WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President reflected on the significant progress made by this country in 2014, and in the nearly six years since he took office. This past year has been the strongest for job growth since the 1990s, contributing to the nearly 11 million jobs added by our businesses over a 57-month streak. America is leading the rest of the world, in containing the spread of Ebola, degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL, and addressing the threat posed by climate change. And earlier this week, the President announced the most significant changes to our policy towards Cuba in over 50 years. America’s resurgence is real, and the President expressed his commitment to working with Congress in the coming year to make sure Americans feel the benefits.
Showing posts with label Ebola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ebola. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
President Obama's Weekly Address 12/13/14: Giving Thanks for Our Troops
WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President thanked the men and women in uniform who serve and sacrifice to protect the freedom, prosperity, and security that we all enjoy as Americans. On Monday the President will visit troops at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and voice his appreciation in person for their incredible service. These troops, as well as the many who are still overseas, have met every mission they have been tasked with, from bringing a responsible end to our war in Afghanistan, to working to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, to saving lives by fighting to contain the spread of Ebola. During this holiday season, a time of blessings and gratitude, the President reminded everyone to find a way to thank and serve the members of the military who serve us every day.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Sustainability is a Misused Term
The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter
11/10/14
Sustainability is an often misused term. Many companies and organizations advertise their commitment to sustainability even as they make only a token nod toward environmentalism. As a society we need to take a hard look at each of our practices – in energy, building construction, transportation, manufacturing, and household activities—and ask ourselves if those practices can be sustained for decades, for generations, for centuries. If the practices cannot be sustained, then we should not pretend they are sustainable.
One simple way to evaluate a practice is to ask - is there a waste stream? If there is, the buildup of that waste makes the practice unsustainable. Not much of what we do is sustainable by this measure. We used to think the land and the oceans were vast enough to take our waste; now as we disrupt major ecosystems, begin to poison the oceans, and change our very climate in potentially disastrous ways, we must begin to rethink the limits of our practices. Avoiding a waste stream requires clever design, or alternatively, it requires finding complementary practices that can use what would be a waste stream as an input stream. The changes can be gradual as long as we do not thoughtlessly drift up against the limits. If we remember that unsustainable practices cannot be sustained and boldly invest in the research to understand the limits, the planning to avoid them, and the activism to bring everyone along in the necessary changes, we will thrive. This is not pessimistic thinking, far from it. Taking such an uncompromising “lifecycle” view of each of activity is not at all a prescription for hardship, for a cold, austere, deprived existence, although those who fear change will say so. The almost magical feature of trading goods and services is that economic activity is not a limited resource.
Stigmatized
On Thursday, I met with a group of Liberian-Americans who live in Central New Jersey, and whom I invited in to discuss the discrimination the community has faced as a result of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Among other things, my constituents mentioned that some in the Liberian-American community have become wary of identifying their ethnicity in order to avoid the stigma that has become attached to anyone from that region of the world. They are worried about some Liberians who are in the U.S. on temporary visas and may overstay their visas because of the difficulty of returning to the country where the disease is not yet under control. Mostly, they want better information about the efforts to control the disease in Liberia, about the appropriate handling of Liberians coming to America, and among the American public about the very low risk of contracting Ebola in the U.S.
Fear is overcoming common sense, and regrettably, residents in our country are feeling the backlash. Although Ebola is indeed deadly, communication of the disease requires particular, rare circumstances. We must not allow ill-informed fears to stigmatize an entire section of our nation’s population.
Looking Ahead
As you may know, my time in Congress is coming to a close on January 3. I am very pleased that last Tuesday, the voters of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District chose their next Representative: member of the NJ Assembly Bonnie Watson Coleman. The residents of the 12th District are engaged with their government more than in some districts. You know that Members of Congress should hear from their constituents more than every two years. Each year over the past sixteen years, they (you) have contacted me through many tens of thousands of letters, phone calls, and emails, some in response to these weekly electronic newsletters, ranging through almost every subject under the sun. In reading and responding to each, I have learned much about the issues that affect central New Jerseyans, and how those issues relate to your lives. I hope that the people of the 12th District will work with Representative-Elect Watson Coleman as well as you have worked with me.
Sincerely,
Rush Holt
Member of Congress
11/10/14
Sustainability is an often misused term. Many companies and organizations advertise their commitment to sustainability even as they make only a token nod toward environmentalism. As a society we need to take a hard look at each of our practices – in energy, building construction, transportation, manufacturing, and household activities—and ask ourselves if those practices can be sustained for decades, for generations, for centuries. If the practices cannot be sustained, then we should not pretend they are sustainable.
