The Week Just Past: Sequester – Not Reasonable, Not Responsible

Rodney Says Pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Congressional Delegation Wants Answers on Flood Insurance

Rodney Works for a new Highlands Conservation Act

The Week Just Past: Sequester – Not Reasonable, Not Responsible

“With each passing day, the federal government moves closer to devastating and unwise across-the-board budget cuts known as the ‘sequester.’  Half of these unwise reductions will be stripped from the Department of Defense; the other half from all other federal agencies except for the Veterans Administration.  As if to shine a bright light on this fact, the Pentagon asked Congress this afternoon for authority to furlough civilian employees.

“We should never have gotten to this point. 

“Now don’t get me wrong – Congress and the President must do something real, tangible and significant to divert us from our current path toward a debt crisis.  We must cut government spending and borrowing and do it now!  There is no doubt that we need to make reasonable and responsible spending cuts and reforms so Washington starts spending within its means.  But we can do this without raising taxes or letting the President’s sequester go into effect.

“The sequester is not reasonable nor is it responsible.  It’s an unintelligent, meat-axe approach to governing.  It will weaken our national security, deny civilian workers their paychecks, force private sector layoffs and hasten the demise of many small- and mid-size businesses that provide goods and services to our military.

“Let’s be clear: President Obama proposed these devastating, across-the-board spending cuts that will hurt hardworking Americans and erode our military readiness.  He now agrees that it is a ‘very bad idea’ – but has yet to propose a responsible alternative.

“And yet, the Administration’s plans to solve our fiscal crisis with huge national security spending cuts are coming at a time when the U.S. military is already making sharp reductions and at the same time it is waging war in Afghanistan while maintaining global deployments in an ever-more dangerous world: Iran is racing toward a nuclear weapon.  North Korea is developing nuclear warheads capable of fitting atop one of their ballistic missiles.  China is menacing its neighbors.  Syria is burning.  European nations are shrinking from their military responsibilities. 

“The across-the-board spending cuts would severely disrupt military training, the development of new systems and weapons at places like our own Picatinny Arsenal, and operations near hot spots like the Persian Gulf and North Asia.

“I recognize that many of us voted for this terrible procedure in the hope the President and Congress could put our politics aside and fix our debt crisis without triggering this mechanism.  However, the House has already acted TWICE to replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts – once six months ago and again six weeks ago.

“If we are to avoid the looming debt crisis, we must change course and sharply reduce government spending – defense spending and domestic spending.  But these reductions must be developed, planned and executed carefully so as to not jeopardize our security nor punish the hard working men and women - military and civilian – who serve to protect America and Americans.”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended Reading: Charles Krauthammer, writing in the Thursday Washington Post, “Call Obama’s Sequester Bluff.”  Read the column here.

Recommended Reading In a Dangerous World: William Tobey, writing for Foreign Policy Magazine on Thursday, “Obama's 'strategic patience' on North Korea is turning into strategic neglect.”  Read the piece here.

Recommended Reading In a Dangerous World: Justin McCurry, writing in the Wednesday U.K. Guardian, “North Korea nuclear test: Pyongyang threatens 'stronger response.'” Read the article here.

Rodney Says Pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Rodney informed the House Republican Leadership of his continuing support for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by signing a letter this week urging that the key measure be debated and passed by the full House immediately.  

“I have long supported the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),” he said.  “I recognize that the programs created under VAWA have made a difference in thousands of women's lives and have seen firsthand positive results in Morris County since the Jersey Battered Women’s Service was founded years ago.”

“My support for VAWA is longstanding and well-documented,” he said. “In fact, just a few years ago, the head of the National Network to End Domestic Violence said my leadership on the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee, which boosted funding for VAWA programs, ‘is inspiring and heartening to victims and their advocates and will make a real impact on millions of lives.’  I was also pleased to receive a letter from over two dozen victims and women’s organizations, including the National Organization for Women, which read, in part: 'On behalf of the millions of victims, advocates and professionals that our organizations represent, thank you for your extraordinary work to increase funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)…'” 

This week, Rodney signed a letter along with over a dozen other Republican colleagues asking Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor to move immediately to reauthorize VAWA.  The Act, first passed in 1994, was reauthorized for five years in 2000 and again in 2006, with Rodney’s strong support.  The House and Senate passed different versions of the same bill last year and failed to reconcile the two versions before the 112^th Congress ended in January. 

