Weekly Update: Remembering 9/11; Announcing Over $3.2 Million for North Country Communities; Visiting Tupper Lake to Highlight Broadband Funding; Volunteering at Seniors Food Drive Thru
Weekly Update For the most up-to-date resources and information on COVID-19, visit my website here. Remembering September 11th, 2001 Today, the North Country comes together to remember the tragic events of September 11th, 2001. Our local Upstate first responders, law enforcement, veterans, and community answered the call to support our fellow NY’ers and fellow Americans on that fateful day. I joined Hudson Falls American Legion Post 574 at this morning’s 9/11 Tribute to the Fallen Heroes event to participate in a candle lighting and flag placing. Post 574 unveiled a beautiful new 9/11 memorial and held a very moving ceremony that I was honored to participate in. May we never forget September 11th, 2001, and may God bless America. Announcing Over $3.2 Million Grant for the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board Yesterday, I announced that Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board (RPB) will receive over $3.2 million in U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant funding. The funds will be coming from the EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance program, which provides a wide-range of financial assistance to communities and regions, including access to capital for businesses, as they respond to and recover from the financial impact of COVID-19. This award will be used by the Lake Champlain-Lake George RPB to assist in economic development projects within the five-county area they serve: Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Warren, and Washington, in addition to Lewis, St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties. I was joined by other local elected officials, Department of Commerce officials, and local stakeholders for yesterday’s announcement in Lake George. Our local communities and the businesses that support them have felt the severe economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and today’s announcement is a significant step in the right direction as we help them recover and rebuild. I am proud to announce this $3.2 million EDA grant to support the important work that the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board does in fostering economic development and supporting small businesses in the North Country. Our local businesses have gone above and beyond these past few months to meet the needs of their communities, and with this new federal funding, the Regional Planning Board will be able to reach more of them and provide financial assistance. I was proud to vote in favor of the CARES Act, which provided this funding to the EDA, and I will continue to be a vocal advocate for programs and legislation that assist our North Country small businesses. Read more here. Visiting Tupper Lake To Highlight Northern Border Regional Commission Broadband Grant On Wednesday, I visited Tupper Lake to present a $200,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant to support broadband buildout. I am proud to work with local and regional leaders to deliver this important funding to the Tupper Lake community. Volunteering at the Saratoga County Office of the Aging Seniors Food Drive Thru Yesterday, I handed out meals to Saratoga County seniors along with local elected officials Senator Jim Tedisco, Senator Daphne Jordan, Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, and the Saratoga County Sheriff, Michael Zurlo. It was great to interact with our seniors and I thank the Saratoga County Office of the Aging for coordinating this important event. Recognizing Two Fort Drum Soldiers and Five Local Nurses Who Volunteered to Conduct COVID-19 Testing at Fort Drum I am recognizing two Fort Drum Soldiers and five local nurses who volunteered to conduct COVID-19 testing at the Bowe Clinic on Fort Drum. I called them yesterday to thank them for their excellent work.
I am deeply inspired by these outstanding soldiers and each of these five nurses: Fulgencio (Paul) Solar, Leanna Wormwood, Jennifer Pledger, Mary Paul, and Nicole Loehr. Your courage and sacrifice exemplify the best of the North Country. Thank you for your service to our Fort Drum soldiers during the COVID-19 pandemic – I’m honored to represent all of you in Congress. Our doctors and nurses who volunteered their services during a global pandemic are true heroes among us. Read more here. Announcing Community Development Block Grants from CARES Act Funding for Glens Falls, Watertown This week, I announced three Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) through CARES Act funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Glens Falls, and Watertown.
This funding comes from the third tranche of $500 billion in CARES Act funding allocated for supplemental CDBG grants to respond to COVID-19 and alleviate economic hardship for low-income individuals and families. These grants are allocated to areas with families at risk for eviction. These Community Development Block Grants for three NY-21 towns are critical for families in my district. I was proud to work with my bipartisan colleagues to secure this supplemental funding in the CARES Act when we passed it in the House. I will continue to work on the federal level and advocate for our region as we can continue to recover and rebuild from COVID-19. Read more here. Receiving the NFIB “Guardian of Small Business” Award On Wednesday, I was awarded the “Guardian of Small Business” Award by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for my work in Congress to support small businesses and promote local entrepreneurship. This is the second year in a row that I have received this award. I visited Loreman’s Embroidery, Engraving, and Screen Printing in Keeseville on Wednesday, where I received this award. Small businesses are truly the backbone of our North Country communities and economies, and I am proud to be their number one advocate in Congress. Growing up in a small business family, I know firsthand the importance that small businesses have in our communities, and I have fiercely advocated for policies and programs to support them. The COVID-19 pandemic presented real challenges for our local businesses and I am proud to have worked in a bipartisan manner to deliver results for them as they overcame those challenges and continued to provide for the communities who rely on them. I am honored to be a recipient of this prestigious award, and I thank the NFIB for highlighting my work on behalf of the families and individuals in my district who work tirelessly to generate jobs, revenue, and opportunity for their communities. Read more here. Cosponsoring Bill to Support Agricultural Fairs I am cosponsoring the bipartisan Agricultural Fair Rescue Act, legislation that would provide $500 million in grants to agricultural fairs. This funding would be directed to state departments of agriculture to be disbursed to local, county, and state fairs who are facing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation is supported by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, among other groups. During my time in Congress, I have had the opportunity to visit all of our county fairs, which are important events for our North Country communities. The county fair offers our farmers, youth involved in agriculture, and local organizations a chance to highlight the diverse and robust agriculture that the North Country has to offer and the importance of their industry. I am proud to be a supporter of this legislation that will help our county fairs recover from the financial losses that they have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I look forward to catching up with our farmers and exhibitors at next year’s county fairs. Read more here. In Case You Missed It: Op-ed: Why We Need CHIPS for America Act to Support Expansion of GlobalFoundries Operations In case you missed it, myself and Congressman Michael McCaul (TX-10) wrote a joint op-ed for the Saratogian expressing support for the CHIPS for America Act, bipartisan legislation they introduced in the House. This bill is essential in encouraging the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, like GlobalFoundries, to expand their operations in the United States. Encouraging Census Participation Important Census Update: The Census Bureau will begin emailing households in low-responding areas to encourage them to respond to the 2020 Census. These emails supplement a final campaign reminding people to respond to the 2020 Census on their own, as census takers begin asking households to respond to the census. The email messages will come from 2020census@subscriptions.census.gov. Read more here. As always, thank you for subscribing to my weekly updates! |