One simple way to evaluate a practice is to ask - is there a waste stream? If there is, the buildup of that waste makes the practice unsustainable. Not much of what we do is sustainable by this measure. We used to think the land and the oceans were vast enough to take our waste; now as we disrupt major ecosystems, begin to poison the oceans, and change our very climate in potentially disastrous ways, we must begin to rethink the limits of our practices. Avoiding a waste stream requires clever design, or alternatively, it requires finding complementary practices that can use what would be a waste stream as an input stream. The changes can be gradual as long as we do not thoughtlessly drift up against the limits. If we remember that unsustainable practices cannot be sustained and boldly invest in the research to understand the limits, the planning to avoid them, and the activism to bring everyone along in the necessary changes, we will thrive. This is not pessimistic thinking, far from it. Taking such an uncompromising “lifecycle” view of each of activity is not at all a prescription for hardship, for a cold, austere, deprived existence, although those who fear change will say so. The almost magical feature of trading goods and services is that economic activity is not a limited resource.Stigmatized
On Thursday, I met with a group of Liberian-Americans who live in Central New Jersey, and whom I invited in to discuss the discrimination the community has faced as a result of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Among other things, my constituents mentioned that some in the Liberian-American community have become wary of identifying their ethnicity in order to avoid the stigma that has become attached to anyone from that region of the world. They are worried about some Liberians who are in the U.S. on temporary visas and may overstay their visas because of the difficulty of returning to the country where the disease is not yet under control. Mostly, they want better information about the efforts to control the disease in Liberia, about the appropriate handling of Liberians coming to America, and among the American public about the very low risk of contracting Ebola in the U.S.
Fear is overcoming common sense, and regrettably, residents in our country are feeling the backlash. Although Ebola is indeed deadly, communication of the disease requires particular, rare circumstances. We must not allow ill-informed fears to stigmatize an entire section of our nation’s population.
Looking Ahead
As you may know, my time in Congress is coming to a close on January 3. I am very pleased that last Tuesday, the voters of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District chose their next Representative: member of the NJ Assembly Bonnie Watson Coleman. The residents of the 12th District are engaged with their government more than in some districts. You know that Members of Congress should hear from their constituents more than every two years. Each year over the past sixteen years, they (you) have contacted me through many tens of thousands of letters, phone calls, and emails, some in response to these weekly electronic newsletters, ranging through almost every subject under the sun. In reading and responding to each, I have learned much about the issues that affect central New Jerseyans, and how those issues relate to your lives. I hope that the people of the 12th District will work with Representative-Elect Watson Coleman as well as you have worked with me.
Sincerely,
Rush Holt
Member of Congress
Saturday, October 25, 2014
President Obama's Weekly Address 10/25/14: Focused on the Fight Against Ebola
WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President discussed the measures we are taking to respond to Ebola cases at home, while containing the epidemic at its source in West Africa. This week we continued to focus on domestic preparedness, with the creation of new CDC guidelines and the announcement of new travel measures ensuring all travelers from the three affected countries are directed to and screened at one of five airports. The President emphasized that it’s important to follow the facts, rather than fear, as New Yorkers did yesterday when they stuck to their daily routine. Ebola is not an easily transmitted disease, and America is leading the world in the fight to stamp it out in West Africa.
Restoring the Foundation
The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter
10/20/14 & 10/24/14
In the days before the Space Race, the skies seemed to be the limit for our achievements. When we broke through that limit, we inspired new ideas and unleashed a whole new set of possibilities. In 2007, a report was released which illustrated our nation’s risk of falling behind our competitors as science leaders, and for a brief moment, it captured the attention of scientists, economists, and lawmakers. I helped write the America COMPETES Act passed in its wake, which authorized a doubling of the budgets at many of our key science agencies.
Seven years later the framework of the COMPETES Act remains mostly bare, with funding of the key science agencies nowhere near their target. Last month, I joined the American Academies of Arts and Sciences in releasing a follow-up report, Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream. It details America’s stagnation, with the U.S. now fallen to 10th place globally in research and development investment as a percent of GDP, its lowest point since before the Space Race. It gives concrete recommendations to get back on track by increasing funding for basic research, focusing on university and industry partnerships, and removing barriers that hinder the most effective impact of federal investments in research.
In order to sustain our progress as a nation we must be unafraid, even in fiscally constrained times, to make the necessary investments in our scientific enterprise. Congress should heed the call of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to restore our foundation.
Equality Marches Forward
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand three U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings, which allowed states’ same-sex marriages to proceed. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 30 states – including New Jersey - and in the District of Columbia.
It has been over a decade since the first state, Massachusetts, legalized same-sex marriage. At the time, those opposed to equality were convinced that same-sex marriage would weaken so-called “traditional” marriages and create other social ills. None of these predictions have come true. At various times in our nation’s past, we have acted to expand equal treatment to different groups of people, examining unpleasant truths about our own prejudices. Each time, our nation has been made stronger. As history has shown repeatedly, institutions are strengthened when they treat all people equally, and marriage is no exception.
