Last week, I joined Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and other conservation advocates at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey to commemorate the 50th anniversary of two of this country's most transformational conservation laws, the Wilderness Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act. The Wilderness Act provides some of the strongest land protections in the world by recognizing wilderness as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by humans, where humans ourselves are visitors who do not remain. The LWCF uses revenues generated 

from depleting resources, such as offshore oil and mineral extraction on federal lands, to preserve another resource, land itself. In fact, the Great Swamp Refuge was the first wilderness area within the Department of the Interior designated following the passage of the Wilderness Act (forest land under the US Department of Agriculture was designated earlier).

The LWCF and Wilderness Act are essential to safeguard our nation's most wild and beautiful areas, not simply to preserve beautiful scenery, but also to give nature the necessary resilience to sustain itself. In recent years it has been made increasingly clear that we really must have interlocking tracts of preserved land, or what ecologists call “emerald necklaces” (after Frederick Law Olmstead). To only protect isolated places is not enough for migrating species and even interacting plant communities, which must interrelate over long distances. There are still more links of the emerald necklace that we must put together.

Social Security Regulations

In June of 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibiting the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in states where it is legal was unconstitutional. 

While same-sex married couples have gained access to many federal benefits, the Department of Justice recently announced that these couples are eligible for Social Security spouse and survivor benefits only if they live in a state, like New Jersey, which recognizes gay marriage. In states like New Jersey, same-sex couples can secure their Social Security benefits the same way as other couples can. But equal rights should not depend on which state you reside in. That is why I am a cosponsor of the Social Security and Medicare Parity Act, legislation that would requires the Social Security Administration to recognize all legal marriage for the purpose of determining benefits. 

Helping You Pay For College

On September 23rd, I will be hosting a student aid workshop to help young people and their families learn about options for college. Representatives from Rutgers University’s financial aid office and the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA) will be making presentations about paying for higher educations in public, private, and two-year or four-year universities, and will be available to answer your questions. 

         Tuesday, September 23, 2014

         7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

         Plainfield Public Library

         800 Park Avenue

         Plainfield, NJ

Additionally, young women and men interested in attending one of America’s Service Academies must return a completed application to me by October 1, 2014, in order to be considered for one of my Academy nominations for the 2014/2015 year. For questions and additional information, please email Zainab Chaudary in my office at Zainab.Chaudary@mail.house.gov

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress