President Obama's Weekly Address 2/27/16: Degrading and Destroying ISIL

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the global campaign to degrade and destroy ISIL. The President stated that our coalition of 66 partners continues to grow stronger and is making vital progress in the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. President Obama also noted that at home we will continue to stay vigilant. At the same time, we’ll keep working to build partnerships of trust and respect with communities to help them stay strong and resilient. The President reiterated that although the fight against ISIL will remain difficult, we will prevail – and ultimately destroy ISIL.

President Obama's Weekly Address 9/20/14: The World Is United in the Fight Against ISIL

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President thanked Congress for its strong bipartisan support for efforts to train and equip Syrian opposition forces to fight ISIL. This plan is part of the President’s comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy to degrade and destroy the terrorist group, and does not commit our troops to fighting another ground war. America, working with a broad coalition of nations, will continue to train, equip, advise, and assist our partners in the region in the battle against ISIL. In the coming week, the President will speak at the United Nations General Assembly and continue to lead the world against terror, a fight in which all countries have a stake.

The Fourth Amendment: the Age of Snowden

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter

I am not a lawyer or a constitutional scholar; I only play one on C-SPAN. But this week, as we observe Constitution Day, I was pleased to give a talk sharing my thoughts about the Fourth Amendment in the Age of Snowden. The Fourth Amendment was added in 1791 and established the right of the people to be secure in their persons and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

Too often discussions of the Fourth Amendment refer to protection of privacy. Such a discussion misses the

larger significance of protection against unreasonable search and seizure. No person in America should be placed under suspicion, even provisionally, without probable cause. To do so destroys the founding presumption of equality. It is more subtle than profiling people of swarthy complexions at airports, but it is no less pernicious. The technological capability to break down, figuratively, a million computer memory doors does not, or at least should not, make that any more permissible than breaking into a hundred homes without warrants looking for scandalous attacks on the King.

The bulk collection of personal data about Americans surely degrades their privacy, but worse, it says to them, “Your government wants to make sure that you are not in that class of people suspected of doing harm. We’ll get back to you after we are sure.” In today’s society of sharing details of one’s life on social media, arguments of privacy lose saliency. Let us hope the principle of equality does not lose its saliency.

As we commemorate the signing of the document that underpins our representative democracy, I am happy to send you a free, pocket-sized copy of the Constitution. I always carry one. To receive a copy, please request one by clicking here.

ISIS in Iraq and Syria

This week, Congress approved an amendment that authorizes aid to “moderate” Syrian rebels. The idea of arming the Syrian opposition has been discussed and debated over the last several years. Until now, Congress has rejected military involvement with Syrian opposition groups because Americans and our leaders did not really understand the size, composition, abilities, and intentions of the various opposition groups, and we were concerned that the unforeseen consequences of our involvement could easily ruin any advantages there might be. The surprising success of the vicious Islamic State (ISIS) forces only demonstrates that we really did not understand the situation in Syria.

The President's proposed strategy seems very similar to what we have pursued in previous conflicts: arm and train local forces in the region and plan to turn over responsibility for the fight to those governments. That strategy failed spectacularly in Iraq, and in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, and in Vietnam. During his trip to the region earlier this month, Secretary of State Kerry came up short when he sought concrete military commitments from other countries--even countries directly threatened by ISIS ideology. I voted against training the yet-to-be determined Syrian opposition fighters and against putting more American lives at risk on the ground in Iraq and Syria.

The NIH Challenge

By now, the ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease) Ice Bucket Challenge has garnered the attention of celebrities and citizens everywhere, increasing awareness of this debilitating disease, and raising over $100 million to fund research for a cure.

However, I believe that there is an issue going relatively unnoticed in the uptick of donations: federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the federal agency devoted to funding biomedical research, has been slipping. Over the past five years, the NIH has directed over $225 million to ALS research. Yet this figure would be significantly higher had Congress not voted to implement budget cuts across the board. Today, the NIH budget is at the same level as in 2003, and its Director, Francis Collins, has stated that NIH has lost 25 percent of its purchasing power over the last decade. While the Ice Bucket Challenge is raising awareness and money to cure a terrible disease, we should also be demanding that Congress reverse course, supporting increased funding for NIH and investing in basic research at the National Science Foundation. The best way for us to tackle difficult-to-treat diseases such as ALS is to fund biomedical research fully.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Back Doors

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

Last week The New York Times and The Guardian reported that the National Security Agency has weakened or broken the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of Americans to protect their private data.

Congressman Rush Holt

According to these reports, the NSA has covertly weakened the computer security protocols that American citizens and businesses rely on. The NSA has surreptitiously obtained the encryption keys used by major corporations to protect online data. And the NSA has demanded that manufacturers insert “back doors” into computer systems to enable secret government eavesdropping.

It’s as though the NSA had secretly copied the keys to your home. Worse, it’s as though the NSA had prohibited manufacturers from even making secure locks – all while assuring the public that of course their belongings were safe.

Although the NSA’s goal may have been to allow the U.S. government to spy on communications, by introducing vulnerabilities into widely used computer hardware and software, the NSA would be rendering all communications vulnerable to criminals and foreign intelligence agencies. Anyone can walk through an open door if they can find it.

Earlier this year I introduced legislation, the Surveillance State Repeal Act, that would make it illegal for the NSA to coerce developers to include “back doors” in computer hardware or entry points in software. These revelations give that proposal new urgency.

Next Steps Forward in Syria

President Obama’s speech to the nation this week about the situation in Syria was both timely and necessary. I welcome his call for a delay in Congressional consideration of an authorization for the use of military force.

