Saturday, January 27, 2024

Congressman Auchincloss: An Update on the last 2 weeks (as of 1/26/24)

LAST 2 WEEKS IN REVIEW

I'm your representative in Congress and I write to keep you informed.

Standing with hostages
Defending Ukraine
Securing the border
In the weeds with the IT industry
Combatting Antisemitism
Building more housing

—

Honoring MLK
Visiting Fall River
Young Israel Sharon
Tackling opioids & meth

On the Hill

Standing with the Hostages: I joined fellow Members of the House in standing behind hostage families at a candlelight vigil to commemorate 100 days since Hamas slaughtered, raped, and tortured innocent civilians and took hundreds more hostage. Congress must remain united in pursuing the release of all hostages.

Defending Ukraine: I voted against Speaker Johnson's short-term funding measure. Consistent with my position from last summer, I will not bail the Republicans out of their continuing dysfunction unless they present a clear, credible, and concrete plan to fund Ukraine. Ukrainians are caught between Putin to their East and Trump to their West while they fight on the front lines of the free world, in their pursuit of self-determination. The funds already approved have had tremendous return on investment – making Russia weaker, NATO stronger, and boosting U.S. industrial capacity and jobs, including a billion dollars for Bay State industry alone. Congress must stop delaying and start shipping more materiel to our ally. I joined CNN to discuss my vote. You can watch it here.

Securing the border: I am angered by reports that Senate Republicans plan to torpedo an impending bipartisan deal to fund Ukraine and secure our border. By their own admission, they are responding to Trump's request that he wants to campaign on the border, so he doesn't want them to govern on it. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Mike Johnson must demonstrate political courage in standing up to Trump and MAGA in order to govern for the good of the country.

Last month, I joined state and local officials and service providers to deliver meals to migrants in our community. I remain committed to passing bipartisan immigration reform like the DIGNITY Act, which would upgrade border security and pre-process migrants in countries of origin; streamline & rationalize asylum & visa pathways; provide documentation and dignity to DREAMers; and help fund the upskilling of American workers.

Legislating on immigration in an election year is a tall order, but I will continue to press for pragmatism and compromise in order to improve border security and ensure due process.

In the weeds with the IT industry: I met with members of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) to discuss the importance to the IT industry of strong intellectual property laws; access to global markets; and a thriving U.S. R&D ecosystem. These issues are not just critical to outcompeting China, they are also impactful to the Massachusetts economy.

Combating Antisemitism: In response to the Boston City Council's vote against accepting counter-terrorism funds, I sent a letter to Council President Ruthzee Louijeune urging the council to approve the funding when Mayor Michelle Wu re-submits the request. The Boston Globe concurred in an editorial. Regrettably, the Boston City Council has again delayed approval.

The Israel-Hamas War has heightened our region's need for counter-terrorism security measures, as underscored in recent congressional testimony by the FBI Director. Greater Boston is a national hub for the Jewish community. As antisemitism proliferates, counter-terrorism funding is more pertinent than ever. Impeding its disbursement could undermine the trust of Greater Boston's Jewish community. It is imperative that the City Council reconsider and approve these federal funds to support the safety of Greater Boston, including the town of Brookline in our district, which would be covered under the grant.

Building more housing: I sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee requesting the expansion of the successful Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program in the bipartisan tax package. I am happy to report the expansion was included in the bill that House Ways & Means approved. You can read more about the proposal, which also includes an expansion of the Child Tax Credit and inducement of corporate research & development, here.

Make your voice heard → I want to hear from you.

Do you support federal tax credits for affordable housing?

Around the Fourth

Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.: Needham Select Board Member Marcus Nelson and I spoke about our work to advance affordable housing as a foundation of racial justice at Needham's MLK celebration. The celebration's theme was building bridges, not walls. Exclusionary zoning is a paper wall. We can't build bridges if we can't build housing.

Image Credit: Colin Furze, the Herald News

Visiting Fall River: With Mayor Paul Coogan, I visited the Homeless Overflow Shelter at the Timao Center, where federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding has supported the Shelter's dynamic team of first responders, substance abuse counselors and mental-health practitioners in treating the homeless population and putting these individuals on the path to self-sufficiency. At the Highland Head Start Birth to Five Center, I heard from early educators about the hundreds of children on their waiting list and the 'two generation' model they pursue, where they uplift both children and their parents. I then toured the Veterans Association of Bristol County, where Executive Director Ken Levesque explained his efforts to expand from a food pantry to a full-service veterans-services hub for southeastern Massachusetts, encompassing social services and community building.

Young Israel Sharon: I joined the members of several Sharon temples at Young Israel of Sharon on Sunday, where I reiterated my support for the Israeli people and encouraged Israel's war cabinet to articulate achievable aims of returning all hostages; degrading Hamas to prevent it from waging further attacks; and establishing transitional governance for Gaza that is consistent with both Israel's security and the aspiration of the Palestinian people for a state of their own. Israel's reported offer of a two-month pause in return for all hostages is an important step in that direction. Hamas' rejection of the offer is another example of that terrorist organization's barbarity and the necessity of destroying its leadership and excluding it from governance.

Tackling Opioids & Meth: I met with the director and analysts from New England's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program. The HIDTA Program is funded from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and has a track record of success fusing government efforts in three domains:

Driving tight feedback loops between federal, state, and local law enforcement
Combining public safety with public health
Addressing drug trafficking along with related threats, including money laundering and illegal gun distribution

HIDTA briefed me on substance-abuse trends in Massachusetts, where in addition to the opioid crisis the analysts highlighted the alarming rise in methamphetamine abuse in the commonwealth, which previously has been spared that scourge. We also discussed bipartisan reauthorization of the HIDTA Program and the local Coast Guard's role in drug interdiction. This last element is of particular interest to me as a Member of the Coast Guard & Maritime Subcommittee and as a former commander of a joint training team for drug interdiction in Panama.

Onwards,