The Week Just Passed: American people expect us to work together

Sandy Flood Insurance Extension

Successful Frelinghuysen Veterans Fair in Verona

This Week’s Salute: Morristown Garden Club

Japan: New Views on a Nuclear Disaster

The Week Just Passed: American people expect us to work together

“Americans everywhere are grappling with the effects of the partial shutdown of our federal government, a situation that angers me and that I oppose.

“I want to be clear: I have voted for multiple measures that fully fund the operations of the federal government  in order to avoid the current shutdown.

“As someone who serves on a committee that is directly responsible for funding the federal government, the House Appropriations Committee, I am deeply disappointed that our historical, bipartisan committee efforts to fund the government on a timely basis, and to rein in Washington spending and overreach, have been circumvented.

“The American people deserve better. No one, the President, the Senate, nor the House Leadership, can continue to sit on the sidelines as inaction and paralysis stall an economic recovery and throw thousands of federal employees off the job!

“So how does this shutdown end?  First, everyone should stop the ‘finger-pointing’ and the ‘blame-game’ and then sit down for serious discussions to work toward real solutions.  It can be done.  It must be done.

“In this context, I have been appointed to a Conference Committee by the House Leadership to work with all parties to resolve this crisis.  We stand ready to begin bipartisan negotiations at any time on re-opening the government. 

“We must also focus on the larger issue of America’s debt crisis, reducing Washington spending, pro-growth tax reform and preserving and protecting Social Security and Medicare.

“Secondly, everyone knows that the House cannot resolve this immediate crisis alone.  Yet, the President has said he will not negotiate and the Senate Leadership says they will not talk.

“The American people expect us to work together.  As an ‘eternal optimist,’ I am hopeful that we can see more bipartisanship and compromise.  Our nation is counting on it!”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

For more information about Rodney’s appointment to the Government Operations Funding Conference Committee visit the following website:

http://majorityleader.gov/Conference/

Recommended Reading: Peggy Noonan presents an excellent column in the Friday Wall Street Journal, “To Lead Is to Negotiate. A veteran of shutdowns and divided government reflects on today's Washington.”

Recommended Reading:  Sarah Kliff, writing in the Thursday Washington Post, “The White House says people have bought Obamacare. We haven’t met them quite yet.”

Sandy Flood Insurance Extension

Responding to an appeal from Rodney and other members of Congress from the Northeast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced this week that it will extend for another six months the period for Sandy-impacted homeowners to file Proof of Loss forms, which are the first step in appealing a flood insurance settlement.

“Many families were going to be are unable to meet the FEMA deadline because they are still waiting for repair work to begin on their homes or only recently become aware of additional expenses as they start to repair and rebuild,” Rodney said. “This FEMA extension will aid in the rebuilding of our communities and our state.”

The window after previous natural disasters has never been longer than a year, so this extension is an unprecedented move. It comes after urgent requests from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Successful Frelinghuysen Veterans Fair in Verona

“Life should be simpler for members of the military after they leave active service and return home. But for many, the challenges continue.” 

That is the lead paragraph in a Verona-Cedar Grove Times article about the Veterans Fair organized last Saturday by Rodney and co-hosted last Saturday by the Township of Verona and the Cedar Grove Elks Veterans Service Committee.

The event was designed to provide veterans – men and women - with assistance in finding jobs, health care and housing, as well as making decisions about their future in a challenging economy.  90 people, including veterans, counselors and vendors, participated in the fair at the Verona Community Center.

Thanks to the Kearfott Corporation, Comfort Keepers, New Jersey Fallen Soldiers Foundation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs,  Veterans Crisis Line, Bloomfield Veterans Center, Halos for Angels, VA Transportation Network Foundation, Marotta Controls, Passaic County Office of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Chamber of Commerce, Montclair State University Veterans Association, Carpenters Local 254, Honeywell International, Real Estate Mortgage Network, Community Food Bank and other groups for supporting the Veterans Fair. 

“So many of our veterans are having difficulties re-adjusting to life as a civilian, making decisions about their future, and finding jobs and housing,” said Frelinghuysen, a veteran of the Vietnam conflict.  “What better way for us to thank them for their service and sacrifice than by helping them in their transition?”

To read Joshua Jongsma’s article in the Verona Cedar Grove Times, click here.

This Week’s Salute: Morristown Garden Club

Congratulations to the Morristown Garden Club, celebrating its 100^th Anniversary this weekend!

Japan: New Views on a Nuclear Disaster

Two Recent Articles in Slate reexamine Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear plant disaster.

Read Paul Blustein’s piece, “After the Fukushima disaster, a U.S. mistake undermined the Japanese government” here.

Read Blustein’s “Fukushima’s Worst-Case Scenarios, Much of what you’ve heard about the nuclear accident is wrong” here.