e-News 4/29/16

• Providing Greater Educational Opportunity
• House Votes to Strengthen Email Privacy
• Protecting Americans at Home
• “Taking Advice from a President who surrendered the world to chaos?”
• Military Academy Night: Come One, Come All!
• Salute: Denville Volunteer Fire Company and Ladies Auxiliary

Providing Greater Educational Opportunity

Over the years, I have been a proud leader in the fight for school “choice” – giving families greater freedom to escape poorly performing schools.  I am committed to working to provide parents with a choice in their child’s education in New Jersey. 

A decade ago, I helped create a successful, but endangered, private school scholarship program in the District of Columbia. The reality is that high quality schools have always been available to those who can afford them.  With an adult illiteracy rate hovering around 40 percent, the scholarship program in Washington opened the door for parents to rescue their children from failing schools and gave them an opportunity to place them in an environment where every child is encouraged to achieve success.

Earlier today, the House passed the SOAR Act - the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act - for five years to continue the three-sector approach to education within the District of Columbia (DC), providing funding for DC public schools, DC public charter schools, and the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

A few weeks ago, the editors at the Washington Post weighed in: “For D.C., reauthorizing school choice is the right choice.”  Read it here.

While this program affects families in our nation's capital, it is also very important to children in every state. I believe that with these scholarships, DC was showing that there was an effective way to provide educational opportunity for disadvantaged children in poverty and empower their parents with choices.

Learn more about the SOAR Act here.

And here.

House Votes to Strengthen Email Privacy

The House this week passed legislation designed to strengthen privacy protections for our email.  Among its many important provisions, H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act, amends the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 to prohibit a provider of remote computing service or electronic communication service from knowingly divulging to a governmental entity the contents of any communication that is in electronic storage or otherwise maintained by the provider.  The measure also requires the government to obtain a warrant from a court before requiring providers to disclose the content of such communications.  

After 30 years, our laws must be updated to mirror technological advances. The Email Privacy Act reforms federal law by requiring the government to obtain a warrant prior to searching through Americans’ email and other electronic communications stored with a service provider.  And, I believe the bill strikes the appropriate balance between individual civil liberties and law enforcement’s ability to protect public safety.

Learn more about the Email Privacy Act, H.R. 699, here.

Protecting Americans at Home From terrorism

The House this week passed three important national security bills, including H.R. 4820, a bill that helps to combat ISIS and other terrorist groups’ recruitment of Americans by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to incorporate testimonials of defectors into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts to counter terrorist recruitment. 

Radical Muslim extremist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda have been able to grow their ranks due to their ability to radicalize individuals via online propaganda, even here at home. At a time when the threat to our homeland is at the highest level since 9/11, we must amplify the messages that prevent susceptible populations, including our young men and women, from being lured to the front lines with these radical jihadists. The most effective tool to stop Americans from being brainwashed by terror groups is to use the words and personal experiences from those who have defected.

Two other bills passed this week include:

• H.R. 4698, the Securing Aviation from Foreign Entry Points and Guarding Airports Through Enhanced Security Act of 2016, enhances aviation safety by requiring airport security assessments and a security coordination enhancement plan.
• H.R. 3583, the PREPARE Act, reforms and improves the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Emergency Communications, and the Office of Health Affairs of the Department of Homeland Security.

Recommended Reading: “Why should we take advice from a president who has surrendered the world to chaos?” by Janet Daley, in the April 24Daily Telegraph.

Military Academy Night: Come One, Come All

I will be hosting my sixteenth annual Military Academy Night nextMonday, May 2 at 7 pm at West Essex Regional High School, 65 West Greenbrook Road, North Caldwell, NJ, 07006.  The event gives interested students, parents, and guidance counselors the opportunity to meet with representatives from the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD), the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, NY), the U.S. Air Force Academy (Colorado), the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (New London, CT), and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY). 

All high school students interested in a military career are welcome!

Salute: To the Denville Volunteer Fire Department as it marks its 90^thanniversary and the 80^th anniversary of the Ladies Auxiliary.  The three companies of the Denville Volunteer Fire Department provide fire protection and emergency medical care to the township of Denville responding to an average of 1,500 calls a year, both fire and EMS.  The past and present members of the Denville Volunteer Fire Department have gone above and beyond their call of duty. From their dedication to the safety of their community, to raising funds to maintain each fire house, their unwavering and resilient efforts are truly invaluable.

Read my commemorative statement in the Congressional Record of April 13, 2016 here.

Read my tribute to the Ladies Auxiliary here.