• Health Care
• Environment
• Appropriations
• Crime
• Defense
• Economy/Jobs
• Education
• Energy & Gas Prices
• Fisheries
• Foreign Affairs

• Housing
• Judiciary
• Labor
• New Jersey Specific Issues
• Seniors' Issues
• Surface Transportation Reauthorization
• Water Resources Development Act
• Women and Children
• Veterans

Health Care

• Authored legislation to renew the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which will provide health care coverage for 11 million children; four million more than currently covered under CHIP. After two years of working to strengthen the program, the legislation was signed into law by President Obama in February 2009.
  
  
• Held five hearings and two legislative hearings in my Health Subcommittee on health care reform and worked with the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor to craft comprehensive legislation that will reform our nation's broken health care system. The House is expected to pass the America's Affordable Health Choices Act later this year.
  
  
• Successfully spearheaded efforts to ensure adequate funding for Community Health Centers. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided 1,128 CHC's across the country with $338 million to expand services and provide care to an additional 2 million people, creating 6,400 new health center jobs. The Recovery Act also provided $155 million to establish 126 new centers, providing access to health care for 750,000 people in 39 states and creating 5,500 new jobs.
  
  
• Successfully moved through my Health subcommittee the Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which provides the Food and Drug Administration with the authority to appropriately regulate tobacco products and restrict tobacco product marketing. The legislation was signed into law by President Obama in June 2009.
  
  
• Conducted a legislative hearing in my Health Subcommittee on 9/11 health care issues to discuss medical monitoring and treatment of 9/11 health effects. The hearing has moved us one step closer to marking up this important legislation. Nearly one in five responders to the attacks on the World Trade Center experiences respiratory or gastrointestinal illnesses as a result of their exposure to toxins.
  
  
• Held a hearing in my subcommittee to examine the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of medical devices. The hearing examined whether additional regulatory steps are necessary to ensure the safety, effectiveness and quality control of medical devices such as x-rays, pacemakers, and heart valves.
  
  
• Successfully moved through my subcommittee legislation to improve food safety regulations. The bill places a strong emphasis on prevention of food borne illnesses and shifts the responsibility for food safety onto those who actually make the food.  It also provides the FDA with the necessary resources and enforcement authorities to ensure that all companies are in compliance with the new requirements. 
  
  
• Successfully spearheaded efforts to increase Medicaid assistance for cash-strapped states, like New Jersey, so they can continue to provide health care coverage to its low-income residents. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $82 billion in additional federal matching funds to states for Medicaid.
  
  
• Introduced legislation reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to improve access to quality medical care for nearly two million American Indians and Alaska Natives and correct the inequities these communities experience.
  
  
• Held an emergency hearing in my subcommittee to examine the outbreak of the H1N1 flu and subsequent steps for federal response at the Department of Health and Human Services.  Following initial reports of the outbreak, health officials were tasked with determining the threat to the public health and potential treatments. The hearing served as a public forum for citizens to hear from front line leaders regarding strategies to protect American lives.
  
  
• Introduced legislation that confronts public health threats by investing in the veterinary workforce. The Veterinary Public Health Education and Workforce Act creates new programs for training veterinarians and offers additional federal support for them to protect the public health. 
  
  
• Introduced the CLASS Act, which creates a new voluntary insurance program to help people finance long-term care services and support. The legislation would help people with functional disabilities remain independent and in their communities.
  
  
• Introduced legislation to determine the causes of stillbirth and Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), increase education, raise awareness about how to prevent future tragedies and expand support services for families.
  
  
• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided a 65 percent subsidy of premiums for continued health care coverage under COBRA for individuals who lost their jobs between September 2008 and December 2009.

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Environment

• Introduced the COAST Anti-Drilling Act, which places a permanent ban on offshore drilling off the Jersey Shore and all North and Mid-Atlantic states from Maine to Virginia. Former President Bush lifted the moratorium that had been in place since 1990 before leaving office in 2008.
  
  
• Introduced the Toxic Right to Know Protection Act to undo Environmental Protection Agency regulations that weaken toxic reporting requirements that have been in place for nearly two decades. The legislation would ensure communities once again know what, if any, toxic chemicals are being dumped in their neighborhoods. On March 11, 2009, President Obama signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which undoes changes that seriously undermine the Toxics Release Inventory, a tool that has given communities access to what toxic chemicals are being released from nearby plants and refineries.
  
  
• Introduced the BEACH Act reauthorization, which requires tough new water quality testing and public notification standards so beachgoers are better informed about the safety of their beaches. The legislation passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in June 2009.
  
  
• Introduced the Superfund Polluter Pays Act to clean up Superfund sites across the country and reinstate the polluter pays tax so polluters, not taxpayers, foot the bill for the cleanup. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $600 million for the clean up of these sites. Funds will jumpstart local economies by creating jobs and will keep communities protected from these toxic sites.
  
  
• Introduced the Clean Water Protection Act to prohibit the dumping of industrial waste into rivers and streams.
  
  
• Introduced the Medical Waste Management Act of 2009 to protect our shores and beachgoers from the dumping of medical waste. The bill sets a uniform tracking system for medical waste and sets standards for the handling, disposal and treatment of this waste.

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Appropriations

Below are my Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations' Requests listed under the following Appropriations' bills:

• Agriculture
• Commerce, Justice, Science
• Defense
• Energy and Water
• Homeland Security
• Interior and Environment
• Labor, HHS, Education
• Transportation, HUD

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Crime

• Supported the COPS Program to put an additional 50,000 police officers on the streets across the country. The legislation authorized $1.8 billion a year in COPS Grants over the next five years.
  
  
• Supported the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that gives law enforcement the resources they need to prevent and prosecute hate crimes against Americans because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, as well as because of their race, color, religion or national origin. The legislation was passed by the House in April 2009.

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Defense

• Supported legislation that cracks down on Pentagon waste and cost overruns by dramatically beefing up oversight of weapons acquisition, promoting greater use of competition and curbing conflicts of interest. The legislation was signed into law by President Obama in May 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

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Economy/Jobs

• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in February 2009. The Recovery Act has already begun to jumpstart our economy, create and save 3.5 million jobs, give 95 percent of American workers a tax cut and begin to rebuild America's road, rail and water infrastructure with unprecedented accountability measures and a historic degree of transparency.
  
  
• Supported tax breaks, market enhancements and strong lending programs for small businesses in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will help foster job creation, restart lending, and invest in the American Dream. Small businesses are the heart of the American economy, employing half our country's workers and creating the most new jobs every year.
  
  
• Supported legislation that strengthened oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The legislation expanded the authority of the TARP Special Inspector General to help ensure that taxpayers' funds are effectively used to get credit flowing to businesses and families.
  
  
• Supported the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget, which reflects President Obama's plan to get the economy moving again by cutting taxes for middle-income families by $1.5 trillion and creating jobs with targeted investments in healthcare, clean energy and education, while cutting the deficit by nearly two-thirds by 2013.
  
  
• Supported the Fight Fraud Act, which was signed into law in May 2009. The legislation provides tools for prosecuting the mortgage scams and corporate frauds that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The law also creates an outside commission to examine its causes.
  
  
• Supported the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights, which was signed into law in May 2009. The law provides tough new protections for consumers by banning unfair rate increases, abusive fees and penalties - such as retroactive rate hikes on existing balances and double-cycling billing - giving consumers clear information and strengthening enforcement.
  
  
• Supported legislation that prohibits unreasonable or excessive compensation and non-performance based bonuses for executives at companies receiving TARP funds, in order to stabilize our financial system.

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Education

• Supported the Green Schools Modernization Act, which provides critical investments to modernize, renovate and repair school facilities across the country, while encouraging energy efficiency and creating nearly 140,000 new jobs. The legislation passed the House in May 2009.
  
  
• Supported the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in April 2009. The national service bill dramatically increases the size of the AmeriCorps service program over the next eight years, expands ways for students to earn money for college and creates opportunities for all Americans to serve in communities.
  
  
• Supported increasing funding for Head Start, the early education and child development program for four and five year olds. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $1 billion, which will allow the program to serve an additional 16,600 children and will include upgrades to centers and classrooms, increase hours of operation and enhance transportation.
  
  
• Supported increasing funding for Early Head Start, a child development program for infants and toddlers ages newborn to three. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $1.1 billion, which will allow for the expansion of the program, serving 55,000 more pregnant women, infants and toddlers and nearly doubling the number of participants.
  
  
• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided $44 billion in federal funds to the Department of Education. This funding paves the way for families to pay for college by boosting federal student aid through increasing Pell Grants scholarships by $500 to $5,350 for 2009 and 2010. The funding also extends work study programs for an additional 133,000 of our nation's students.

