Memorial Day: Honoring Sacrifices that Protect our Families

Why Benghazi Matters

Making Student Loans More Affordable for New Jersey’s Families

Keystone Pipeline: American Jobs, Investment, Replacing MidEast Oil

By the Numbers: The Keystone Pipeline

This Week’s Salute: Distinguished Service Medals for Area Veterans

Memorial Day: Honoring Sacrifices that Protect our Families

“Residents of Morris, Essex, Passaic and Sussex counties will gather in their hometowns this weekend to remember our unbroken line of heroes stretching back to the days when General George Washington encamped at nearby Jockey Hollow.  

“Since the founding of the Republic, the sons and daughters of New Jersey have always stepped forward to serve. And from the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq, to the Korean and Vietnam wars, to the trials of World Wars, to the struggles that made us a nation, their names remind us that ‘freedom is not free’ and liberty is always the achievement of courage.

“As we gather on Memorial Day 2013, it bears repeating: we are still a nation at war.  Our thoughts rightly turn to the sacrifices of those men and women, and their families, who serve our nation with honor in our Armed Forces.  Our prayers are also with those recuperating from wounds of war and veterans suffering the effects of their service. 

“This weekend, we honor the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  

“May we stay forever grateful!”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended Reading: Read Rodney’s Op Ed piece in the Tuesday Bergen Record, “Why we are pursuing a Benghazi probe.”

Making Student Loans More Affordable for New Jersey’s Families

Unless a long-term solution is enacted, millions of student loan borrowers will see their interest rates double on July 1, 2013.

To prevent this interest rate “cliff,” the House yesterday passed the Smarter Solutions for Students Act (H.R. 1911), legislation that mirrors the President’s own proposal to tie student loan interest rates to market rates. 

Student loan interest rates used to be based on the free market. But several years ago, Washington politicians put themselves in charge of setting student loan interest rates.  In 2002, Congress decided a fixed interest rate set at 6.8 percent would be a better deal for borrowers in the long-run, and despite objections, this fixed interest rate went into effect on July 1, 2006.  In recent years, Congress dropped the rate to as low as 3.1 percent. However, under subsequent legislation, interest rates were scheduled to jump back up to 6.8 percent on July 1. 

President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget included a proposal to move to a market-based interest rate, signaling a growing consensus that this approach is the better solution for students, families, and taxpayers.

“When families sit around the kitchen table to figure out how to pay for their children’s college education, student loans are a major part of the discussion,” Rodney said.  “The Smarter Solutions for Students Act assists both students and taxpayers by taking the politics out of student loans by moving them to a market-based rate. This will let students take advantage of lower rates, when available, eliminate uncertainty over whether Congress will change rates, and provide some stability for borrowers.”

Keystone Pipeline: American Jobs, Investment, Replacing Middle East Oil

Rodney voted once again Wednesday to advance the Keystone Pipeline project, a $7 billion private-sector infrastructure project that will bring thousands of jobs and greater energy security to America.  This significant jobs and energy project has been tied up in regulatory review for over four years.

“Construction of the Keystone Pipeline is an economic ‘slam dunk’ for America,” Rodney said.  "In one fell swoop, we bring $7 billion in investment to the United States, create 20,000 construction jobs and reduce our dangerous dependency on Middle Eastern oil.”

While President Obama has not yet approved the project, even with the Presidential Permit, construction of the pipeline will likely be further delayed due to additional regulatory hurdles and legal challenges. To clear away the roadblocks preventing construction of the pipeline, the House approved H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act.

The pipeline, if fully constructed, would be able to carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day, bringing supplies from the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada, as well as U.S. crude from the Bakken oil fields being developed in North Dakota and Montana.

By the Numbers: The Keystone Pipeline

1,700: The number of miles the pipeline will stretch from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast.

830,000: The number of barrels of oil the Department of Energy estimates the Keystone XL pipeline would be able to move per day. This represents about half the amount the U.S. imports from the Middle East.

20,000: The number of jobs TransCanada estimates will be directly created by the pipeline’s construction.

$7 billion: The amount TransCanada estimates it will invest in the U.S. to build the pipeline.

Recommended Reading:  James Woolsey and Peter Vincent Pry, writing in the Tuesday Wall Street Journal, “How North Korea Could Cripple the United States.”

This Week’s Salute: Distinguished Service Medals for Area Veterans

Rodney was on hand this afternoon as 14 veterans received the Morris County Distinguished Military Service Medal at the Morris County Memorial Day ceremonies:

Navy veterans Philip J. Gigante and John D. Callahan of Montville and John D. Reed Sr. of Hackettstown;

Army veterans Rod Ridolfo of Montville; William Muse of Budd Lake; Anthony F. Semiz of Hopatcong; Joseph James DeMaux of Riverdale; James Francis Nocera of Succasunna; Arnold Hokins of Franklin; and John J. Nataluk of Rockaway;

Marine veterans Richard Porzig of Mountain Lakes and Hunter C. Alarcon of Flanders;

Air Force veteran Charles D. Ferry II of Montville;

Nancie Bozza will accept a posthumous medal on behalf of her husband, Eugene Bozza of Rockaway.

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