Newsletter: Bipartisanship at State of the Union
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Dear Friend,
Last week, President Trump appeared before a joint session of Congress to present the annual State of the Union address. It was a long speech that touched on many issues, some of which I support like investing in infrastructure, and others that I vehemently oppose, such as ending family reunification.Ultimately, I will be judging the President not by his words in the speech, but by his actions now and in the months ahead.
What is clear is that we will only be successful addressing the serious challenges we face if we find ways to work together to resolve them. That's one reason I ignored the traditional party-line seating arrangements and sat with Congressman Randy Hultgren, who represents the district to the west of ours. We have different views on many issues, but we do share a commitment to working together in good faith to tackle the problems facing our nation.
Last year, we saw President Trump and Republican leadership decide to go it alone without bipartisan input on both tax and health care reform, and the resulting legislation suffered severely for it. To have any hope of clearing Congress's long to-do list for 2018, including investing in infrastructure, funding the fight against the opioid crisis, protecting DREAMers and other critical priorities, we must work together in a bipartisan way. I remain willing to work across the aisle with anyone, including President Trump, to achieve these goals.
I also invited Lake County States Attorney Michael Nerheim to be my guest for the President's speech. One of my priority issues is addressing the opioid epidemic affecting our entire country. Mike has been at the forefront in tackling this issue in our communities, and I hope Congress can learn from Lake County's bipartisan example as we seek solutions.
AN ACTIVE AND BIPARTISAN FIRST YEAR
A new report by Quorum Analytics reviewing the first year of the 115th Congress found that I was the most active Democratic Freshman during 2017, having introduced 17 bills since taking office in January. I was rated among the top three most bipartisan House Freshman. This is great validation of the work my team and I completed in 2017 and we will be working hard to build on these trends in 2018.
Read the Quorum Analytics report here.
VALENTINES FOR VETERANS
Once again this year, our Lincolnshire Office is collecting and distributing cards to local veterans this Valentine's Day. See above for some cards that were dropped off last week by students at Sunny Hill Elementary School. We're accepting submissions until Friday, February 9 at 111 Barclay Blvd, Suite 200, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. This is a great way to give back to those who have given so much for our country.
TAX HELP AVAILABLE
We've put together a list of locations in our district with IRS-certified volunteers available to provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing to qualified individuals.
CONSTITUENT CASEWORK: CUTTING THROUGH RED TAPE FOR TSA PRE-CHECK
The TSA is just one of many federal agencies our office can help with. Here's one recent casework story:
Peggy is a constituent in Gurnee who applied for TSA pre-check and was told it could take 7-10 days to hear back. After two months and a half dozen calls to the TSA and FBI, Peggy's application was still held up in red tape. She contacted our office and we were able to get Peggy confirmation within 24 hours that her application was accepted. "Amazing! If not for the Congressman's office, I probably would still be waiting. My advice: Don't wait! Call your Congressman right away!" said Peggy.
NEIGHBORHOOD OFFICE HOURS
Our office hosts frequent Neighborhood Office Hours for constituents to more easily meet with caseworkers and staff to discuss any federal issues that they may have and learn more about services our office can provide. We're here to help if you have issues with Medicare, Social Security, the Veterans Administration, immigration and more.
This week, we'll be in Deerfield, NorthChicago, and Waukegan. Check out the full schedule on our website and come meet with us when we're in your community!
WEEKLY WRAP-UP
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Last week, I spoke to honor Jim Carney for his selfless service to residents of the Tenth District as a firefighter in our communities for more than two decades. Jim sadly passed away last month after a heroic three-and-a-half-year battle with cancer.
Welcoming the Kohl Children's Museum pop-up exhibit to Urban Edge in downtown Waukegan. The museum is free of charge to school and childcare groups during weekday hours and to families during evening and weekend hours. The exhibit includes hands-on STEAM activities for children ages three to eight years old and their families. Make time to visit this month! More information on the Kohl Children's Museum website.
On Saturday, I spoke with two community groups in Mundelein and Lake Villa about my commitment to protecting the DREAMers in our community and opposition to the proposed immigration plan by President Trump that restricts legal immigration and eliminates family reunification policies. We have always been a nation of immigrants and are stronger because of it.
Sharing a laugh with some of the young people in Youth Build Lake County. At the Black History luncheon, students presented on influential African-Americans in our history.
Visiting Oak Grove School in Libertyville. Thank you to Superintendent Lonny Lemon for showing me around.
Joining my colleagues in New Democrat Coalition outlining principles for an infrastructure deal. The need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure is an area of bipartisan agreement, and we're ready and willing to work across the aisle to achieve it.
Every year it's a true privilege to nominate outstanding young people from our communities for the military service academies. Last week, we held a reception to congratulate the nominees and wish them well as they continue in the very competitive admission process. There were lots of future leaders in this room, and I'm very inspired by their commitment to serving our country. Thank you to National Museum of the American Sailor for hosting!
Please continue to stay in touch and share your thoughts, either by calling our DC office at (202) 225-4835 or emailing via our website.
Thanks for reading!