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Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Rep. Auchincloss in The Washington Post: “I’m a Marine. Trump is putting soldiers in an impossible position.”
ICYMI: Rep. Auchincloss in The Washington Post: "I'm a Marine. Trump is putting soldiers in an impossible position."
ICYMI, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) is a former Marine captain who commanded an infantry platoon at Twentynine Palms, the base from which 700 United States Marines were deployed to Los Angeles by President Trump last week. Rep. Auchincloss set out in The Washington Post how these Marines are trained for urban warfare abroad, not crowd control at home.
Please find the text of the op-ed below:
"The president's deployment of Marines to Los Angeles is not only unnecessary and illegal. It is also unfair to the Marines themselves. As a former captain who commanded infantry at Twentynine Palms, where these Marines are stationed, I empathize with their dilemma.
The sergeants and corporals have to adopt tactics against their training. The lieutenants and captains have to wrestle with the lawfulness of this executive order. And esprit de corps for all the Marines must be suffering as they ask themselves, on this convoy from inland California to the coast, "Is this what I enlisted for?"
These 700 Marines belong to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. That's an infantry unit — not military police, not logistics, not communications. Infantry in Twentynine Palms are training at the Marine Corps' premier live-fire base to destroy the enemy. Their tactics are geared to locate, close with and destroy the People's Liberation Army or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not Angelenos.
The sergeants and corporals who will be the close-in tactical leads in the city are trained in Military Operations on Urban Terrain. MOUT is not urban policing, which is what the Los Angeles Police Department practices. Instead, it involves cordoning off a section of a city, clearing each building with fire and maneuver, and then controlling lines of fire to suppress the enemy in the next section of the city. The population is treated in accord with the law of armed conflict, not the Bill of Rights. It is combat, not crowd control. Property, public or private, is collateral damage.
These tactics make sense when America is fighting a war. But they are wholly unacceptable in an American city. The sergeants and corporals being deployed have reportedly been given four days of thrown-together training in which to unlearn years of urban warfare instruction and adopt the tactics and techniques of police officers. Even the best noncommissioned officers I served with could not make that work. They should not have to. Our country needs them training to defend us, not used as photo ops for a president whose approval ratings are softening.
These noncommissioned officers report to lieutenants and captains, who are platoon and company commanders. They in turn report to the battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel. These officers are sworn to both "support and defend the Constitution" and "obey the orders of the President of the United States." I do not know these officers personally, but I have known many like them and I have sworn that oath myself. I am certain they take that oath solemnly. Right now, their commander in chief is putting them in a Catch-22. What is a 25-year-old officer to do when the orders of the president do not support and defend the Constitution?
As a member of Congress, I can plainly state and act upon my interpretation of the president's executive order. It is unnecessary — Los Angeles is not in "rebellion," as the president claims. And it is illegal — it contravenes both the law and principle of posse comitatus, which generally prevents the president from using the military for domestic law enforcement. But these young officers are not a check and balance on the president, like I am. They are under his command. He is demoralizing and denigrating their units and their service. If and when a judge agrees with me on the illegality of this order, the battalion commander must immediately return his Marines to the barracks.
Critics might counter that the Marines are only defending federal personnel and property as part of a broader effort to uphold law and order. Certainly, all people and property should be protected. Protest is legal; rioting is not. Violence or destruction should be met with arrests. The LAPD is well trained and equipped for that mission. If it needs help, it can ask for regional and state assistance, including from the National Guard under the command of the governor. The active-duty military does not figure in that response escalation; indeed, the Los Angeles police chief has said the deployment of Marines "presents a significant logistical and operational challenge."
This deployment is not just bad for the police. It's bad for the Marines, too. They did not sweat and bleed in training to be used as political props. As this president grasps for every political advantage, he is attacking not just the Constitution but also the morale and mission of one of this country's greatest institutions, the United States Marines."