One Crisis to the Next
This week much of our nation’s media is focused on Ebola. Of course, we must make the greatest effort to treat the affected patients and to prevent the spread of the viral infection to others.
It is a shame that our country lurches from one crisis to the next, whether in public health, public works, crime, or weather, rather than making the on-going efforts in preparation and training. We can show more foresight in building infrastructure, conducting academic research, and setting up organizational prevention and response to problems. With respect to this latest crisis, we have known of the Ebola virus for decades. We could have invested more effort and money in developing vaccines. We could have provided training and rehearsals in every healthcare facility in America in dealing with emerging diseases, contaminations, and poisonings, whether accidental or deliberate. We could have paid to construct multi-use isolation rooms in every part of the country and established protocols for transporting patients there. We still could. Wouldn’t it be better not to be caught surprised and unprepared when a disease appears, a bridge collapses, a storm surge hits a town, or a horrendous crime strikes a large number of people? The problem is not that we cannot afford to do these things.
108 Miles of 36-Inch Pipe
Despite being the most densely populated state in the nation, New Jersey has undertaken significant efforts to preserve environmentally-sensitive land and open space. Unfortunately, because of these land preservation efforts, pipeline companies have looked at these preserved spaces as an appealing corridor, perfect for new natural gas pipeline construction projects.
Earlier this month, the PennEast Pipeline Company officially began the process of obtaining approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct a 108-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline. I have many concerns about how the proposed PennEast pipeline will affect protected areas, open space, and the environment – concerns that are shared by local government officials, including members of the Hopewell Township Committee and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. Last week, I wrote to FERC to express my concerns, to request a robust public engagement process, and to ensure the preparation of a full Environmental Impact Statement that would consider whether or not the pipeline should be built. If the proposed pipeline is found to impact negatively the environment or the communities along the route, the project should not be allowed to proceed, or an alternative project plan should be proposed.
“A Cantankerous Press”
When Ben Bradlee became managing editor of the Washington Post in 1965, he believed, journalism was “more than a profession - it was a public good vital to our democracy.” When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers that revealed unattractive aspects of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and the New York Times was enjoined from publishing them, Bradlee and a few other editors picked up the cudgel and printed the information. In declining to enjoin those articles, District Judge Murray Gurfein wrote, “A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve…the right of the people to know.” The sense of press independence created by the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in favor of the newspapers would pave the way for the Post’s coverage of Watergate a year later.
It is this same freedom of press which I aim to protect as a cosponsor of the Free Flow of Information Act, which provides protection to reporters and their sources from the federal government in federal courts. This would allow journalists to do their jobs the way Bradlee envisioned it.
“I Am Not a Scientist”
Recently, politicians from Speaker Boehner to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said they are not qualified to debate the science of climate change, but that they are confident that all plans to deal with climate change would hurt jobs and our economy.
I am a scientist, but that doesn't uniquely qualify me to debate climate change. As Members of Congress, we rely on the expertise of others to inform our decision-making about many subjects in which we are not expert. With respect to climate change, I agree with the overwhelming consensus among scientists: the climate is changing largely as a result of human activities, and we can and must act now.
Maybe politicians who are using the “not a scientist” dodge do not realize how insulting it is to scientists. It reflects a dismissive attitude toward evidence, and it uses scientists as a convenient excuse for avoiding political heat. I was on MSNBC with Steve Kornacki last weekend to discuss science, politics, and the intersection of the two.
Sincerely,
Rush Holt
Member of Congress
10/20/14 & 10/24/14
In the days before the Space Race, the skies seemed to be the limit for our achievements. When we broke through that limit, we inspired new ideas and unleashed a whole new set of possibilities. In 2007, a report was released which illustrated our nation’s risk of falling behind our competitors as science leaders, and for a brief moment, it captured the attention of scientists, economists, and lawmakers. I helped write the America COMPETES Act passed in its wake, which authorized a doubling of the budgets at many of our key science agencies.
Seven years later the framework of the COMPETES Act remains mostly bare, with funding of the key science agencies nowhere near their target. Last month, I joined the American Academies of Arts and Sciences in releasing a follow-up report, Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream. It details America’s stagnation, with the U.S. now fallen to 10th place globally in research and development investment as a percent of GDP, its lowest point since before the Space Race. It gives concrete recommendations to get back on track by increasing funding for basic research, focusing on university and industry partnerships, and removing barriers that hinder the most effective impact of federal investments in research.
In order to sustain our progress as a nation we must be unafraid, even in fiscally constrained times, to make the necessary investments in our scientific enterprise. Congress should heed the call of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to restore our foundation.
Equality Marches Forward
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand three U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings, which allowed states’ same-sex marriages to proceed. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 30 states – including New Jersey - and in the District of Columbia.