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Energy and Gas Prices

• As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, worked with members to craft and pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, legislation that will transform our economy for decades to come, while saving the planet in the process. The legislation, passed by the House in June, will create millions of clean energy jobs, reduce our dependence on costly foreign oil, and retool American industry to curb pollution.
  
  
• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided several important energy provisions, including:
  • $4 billion in smart grid initiatives to help implement technologies aimed at transforming how electricity providers operate their systems, offer options for increased energy storage and accelerate the integration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power;
    
    
• $6 billion to accelerate environmental cleanups and create thousands of jobs;
  
  
• $3.2 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Programs that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions and improve energy efficiency nationwide; and
  
  
• $5 billion for Weatherization Grants that will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades.

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Fisheries

• Introduced legislation that will bring much-needed flexibility to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2007. Under this Act, fishery rebuilding plans must meet a rigid 10-year deadline to rebuild fishing stocks to unprecedented levels. This timetable has led to consistent cuts to some fisheries, including summer flounder that hurts fishing communities economically. The flexibility called for in this legislation is needed so that unrealistic quotas are not implemented to the detriment of our fisherman.
  
  
• Introduced legislation that would prohibit the commercial harvesting of Atlantic Striped Bass in the coastal waters and the exclusive economic zone of the U.S. in order to enable coastal populations to return to historical abundances.

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Foreign Affairs

• Original co-sponsor of a resolution commemorating the 94th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  The resolution affirms US commitment to human rights by recognizing the first genocide of the 20th century.
  
  
• Supports a reunified Cyprus into a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation.  Multiple United Nations' resolutions have been adopted regarding Cyprus calling for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the island and the return of refugees to their homes. Negotiations between the Greek and Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities are currently underway.
  
  
• Co-sponsored H.R. 2261, a bill that designates Greece as a visa waiver country under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
  
  
• Lead a 27-member letter to Dow Chemical Company, the parent company of Union Carbide, urging the company to bear the responsibility for the chemical disaster in Bhopal, India.  The worst industrial disaster in history struck 25 years ago poisoning hundreds of thousands of people and killing thousands.  The Bhopal disaster continues to have a devastating impact on the people and the environment today. The letter requests that Dow ensures that a representative appear in the ongoing legal cases in India regarding Bhopal.

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Housing

• Supported the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act to stop predatory and irresponsible mortgage loan practices that played a major role in the current financial meltdown. The legislation will help ensure that the mortgage industry follows basic principles of sound lending and consumer protection.
  
  
• Supported the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which was signed into law in May 2009. The legislation builds on the President's housing initiative to provide significant incentives to lenders, servicers and homeowners to work together to modify loans and avoid foreclosures, which cost families their homes every 13 seconds in America.
  
  
• Supported increasing funds for Section 8 project-based housing, including the renewal of all expiring Section 8 contracts. The 2009 budget included $8.1 billion for Section 8 housing, an increase of $1 billion from the 2008 level.
  
  
• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included funding to help rebuild communities hit hard by the housing crisis:

• $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers;
  
  
• $4 billion for Public Housing grants, which are used to make key improvements to public housing units across the country;
  
  
• $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants, which will enable state and local governments to undertake a wide range of activities intended to create suitable living environments, provide affordable housing and create economic opportunities; and
  
  
• $2 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization Grants, which will be made available to states, local governments and non profit housing developers to combat the effects of home foreclosures. The funds can be used to acquire land and property, demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties and/or offer down payment and closing cost assistance to low and middle income homebuyers.

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Judiciary

• Introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Justice to meet a set of guidelines before entering into deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and would require critical independent oversight that is currently nonexistent. DPAs are increasingly being used by the Justice Department and its U.S. Attorneys to address corporate wrongdoing and corruption. These agreements replace the normal route of federal prosecution and require a potential defendant to meet certain conditions over a set period of time in order to prevent criminal charges.

 

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Labor

• Co-sponsored the Employee Free Choice Act, which establishes fairness in the workplace by providing America's workers with a free choice to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
  
  
• Supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which rectifies the Supreme Court decision of Ledbetter v. Goodyear that made it much more difficult for workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. Ledbetter v. Goodyear granted employers protection from lawsuits over race or gender pay discrimination if the claims are based on decisions made by the employer 180 days ago or more.
  