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Appreciation Event celebrates the collaboration that returned a single family home to franklin housing stock (video)
The Franklin Housing Authority has acquired the ‘long-time vacant’ property located at 813 Summer Street, Franklin. The beautifully renovated three-bedroom home will be leased to an income eligible family and the property will remain in the Town’s affordable housing stock through perpetuity.The process of obtaining the property took many years and has involved much assistance from several local officials, agencies and advocates.Supporters included: State Representative Jeffrey Roy, Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator, Lisa Mosczynski, President, Metacomet Land Trust (MLT) and all of MLT’s Board of Directors including Treasurer Susan Speers, Attorney Michael Doherty, Attorney Richard Cornetta, Chairman Christopher Vericker, Franklin Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) and all MAHT’s Trust Members including Christopher Feeley, Bank of America, Dean Bank, George Danello, Chairman of the Franklin Housing Authority (FHA) and all FHA Board Members.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
An Invite From Your Congressman - Virtual Update and Q&A on Tuesday, April 15
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Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Congressional Update and Q&A with Congressman Auchincloss scheduled for Sunday,March 30 in Attleboro
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Friday, March 21, 2025
Congressman Auchincloss invites you for a Virtual Update and Q&A - March 24
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Saturday, March 15, 2025
An Invitation from your Congressman Jake Auchincloss
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Wednesday, February 19, 2025
NYTimes.com: A Democrat Who Is Thinking Differently (Listen, Read)
Continue to read the article via this "gift" link -> https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jake-auchincloss.html?smid=em-shareA Democrat Who Is Thinking Differently
A Democrat Who Is Thinking Differently (Listen, Read)
Representative Jake Auchincloss discusses how the Democratic Party can offer meaningful alternatives to voters.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Congressman Auchincloss extends invitation for an Update and Q&A on Feb 8 in Franklin
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Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Congressman Auchincloss schedules a congressional update and Q&A at Franklin High School Feb 8
Via Congressman Auchincloss
"Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) is hosting a congressional update and Q&A in Franklin, MA. This is an opportunity for constituents to raise questions, hear updates on what Congressman Auchincloss is doing to represent the district's values and advance its priorities, and receive assistance with casework.This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 12:00 pm.If you have questions, please call Congressman Auchincloss’ Newton office at (617) 332-3333 or the Attleboro office at (508) 431-1110.
To learn more about Congressman Jake Auchincloss, visit https://auchincloss.house.gov or connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Congressman Auchincloss’ Statement on Brayton Point
Yesterday (1/17/25), Prysmian Group announced it will end the development of its proposed $300 million cable manufacturing plant at Brayton Point. Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) issued the following statement:
"Prysmian's decision to walk away from its planned submarine cables factory at Brayton Point is disappointing and discouraging. The factory, on the site of a decommissioned coal-fired power plant, would have created hundreds of good jobs producing the submarine cables that plug offshore wind turbines into the electrical grid.
Congressman Auchincloss’ Statement on Brayton Point |
"Alongside dozens of stakeholders, including state & local officials and union representatives, I have worked hard to make Brayton Point an exemplar of the clean-energy economy. Donald Trump has unraveled that promise of good jobs by threatening a moratorium on offshore wind, generating so much uncertainty that companies pull back investment. Despite this setback, I remain committed to Brayton Point's redevelopment in partnership with the town of Somerset."
Congressman Auchincloss Appointed to Energy & Commerce
Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-04) has been appointed to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for the 119th Congress. The Committee is at the forefront of health care, technology, and energy policy. Rep. Auchincloss will serve on the Health, Energy, and Environment subcommittees.
In particular, the committee has responsibility for matters including telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health and research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce.
