e-News 6/19/15

• Trade Promotion Authority: Good Jobs for New Jersey and America!
• Repealing the Obamacare Medical Device Tax
• Appropriations Committee Oks Funding for Highlands Conservation Act
• Listening Tour Continues
• Salute: Congressional Gold medal for community service
• Salute: The late John Amerspek: World War II vet and Picatinny booster

Trade Promotion Authority: Good Jobs for New Jersey and America!

After a false-start last week, the House today approved “trade promotion authority” (TPA).   This is good news for our home state and for America.

I support trade promotion authority because it puts Congress in the "drivers" seat as the Administration negotiates a new trade agreement with Pacific nations. TPA is a “process” that governs how future trade agreements come to Congress and the American people. In the final analysis, this bill is Congress asserting its will on the Obama administration, so that Congress can be more involved throughout the process with more transparency which allows House and Senate members and the public to see exactly what’s going on.

Any agreement that is reached by the President must be made public for sixty days before it can even be signed by a President. Then it comes to Congress, which retains the right to decide whether a trade agreement takes effect or not. A simple majority vote can halt the agreement in its tracks.

Good trade agreements are critically important for engaging in the world, for leading in the world, for opening up markets, and for creating good-paying jobs at home. In New Jersey, 1.2 million jobs are tied to trade. These jobs, on average, pay more - the kinds of jobs we want.

I would add that we have a port – the Port of New York and New Jersey – that is a critical component of our state’s economy.  We export more than $56 billion in goods and services, much of it through our port, each year.

Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers do not live in our country. They live in other countries, with generally higher tariff barriers that hinder entry of U.S. products. It is critical that we open up these markets, so we make more goods in America and sell them overseas. This is how we promote faster economic growth.  This is an important way we create good jobs at good wages.

It should be noted that Congress has granted this “trade promotion authority” to every President since 1974. 

On matters of defense and foreign policy, we have all witnessed America’s retreat. 

To me, this trade issue is about American leadership. Is the United States going to confidently go out into the marketplace and reach trade agreements that are good for America?

There is no doubt that the rules of the global economy are being re-written right now. The question is: who is going to write the rules? Is it America and our allies and potential trade partners? Or will it be other nations that don’t share our values? Like China?

Learn more about Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) here.

ICYMI: Read former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s column in the Washington Post on TPA here.

“How Obama Abandoned Israel”

Former Israeli Ambassador the United States, former West Orange resident Michael Oren, wrote a compelling Op Ed piece for the Wall Street Journal this week.  Read “How Obama Abandoned Israel” here.

Repealing the Job-Killing Obamacare Medical Device Tax

With a major Supreme Court decision pending on the legality of Obamacare, the so-called Affordable care Act, the House acted this repeal one of the worst parts of Obamacare—a medical device tax, which destroys jobs, hampers innovation, and threatens seniors' access to and the development of lifesaving devices that they rely on. 

America, in general, and New Jersey, specifically, has led the way in developing technology that revolutionizes the way we prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. Yet Obamacare punishes the very companies that made America the global leader in medical innovation with this tax, putting new, lifesaving technologies at risk.

To finally put an end the medical device tax, the House passed the Protect Medical Innovation Act (H.R. 160) on Wednesday. The medical device tax repeal already passed the House in previous years with wide bipartisan support

Of course, the larger question revolves around the future of the Obamacare.  Americans want more choice and were promised lower costs. Obamacare has not delivered any of that. In fact, Obamacare has actually taken away choice in health care and strained family budgets.

According to recent surveys, those with Obamacare plans – and the subsidies that help pay for them – are still left with sky-high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs that force them to put off the care they need. 

Newsweek reports on a new Commonwealth Fund survey that “indicates that despite the subsidies, many Americans still perceive health insurance as unaffordable. According to the report, 60 percent of respondents said they hadn’t visited their state’s marketplace for health insurance because they didn’t think they could afford the monthly premium or out-of-pocket cost.” 

Read the Newsweek story, “Even With Obamacare, Americans Find Health Insurance Too Expensive,” here.

Appropriations Committee Oks Funding for Highlands Conservation Act

The House Appropriation Committee this week approved FY 2016 Interior appropriations which included funding for the Highlands Conservation Act.

I requested the $3 million in the bill for land acquisition, from willing sellers, in the Highlands region – more than three million acres across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. 

Preserving the New Jersey Highlands is, and should remain, a federal priority.  A major source of drinking water and in the most densely populated metropolitan area in the country, the Highlands is a critical area in need of protection.  By negotiating land acquisition with willing sellers, this appropriation shows just how efficiently the federal Highlands Conservation Act has been working.

The legislation requires that every federal dollar be matched 100 percent by non-federal dollars. 

Over $17 million that has been previously appropriated under the Act has leveraged state, local, and private funds at a better than two-to-one ratio.  To date, more than 5,000 acres in the 4-state Highlands Region have been protected under the Act.

Read more about the Interior Appropriations Act here.

Listening Tour Continues

I was honored to address members of the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Military Officers Association (MOAA) this afternoon at Picatinny Arsenal.  Our discussion touched on several key issues related to the national security of the United States and the future of pay and compensation for our men and women in uniform. 

Salute: Congratulations to two of my constituents, Stephanie Quinton of Morris Plains and Thomas Sych of Madison as they received the Congressional Award Gold Medal for community service this week!  Thank you for what you’ve done!

Salute: To the late John Amerspek, World War II veteran and former Picatinny Arsenal senior manager John P. Amerspek. Arsenal officials held held a building dedication ceremony this week for its new propellant complex, “The John P. Amerspek Propellant Development Complex.”  The facility is a research, development test and evaluation facility which will allow scientists and engineers to research the next generation of gun propellants. After fighting in some of World War II’s toughest battles, Amerspek worked at the arsenal from 1951-1981 and rose through the ranks to become chief Manager for Selected Ammunition section. He also established a chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association at Picatinny and was dedicated to Picatinny’s mission.