit the "Contact Me" page on my website to share it with me. My team will try to include as many of your updates from around #NY22 as we can each week. ‌ ‌ ‌ Rep. Tenney | 1410 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]