In this week's edition of e-news...

Commissary Groundbreaking
Rally For SWPA Jobs, Clean Coal
Murphy’s Expo Encourages Seniors To Make Health A Priority
Local Manufacturing in the Spotlight

Rep. Murphy in the News: Don’t miss Congressman Murphy’s editorial about why increased government transparency and accountability will help lawmakers cut spending in The Daily Caller.

Commissary Groundbreaking

Members of the Southwestern Pennsylvania military community, residents and neighbors joined Congressman Murphy to celebrate groundbreaking for the new military commissary in Moon Township at a ceremony on Friday morning.

The groundbreaking comes after six years of determined efforts by Murphy to secure funding and the required approvals to build a replacement facility for the store located on the grounds of the closed Charles E. Kelly Support Facility in Collier.  

“Our new commissary has been six years in the making, but is well worth the wait for the 168,000 veterans, reservists, and active-duty soldiers in our region who’ve given so much in service to our country,” Congressman Murphy said. “This commissary will help them make ends meet on tight budgets. I’m honored and humbled to have worked on their behalf to see this commissary become a reality.”

Breaking ground for construction on commissary

In 2005, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) identified the Charles E. Kelly Support Facility (CEKSF) in Oakdale for closure. Closing the facility meant all those eligible military personnel and veterans in Southwestern Pennsylvania would lose access to the commissary, post exchange, and military clothing sales store they had come to rely on.

Rep. Murphy worked to include language in the BRAC report to delay a decision, then secured funding needed to build a new 40,000 square foot store in Moon Township. In December 2011, Murphy announced that the Department of Defense formally cleared, through a decisive memo that construction of a new commissary in Moon Township could move forward without any further legislative action.

Commissaries provide access to discounted groceries to military personnel, retirees, and their families. Authorized patrons can purchase items at cost plus a five percent surcharge (to cover the expenses of operating, modernizing, and building commissaries). Families save an average of more than thirty percent on purchases compared to commercial prices, which can amount to thousands of dollars saved annually for our service members.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on the new commissary, please click here.

Rally For SWPA Jobs, Clean Coal

With gas prices once again on the rise and more coal projects shutting down, Congressman Murphy outlined the need for an energy policy that takes full advantage of our energy resources, especially those in Southwestern Pennsylvania, during Friday afternoon’s Coal Summit and ‘Rally For Jobs’ in Pittsburgh.

Prior to the rally, Congressman Murphy joined a bipartisan group of workers, tradesmen, industry leaders, and lawmakers for a summit to discuss a bipartisan effort to save coal jobs, the future of Pennsylvania’s clean coal technologies, and the excessive regulatory barriers hindering job growth in the local energy economy.

Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is pursing more than 148 non-health related regulations impacting coal. Utility companies are preparing to retire nearly 10 percent of the nation’s coal power, and swift action will need to be taken to prevent blackouts and service disruptions predicted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

Panel discussion at Summit to save SWPA Coal jobs

“Coal doesn’t just mean jobs for miners and utility workers,” said Rep. Murphy. “It’s the railroaders, truck drivers and barge operators who ship coal to the mills and plants. It’s the workers who make the conveyor belts, respirator masks, machines, and bulldozers, and the millions of men and women in factories dependent on affordable electricity. Jobs in all sectors are in peril.”

As co-chair of the Natural Gas Caucus and Vice Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment and the Economy, Rep. Murphy has supported numerous bills to block excessive regulations, open up our domestic energy production, and create jobs. The Congressman introduced the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act (H.R. 1861) last May, which would dramatically expand safe offshore oil and gas exploration, creates over a million new jobs annually and launches eight trillion dollars in economic output. The bill also provides for investments in clean-coal technology.

“If energy prices continue to rise, families will be spending the bulk of their paychecks on gas and electricity bills,” said Congressman Murphy. “With record unemployment and foreclosures at an all-time high, Southwestern Pennsylvanian’s can’t afford these extra burdens. Our region is lucky to have the tools we need at our disposal, but we must utilize them.”