I am pleased that the President has dispatched Secretary of State Kerry to meet with his Russian counterpart in Europe to explore whether the proposal to verifiably disarm Syria of its chemical weapons can be successfully implemented. As we learned after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the best way to ensure a rogue nation is reliably disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction is through intrusive, internationally supervised on-site inspections.

If the proposal works, it would be the best way to eliminate safely Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal without risking either American or Syrian lives in a military campaign.

Deadline to Register for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund

It has been twelve years since that terrible day when nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens perished in an unprovoked series of attacks on our nation. And while the key perpetrators of that horror are now themselves either dead or in our custody, the pain and the heroism of Americans on that day is something we must never forget.

In 2009, I helped pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act establishing a fund to to compensate for physical harm or death caused by the attacks of September 11, 2001. Potential claimants include first responders; cleanup workers; construction and sanitation personnel; and individuals who lived, worked, or volunteered in the areas of the crashes at the World Trade Center site, the Pentagon site, and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania site.

If you believe you may be eligible for compensation, it is important to register by the October 3, 2013 deadline. Registration is very easy and requires answering only a few questions. The website VCF.gov includes detailed information on the registration deadline and a link to register online, or you can call toll-free 1-855-885-1555.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

President Obama's Weekly Address 9/14/13: Pursuing a Diplomatic Solution in Syria

WASHINGTON, DC—In his weekly address, President Obama followed up on his speech to the nation on Tuesday and said there is the possibility for a diplomatic solution in Syria, partially because of the credible threat of U.S. military force. Russia has joined the international community in pushing Syria to give up its chemical weapons—which were used to kill more than 1,000 people on August 21 —and the U.S. will take steps to ensure this is not a stalling tactic. We will also maintain our military posture in the region and remain prepared to act if diplomacy fails. This allows us to achieve our goal of deterring the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons, degrade their ability to use them, and make it clear to the world that we won’t tolerate their use, in order to preserve a world free from the fear of chemical weapons for our children.

President Obama's Weekly Address 9/7/13: Calling for Limited Military Action in Syria

WASHINGTON, DC — In his weekly address, President Obama makes the case for limited and targeted military action to hold the Assad regime accountable for its violation of international norms prohibiting the use of chemical weapons. The President realizes the American people are weary after a decade of war, which is why U.S. action would not include U.S. boots on the ground. Instead, the President has put forward a proposed authorization that is focused on his clearly stated objectives – preventing and deterring the use and proliferation of chemical weapons (CW) within, to, or from Syria, degrading the Assad regime’s capacity to carry out future CW attacks, and deterring this behavior in others who would otherwise feel emboldened to use such weapons. The President acknowledged it is not a decision he made lightly, but failing to respond to such actions poses a serious threat to our national security.

Syria

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

Once again, we find ourselves on the verge of military conflict with a foreign nation.

Congressman Rush Holt

We have many reasons to feel outrage and repulsion at events underway in Syria. Many believe, and
the United Nations is now working to confirm, that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Secretary Kerry was right to say that “the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity.”

The world must respond to these atrocities in Syria with a full understanding of the facts and with the full involvement of the international community and the United States Congress. In particular, we must reject the foolish idea that America should take military action before there is good international understanding of the facts. We remember the errors of Iraq. America should be the exemplar of good international behavior. We cannot be the unilateral enforcer of good behavior.

Together with 115 members of Congress – including 98 Republicans and 17 Democrats – I wrote President Obama this week to urge him to seek Congressional authorization prior to the use of military force in Syria. Our constitution obliges him to do so, and Congress stands ready to convene at his request to weigh the wisdom of any such military strike.

How Will Health Reform Affect Your Small Business?

Do you have questions about what health reform means for your small business? Would you like to know more about tax credits that could help you provide health insurance for your employees?

If so, please join my Small Business Health Insurance Options Program (SHOP) Workshop at 9 a.m. on Monday, September 30th at the East Brunswick Public Library, 2 Jean Walling Civic Center Drive in East Brunswick. Further details and information on how to RSVP are available online.

50 Years Later

On Wednesday, I joined tens of thousands of others at the Lincoln Memorial to recognize the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Today the march is remembered best for the speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., who gave the call for universal civil rights its most powerful and urgent expression. Another of that day’s speakers was John Lewis, then the 23-year-old chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Community and now a longtime member of Congress. In his remarks yesterday, Rep. Lewis told what happened at the end of that famous day:

“After the ceremony was over, President Kennedy [who had been leery of the march] invited us back down to the White House. He met us, standing in the door of the Oval Office, and he was beaming like a proud father. As he shook the hands of each one of us, he said, you did a good job, you did a good job. And he said to Dr. King, you had a dream.

“Fifty years later we can ride anywhere we want to ride, we can stay where we want to stay. Those signs that said ‘white’ and ‘colored’ are gone, and you won't see them anymore except in a museum, in a book, on a video.

“But there are still invisible signs buried in the hearts in humankind that form a gulf between us. Too many of us still believe our differences define us instead of the divine spark that runs through all of human creation.

“The scars and stains of racism still remain deeply embedded in American society, whether it is stop and frisk in New York or injustice in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida; the mass incarceration of millions of Americans; immigrants hiding in fear in the shadow of our society; unemployment, homelessness, poverty, hunger, or the renewed struggle for voting rights.

“So I say to each of us today, we must never, ever give up. We must never, ever give in. We must keep the faith and keep our eyes on the prize.”

John Lewis, who remains a passionate activist, non-violent to his core, is a hero to many of us still today.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress