Congresswoman Tenney's Weekly Newsletter Have questions? Contact Me Here President Biden Should End the COVID Public Health Emergency Today In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired last Sunday, President Biden said that “the pandemic is over.” Most Americans have already recognized this fact, returning to school, work, church, and other normal activities. Despite this, the Federal government has continued to extend the Public Health Emergency (PHE), most recently on July 15, 2022. That's why I sent President Biden a letter this week urging him to end the PHE. The American people are returning to their normal lives, the Federal government should too! The PHE declaration has been in effect since former Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar first issued such a determination on January 31, 2019. Doing so permitted the Trump Administration to ensure the widespread availability of free COVID tests and vaccines and to take other actions necessary to combat the virus. Three years later, much has changed. Even the White House’s top medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said that the virus likely will never be eradicated. The appropriate response is to learn to live with and manage the virus, not to perpetuate a constant state of emergency and government control that allows our rights to be infringed. Instead of renewing the PHE, President Biden should terminate it consistent with his assessment that the pandemic is over. READ MORE: Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney Demands Biden End the Coronavirus Public Health Emergency The Biden Administration Must Continue Taking Steps to Support Internet Freedom in Iran READ MORE: Elon Musk Should Provide Internet in Iran, Lawmakers Urge Yellen This week, I was honored to lead a bipartisan letter with Congressman Tom Malinowski (NJ-07) to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In the letter, we asked that the Treasury Department approve any license requests it receives to ensure entities can rapidly deploy communications services and Internet access to the Iranian people amid ongoing protests and the regime’s widespread and deliberate Internet blackouts. Additional members who joined the letter include House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Michael McCaul (TX-10), House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Joe Wilson (SC-02), Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Maria Salazar (FL-27), Steve Chabot (OH-01), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), James McGovern (MA-02), Don Bacon (NE-02), Gregory Steube (FL-17), Brian Mast (FL-18), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Brad Sherman (CA-30). Protests have been raging throughout Iran after a 22-year-old girl, Mahsa Amini, was arrested for violating the country’s strict dress codes. She later died while in custody. Reports indicate that Amini was beaten before collapsing and falling into a coma. In response to the protests, the regime in Iran has once again violently cracked down on protesters, including by triggering widespread Internet blackouts to stop all communications. This is occurring while Iran’s president and close ally of the Supreme Leader, Ebrahim Raisi, was in New York for high-level meetings of the United Nations General Assembly. Following the Internet blackouts, SpaceX Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk has said he would seek to bring Starlink satellite Internet service to Iran. However, he further stated a license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury would be needed to facilitate its deployment. My bipartisan letter calls on the Treasury Department to ensure information and guidance regarding an existing General License is made clearer to industry and that any specific licensing requests that are received are expeditiously approved. Thankfully, in a very positive development, after our letter was sent, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued updated guidance making it easier for communications technologies to reach the Iranian people. This is an important step that will make sure their voices are heard as the regime continues to repress their rights. It is the policy of the United States to stand with the Iranian people, who are the longest-suffering victims of this regime’s brutality. Now, as the Iranian people are demanding justice for Mahsa and countless others like her, the United States must reaffirm our commitment to democracy by ensuring the Iranian people are not cut off from each other and the world. We need to cut through any bureaucratic red tape and get this done. The full text of the letter is available here. Applauding the Oswego County Legislature's Resolution Opposing New York's Unconstitutional Gun Control Laws In New York, our Second Amendment rights have been, and continue to be, under attack. Last year, I led the House amicus brief in the Supreme Court case New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, where we succeeded in finally throwing out the Sullivan law and declaring unequivocally that all law-abiding Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. However, this has not stopped politicians in Albany from once again violating the rights of New Yorkers! Their desperate and unconstitutional new gun law is a blatant attack on our Constitution and the rule of law. To exercise your Second Amendment rights, you now must hand over your private social media accounts to the government. You also must be interviewed by a state official so they can arbitrarily decide if you are worthy of a permit. Governor Hochul’s defense of these absurd laws is the exact type of balancing test the Supreme Court already determined to be illegal. While we wait for the Courts to put an end to these unconstitutional restrictions, I applaud the Oswego County Legislature for overwhelmingly