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Congressman Auchincloss Appointed to Energy & Commerce |
A photo from Congressman Auchincloss’ first full-committee meeting can be viewed here ->
Sunday, January 5, 2025
Memorandum: Jake Auchincloss’ Fourth Year in Congress
- As a “heavy hitter on national security issues,” Auchincloss remained a forceful voice against China, Iran, and Russia’s global axis of authoritarianism serving on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
- Served as Democratic co-chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’s Fentanyl Policy Working Group, where he led three bipartisan bills to crack down on the Chinese Communist Party’s role in subsidizing fentanyl precursors and analogues by coordinating U.S. government actions and implementing sanctions and fines.
- As a Member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, helped draft and pass the overwhelmingly bipartisan reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, including improvements to air traffic control recruitment and training and his own legislation to help airports reduce congestion at the curb.
- Continued his leading role as an advocate for Ukraine’s right to defend itself from Russia’s invasion forces, and was a strong proponent for the congressional aid package earlier this year.
- Led a letter with 52 House Members urging the Biden administration to pursue more vigorous Russian oil sanctions and questioning an exception granted to a U.S.-based company conducting business in Russia and fueling Vladimir Putin’s war economy.
- Delivered cable hit after hit forcefully urging President Biden to remove all remaining restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-manufactured weapons in the final months of his presidency. Auchincloss’ Wall Street Journal op-ed implored Biden to enable Ukraine to deploy combined-arms tactics inside enemy territory, just as NATO militaries would.
- Drafted and gained 60 bipartisan cosponsors for the “strongest set of reforms introduced in Congress to date” to tackle the prescription drug price-gouging abuses of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) – the middlemen of drug pricing – with the bipartisan Pharmacists Fight Back (PFB) Act
- Confronted the surge in campus antisemitism by holding to account the eight colleges and universities scoring poorly on the ADL’s campus antisemitism report, and by leading a bipartisan letter with over 20 U.S. lawmakers urging the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate these incidents on college campuses and issue a report to Congress with policy recommendations, as it did 20 years ago
- As an “outspoken advocate for gun violence reduction efforts,” wrote to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to encourage school districts to share federal resources available under the Biden administration on safe firearms storage with parents and guardians.
- Used his unique perspective as the youngest parent in the Democratic Caucus to take on trillion-dollar social media corporations on behalf of parents for their corrosive effects on youth mental health. He co-led the successful TikTok divestment bill and introduced his own legislation, the Verifying Kids Online Privacy Act, to raise the age of internet adulthood from 13 to 16 in support of replacing the phone-based childhood with the play-based childhood
- Worked across the aisle to tackle explicit deepfakes on social media – nearly 100% of which is non-consensual, intimate content of women. His legislation, the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, would amend Section 230 to prevent social media companies from evading their responsibility to remove deepfake pornography from their platforms.
- Delivering Results at Home
- Nearly $1.494 million in tax refunds returned
- 1,270+ casework inquiries completed
- 160+ people helped with Social Security benefits
- 400+ constituents helped with immigration issues
- Nearly 104,598 responses to constituents through emails, letters, and phone calls
- During his fourth year in office, he made over 275 podcast, local media, and national television appearances.
- While he represents some of the bluest zip codes in the country, the largest city in his district, Fall River, flipped red for President Trump for the first time since President Coolidge in 1924. Congressman Auchincloss appeals to both constituencies, as he is one of the Democrats that makes regular rounds on non-traditional media and conservative media outlets like Fox News.
- As part of this approach, Auchincloss has consistently shattered echo chambers on both the far right and far left: be it flipping the script on the GOP’s pandering to the NRA on conservative media, or pushing back on the far-left’s bad faith attacks on Israel.
- This spring, Auchincloss garnered national headlines for calling out the far-left’s double-standard of failing to condemn the surge in antisemitic college protests.
- Called a “particularly tough interrogator of PBM executives” at a House Oversight Hearing in July, Auchincloss continued keeping the price-gouging abuses of PBMs at the forefront of national attention. Despite the GOP’s caving to the health insurance lobby at the end of this year, he will continue to put maximum pressure on PBMs next Congress.