e-News 12/19/14

• Back from the Persian Gulf: Focus on ISIL and IRAN
• Cuba-U.S. Relations: Never Forgetting Trooper Werner
• “Obama gives the Castro regime in Cuba an undeserved bailout”
• “On Cuba, Obama abandons a clear position for a vague project”
• “Judge declares Obama immigration action unconstitutional”
• Obamacare Fines Loom for the Uninsured
• Additional Support for Ukraine
• Protecting New Jersey’s Open Space and Water Supply
• Salute: To the Mendham Township Middle School

Back from the Persian Gulf: Focus on ISIL and Iran

I returned to the United States this week from an official Congressional delegation trip to the Persian Gulf region.  In my capacity as Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I traveled with incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (TX) and incoming Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (CA).  Our delegation, led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), visited Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. 

Our delegation met with national leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, along with many other senior defense officials, as well as U.S. military and State Department officers in these strategically important nations, to assess the vitality of U.S. partnerships in the region.  The purpose of the trip was to examine: 1) the counter-ISIL strategy and the evolving military campaign in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding region and 2) Iran and its regional influence and actions.  

In recent years, the United States has established valuable working partnerships with most nations in the region.  It is in the national security interest of the United States to ensure that these relationships remain active and vibrant.  Our discussions were helpful in this regard.

Of course, we also met with men and women of our Armed Forces, all volunteers, who are serving in various capacities in the area. On behalf of New Jersey, I thanked them for their service, especially over the holidays.

Cuba-U.S. Relations: Never Forgetting Trooper Werner

Without consultation with Congress or the American people, the Obama Administration established yet another dangerous practice in our foreign policy.  This week, he announced that his Administration released three convicted criminals, including one convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, in exchange for Cuba’s release of a U.S. intelligence ‘asset’ held for twenty years. This kind of action invites our adversaries, countries and non-state organizations alike, to use American lives as bargaining chips.  Like the release of the "Gitmo Five" in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, American civilians and military members wonder if such actions serve our nation’s interest.  

Further, I agree with Senator Bob Menendez when he said this week, “President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.”

But there is more to this story.

Of course, we all welcome the release of Mr. Alan Gross, an aid worker from Maryland, and his return to his family in the United States. However, we cannot forget that New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster will never return to his family and Cuba is harboring his killer.

Mr. Gross’ release came a week after White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement that Gross’s continued detainment was an “impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba.” Media reports indicate that the Obama administration plans to start talks with Cuba on normalizing full diplomatic relations and opening an embassy in Havana.

For many of us, one of the biggest impediments to improved relations between the United States and Cuba is the continued safe haven provided to the fugitive, Joanne Chesimard.  I would demand that the White House and the State Department work much harder to bring this murderer "home" to New Jersey where she can face justice and serve out her sentence.

Chesimard, was convicted of the 1973 execution-style murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster along the New Jersey Turnpike and sentenced to life in prison.  She escaped from prison in 1979 and eventually fled to Cuba where the Castros have sheltered her ever since.

Read William Westhoven’s story about Chesimard in the Daily Recordhere.

“Obama gives the Castro regime in Cuba an undeserved bailout”

From the Washington Post: “On Wednesday, the Castros suddenly obtained a comprehensive bailout — from the Obama administration. President Obama granted the regime everything on its wish list that was within his power to grant; a full lifting of the trade embargo requires congressional action. Full diplomatic relations will be established, Cuba’s place on the list of terrorism sponsors reviewed and restrictions lifted on U.S. investment and most travel to Cuba. That liberalization will provide Havana with a fresh source of desperately needed hard currency and eliminate U.S. leverage for political reforms.”

Read the full editorial here.

I also recommend you read Charles Lane’s column in the ThursdayWashington Post, “On Cuba, Obama abandons a clear position for a vague project.”

Judge declares Obama immigration action unconstitutional”

President Obama's unilateral decree designed to ease the threat of deportation for millions of unlawful immigrants violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge found this week, handing down the first legal ruling against the plan.  You can read the Reuters story here.

The House will unveil a multi-pronged strategy early next year to counter and defund President Obama’s unilateral decrees on immigration.

Obamacare Fines Loom for the Uninsured

“People without insurance are running out of time to avoid the hefty ObamaCare penalties that the IRS will be handing down in 2016."

“Consumers face a Feb. 15, 2015, deadline to buy insurance, after which those without coverage could be hit with fines of $325 per adult or 2 percent of family income, whichever is higher.”  Read Elise Viebeck story in The Hill here.

Additional Support for Ukraine

It was my high honor to escort President Poroshenko into the House Chamber in September to deliver his extraordinary address to a Joint Meeting of Congress.  In his remarkable speech, he united Republicans and Democrats in common cause and support for the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression. 

This month, with my strong support, Congress passed and sent to the President’s desk the Ukraine Freedom Support Act (H.R. 5859).  This bill contains new sanctions on Russia in light of its annexation of Crimea and continued military moves in eastern Ukraine.  The measure hits Russia's defense and energy sectors with conditional sanctions against firms that sell or transfer military equipment to the territory of Ukraine (as well as Georgia, Moldova and Syria), with the goal of stopping the flow of weapons to separatists across the border.

The White House has indicated that the President will sign the bill into law.  Let’s hope the President actually follows through and enforces the sanctions Congress has approved.

Of course, much work remains. The House will continue to work to ensure that tangible assistance is provided, not just to Ukraine, but other partners and friends in the Baltics and central and eastern Europe.  They must be reassured that we ‘have their back’ as they face economic coercion, and interference in domestic political affairs.

Read more about the Ukraine Freedom Support Act here.

Protecting New Jersey’s Open Space and Water Supply

Open space projects around our region will now benefit from matching funding made available by the federal government through the Highlands Conservation Act, important legislation which I first sponsored in 2004.

$3 million has been made available by Congress this month and will be distributed through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program.  New Jersey is expected to receive $750,000 of this funding.

The funding will support the open space purchases of privately held properties from willing sellers within the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge, as well as to protect the Pimple Hills, an area that contains productive, contiguous forested land on two gently rounded hills. Protecting land in this area of Sussex and Passaic Counties will protect public water supplies, among other important goals.

The New Jersey Highlands were nationally designated as a critically important conservation area by the Highlands Conservation Act in 2004.  The Act authorized Congress to make available funding through the national Land and Water Conservation Fund to assist the State of New Jersey and non-profit partners in protecting the highest valued lands in the counties of Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon.

Salute: to the Mendham Township Middle School which this week received a visit from hometown Governor Chris Christie and official recognition as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education  Read more in the Daily Record here.