e-News 3/6/15

• Never forget what happened on September 11, 2001
• Secretary of Defense Testifies Before Frelinghuysen Committee
• Supporting Necessary Assistance to Ukraine
• “Obama needs to provide real answers to Netanyahu’s arguments”
• “The Unraveling”of Libya
• Continuing to Rebuild VA Health Care
• Obamacare’s Demise?
• “As new Common Core Testing is Ushered in, Some Sit Out”
• Salute: Jane Beline of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Library System

Never forget what happened on September 11, 2001

Leadership and governing are important to me.  That is why the lack of both here in Washington over the past few weeks has been so troubling.  Our citizens have an appropriate expectation that Congress will seriously address many critical domestic and foreign policy issues.  In the case of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Congress and the President had not gotten our business done. 

Until now. 

Continuity of operations at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in a heightened threat environment, is vital.  Besides chairing the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I also serve on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Security, FEMA, and more than a dozen other essential agencies that protect us.  Failing to fund their operations was unthinkable. At every opportunity I voted to fully fund the requirements of the DHS, including on Tuesday when the final funding bill passed the House.

While I strongly disagree with the President's unilateral executive action on immigration last November, I did not feel the DHS budget should be interrupted.  I never forget what happened on September 11, 2001 and have worked diligently to see that such a heinous attack never happens again. In fact, as early advocate of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program that is so important to northern New Jersey, I have worked to protect that specific program, as the memory of al Qaeda’s murderous assault fades for some.

As part of my job, I participate in multiple public, "closed" and classified hearings and briefings.  In my Congressional travel to the Middle East, and elsewhere, I see and hear firsthand from foreign leaders, as well as have frank discussions with our troops. Many have already concluded that our leadership in the world has badly eroded and many are worried that the "bad guys" are winning, whether they be ISIL, al Qaeda, Russia, Iran, or aggressors like North Korea or China.  These issues, so essential to our national security, go far beyond politics for me, because I work to support our Commander in Chief, even when I strongly disagree with his military and foreign policy decisions.

Secretary of Defense Testifies Before Frelinghuysen Committee

The new Secretary of Defense, Dr. Aston Carter, testified before my House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee for the first time this week.  As expected, he urged our Committee members to endorse plans for a Pentagon base budget that exceeds federal spending caps under the Budget Control Act (BCA) by $35 billion.  He said the president's request for a $534 billion Pentagon base budget for 2016 would help the military begin to recover after 14 years of war and enable it to invest in a new generation of weapons for the future.

What the Administration seems not to acknowledge is that the Department of Defense is staring down the barrel of renewed tight budget caps and our Appropriations Committee has no choice but to comply with current law.  Unless and until the law is changed, our committee has no choice but to draft our bill to comply with the ... caps, at least $37 billion below the president's budget request. 

This is our Committee’s starting point.  We all hope that the dangerously low BCA funding levels for military operations and modernization will be the catalyst for a serious discussion of our security priorities.

Watch the entire hearing here.

Supporting Necessary Assistance to Ukraine

I was among a bipartisan group of House leaders and committee chairs has sent a letter to President Obama urging him to approve lethal defensive aid for Ukraine.

“In the wake of a cease-fire agreement that appears only to have consolidated Russian and separatist gains since the first Minsk agreement,” we wrote, “we urge you to quickly approve additional efforts to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend its sovereign territory, including through the transfer of lethal, defensive weapons systems to the Ukrainian military.”  

Signed by eight Republicans and three Democrats, the letter notes that “Congress has already, with overwhelming bipartisan support, provided you with the authorities, resources, and political support to provide assistance, including lethal, to the government and people of Ukraine.”

In addition to my signature, the bipartisan letter was signed and sent yesterday by Speaker Boehner, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA), State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Read the full letter below:

Dear Mr. President:

From the very beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, a bipartisan majority in Congress has indicated it understands the crisis in Ukraine to be about more than a Russian assault on the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine.  It is even more than simply a component of a revisionist Russian strategy to redraw international borders and impose its will on its neighbors.  It is a grotesque violation of international law, a challenge to the west, and an assault on the international order established at such great cost in the wake of World War II.

