I Remain Hopeful

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

Among us in America are some 11 million people who live in the shadows.  They are workers who are denied fair pay and decent treatment by their employers, students who fear expulsion from the only country they’ve ever known, and soldiers who have defended this nation but fear that America may one day decide it has no place for them.  They are undocumented immigrants.

A group of immigrants and activists have set up camp on the National Mall a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.  Since last Tuesday, they have fasted.  They have, in their own words, taken “a vow to abstain from sustenance” to “inspire a resilient movement to cease the deportations, suffering, sorrow and fear and usher a new structure of laws for the good of our country men and women and the sake of our values.”

I visited the protesters earlier this week to offer my support.  Today, America has an immigration system that meets none of its stated principles; it fails to promote family reunification, labor market demands, humanitarian considerations, or even our national security.

Although Speaker Boehner has said he will not allow a vote on a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year, I remain hopeful that the House will act in this Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will refocus on these priorities, create a structured pathway to citizenship for qualified undocumented immigrants, and benefit all Americans.

Accepting Internship Applications for Spring 2014 

I am currently accepting applications for Congressional internships in my offices in West Windsor and Washington, D.C. for the spring of 2014.  Interns may currently be in high school, college, or beyond.  Many interns are able to arrange academic credit for their work, and all gain invaluable experience and individual attention to their personal and professional development.  

Congressional interns are selected on a competitive basis and contribute in many ways to my work for central New Jersey, including aiding in legislative research, attending congressional hearings, helping address New Jerseyans’ problems with federal agencies, conducting community outreach, and helping with administrative duties.  Further information is available on my website, and the application deadline for the spring semester is December 12.

Protecting Women’s Health
A woman's right to choose is just that:  a basic human right.  But in recent years, reactionary state legislatures have chipped away at this right, obstructing the ability of women to control their own bodies and the ability of doctors to serve their patients.

Together with Rep. Judy Chu and others, I have introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would roll back excessive restrictions on reproductive care.  It would, for instance, deem unlawful restrictions on abortion that are more burdensome than restrictions placed on other comparable medical procedures or that do not advance women’s health.  Now is the time for the federal government to step in to reassert the dignity, independence, and Constitutional rights of each woman.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Time for Repeal

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter

Since June, the daily headlines have frequently contained dramatic revelations about the executive branch’s radical domestic surveillance programs, which now rival, and possibly exceed, the violations of rights we saw in the 1960s and 1970s. These are not, as President Obama claims, “modest encroachments” on our civil liberties; they are the kind of dragnet surveillance operations that treat every citizen as a suspect. Our Founders wrote our Constitution to help prevent this from happening.

If enforcing authorities can investigate each and every person and keep looking until they find something amiss it turns the presumption of innocence upside down and creates a less secure society. Two presidents and successive Congresses—with the acquiescence of the courts—have undermined those protections by passing laws that have I vehemently opposed and am committed to overturning.

Soon, I will introduce legislation that would repeal the laws that brought us our current ‘surveillance state’: the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act. My bill would restore the probable cause-based warrant requirement for any surveillance against an American citizen. And it would, for the first time, provide genuine legal protections for national security whistleblowers.

If we hope to restore and preserve the republic that Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, and other founders risked their lives to create, we must end the industrial-scale surveillance and perpetual war mentality that has been foisted on the American people in the name of “national security.” You can read a recent Op-Ed I wrote about this important issue here.

Getting the Data Right

Last week, I joined Senator Menendez in applauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for releasing updated “work maps” for Middlesex County. The new maps will reduce the amount of acreage designated in high-flooding risk V-zones by approximately 80 percent. This will ensure that Middlesex County residents will no longer be subject to higher insurance rates based on faulty data.

Updated flood maps are still needed for a number of New Jersey counties and I will continue to press FEMA to expedite their release. Additionally, as we continue to rebuild from Hurricane Sandy, we must provide the resources necessary to the Army Corps of Engineers for flood mitigation projects that will provide New Jersey residents with the certainty they need in preparing for future floods.

Unfortunately, this week the House of Representatives approved a spending bill that underfunds the Army Corps, which has a current backlog of projects totaling over $3 billion. The bill also would gut our nation’s investment in clean energy technologies, including a cut of 81 percent to the Department of Energy advanced research projects (ARPA-E), which are already helping reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

A Front Row Seat

I am looking for both high school and college students who are interested in unpaid internship positions in my office. An internship provides a variety of opportunities to participate in the daily operations of my Congressional office, either in Washington DC or my District Office in West Windsor, New Jersey. Interns are generally juniors in high school or older. In some cases applicants can get credit for their internships from their schools.

The deadline to apply for a fall internship in my office is August 1, 2013. You can learn more about an internship in my office and how to apply on my website here.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress