Media Center

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney tonight released the following statement after President Obama's State of the Union address:

"President Obama effectively challenged Washington to focus like a laser on continuing our economic recovery, growing jobs at home, and expanding markets abroad. By emphasizing manufacturing, hiring tax credits, college affordability and the value of associate's degrees and technical schools, we reinforce the underpinnings of our economy and ensure a workforce whose skills match the challenges we face.

WASHINGTON, DC – According to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 11,195 eastern Connecticut Medicare beneficiaries saved $10,849,307 on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act in 2012. The number already dwarfs the $5,001,408 eastern Connecticut seniors saved in 2011, and it will continue to grow each year until the Part D donut hole is completely phased out in 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today released the following statement after "Lincoln" screenwriter Tony Kushner conceded that his screenplay and the film erroneously depicted Connecticut's House delegation as voting against the 13^th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Connecticut House delegation today applauded the appointment of Judith Stein, founder and executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy in Willimantic, to the Bipartisan Long-Term Care Commission. Created earlier this year as part of the American Tax Relief Act, the commission is responsible for developing a plan to establish, implement, and finance a comprehensive set of long-term care services for seniors and people with disabilities. Last month, Reps.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today sent the following letter to director Steve Spielberg and DreamWorks, asking Spielberg to correct an historical inaccuracy in the Academy Award-nominated film, Lincoln, which places Connecticut on the wrong side of the slavery debate and ratification of the 13^th Amendment. In the film's climactic scene, two of Connecticut's three Members of Congress vote against the 13^th Amendment outlawing slavery.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today announced that he will serve as vice ranking member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in the 113^th Congress. The committee has jurisdiction over the U.S. Navy. Courtney will be the eleventh most senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and will again be a member of the Readiness Subcommittee, which oversees military installations, as well.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today released the following statement after Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the Pentagon would lift the ban on women serving in combat:

"Today is an historic day for our military, American women and our country as a whole. Throughout our history—from Molly Pitcher in the Revolutionary War forward—women have answered the call to serve.

, DC – Congressman Joe Courtney today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed eastern Connecticut dairy farmers will receive critical support because of The American Taxpayer Relief Act, which the House passed on January 1, 2013. The bill contains a nine-month extension of the 2008 Farm Bill, ensuring that all dairy producers participating in the Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC)—a program that compensates farmers when milk prices fall below a certain level—will have their contracts automatically extended until Sept. 30, 2013.