Media Center | Congressman Joe Courtney
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June 7, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today issued the following statement:

"I have serious concerns about the telephone and internet surveillance programs recently revealed in the media. As someone who has repeatedly opposed legislation to expand the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the long-term extension of the USA PATRIOT Act because of my concerns about the scale of government surveillance efforts and the need for increased oversight, I am troubled about the scope of these activities.


June 6, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT) today released the following statement in approval of the Obama Administration's endorsement of capping the Subsidized Stafford Student Loan interest rate for a period of two years:


June 6, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Courtney and the House Armed Services Committee late last night passed the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960), which supports continued investment in programs critical to Connecticut's economy and industrial base. Among its provisions, which are detailed below, the bill supports continued two-a-year production of Virginia Class Submarines, ongoing development of the Ohio Replacement Program (ORP) and denies a request for a new base closing round.


May 31, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney (D-CT) today released the following statement after the United States Senate on President Obama's call today for Congress to take action to stop subsidized Stafford student loan interest rates from doubling from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1:


May 23, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney and New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio today announced more than $2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to combat lead paint and other home health hazards in New London. In all, the City of Norwich was awarded $1,829,956 in Lead Based Paint Hazard Control grant program funding and $191,000 in healthy homes supplemental funding. With the funding, the city will address lead hazards in 85 housing units providing safer homes for low and very low-income families with children.


May 23, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney and the House Readiness Subcommittee today voted to reject a new round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), becoming the first subcommittee in the House to do so, when it passed its "mark" of the FY14 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, HR 1960). Congressman Courtney has questioned Pentagon officials persistently over the past two years about the up-front costs of BRAC, and suggested that shouldering those costs does nothing to achieve savings under the Budget Control Act.


May 20, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today congratulated Gilman-based Gilman Brothers Company on earning the President's "E" Award for export success. A leading manufacturer of foamboard products, Gilman Brothers has won assistance from the U.S. Export Import Bank to expand their export sales abroad, and they traveled to Israel with Congressman Courtney as part of a 2010 trade mission designed to open international markets to eastern Connecticut businesses.


May 14, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today released the following statement after U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the Pentagon has reduced furlough days for Department of Defense civilian employees to 11 from the originally-proposed 22:


May 13, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today released the following statement after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 will allow the Federal Aviation Administration to avoid employee furloughs and keep open 149 contract towers, including the tower at Groton-New London Airport, that were originally slated to close in June:


May 10, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today visited with Donovan Kelleher, a senior at Norwich Free Academy, who won this year's Congressional Arts Competition. Kelleher's winning portrait, "Father," will be displayed in the United States Capitol, and the artist will be awarded roundtrip airfare to Washington, D.C., to attend the opening of the national exhibit, which features winners from each Congressional District.