Catching Up with Annie
Focusing on solutions
Washington, DC,
July 20, 2018
Dear Friend, I was honored to be named as a Conferee to the Farm Bill Conference Committee, which has the important task of resolving the wide differences between the House and Senate-passed Farm Bills. The Farm Bill covers programs related to agriculture, such as nutrition, conservation, forestry, and rural development. During the last Farm Bill five years ago, I was able to deliver millions of dollars to New Hampshire. I’m proud to represent the Granite State’s hard-working farmers, consumers, and rural communities on this committee, and I feel strongly that the Farm Bill is a real opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to come together and provide long-term certainty for families facing food insecurity and farmers that are struggling with low commodity prices, an unstable trade market, and persistent labor shortages. I am eager to work in a bipartisan manner to craft a common-sense bill that supports America’s farmers and also protects the integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps more than 90,000 Granite Staters put food on the table. On Wednesday, I hosted a discussion of the Bipartisan Heroin and Opioid Task Force on efforts to expand access to medication assisted treatment for incarcerated addicts to reduce recidivism and address the opioid epidemic. Reducing recidivism among addicts is a win for our communities: it’s good for public safety, public health, and budgets. Medication assisted treatment (MAT) has an important role to play in helping inmates struggling with substance use disorder reclaim their lives and become productive, contributing members of society. I look forward to sharing the insights and expertise of our panelists with my colleagues in Congress as we continue working together to ensure people across the country can get the help they need.
This week, the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence announced our legislative agenda. This agenda represents where we can work together, in a bipartisan manner, to achieve tangible legislative victories that will go a long way in helping victims and preventing future sexual violence. Our Task Force has developed creative, well thought-out, and effective bills that will contribute to positive improvements on these important issues. As legislators, parents, and members of communities that have been impacted by sexual violence for far too long, we believe this agenda will serve as a strong framework to tackle these problems, provide a better response to sexual violence incidents, and pursue justice for survivors.
Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I was deeply troubled by President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week. The United States intelligence community agrees that Russia interfered in our elections and is involved in other disruptive and anti-Democratic actions around the world. It’s disturbing that President Trump puts the word of President Putin above that of our own intelligence agencies. President Trump should have taken this opportunity to strongly condemn President Putin and Russia for these actions, and it’s extremely regrettable that he is blaming the United States for problems in our relationship with Russia. President Putin and Russia have conducted a nerve agent attack on the soil of Great Britain, annexed portions of Ukraine, propped up the brutal Assad regime in Syria, and sowed discord on the international stage. The President of the United States is in a unique position to stand up to President Putin and instead President Trump is projecting weakness on the global stage. As your Representative, my most important job is supporting Granite Staters when they need help with federal agencies. I was recently contacted by Thomas Rothwell of New Boston, who had an issue of concern with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). My staff worked with the VA and helped resolve Thomas’s concern. If my office may be of assistance with a problem you are experiencing, please reach out to my staff at 603-226-1002 so we can learn how we may help. Thank you as always for all you do to make the Granite State such a wonderful place to call home. Enjoy your weekend! Sincerely, |