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on the relationship between Southwestern Pennsylvania’s economy and coal, please click here.

Murphy’s Expo Encourages Seniors To Make Health A Priority

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s seniors had access to health screenings, Medicare counseling, and other valuable services on Thursday morning at Congressman Tim Murphy’s Senior Health Expo at the West Penn Allegheny Health System Outpatient Care Center in Peters Township.

"Protecting and preserving Medicare is a priority for me," said Murphy at Seniors Expo

Counselors and healthcare experts were on hand to offer hearing, vision, blood pressure and bone density screenings, as well as diabetes and nutritional counseling. Caseworkers from Congressman Murphy’s district offices also assisted residents who had questions or concerns related to Medicare, Social Security, Veterans, or other federal agency issues.

Congressman Murphy also fielded questions and concerns from seniors about the future of Medicare and Social Security at the event and discussed his plans to permanently save and strengthen Medicare. In the 112th Congress, Rep. Murphy authored the Social Security and Medicare Protection Act (H.R. 1630) to stop Congress and the Administration from raiding the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds to spend on earmarks and other government programs.

The Congressman also authored legislation (H.R. 3988), which was signed into law, that expands access to affordable generic medications. Rep. Murphy’s bill is expected to reduce senior citizen’s healthcare costs by hundreds of millions of dollars through access to more life-saving generics.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on Social Security and Medicare, please click here.

Local Manufacturing in the Spotlight

Since 1980, America’s share of gross domestic product from manufacturing has shrunk from almost 25 percent to only about 12 percent today. In the last decade alone, the United States lost five million manufacturing jobs. Many of those jobs have been lost in Southwestern Pennsylvania where manufacturers have faced an onslaught of unfair trade practices by foreign countries, but also barriers like higher energy costs, regulatory burdens, and an arcane tax code. And yet, the region has numerous assets that make it poised for a manufacturing comeback in part because of the skill and ingenuity of its workforce.

On Thursday, Murphy met with local business owners and employers from Ductmate Industries in Charleroi to discuss the region’s manufacturing strengths and concerns over taxes, paperwork requirements, and excessive regulations and red tape.

Ductmate Industries is one of the largest heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) accessories manufacturers in North America, selling products to over 400 distributors throughout the U.S. and globally. The company designs and produces HVAC connectors, doors, sealants and support systems. Besides their reputation as a leader in the manufacturing sector, Ductmate has long-been a pioneer in helping factories and building owners reduce electric bills through energy efficiency enhancements.

Rep Murphy talks to employees before plant tour at Charleroi's Ductmate Industries

Over the years, Ductmate has provided well-paying, skilled jobs to the Southwestern Pennsylvania community, while retrofitting its own Mon Valley plant to ensure maximum energy efficiency. With these upgrades, Ductmate was able to invest more money into their business and hire extra employees. Deep concern was expressed to Murphy about the financial impact of the healthcare law on the business, including the increased rules and regulations on how they do business.

The conversation continued during a meeting with Mon Valley, Rostraver, Westmoreland and Washington and Mon-Yough Chamber of Commerce members on Thursday evening in Belle Vernon. Of the many Chamber of Commerce attendees participating, most all wanted to talk about the impact of the new law on business operations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires small business to offer government-qualified health insurance by 2014 or begin paying penalties. With these new rules, it has been estimated that the labor force will be reduced by at least 800,000.  

Rep. Murphy has sought to repeal the ACA and advance real healthcare reform to lower costs and save lives, such as his Prescription drug bill, which was recently signed into law. The bill will make more life-saving generic medications available for seniors by clearing a backlog of generic applications at the Food and Drug Administration.

To learn more about Rep. Murphy’s healthcare agenda, check out the latest edition of “Capitol Update,” which hit mailboxes this week.

To share your thoughts with Congressman Murphy on local manufacturing and small business, please click here.