WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: Ahead of Mother's Day, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) today announced plans to reintroduce their far-reaching bill to improve maternal health outcomes, reverse the trend of rising maternal mortality rates, and close disparities that put Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and their kids at greater risk. The Maximizing Outcomes f  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies issued the following testimony by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-New Jersey, as part of a virtual member's day hearing on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects on May 3, 2021: * * * I am here to advocate for a long overdue and much needed Army Corps of Engineers Project, the dredging of the Mouth of the Maurice River on the Delaware Bayshore in New Jersey. This project will generate high eco  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) announced a fully remote Health Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, May 12, at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on the fiscal year 2022 discretionary budget request for HH  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Environment and Climate Change Chairman Paul Tonko (D-NY) announced today that the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee will hold a fully remote legislative hearing on Thursday, May 13, at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on the Superfund provisions within the Climate Leadership and Env  more

MAHWAH, New Jersey, May 5 -- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and local community leaders visited Stag Hill, land that has been harmed by illegal dumping for more than half a century. Local residents have already cleaned up hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash, but the community lacks the resources needed to finish clearing remaining large piles of dumped waste. In a letter today to the New Jersey Department of En  more

GLEN ROCK, New Jersey, May 7 -- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: This week, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), along with NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and local leaders, held a vigil to commemorate the Indianapolis FedEx shooting last month, which tragically killed eight people, including four Sikh-Americans. "We are here today because we know that hope and progress cannot be held hostage by those who seek to do us harm. We are here today to joi  more

RIDGEWOOD, New Jersey, May 8 -- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer and Ridgewood Water announced a request for federal investment to improve water treatment in order to combat "forever chemicals" harming the local water supply. The publicly-owned utility has already spent several million dollars installing treatment technologies, but more investment is needed for Ridgewood Water to fully build the necessary drinking water trea  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Tomaz Malinowski, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: Representative Tom Malinowski and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse led a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, urging the Department to take early action to combat international corruption and kleptocracy. The lawmakers urged Secretary Yellen to expand anti-money laundering reporting obligations to private equity and hedge fund advisors, and recommended other specific actions the Sec  more

ASBURY PARK, New Jersey, May 8 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today announced that he is reintroducing legislation to permanently ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. The Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act prohibits the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas along the Atlantic Coast, including the North  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today announced that New Jersey will receive $6.5 million for COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaigns, education, and outreach. The funding will help expand outreach to increase vaccination rates and will be distributed through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "I'm glad to see funds from the American Rescue Plan are making their way to New Jerse  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following opening remarks on May 6, 2021, at a Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing entitled "Broadband Equity: Addressing Disparities in Access and Affordability": * * * We're here today to talk about equity in broadband, and the very real disparities that exist in broadband access and affordability. These disparities create a tremendous gap in educational o  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following opening remarks at an Subcommittee on Energy hearing entitled "The CLEAN Future Act: Driving Decarbonization of the Transportation Sector": * * * One of this Committee's top priorities is taking action to address the climate crisis. In the last several months, we have held numerous legislative hearings on the CLEAN Future Act, our comprehensive and ambitious legi  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following opening remarks on May 4, 2021, at a Health Subcommittee hearing entitled "Negotiating a Better Deal: Legislation to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs": * * * The Committee is considering the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act and other legislation that will provide much needed relief to Americans who are fed up with the outrageously high prices of th  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following news release: Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Full Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) wrote to their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee today requesting at least $750 million in Fiscal Year 2022 funding for critical network security initiatives au  more

PATERSON, New Jersey, May 4 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 3, 2021: U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today announced the winners of his annual Congressional Art Competition. All submissions can be viewed here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IOMBrjFTJw&ab_channel=RepPascrell ) and the winners are listed below: 1st place: Left Behind by Gian Lee, Englewood Cliffs 2nd place: Generation Division by Jessalyn Lee, Palisades Park 3rd place  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, today commented favorably on the passage in the Ways and Means Committee of H.R. 2954, the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021. The bill expands on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019 enacted in the 116th Congress. "The first SECURE   more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement and Congressional Fire Services Caucuses, and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) have reintroduced their bicameral, bipartisan Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021. The Protecting America's First Responders Act (PAFRA) of 2021 makes significant improvements to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Public Safet  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 5, 2021: Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. took two strong actions yesterday to keep 1,000 airline catering jobs in Newark. The Congressman wrote a letter to Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, to stop the airline from outsourcing 2,500 catering jobs, including 1,000 jobs in Newark, after Congress gave the airline industry almost $23 billion in stimulus money to retain workers. Then Rep. Payne, Jr. at  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Albio Sires, D-New Jersey, issued the following statement: * * * In response to ongoing protests in Colombia and clashes with police that have led to at least 24 deaths and hundreds of civilian and police injuries, Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration, and International Economic Policy issued the following statement: "I am deeply disturbed by the scenes of violence in Colombia and I urge   more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 5, 2021: Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced today that the Lakewood Economic Action Program (LEAP) will receive an $18,057 federal Head Start Emergency Supplemental grant funded by the CARES Act to help pay for COVID-related efforts for families that participate in the Head Start program. The federal Head Start program--which funds comprehensive development programs and services for preschool children   more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: Congressman Jeff Van Drew sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting that he allow AMVETS annual "Rolling to Remember" Memorial Day event to safely meet at the Pentagon after being denied due to COVID. The AMVETS organization had recently been tasked by the Biden Administration to serve on their newly formed campaign, COVID-19 Community Corps, to increase vaccine confi  more

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey, May 5 -- Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: Congressman Jeff Van Drew visited Coast Guard Station Atlantic City and presented an award for valor to a Petty Officer who conducted a water rescue. In addition, he also toured and participated in a ride on a Coast Guard Vessel where he spoke about ensuring readiness. Congressman Van Drew sits on the Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees wh  more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) and Congressman Jefferson Van Drew (NJ-02) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, asking the Secretary to, "promptly fill the federal vacancy on the New Jersey Pinelands Commission." In addition to Congressmen Kim and Van Drew, the letter is signed by Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Congressman Frank P  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) and Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02) introduced the National Guard Cybersecurity Support Act, a bill that would strengthen our nation's cybersecurity by giving governors the ability to decide when and how to deploy their state's National Guard to respond to cybersecurity threats against critical government programs and information systems. "Being ready to tackle the next generation o  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following news release: Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) sent a letter today to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai regarding the inclusion of language mirroring Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in trade agreements. "As you may know, the effects of Section 230 and the  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03) led 18 Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Committee seeking increased government funding to combat imports to the United States made with forced labor. "[W]e specifically ask that you fund the Office of Trade (OT) at $339,387,000--$50 million above the FY 2021 enacted level of which we urge the Committee to direct U.S. C  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 3, 2021: U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and John Katko (R-NY-24) today led 143 House colleagues requesting a significant increase in Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) funding for Fiscal Year 2022. In a letter to the Homeland Security Subcommittee, the members officially requested that the NSGP program be funded at $360 million, to be split evenly among the NSGP's Urban Area Security  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), John Rutherford (R-FL-04), Don Bacon (R-NE-02), and Val Demings (D-FL-10) reintroduced their TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act. The legislation would implement several measures to better train law enforcement for interactions with individuals suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "Symptoms o  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 4, 2021: Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Representative Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) sent a bipartisan letter along with 18 colleagues to the leadership of the House Committee on Appropriations and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration, which urges the Committee to not include any language in the FY 2022 appropriations bill that wou  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release: On Friday, Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) introduced the bipartisan VR&E NEED Act, which would ensure disabled veterans get the support they need to enter the civilian workforce through the VA's Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program. Similar to Rep. Sherrill's and Rep. Miller-Meek's GI Bill NEED Act (H.R. 2167), this legislation protect  more

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Rep. Albio Sires, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 5, 2021: Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) led a bipartisan letter to President Biden expressing concern over the growing influence of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Western Hemisphere and requesting his administration, along with democratic allies, help our neighbors in the region as they fight COVID-19. "I am deeply concerned by the PRC's efforts to  more

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, May 7 -- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021: U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) yesterday called on the U.S. Treasury and United Airlines to stop United's plan to outsource thousands of inflight catering jobs currently performed by workers based in Newark, Honolulu, Cleveland, Denver, and Houston. In the letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the lawmakers note that the Payroll Support Program   more

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, May 6 -- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, issued the following news release on May 5, 2021: U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) today joined a group of their colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to provide resources to federal, state and local correctional facilities to help manage COVID-19 outbreaks and expand vaccine access to incarcerated individuals and   more

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following joint statement on May 6, 2021, with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois: * * * U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) today issued the following statement regarding the Maduro regime's decision to install a majority of loyalists in Venezuela's National Electoral Council: "In recent months, the Uni  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following joint statement on May 3, 2021, with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont: * * * Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement regarding the situation in El Salvador after President Nayib Bukele and members of his party in the Legislative Assembly used this  more

WASHINGTON, May 4 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following joint statement with Sens. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey: * * * Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement regarding the situation in El Salvador after President Nayib Bukele and members of his party in the Legislative Assembly used this weekend's legislative session to abruptly dismiss five magistrates  more

WASHINGTON, May 5 -- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, issued the following statement: * * * Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement regarding the situation in El Salvador after President Nayib Bukele and members of his party in the Legislative Assembly used this weekend's legislative session to abruptly dismiss five magistrates from the country's constitutional court a  more

SOMERVILLE, New Jersey, May 4 -- Rep. Tomaz Malinowski, D-New Jersey, issued the following statement: * * * "I welcome the Biden Administration's actions to begin rushing medical supplies to our friends in India, and hope the administration will announce new steps in the coming days to accelerate the production and distribution of COVID vaccines around the world. The Indian people are facing a particularly painful surge of COVID-19 cases, and many are dying simply due to a lack oxygen, ventila  more