Media Center

“I am very happy that Dr. Mohammed Qureshi has agreed to be my guest at President Obama’s final State of the Union address,” said Courtney. “Dr. Qureshi is an important member of our local medical community, serving as a primary care physician at United Community & Family Services and Backus Hospital in Norwich. His lifetime of work and service should be an example to all.”

“The approval of the acquisition decision memo for the Ohio Replacement is another powerful affirmation that our nation is committed to building this essential component of our national defense,” said Courtney. “This step, along with the pending release of the development request for procurement of the submarine, are among the critical milestones that we will see this year and a reminder that Congress must do all it can now to ensure the success of the program in the future. I look forward to continuing to work on a bipartisan basis to provide the tools and support the Navy and industry needs to meet this national responsibility in the most efficient and cost-effective way.”

“I am pleased that after a great deal of negotiating over the past few months, Congress was able to reach a fair,bipartisan compromise to fund the government,” said Courtney. “While this agreement is not perfect, it does contain a number of important provisions that I have stronglyadvocatedfor,including a delay of the Cadillac Tax, as well as funding for job training, healthcare research, and Connecticut’s defense manufacturing sector which helps drive our economy. To be sure, there were provisions in this bill that I would have removed, but on the whole I amglad to see that both sides of the aisle unite todo the right thing for the country. This is how Congress is supposed to function.”

“Passage of a two year delay to 2020 of the 40% excise tax on health plans represents significant progress in the effort to protect middle-class health benefits,” said Courtney. “Along with many supporters of the Affordable Care Act, I warned in 2010 that the tax was ill-conceived when it was inserted in the legislation at the end, and eventually striking it from the books would only strengthen healthcare reform. The extraordinary collation of groups such as the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, the American Benefits Council, and organized labor did an outstanding job of educating Congress on the exploding cost shift to patients that the excise tax would cause, creating new barriers to affordable healthcare. With the delay in place, I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress, the Administration, and those outside experts in the future to get this over the finish line.”