Dear Friend,

On Saturday, I toured the McAllen Border Patrol Station, the McAllen Centralized Process Center, and the Port of Isabel ICE Detention Center in Texas to observe conditions on the ground and the impact of President Trump’s Executive Action on the separation of families. I met with 40 mothers who had been separated from their children and it was impossible not to see the fear in their eyes that they would never see their children again. This is immoral, heartbreaking, and wrong. The ruling by a federal judge on Tuesday that all separated children must be returned to their parents is an important step in the right direction, but our job is not done. We must ensure the Trump Administration is providing appropriate guidance to agencies so these families are actually brought back together.  In addition, we need comprehensive immigration reform that will ensure that families seeking asylum are not treated in this barbaric manner. 

I urge Speaker Ryan to bring forward the bipartisan USA Act, which would ensure strong border security, while also creating a pathway to citizenship for young Dreamers brought here as children and increasing the number of immigrant judges to address the immigration backlog. The Speaker should also advance Congresswoman Karen Bass’s legislation, the Family Unity Rights and Protection Act, which would require the federal government to reunite families that have been forcibly separated at the border.

On Tuesday, the Concord Monitor published my op-ed, “Opioid Task Force is focused on results.” During a time of heightened partisanship in Washington, the Bipartisan Heroin and Opioid Task Force has shown that when we put our differences aside and come together in the interest of helping fellow Americans, real progress can be made. We’ve sent the message loud and clear that the opioid epidemic is a crisis that cannot wait. Lives are being lost and it’s only by coming together across the aisle that we can muster the response families and communities in our state deserve. You can read my op-ed here. 

Yesterday, I voted in favor of Department of Defense Appropriations legislation, which included provisions that I advocated for to address military sexual assault. For far too long, servicemembers who have survived sexual assaults have been afraid to bring their assailant to justice and receive medical attention because they fear a military policy that requires their commanders to punish them for minor violations, also known as “collateral misconduct.” My amendment will fund the study of such misconduct, and I hope this study will enable the military to make reforms to ensure that no survivor of sexual assault suffers in silence.

As your Representative, my most important job is supporting Granite Staters when they need help with federal agencies. I was contacted by Leigh Komornick of Atkinson, who was having trouble getting Social Security benefits. My staff worked with the Social Security Administration and helped Leigh obtain the benefits for which she was qualified. If my office may ever be of assistance with a problem you are experiencing, please reach out to my staff at 603-226-1002 so we may help you resolve your problem or get the information you need. 

Thank you as always for everything you do to make New Hampshire such a wonderful place to call home. I hope you have a great weekend!

Sincerely,