On September 18, 2014, President Petro Poroshenko addressed a Joint Meeting of the United States Congress.  He made a passionate plea for the United States and other nations to put action behind their commitment to freedom, democracy, and human dignity.  He thanked the Congress for its steadfast, bipartisan support for the people in Ukraine struggling to recapture the freedom and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but he also reminded us and the world that words alone do not beat back aggression and violence.  He, like so many friends and allies in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and the South Caucasus, remind us daily that the cost of freedom is high, and like any virtue, it is compromised by a lack of vigilance. 

The Congress responded to his call to action, and we sent you the Ukraine Freedom Support Act in December.  To date, the administration has not utilized the authorities provided in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act to provide defensive military systems to the Ukrainian government.

This week, shortly after the one-year anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, Members of the Ukrainian Rada visiting Washington reiterated President Poroshenko’s long-standing plea for assistance to the Ukrainian military.  We understand these officials discussed a list of military equipment at the Pentagon and with National Security Council staff, and we understand these long-standing requests await a political decision from you. 

In the wake of a cease-fire agreement that appears only to have consolidated Russian and separatist gains since the first Minsk agreement, and in anticipation of the near certainty that Russia and its separatist proxies continue their efforts to destabilize Ukraine and seize additional territory, we urge you to quickly approve additional efforts to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend its sovereign territory, including through the transfer of lethal, defensive weapons systems to the Ukrainian military. 

We should not wait until Russian troops and their separatist proxies take Mariupol or Kharkiv before we act to bolster the Ukrainian government’s ability to deter and defend against further aggression. 

We understand your desire to prioritize unity of effort with Europe, and we believe our European and NATO allies should make clear that Russian aggression in the heart of Europe is unacceptable with deeds as well as words.  But we urge you to lead Europe in challenging this assault on international order, lest our foreign policy be held hostage by the lowest common denominator of European consensus.  In the face of Russian aggression, the lack of clarity on our overall strategy thus far has done little to reassure our friends and allies in the region who, understandably, feel vulnerable.  This needs to change.

The Congress has already, with overwhelming bipartisan support, provided you with the authorities, resources, and political support to provide assistance, including lethal, to the government and people of Ukraine.  We urge you in the strongest possible terms to use those authorities and resources to meet the specific and direct requests the government of Ukraine has made of your administration. 

“Obama needs to provide real answers to Netanyahu’s arguments.”

The day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarkable speech to a joint meeting of Congress, the Washington Post published the editorial, “Obama needs to provide real answers to Netanyahu’s arguments.”  It’s a worthwhile read.

“The Unraveling” of Libya

It would also be worth your while to read "The Unravelling." In a failing state, an anti-Islamist general mounts a divisive campaign” by Jon Lee Andersonof the New Yorker.

Continuing to Rebuild VA Health Care

The House this week passed two bipartisan bills designed to deliver more accountability and better care for the nation’s veterans.  

H.R. 280, gives the Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary complete authority to recoup bonuses paid to VA employees.

H.R. 294, the Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act, authorizes the VA to provide long-term care for veterans through medical foster homes. The average cost of a medical foster home is approximately half the cost of a nursing home.

It is a tragic fact that dozens of our veterans died waiting for care, and the VA currently has no way to retrieve bonuses collected by un-performing bureaucrats. Meanwhile, we must continue doing all we can to deliver the 21st-century health care system our veterans deserve.  That’s why the House has also acted to expand the options available for addressing the long-term care needs of our veterans. 

Passage of these bills follow enactment earlier this year of H.R. 203, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, bipartisan legislation that will help more veterans get access to mental health care resources.

Obamacare’s Demise?

The President’s controversial Obama care program hangs in the balance once again.  The King v. Burwell case, which has the potential to bring down Obamacare, was argued before the Supreme Court this week. TheAffordable Care Act mandates that health care exchanges be "established by the state" -- however 37 states did not set up state-run exchanges, instead relying on the federal government's Healthcare.gov. The Supreme Court case rests on these four key words: "established by the state." If the 37 states that did not set up exchanges are deemed breaking the law, Obamacare will probably face its demise.

“As new Common Core Testing is Ushered in, Some Sit Out”

Bloomfield, Essex County is in focus in the New York Times article, “As new Common Core Testing is Ushered in, Some Sit Out.” Read it here.

Salute: Jane Beline of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Library, honored by the New Jersey Legislature and the Town Council for her 25 years of valuable service to the municipal library system.