adopting a resolution to condemn this unconstitutional law. Oswego County joins legislatures across upstate New York, including in Wyoming, Orleans, and Niagara counties, that passed similar resolutions. Upstate New York patriots are standing more united than ever against these gross infringements on our rights. My Op-Ed with Sen. Ted Cruz Calling Out the Biden Admin for Welcoming Iran's Brutal Leader to America Last week, I updated you about my SEVER Act, which I introduced with Senator Ted Cruz (TX) to ban Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi from entering the United States. However, sadly the Biden Administration capitulated and granted a visa to Raisi, allowing him to come to New York for high-level meetings. Iranian President Raisi is known as “The Butcher of Tehran” for his gross human rights abuses, including the execution of political dissenters. Raisi has threatened to assassinate former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other U.S. officials. As the Islamic Republic of Iran actively plots to kill American citizens on our own soil, it is obvious that its president should never have been allowed to freely walk the streets of New York. This week, Senator Cruz and I wrote an op-ed calling out the Biden Administration for welcoming Iran's brutal leader to America. In the op-ed, we argue that the United States has always retained the sovereign right to deny entry to any individual who poses a threat to national security and that the Biden Administration should have exercised this right to deny entry to Raisi. READ MORE: Ebrahim Raisi Is A Monster. His Entry Into the U.S. Was Inexcusable. My Statement on House Democrats' Partisan Presidential Election Reform Act The partisan Presidential Election Reform Act is the latest attempt from House Democrats to stack the democratic process in their favor. House Democrats rushed this bill through the House of Representatives in a highly partisan manner without any legitimate input from Republicans. The bill text was introduced only days before tonight’s vote, and the bill never received a bipartisan hearing or markup in the committee of jurisdiction. The reason this bill did not go through the legislative process is because it is not a serious attempt to legislate. It is nothing more than a partisan messaging bill intended to score cheap political points weeks before an election. Not only was this bill drafted with bad intentions, but it is also poor policy. The bill broadly defines a ‘catastrophic event,’ which could be used to extend balloting for up to five days after the polls close in a presidential election. It also tramples on the core principle of state sovereignty and directly contradicts the United States Constitution. The legislation also creates broad private rights of action in a backdoor effort to empower Democrat election lawyers and partisan operatives. If the Democrat majority in the House was serious about election integrity, it would take a cue from the House Election Integrity Caucus and focus on priorities that actually enhance the security and transparency of our elections. We should take up my bill to ban Zuckerbucks, hold states accountable for their failure to retain records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, stop President Biden from implementing an overreaching Executive Order turning federal agencies into partisan voting operations, and provide states with tools and resources to boost election security. My Votes Explained I'm committed to restoring transparency to government, which is why I explain every vote I take on the House floor. While we may not always agree, you will always know where I stand on the issues and how I vote in Congress. To read more about my votes this week, please click here. I voted “Yes” on H.R. 6448, the Invest to Protect Act. We have countless small police departments across upstate New York that suffer from a lack of resources and an inability to attract and retain officers. These problems have been driven by bad policies in Albany like cashless bail as well as the radical Defund the Police movement. This bill creates a new grant program at the Department of Justice (DOJ) focused on improving the recruitment and retention of local law enforcement officers and providing expanded training and access to mental health resources. To be eligible, law enforcement agencies must employ fewer than 125 officers, a threshold that will cover more than 95 percent of police departments in the country and the vast majority of police departments in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. All grants awarded as part of this new program are subject to strict audit by the DOJ Inspector General, and the bill mandates reimbursement for any unauthorized use of funds. This federal program will build on other successful programs like it that have provided much-needed resources to local police and fire departments, including the SAFER grant program. It will ensure that our police departments and communities do not continue to suffer as a result of the far-left Defund the Police movement. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 360-64. I voted “No” on H.R. 8542, the Mental Health Justice Act. This legislationis unfortunately yet another part of the Democrats' anti-police agenda, which attempts to reimagine law enforcement in the United States as we know it in a way that will make our communities less safe. As crime skyrockets in communities across the country, this bill provides no further resources for law enforcement but instead looks to replace police with individuals who are less equipped to address the immediate threat of violent crime. We absolutely must continue to invest in mental health services, but this bill falls short by deemphasizing the need to expand the presence of law enforcement officers in our communities and by including requirements that could actually encourage failed policies like cashless bail, which has wreaked complete havoc throughout New York. Mental health professionals are absolutely part of the answer when it comes to expanding services to mentally ill individuals, and they should work alongside police, instead of replacing them as this bill would encourage. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 223-206. I voted “No” on H.R. 4118, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act. This bill would award new grants to community organizers instead of focusing resources on funding police. Unfortunately, H.R. 4118 is another example of Democrats attempting to radically reconfigure how law enforcement operates across the country in a manner that will not make our communities safer. The new office of Community Violence Prevention and grant program created by the bill will have an enormous budget of $700 million per year but are based on a funding model that has failed in countless communities already. Overall, this legislation’s high price tag and embrace of failed policies is ill-conceived and not the best use of taxpayer funds at a time of high crime. Instead, we should be focused on targeted measures that support law enforcement. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote 220-207. I voted “No” on H.R. 5768, the VICTIM Act. It is important that law enforcement has the resources it needs to investigate all crimes so they can hold all criminals accountable. Unfortunately, after decades of disinvestment in several cities, many departments now have a large backlog of unsolved cases and untested rape kits. This problem requires a comprehensive solution starting with states and local governments to break the cycle rather than throwing more federal taxpayer money at the problem. Unfortunately, this bill fails to require states to make necessary and long-term changes that would reduce backlogs over time and instead funds a system that is clearing already falling short, simply perpetuating a problem rather than solving it. Republican amendments that were offered to make this bill more accountable to the taxpayers were regrettably rejected by Democrats. While this legislation may be well-intentioned, at a cost of $1 billion over the next ten years, it fails to make the kind of systemic changes we need to correct the very issues that led to the problems in the first place. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 250-178. I voted “No” on H.R. 8873, the Presidential Election Reform Act. The partisan Presidential Election Reform Act is the latest attempt from House Democrats to stack the democratic process in their favor. House Democrats rushed this bill through the House of Representatives in a highly partisan manner without any legitimate input from Republicans. The bill text was introduced only days before tonight’s vote, and the bill never received a bipartisan hearing or markup in the committee of jurisdiction. The reason this bill did not go through the legislative process is because it is not a serious attempt to legislate by House Democrats. It is nothing more than a partisan messaging bill intended to score cheap political points weeks before an election. Not only was this bill drafted with bad intentions, but it is also poor policy. The bill broadly defines a ‘catastrophic event,’ which could be used to extend balloting for up to five days after the polls close in a presidential election. It also tramples on the core principle of state sovereignty and directly contradicts the United States Constitution. The legislation also creates broad private rights of action in a backdoor effort to empower Democrat election lawyers and partisan operatives. If the Democrat majority in the House was serious about election integrity, it would take a cue from the House Election Integrity Caucus and focus on priorities that actually enhance the security and transparency of our elections. We should take up my bill to ban Zuckerbucks, hold states accountable for their failure to retain records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, stop President Biden from implementing an overreaching Executive Order turning federal agencies into partisan voting operations, and provide states with tools and resources to boost election security. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 229-203. I voted “No” on S. 1098, the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act. This bill would allow a currently or previously married couple to apply to have a joint consolidated loan split into two separate Federal Direct Loans, creating a new authority for the Department of Education to separate joint consolidation loans. S. 1098 passed the Senate by unanimous consent in June with the intent to allow for joint consolidated loans to be separated. However, since its passage in the Senate, the Biden Administration has used an emergency declaration to unconstitutionally cancel student loan debts, costing taxpayers as much as $1 trillion. House Republicans support efforts for joint borrowers to separate their loans in an expeditious manner, but this legislation goes beyond that by giving the Education Secretary broadened power for additional loan forgiveness under President Biden’s unconstitutional student loan forgiveness policy, completely bypassing congressional approval. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 232-193. I voted “Yes” on S. 2490, the Blackwell School National Historic Site Act. This bill would establish the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Texas as a unit of the National Park System (NPS). This would preserve, protect, and interpret for the benefit of present and future generations the Blackwell School, its role as both an academic and cultural cornerstone in Marfa, TX, and its function within a segregated education system from 1885-1965. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 414-12. I voted “No” on H.R. 1456, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2022, as amended. This bill reauthorizes the Peace Corps through FY24 and boosts volunteers’ worker’s compensation benefits and readjustment benefits. I had concerns regarding this bill that were unfortunately not addressed in the amendment process. First, the bill would increase some benefits given to Peace Corps volunteers, while other federal volunteer positions are not set receive any increase at all. Further, this benefit raise is so large that the benefits of some in the federal workforce would be less than Peace Corps volunteers’ benefits, raising serious cost and fairness concerns at a time of record-high inflation. Additionally, this bill does not sufficiently address the sexual assault risks that exist for Peace Corps volunteers serving abroad, which is something that should have been addressed in this reauthorization. I support the Peace Corps program, but could not support this bill’s final passage in its current form. I look forward to the Senate modifying these concerns to improve the legislation and is works its way through the legislative process. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 290-125. I voted “Yes” on S.3157, the Bridging the Gap for New Americans Act. This bill will mandate a study on barriers to employment for naturalized U.S. citizens and non-Americans who are all legally in the country and have work authorizations. It is important that those who are here legally and can work are able to support themselves and contribute to our society instead of relying on federal assistance. This bill passed the House by a vote of 363-52. I voted “Yes” on S. 3895, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2022. This bill reauthorizes the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom through FY24. Freedom of religion is a cherished right and this important commission works to promote this right globally. This bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 402-4. Share Your Concerns on the Proposed Farm Labor Overtime Wage Threshold Today The New York state Labor Commissioner, Roberta Reardon, is considering a proposal from the state Farm Labor Wage Board that would lower the overtime wage threshold for farm laborers from 60 hours to 40 hours per week. Farmers and farm workers agree: lowering the farm laborer overtime wage threshold from 60 to 40 hours per week is a bad idea and would devastate our state's agriculture industry. I've been standing up against this disastrous policy, and now there is another opportunity for you to make your voice heard. Email any objections you may have to [email protected] by September 26th! Don't forget: No farms, no food. Don't Forget to Sign Up for Academy Night! Next week, I will join Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Reps. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) and John Katko (NY-24) to host the annual Academy Night virtually. The session is open to any high school student in New York’s 22nd District who is interested in learning more about the United States Service Academies and the congressional nomination process. This event is a unique chance for interested high school students to speak directly with representatives from each of the five U.S. Service Academies, which include the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, as well as from the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). During the virtual session, you can learn more about opportunities available at each institution. Each year, I can nominate a limited number of students to four of the five service academies. Students who are accepted make a commitment to serve in the military for a minimum of five years upon graduation. Academy Night is open to all high school students in grades 9 through 12 who reside in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. Their families and school officials are also welcome to participate. Anyone interested in attending should register for the event here. What: Virtual Academy Night When: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 Time: 6:00pm Where: Virtual, RSVP is required Anyone with questions should contact my Utica District Office at 315-732-0713. More information about the Service Academy Nomination process can be found on my website here. RSVP today! September Mobile Office Hours This past week, my team hosted mobile office hours in Oswego County. Next week, my team of expert caseworkers will be in Chenango County at the Afton Town Hall in Afton, New York. This is an opportunity for constituents to connect with caseworkers for assistance dealing with a federal agency. If you are interested in attending an in-person mobile office hour session, you are highly encouraged to schedule your appointment in advance by contacting either my Binghamton District Office at 607-242-0200 or the Utica District Office at 315-732-0713. Scheduling your appointment in advance will provide a more expedited casework experience and ensure every constituent is able to receive the help they need. Concerns Regarding Proposed NYSEG Rate Hikes Recently, I have heard from many constituents who are concerned by the proposed rate hikes for New York State Energy and Gas (NYSEG) customers. I share these concerns, especially considering the harmful impacts that already-rising inflation and energy prices are having on our communities. That's why I wanted to share that public hearings are ongoing if you would like to share your thoughts and concerns. The hearings will be held on September 28 and October 18 at 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM hearings on each day. If you would like to share a comment, then you must pre-register by 4:30 PM the day before by calling 1-800-342-3330. 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]