In The News

“This afternoon, Congress made a historic mistake in passing a seriously lopsided tax overhaul the will almost entirely benefit wealthy Americans and corporations at the expense of middle-class and working families,” said Courtney. “This bill will exacerbate our national deficit and sets up the rationale that Republicans will use to launch their long-anticipated attacks against Social Security and Medicare, which Speaker Paul Ryan has already brazenly promised to do. It is also a sneak-attack on the Affordable Care Act that will result in 13 million Americans losing insurance, and will cause health care costs to rise for millions more through the repeal of the individual mandate."

Norwich — At a meeting of his Veterans Advisory Board on Monday, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, told the head of the VA Connecticut healthcare system that there might be an uptick in people accessing VA services. Courtney authored language included in a massive defense policy bill passed recently by Congress to expand sexual trauma counseling and treatment to members of the National Guard and Reserves. The bill still has to be signed by President Donald Trump, and Congress must still find a way to pay for the $700 billion measure.

Along with four other members, U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Courtney, D-2nd District, is leading the charge, writing a letter last week to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that was signed by 150 House members expressing their deep concern over the lapsed funds.

Energy costs were a huge factor in determining military value during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process, said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. The base narrowly escaped closure then. Courtney noted that Congress was in the "final strokes" of a defense bill that doesn't include a BRAC round, which the Pentagon has repeatedly asked for in recent years. But that "doesn't necessarily mean that's a perpetual state of affairs," he said, noting a report released Wednesday by Defense Secretary James Mattis on excess infrastructure capacity in the military.