The Week Just Past: Focus on Solutions for Economic Growth

Making the Workplace Work for Families

Rodney’s Work in Committee: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines

South Korean President’s Address

New Partnership for Stevens Institute and Picatinny Arsenal

Great Swamp’s 50^th Anniversary

The Week Just Past: Focus on Solutions for Economic Growth

“The Wall Street Journal suggested this week that the April jobs report indicates that Obamacare is already ‘beginning to skew hiring patterns.’ ‘Many small businesses appear to be limiting their employees to fewer than 30 hours, perhaps with job-sharing or even by splitting employees with other employers.’

“This is not news to me.  This is a refrain I have been hearing from businessmen and women all across Morris, Passaic, Essex and Sussex counties for months.  Yet, it’s more evidence that the relatively new law continues to make life difficult for hardworking taxpayers – imposing higher health care costs, more paperwork and changing the relationships of patients and their doctors.

“Despite reports to the contrary, the House remains focused on solutions that will foster robust economic growth and create jobs for all Americans. In coming weeks, we will be working on a plan to get our economy going again, get wages and job opportunities growing again. Things like fixing our long-term spending problem, revamping our broken tax code to make America more competitive, making changes to Obamacare and expanding American energy production.”

Rodney Frelinghuysen

Recommended Reading:Monday editorial in Wall Street Journal, “A Jobs Fillup.”

Making the Workplace Work for Families

Question: what do Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Newt Gingrich, Joe Biden and Steny Hoyer have in common?

Answer: they all supported giving flexibility to government employees by allowing them to choose to receive “comp” time in lieu of overtime pay. That legislation was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 13, 1985, and yet nearly 30 years later, private sector employees still do not have the same freedom to choose.

As more Americans struggle to care for children, aging parents and extended family, they face choices on an almost daily basis that pit their work life against their home life. Doctor’s visits and parent/teacher conferences often happen during “business” hours.  School plays, birthdays, weddings and graduations are life’s precious moments that money can’t buy.

But current law may not afford employees the flexibility to experience these moments because it fails to serve the needs of the modern workforce. “The Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013” that the House approved Thursday aims to help alleviate some of the struggles families face by allowing employers to offer private-sector employees the same opportunity available to public-sector employees: the choice of paid time off in lieu of cash wages for overtime hours worked. This common-sense legislation will help American workers better balance the needs of family and the workplace.

Rodney’s Work in Committee: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines

Rodney welcomed Morris County native son General Ray Odierno, Army Chief of Staff, to his Defense Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday.  General Odierno and Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, testified on the future of the Army. 

As the lead questioner in the hearing, Rodney asked General Odierno and Secretary McHugh to outline the steps they are taking to eliminate sexual assault among the troops.  “It is inexcusable that these assaults continue. To prevent attacks or inappropriate sexual behavior, the military needs to change their culture.  Beyond that, we need to protect the victims and give them assurance that their complaints will be taken seriously and their attackers will face serious consequences,” he said.

Watch the hearing here.

The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee also held “posture” hearings with the Navy and Marine Corps on Tuesday and with the Air Force on Thursday.

South Korean President’s Address

On Wednesday, a joint session of Congress welcomed the new President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-Hye, who spoke of her nation’s gratitude for the sacrifices made by so many Americans over the past 60 years, saying “their blood, sweat and tears helped safeguard freedom and democracy.”

Read President Geun-Hye’s speech here. 

New Partnership for Stevens Institute and Picatinny Arsenal

Rodney was on hand at Stevens Institute of Technology on Monday as the school and Picatinny Arsenal signed a new agreement to collaborate on cutting-edge research and development projects.  Dr. Dinesh Verma, Dean of the Stevens’ School of Systems & Enterprises, and Barbara Machak, a senior leader at Picatinny’s Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to reinforce their shared commitment to pursue research, education and technology development which promote stronger national security and homeland defense. 

Rodney is a long-time supporter of programs at Picatinny Arsenal and helped secure the funding for the Stevens-based Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC), a collaboration of 23 universities and more than 350 researchers from across the nation.  The SERC conducts research to solve complex challenges to keep the nation safe from outside threats.

“Stevens and Picatinny have engaged in a valuable and growing partnership,” he said.  “My visit served to reinforce the important contributions to our national defense made by Stevens and many other academic institutions across New Jersey including NJIT and Rutgers.”  

While he was on campus, Rodney got an up-close look at several of the homeland security, defense and health care programs at Stevens and had lunch with three veterans who are pursuing degrees at Stevens as part of the school’s Yellow Ribbon Program.

Great Swamp’s 50^th Anniversary

Rodney recently attended the Great Swamp’s 50^th Anniversary event in Chatham Township. Read more about the event and the Great Swamp here.

Follow Rodney on Twitter:@USRepRodney