The Week Just Passed: Keeping the Government Open for Business

An Unhappy Anniversary for the Keystone Pipeline

Rodney Checks on Local Superfund Sites

Listening Tour Continues Monday

New Jersey Librarians Visit Washington

Save the Date: Rodney’s Veterans Fair September 28

The Week Just Passed: Keeping the Government Open for Business

“While the nation’s media and the Beltway echo chamber repeat the partisan conventional wisdom, let’s be clear about the measure the House passed earlier today. 

“With the new fiscal year starting on October 1, the House, on a bipartisan basis, approved House Joint Resolution 31 which funds the operations of federal agencies into mid-December with the exception of those programs that implement the President’s new health care law! 

“Let me repeat: the so-called ‘Continuing Resolution’ funds the operations of federal agencies into mid-December with the exception of those programs that implement the President’s new health care law!

“Why? Because we feel it is important that Americans be able to count on the continued operation of their federal government.  But, we also feel that Obamacare should be stopped in its tracks.

“I have long supported reform to ensure that health care is more accessible and affordable for all.  However, despite its good intentions, most of the law is unworkable and unaffordable – it is driving up costs, jeopardizing seniors’ access to care, and making it harder for small businesses to hire. In particular, we’re seeing an exaggerated growth in part-time jobs and a loss of full-time jobs as companies cut employee hours to meet the law’s 30 hour per week threshold.

“It's not fair that the President is forcing his unworkable health care law onto millions of struggling Americans while he delays its effects on big businesses.

“President Obama recently said that our economy is ‘not yet where we need to be’ – a reality far too many New Jerseyans face every day at the doctor's office, the gas pump, the dinner table, and in the job market.

“I hope the President will enter into good faith negotiations with Congress in the weeks ahead to address the underlying economic problems that are harming job creation.  We can and should do that while keeping the government ‘open for business!’”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended Reading: Thom Shanker and Lauren D’Avolio, writing in the Thursday New York Times, “Former Defense Secretaries Criticize Obama on Syria.”

An Unhappy Anniversary for the Keystone Pipeline

It now has been five years since backers of the Keystone XL pipeline first submitted an application to the U.S. State Department to build this energy infrastructure project and bring jobs and greater energy security for the United States. Congress has demanded action -- how much longer will President Obama make us wait?

“Instead of saying ‘yes’ to thousands of jobs and greater energy security, the President has so far delayed and dodged a final decision,” said Rodney, the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. “Keystone remains an opportunity to help create a more secure energy future and lessen our dependence on Middle East oil.”

The House has now voted seven separate times to allow for construction of the pipeline, which an industry analysis estimates will create over 20,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs and carry nearly a million additional barrels per day of secure North American oil supplies to U.S. refineries.

Rodney Checks on Local Superfund Sites

Joined by the Administrator of Region II of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and senior officials of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Rodney this week continued his annual inspection of Superfund sites in the 11th Congressional District that are currently on the EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL).  New Jersey Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, Jr. also participated.

The tour visited the Radiation Technology site in Rockaway Township, the Mansfield Trail Dump in Byram with Mayor James Oscovitch and Councilmembers Scott Olson, Nisha Kash, Marie Raffay, Rockaway Township Wells, Rockaway Borough Well Field with Councilmembers Thomas Donofrio, Jay Willer and Borough Clerk Sheila Seifert and Caldwell Trucking with Fairfield Mayor James Gasparini and Township Administrator Joseph Catenaro.

At the Radiation Technology site in Rockaway Township, the EPA announced the removal of 70 drums found on the 260 acre site. 

“It is important for me to personally visit Superfund sites because there is a direct correlation between the attention we pay to these locations and the pace and progress of the clean-up,” said Frelinghuysen.  “New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state in the nation but considerable progress has been made.  Since 1980 when the Superfund program began, 33 sites in New Jersey have been removed from the National Priority List.”

Currently, 113 Superfund sites are located in New Jersey, including 9 in the 11^th Congressional District.  Since the Superfund program began in 1980, 33 sites in New Jersey have been removed from the National Priority List.

To read more about Rodney’s Superfund Tour, click here.

Recommended Reading: Profile and Interview with Brigadier General John J. McGuiness, Senior Commander, Picatinny Arsenal in the August 4 edition of Ground Combat Technology,“Munitions Mover.”

Rodney’s Listening Tour Continues Monday

Rodney will hold his public town hall meeting on Monday, September 23 in Verona. All area residents and interested citizens in the 11^th Congressional District are invited to attend.

The details of the meeting:

7:00 p.m.

Monday, September 23

Verona Community Center

880 Bloomfield Avenue, Verona 07044

“I hold public town meetings regularly to allow me to hear the voices of local residents,” Rodney said. “The topics are yours to choose.  The opinions are yours to give.”

Seating may be limited.  The facility is handicap-accessible. Constituent service staff will be available to address individual concerns. 

New Jersey Librarians Visit Washington

Over the years, Rodney has invited municipal librarians from the 11^th Congressional District to visit the Library of Congress and United States Capitol.

“These visits have provided a great opportunity to see the wonderful resources at the Library of Congress (LOC),” he said.  The visit traditionally includes a workshop at the LOC and an informative Capitol tour.  This trip also includes the National Book Fair, which opened today.

Earlier today, Rodney greeted librarians from Bloomfield, Caldwell, Chester, Dover, Fairfield, Florham Park, Lincoln Park, Montville, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany, Paterson, Randolph, Rockaway, Wayne, West Orange Library, and Montclair State University as they arrived on Capitol Hill.  The group also included Mary Chute, New Jersey State Librarian and John Shaw, Genealogist, New Jersey State Library.

Save the Date: Rodney’s Veterans Fair, Saturday September 28

Rodney is sponsoring a Veterans Fair on September 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Verona Community Center, 880 Bloomfield Avenue, Verona NJ 07044.

The event, co-hosted by the Township of Verona and the Cedar Grove Elks Veterans Service Committee, is designed to provide veterans – men and women - with assistance in finding jobs and housing, as well as making decisions about their future in a challenging economy.  Representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs, county and state veterans service officers and other organizations will be on hand, along with local businesses who have made hiring veterans a priority.

For more information, please contact Rodney’s Morristown office at 973-984-0711.

Transportation to the Veterans Fair:

Two daily NJ TRANSIT bus routes serve Verona.

• The #29 bus travels along Bloomfield Avenue through West Caldwell, Caldwell, Verona, Montclair, Glen Ridge & Bloomfield to Newark Penn Station.
• The #11 bus travels between Newark Penn Station and Willow brook Mall via Bloomfield & Pompton Aves.

Both buses operate seven days a week.

NJ TRANSIT buses are handicap-accessible: they “kneel” to lower the height of the first step and have lifts for riders who cannot use steps. Ask the bus driver for both services.