"Now is the time to seek bipartisan compromise on the reauthorization of these programs," reads the letter to Boehner and Cantor. "VAWA programs save lives, and we must allow states and communities the opportunity to build upon the success of current VAWA programs so that we can help even more people."

The Senate passed a new version of the legislation on Tuesday.  The House has yet to act on the measure.

"It is unfortunate that states are already preparing for Congress' inaction,” the letter read.  “In New Jersey, for example, the state legislature recently passed a bridge fund bill to fill the void left by a lack of federal funds in the event VAWA is not reauthorized," the lawmakers wrote. "We believe a bipartisan plan to reauthorize VAWA is more important than ever."

You can read the letter here.

Rodney Works for a new Highlands Conservation Act

In a continuing effort to protect the drinking water supply for 11 million Americans in the northeast United States, Rodney yesterday introduced legislation to extend the federal Highlands Conservation Act (HCA) – reaffirming the federal commitment toward the preservation of the Highlands as a national priority. 

Signed into law in 2004, the HCA authorized $10 million a year for 10 years for land conservation partnership projects and open space purchases from willing sellers.  Additionally, the law authorized one million dollars annually for the Forest Service to provide continued technical assistance and research in the four-state Highlands region: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.  Rodney’s bill allows the federal government to match municipal, county and state efforts already in place. 

To date, $14.25 million has been appropriated for the HCA.  The funding has protected over 3,726 acres in the 4-state Highlands Region.   Frelinghuysen’s legislation would extend the HCA for another 10 years.  The program is currently set to expire at the end of Fiscal Year 2014.

“This legislation recognizes that the Highlands are a national treasure that must be preserved.  While we have been successful in protecting thousands of acres over the last ten years, our work is not done. It is essential we continue to work in public-private partnerships and with our local and county officials to save open space in the Highlands.  While remaining mindful of private property rights, together we must protect this critical watershed region and preserve the area as a habitat for wildlife,” he said.

The Highlands Region supplies drinking water for more than 11 million people, provides a habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species and provides recreational opportunities for the millions of people who live within the region. 

Congressional Delegation Wants Answers on Flood Insurance

Rodney and several members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation want answers about the slow pace of resolving flood insurance claims from Hurricane Sandy. Eleven members of the delegation sent a letter to the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seeking answers about the backlog.

The letter points out that in the three months since Sandy hammered New Jersey, only 30 percent of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims have been resolved as of February 5, despite the fact that the NFIP has a significantly smaller amount of claims than private flood insurers.

The full letter to FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate:

Dear Administrator Fugate,

We write you today to express our growing concern with the length of time it is taking to process National Flood Insurance policy claims in New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie recently brought to our attention some rather disturbing statistics related to the backlog of claims. According to the Governor, as of February 5, more than 85 percent of Hurricane Sandy related private homeowners’ insurance claims have been closed while only 30 percent of Sandy related National Flood Insurance claims have been closed.

New Jerseyans have suffered tremendous hardships since Hurricane Sandy struck last fall. We must do everything we can to respond to them as quickly as possible, but right now the National Flood Insurance Program is failing our constituents. It’s been over three months since Hurricane Sandy tore through our state and yet 70 percent of those who filed claims with the NFIP continue to wait. This is unacceptable. According to the Governor’s office this backlog exists despite the fact there were 241,000 fewer national flood insurance claims than private homeowners insurance claims.

We understand that after a natural disaster the size and scope of Sandy there might be a backlog, but these statistics are alarming. These unacceptable backlogs must be addressed quickly so that our constituents can rebuild their homes. In order to ensure that this problem is addressed in a timely manner we ask that you please provide us a detailed description of how you plan to address the backlog of claims.

We thank you for your time and look forward to your response.

Recommended Reading:  Catherine Rampell, writing in the Thursday New York Times, “Small Businesses Still Struggle, and That’s Impeding a Recovery.”  Read the article here.