Overview of Week Ending May 17, 2024 We moved several important pieces of legislation forward this week addressing a wide range of important issues. Yesterday, I joined my colleagues Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11) to introduce the American Victims of Terror Compensation Act, which will ensure victims of terrorism and their families receive the compensation they deserve. We were joined at the announcement by victims advocacy groups as well as victims and family members of victims of 9/11, the 1983 Beirut Embassy Bombing, TWA Flight 847, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, the attack on the USS Pueblo, the recent October 7th attacks on Israel, and other terror attacks. American victims of terror deserve immediate and unwavering action. This bill will ensure exactly that. I also just introduced the Advancing Opportunity for Hibernians (AOH) Act, which will enable qualified Irish citizens to utilize unused E-3 visa spots. The E-3 program currently allocates 10,500 visas to Australian citizens looking to work in specialty occupations in the United States. However, each year thousands of these visa spots go unused. As an Irish Italian Catholic, my family's story is like so many who came to this country in search of better opportunity for themselves and their posterity. The AOH Act is a common sense bill that will enable Irish citizens to utilize unused visa spots to come to our shores, creating opportunity for themselves and adding to our communities just as their ancestors had done. This week, during National Police Week, the House passed a number of important measures to support our law enforcement heroes. Among these were resolutions condemning violence against law enforcement officers and efforts to defund local law enforcement agencies, a Senate-passed bill enabling the use of COPS grants for law enforcement recruitment, and legislation requiring the reporting of violent attacks against police to the Attorney General. The attacks against our law enforcement officers have been deeply troubling, and just as troubling is the inability of some of my colleagues to support our police. That 61 of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted against yesterday's resolution condemning violence against police officers was deeply troubled. No matter what others do, I will always back the blue. Yesterday, the Remote Access Security Act, which I introduced and which was co-led by Jeff Jackson (D-NC-14), Rich McCormick (R-GA-06), and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30) advanced from the House Foreign Affairs Committee as part of an en bloc vote. This legislation will close a loophole in U.S. export control laws that is being exploited by China, ensuring China can no longer access this tech through the cloud. With China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea working in unison to disrupt and dismantle the free world, the Remote Access Security Act will ensure we aren't inadvertently giving them the tools to do so. I'm pleased that this important legislation has advanced out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I look forward to it soon passing the House and the Senate and being signed into law. Also this week, the Hudson River Protection Act, which I introduced with my Hudson Valley colleagues Pat Ryan (D-NY-18) and Marc Molinaro (R-NY-19), passed the House of Representatives as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act by a vote of 376 to 16, bringing it one step closer to becoming law. Preserving the health of the Hudson River is a priority we all share and is something that I have been vocal about since taking office. That's why I joined colleagues from both parties in introducing the NY-NJ Watershed Protection Act, and why I joined with my Hudson Valley neighbors Pat Ryan and Marc Molinaro to introduce the Hudson River Protection Act. This legislation will ban additional anchorages and protect our constituents from the safety issues that would arise. I was pleased to see this legislation pass the House by a broad, bipartisan vote and I look forward to it becoming law. In addition to passing the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, the House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act. Included in this was two bills I introduced with Representatives Carbajal (D-CA-24) and Van Orden (R-WI-03) to curb the threat of PFAS contamination near our nation's airports - the Pollution-Free Aviation Sites (PFAS) Act and the Save Our Airports Reporting Act. With the President's signing of the FAA Reauthorization Act yesterday, these bills are now law. As a member of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, ensuring that Americans are safe from PFAS chemical exposure remains one of my top concerns, and I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues in both parties on this important priority. Finally, we just passed the Israel Security Assistance Support Act to prevent the Biden Administration from withholding congressionally-directed assistance for Israel. Congress passed this aid last month in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote and it is unconscionable to my colleagues and I that the Biden Administration is threatening to rescind it. On Tuesday, Israel celebrated its 76th birthday. The United States was the first country in the world to recognize the modern state of Israel, which it did just eleven minutes after its founding. The United States and Israel share an inseparable bond - there must be no daylight between our two countries. We support Israel's right to defend itself and rescue its people who were taken hostage on October 7 in what was the worst mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. Let me know which of these bills resonates the most to you and your family by responding to my survey below. By filling out this survey, you opt in to receive updates from my office.
