e-News 1/13/16

• "State of the Union” More words, Little Action
• Iran and North Korea: Enough is Enough
• More Reasons for Border Control Reform
• Obamacare dysfunction
• Another Step Forward for New Jersey Task Force 1
• Congressional App Challenge Deadline Nears
• Salute: Sussex County’s Youngest Serving School Board Member

State of the Union” More words, Little Action

It has been clear for years that President Obama has squandered his State of the Union speeches by pushing partisan policies most Americans don’t support and that rarely see the light of day in Congress.

Last night, the President had a final opportunity to offer a positive vision that all Americans can support.  

We wanted to hear how the President will allow the United States to resume its vital leadership role in the world by:

• Offering tangible action plans to destroy ISIS, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups;
• Supporting our friends (like Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ukraine) and deter our adversaries (like Russia, China and Iran);
• Rebuilding our flagging military strength and securing our borders; 

We wanted to hear the President finally embrace a pro-growth economic agenda that:

• Reforms our broken tax code…so job creators can grow and increase jobs and wages.
• Strengthens entitlement programs…so they will be there for future generations.
• Cuts Washington red tape …so our economy can thrive and grow.
• Promotes trade and American goods…so our New Jersey workers can win in the global market.
• Repeals Obamacare’s burdensome mandates…so people can actually have choices for their doctors and their insurance.
• Supports the law enforcement community.

But more than talk, the American people want action.  We should be moving forward with a positive, pro-growth agenda that will protect our homeland, strengthen our economy and help more Americans get back to work. 

Iran and North Korea: Enough is Enough

Experts have repeatedly called for the President to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile launches, its new underground missile sites, and its firing of rockets near American naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.  If no one stands up to Iran’s provocative actions and hold the regime accountable to international agreements already in place, this summer’s Iran nuclear deal will turn out to be even worse than we feared!

And then last week North Korea conducted its fourth illegal underground nuclear test. The country said the device it detonated was a hydrogen bomb, although the claim was received with widespread skepticism. However, the test is not insignificant. Every nuclear experiment can provide critical data necessary to advance dictator Kim Jung Un’s illegal nuclear warhead program.

This week, the House took action to confront these rogue regimes:

• North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act (H.R. 757): This bill revamps sanctions on the oppressive Kim regime to further economically isolate Pyongyang from the international community, while also enhancing efforts to combat North Korea’s broader illicit activities.  
• Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act  (H.R. 3622): This bill strengthens congressional oversight of U.S. sanctions against Iran and prohibits the administration from lifting sanctions specifically targeting Tehran’s destabilizing, non-nuclear activities, including its ballistic missile program and abhorrent human rights abuses.

After seven years of failed foreign policy, the President should know that America cannot be kept safe with speeches and sharply-worded letters while leading from behind.

More Reasons for Border Control Reform

The scourge of human trafficking continues to be a crisis across the country and especially in crossroads states like New Jersey.  To combat the exploitation of foreign nationals, mostly women, we all have to go after traffickers who prey on the vulnerabilities of people seeking a better life. These victims are forced to work in poor, unsafe conditions where they are exploited for prostitution, domestic servitude, migrant farm labor, or restaurant and service industry jobs.

A new report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHA) this week indicates that more than half of the human traffickers known to federal authorities used work and fiance visas to smuggle their victims into the U.S. over the past ten years.

Investigators from the DHS Office of the Inspector General found that traffickers were able to sneak their victims into the country in part because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DHS’ other agency responsible for immigration enforcement — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — sometimes failed to share data they had collected on traffickers.

Read more here. 

Obamacare dysfunction

In a recent article in Politico, an insurance company warns “grave risk” that Obamacare will not be a "viable, competitive market in 2017”

“Insurers say those who sign up during special enrollment periods are running up their bills and then jumping ship.

“Obamacare customers are gaming the system, buying coverage only after they find out they’re ill and need expensive care — a trend insurers warn is destabilizing the fledgling health law marketplaces and spiking premiums for everyone.

“Insurers blame the problem on lax rules that allow more than 900,000 people to sign up for coverage outside the standard enrollment season — for instance, when they change jobs or move — without sufficient proof they are eligible. No one knows precisely how many might be manipulating the system, but the plans say they run up much higher medical bills and then jump ship, contributing to double-digit rate increases and financial losses.”

Read the full story here. 

Another Step Forward for New Jersey Task Force 1

New Jersey’s Urban Search and Rescue unit took another step toward inclusion in the official federal Urban Search and Rescue Team this week.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) upheld its earlier decision to exclude New Mexico’s team from participation in the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System. This decision means that there is an official vacancy in FEMA’s 28-state team National Urban Search & Rescue System.  The US&R peer-based Strategic Group reviewed potential replacement Task Forces and unanimously recommended New Jersey Task Force One (NJ-TF1) as the potential replacement Task Force.

There are additional steps that our accomplished team must take before they receive the official federal designation.  But this week’s action represents another strong step forward for New Jersey and the nation.  A final, formal federal designation will enhance New Jersey’s security, provide the Task Force with more funding for training and equipment and ensure they remain at the ‘top of their game’ in the event of an emergency.

I first introduced legislation to provide federal designation of NJ-TF in 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11 when the group was at the forefront of the New York recovery efforts.  My bill sought expansion of the national urban search and rescue system and a federal designation for NJ-TF1.  Recently, I wrote to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson outlining the case for NJ-TF1 and subsequently spoke with FEMA Director Craig Fugate. 

Recognizing our state as being one of the most densely populated areas of the country, over the past year FEMA has developed and carried out joint exercises to increase community emergency preparedness for various disasters, including oil train spills, pandemic outbreaks and extreme weather events and even terrorist attacks.

In making its unanimous recommendation, the US&R Strategic Group considered a number of factors to include experience, population density, critical infrastructure, the number and age of structures in proximity to the team’s base location, geographic coverage and threat assessment.

Members of the team, which is supported by the New Jersey State Police, hail from all 21 of our counties.

Congressional App Challenge Deadline Nears

The deadline for high school students in the 11^th District to participate in the “Congressional App Challenge” is nearing.  Submissions for the an annual competition, designed to encourage high school students to learn how to code by creating their own software applications for mobile, tablet or computer devices, is January 21.

More information, including a full list of rules, can be found here. 

Salute:  Good luck to the new President of the Hopatcong Board of Education, Anthony Fassano, at age 21, the youngest-serving school board member in Sussex County.