Newsletter: Tragedy in Las Vegas
**Sign up for my email newsletter now so you don't miss any updates in the future!**
We all woke up today to the horrifying news of yet another mass shooting, this time in Las Vegas. This violence sears our hearts and leaves countless families forever, tragically changed. I extend my sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones and send prayers for recovery to those wounded. And I'm grateful for the professionalism and bravery of law enforcement and first responders during and after this attack.
As we move forward, our words and prayers are not sufficient for Las Vegas and other victims of daily gun violence across our country. We must come together to tackle this epidemic with action. Enough is enough.
In the days ahead, I'll be working to build support for commonsense measures to reduce gun violence wherever progress is possible – including the SECURE Firearm Storage Act and Ghost Guns Are Guns Act.
COMPENSATING ZION FOR NUCLEAR STORAGE
Zion, IL and communities like it have been unfairly saddled with storing our nation's stranded nuclear waste – forced to shoulder the burdens of storage with no compensation in return.
Yesterday, I joined Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Mayor Al Hill to announce the Sensible, Timely Relief for America's Nuclear Districts' Economic Development (STRANDED) Act.
This bill would bolster Zion's economic development by finally compensating the city and other cities in the same situation for their interim storage of stranded nuclear waste. By offering tax incentives to encourage private investment and homeownership, and better ensuring access to all available federal resources, this will help cities to attract new business and new families to their communities.
Addressing this issue is a matter of basic fairness for the communities paying the price for our government's failure to find a permanent solution for spent nuclear fuel.
Read coverage of the bill from Lake County News-Sun and Daily Herald.
PREVENTING ELDER ABUSE
Last week, I partnered with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) to introduce bipartisan legislation to better protect seniors from elder abuse.
The Senior Citizen Protection Act would create a national registry of elder abusers that accredited health care providers and the public could check before hiring employees who will work with seniors. While some states already have created elder abuse registries, there is currently no nationally-searchable database of the state-level data.
Collecting and cataloging state data on elder abusers and scammers into a nationally-searchable database is a commonsense step to protect our seniors from those who wish to do them harm
Learn more about the bill on our website
TARGETING HIZBALLAH'S MISSILE CAPABILITIES
An amendment I offered targeting Hizballah's domestic missile capabilities passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week and was included in H.R. 3229, the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017.
The amendment would require a report from the President on the foreign and domestic supply chain that advances Hizballah's domestic missile capabilities, including how Iran is able to transfer goods and technology, a list of those who facilitate missile transfers, and the steps being taken to disrupt the supply chain that advances Hizballah's domestic missile capabilities.
Hizballah is not only a grave threat to our ally Israel, they are also a threat to regional security and America's national security interests. An indigenous rocket producing capability would greatly escalate their destabilizing activities.
Learn more about this legislation on our website.
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.
The October Neighborhood Office Hour schedule is now online. Check out the full schedule on our website and come meet with us when we're in your community!
WEEKLY WRAP-UP
It was an honor to join the presentation of the Legion of Merit to Col. Ronald Jones of Vernon Hills after more than 30 years of service. I'm proud our office could help work with the Army to ensure he received this medal.
Enjoyed the conversation with the young people of CLC Latino Alliance about education, the environment, immigration and more.
Meeting with local business leaders at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce Illinois breakfast in Gurnee.
Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for more photos and updates.
As always, 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!