It has been over a decade since the first state, Massachusetts, legalized same-sex marriage. At the time, those opposed to equality were convinced that same-sex marriage would weaken so-called “traditional” marriages and create other social ills. None of these predictions have come true. At various times in our nation’s past, we have acted to expand equal treatment to different groups of people, examining unpleasant truths about our own prejudices. Each time, our nation has been made stronger. As history has shown repeatedly, institutions are strengthened when they treat all people equally, and marriage is no exception.
One Crisis to the Next
This week much of our nation’s media is focused on Ebola. Of course, we must make the greatest effort to treat the affected patients and to prevent the spread of the viral infection to others.
It is a shame that our country lurches from one crisis to the next, whether in public health, public works, crime, or weather, rather than making the on-going efforts in preparation and training. We can show more foresight in building infrastructure, conducting academic research, and setting up organizational prevention and response to problems. With respect to this latest crisis, we have known of the Ebola virus for decades. We could have invested more effort and money in developing vaccines. We could have provided training and rehearsals in every healthcare facility in America in dealing with emerging diseases, contaminations, and poisonings, whether accidental or deliberate. We could have paid to construct multi-use isolation rooms in every part of the country and established protocols for transporting patients there. We still could. Wouldn’t it be better not to be caught surprised and unprepared when a disease appears, a bridge collapses, a storm surge hits a town, or a horrendous crime strikes a large number of people? The problem is not that we cannot afford to do these things.
108 Miles of 36-Inch Pipe
Despite being the most densely populated state in the nation, New Jersey has undertaken significant efforts to preserve environmentally-sensitive land and open space. Unfortunately, because of these land preservation efforts, pipeline companies have looked at these preserved spaces as an appealing corridor, perfect for new natural gas pipeline construction projects.
Earlier this month, the PennEast Pipeline Company officially began the process of obtaining approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct a 108-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline. I have many concerns about how the proposed PennEast pipeline will affect protected areas, open space, and the environment – concerns that are shared by local government officials, including members of the Hopewell Township Committee and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. Last week, I wrote to FERC to express my concerns, to request a robust public engagement process, and to ensure the preparation of a full Environmental Impact Statement that would consider whether or not the pipeline should be built. If the proposed pipeline is found to impact negatively the environment or the communities along the route, the project should not be allowed to proceed, or an alternative project plan should be proposed.
“A Cantankerous Press”
When Ben Bradlee became managing editor of the Washington Post in 1965, he believed, journalism was “more than a profession - it was a public good vital to our democracy.” When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers that revealed unattractive aspects of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and the New York Times was enjoined from publishing them, Bradlee and a few other editors picked up the cudgel and printed the information. In declining to enjoin those articles, District Judge Murray Gurfein wrote, “A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve…the right of the people to know.” The sense of press independence created by the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in favor of the newspapers would pave the way for the Post’s coverage of Watergate a year later.
It is this same freedom of press which I aim to protect as a cosponsor of the Free Flow of Information Act, which provides protection to reporters and their sources from the federal government in federal courts. This would allow journalists to do their jobs the way Bradlee envisioned it.
“I Am Not a Scientist”
Recently, politicians from Speaker Boehner to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said they are not qualified to debate the science of climate change, but that they are confident that all plans to deal with climate change would hurt jobs and our economy.
Maybe politicians who are using the “not a scientist” dodge do not realize how insulting it is to scientists. It reflects a dismissive attitude toward evidence, and it uses scientists as a convenient excuse for avoiding political heat. I was on MSNBC with Steve Kornacki last weekend to discuss science, politics, and the intersection of the two.
Sincerely,
Rush Holt
Member of Congress
Saturday, October 18, 2014
President Obama's Weekly Address 10/18/14: What You Need To Know About Ebola
WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President discussed what the United States is doing to respond to Ebola, both here at home and abroad, and the key facts Americans need to know. There is no country better prepared to confront the challenge Ebola poses than the U.S. and although even one case here at home is too many, the country is not facing an outbreak of the disease. Our medical professionals tell us Ebola is difficult to catch, and is only transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is showing symptoms. The President made clear that he and his entire administration will continue to do everything possible to prevent further transmission of the disease domestically, and to contain and end the Ebola epidemic at its source in West Africa.
Monday, September 29, 2014
President Obama's Weekly Address 9/27/14: America is Leading the World
WASHINGTON, DC -- In this week’s address, the President reiterated the forceful and optimistic message of American leadership that he delivered in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week. America is leading the world against the most pressing challenges, including the fight to degrade and destroy ISIL, the effort to stop the Ebola epidemic, and the movement to confront the threat from climate change. The world looks to America and its commitment to freedom in the face of uncertainly, and as the President said, it will continue to do so for generations to come.
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