  
• Co-sponsored the TRADE Act, which requires a review of key existing trade pacts, including NAFTA, the WTO and CAFTA and sets forth what must not be included in future trade pacts. It also provides for the renegotiation of existing trade agreements. The legislation describes key elements of a new trade negotiation and approval mechanism to replace Fast Track, which would enhance Congress' role in the formative aspects of agreements and promote future deals that could enjoy broad support among the American public.

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New Jersey Specific Issues

• Requested the National Park Service to provide a detailed update on the status of the lease agreement between Sandy Hook Partners (SHP) and Fort Hancock at the Gateway National Recreation Area's Sandy Hook Unit. The letter requested information regarding adequate proof of funds and possible termination of the lease agreement.
  
  
• Successfully acquired $400,000 in brownfields assessment grants for the City of Plainfield and $1 million to assess sites with hazardous substances and petroleum contamination.
  
  
• Successfully spearheaded efforts to provide funding for critical projects in New Jersey through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will continue important services, create jobs and improve infrastructure including:

• $34 million to support child care services for more New Jersey families whose children require care while they are working, seeking employment or receiving job training.
  
  
• Funding to create clean energy jobs, reduce energy bills and improve energy efficiency including $4.2 million for Monmouth County, $788,300 for Somerset County and $2.48 for Union County.
  
  
• Funding for Community Health Centers in Monmouth and Union County to expand services and provide quality health care to uninsured New Jerseyans including $212,301 for the Visiting Nurse's Association of Central New Jersey CHC in Asbury Park, $100,000 for the Monmouth Family Health Center in Long Branch, $435,677 for the Neighborhood Health Services Corporation Inc. in Plainfield and $298,466 for UMDNJ in New Brunswick.
  
  
• $11 million to expand the parking lot at the Edison Rail Station Park and Ride to provide greater access for commuters, boost ridership on NJ Transit and relieve clogged streets.
  
  
• Federal capital improvement grants for housing authorities in New Brunswick, South Amboy, Edison and Highland Park, which will rebuild and repair public housing units, create jobs and improve energy efficiency. The Plainfield Housing Authority received more than $1 million and the Franklin Housing Authority received $178,771 in Recovery Act funds.
  
  
• $5.9 million to provide funding for vaccines for uninsured and underinsured children in New Jersey.
  
  
• $335,000 for the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Park to install sustainable boardwalks, replace deteriorating structures, and repair walls, plazas and restroom facilities at six Sandy Hook Beach Centers.
  
  
• $2.7 million to provide nutritious meals to low-income senior citizens to help them maintain their health and independence. Currently, the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program for the Elderly delivers six million meals to 63,000 seniors each year in New Jersey. These funds will provide an additional 100,000 meals to seniors.
  
  
• Funding for Superfund sites in Marlboro and Sayreville including $10 to $25 million for the Imperial Oil site and up to $5 million for Horseshoe Road. The funds will be used to clean up environmental pollutants from these contaminated sites.
  
  
• $200,000 for the clean up of the brownfields site known as Lee Place in Plainfield.

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Seniors' Issues

• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included $250 for every social security recipient and senior citizen to help them mitigate the effects of the current economic recession.
  
  
• Original author of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act, which strengthens health care for millions of Americans, including seniors on Medicare. Among other things, the bill will close the Medicare Part D donut hole and lower drug costs to make prescription drugs more affordable.

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Surface Transportation Reauthorization
Every 5 years, Congress works to enact a new surface transportation reauthorization bill, which governs United States federal surface transportation spending. The majority of the jurisdiction of the bill is investments in highways and public transit. Each member is responsible for submitting high priority projects from his or her Congressional district for inclusion in the legislation. To view the projects I have submitted for inclusion in the upcoming bill, please click here.

 

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Veterans

• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included $250 for every disabled veteran to help mitigate the effects of the current economy.
  
  
• Supported dramatically increases funding for VA health care. This increase, included in the FY 2009 budget, will provide adequate resources to give 5.5 million veteran patients timely and high quality care. This funding also enables VA to create Centers of Excellence and provides additional veteran-oriented specialty care in areas including prosthetics, aging

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Women and Children

• Supported providing $2 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants so states will be able to provide child care assistance for an additional 300,000 children in low-income working families who have been hit hard by the economic crisis. The funding, including in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will also create work for an estimated 125,000 caregivers.
  
  
• Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided $300 million for Childhood Immunization Programs to help ensure that more underserved American children receive the vaccines they need.

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