Media Center

“President Trump’s statement apparently banning transgender members of the military, even those now serving, is the height of irresponsibility. His tweet was issued at the same time the Department of Defense is undergoing a six-month comprehensive review of the policy allowing transgender Americans to serve in the military. Undercutting their work, and setting military policy by tweet, is reckless and disrespectful in the extreme."

“Plum Island is a scenic and biological treasure located right in the middle of Long Island Sound,” said Courtney. “The island is home to a rich assortment of endangered species, and should be preserved as a natural sanctuary – not sold off to the highest bidder for development. I have long supported federal legislation that will eliminate the government requirement to sell Plum Island as a means to finance a new research facility. Now that this legislation has been passed in the House, it is my hope that it will be quickly taken up and passed by the Senate. We are closer now than we have ever been to permanently protecting Plum Island.”

“I am very pleased that members from both sides of the aisle came together to pass this historic update to the G.I. bill that will benefit generations of service members for years to come,” said Courtney. “Eastern Connecticut is the proud home to more veterans than any other congressional district in the state. In 2010, I was a cosponsor of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill - the most important update to the benefit since the end of World War II - that boosted the amount of tuition assistance and for the first time allowed the benefit to be transferred to a spouse of a dependent of a qualified service member. Now, this new bill will ensure that G.I. Bill benefits will be available throughout the lifetime of all veterans who enlisted after 2013, as well as all Purple Heart recipients regardless of their length of service. This bill also ensures fairness for Connecticut National Guard members who have deployed overseas under authorities that were previously not eligible for G.I. Bill benefits by closing this egregious loophole.

“Back in February, America’s manufacturing employers told the White House if you want to fix the economy then fix the skills gap. A newspaper headline the following morning said it in a nutshell: ‘jobs exist; skills don’t’,” said Courtney. “The GOP budget passed out of committee last Wednesday willfully ignores that message by eliminating and or butchering job training programs that have a proven track record of success. For Connecticut, these cuts to apprenticeships programs could not come at a worse time. Our state is finally experiencing job growth and new opportunities are being created through increased investment in aerospace, shipbuilding, and healthcare - all of which require a high-skilled workforce."

“As the ranking member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, I am proud to the bipartisan work we have done in this bill to grow our Navy fleet,” Courtney said. “While the stage was set for the 2018 to be a starting point on the path to a 355-ship navy, the budget we received fell far short. I am proud to say that working in a bipartisan way, we produced a better budget than the one that came over from the White House. Among other things, the bill explicitly makes it the policy of our nation to achieve a 355-ship Navy and adds five new ships in 2018 to get us moving to the larger fleet that both the Obama and Trump administrations have signaled we need. This bill demonstrates if our defense leaders and the administration will not prioritize the national goal of growing the fleet, we will."

“Connecticut Sea Grant is a critical federal program that has aided local fishermen, shellfish farmers, and maritime conservation efforts in Long Island Sound for fifty years,” said Courtney. “Whether it’s jumpstarting a fishery or connecting aquaculture producers to local communities, Sea Grant is a vital part of eastern Connecticut’s maritime economy. I am very glad that House Appropriations Committee recognized how important Sea Grant is for aquaculture efforts across the country and reversed the president’s misguided attempt to eliminate the program.”

“The welcome demise of the misguided and poorly conceived plan to realign railway tracks through communities across the southeastern Connecticut shoreline is a testament to the grass roots effort and perseverance of local residents and town leaders,” said Courtney. “From the start, the creation of a new bypass was a proposal untethered from reality. Whether it was the plan’s exorbitant cost without a funding source, the disruption ‘Kenyon Bypass’ would cause from Old Lyme to New London to Stonington, the mere existence of this map cast a cloud of uncertainty and doubt across a region with a history and environment as rich and valuable as any place in our nation. Throughout the FRA’s process of developing this plan, I have been clear that no proposal should move forward without the advice and consent of the state of Connecticut and of our shoreline communities."

“We are alarmed by recent media reports that your Department chose to deny visas to six Afghan girls traveling to the United States for FIRST Global, an international robotics challenge to be held in Washington,” wrote the members. “Barring these hardworking, creative young women from a competition premised on global connection and innovation runs counter to the State Department’s mission of fostering security and stability through peace. The work of diplomacy is not limited to embassies and consulates; the United States engages with individuals abroad precisely because these individual relationships are the key to stability and development. Indeed, as the world’s leader of scientific innovation and research, inviting the world’s best and brightest to support our research efforts enhances our ability to expand knowledge in all fields, whether robotics or medicine, art or engineering, mathematics or history. In particular, supporting women’s education initiatives has been a vital component of our diplomacy and has been proven to enhance stability and speed development more than almost any policy focus."