Dear Friend, 

It's Joe Courtney. I hope you and your family had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
 
It is my greatest honor to represent eastern Connecticut, and I’m grateful to every constituent across the district for the opportunity to share your voice in Washington.
 
Thank you for sharing your Thanksgiving weekend here with me.

Helping Every Family Enjoy a Thanksgiving Meal

Local food pantries worked overtime to make sure families had access to quality meals and fixings for a great Thanksgiving.
 
I stopped by St. Vincent de Paul Place to visit their annual turkey drive. The incredible staff, led by the amazing Jill Corbin, volunteers, and partners in the community distributed over 770 turkeys and fixings–more than 10 tons of food–to families in need.  
 
While there, I had the chance to see the completed walk-in coolers and freezers which have allowed the food pantry to provide more than just dry goods and distribute much-needed fresh produce and meats to community members. 

The freezer allows St. Vincent's to provide healthier offerings to its clients, including pork, beef, turkey, chicken, and frozen vegetables. The cooler is stocked with dozens of cartons of eggs, bags of fresh vegetables, and dairy products.

These appliances were purchased using a $139,000 federal grant from the American Rescue Plan, which I championed in Congress. 

Kudos to the great team at St. Vincent de Paul for all they do to meet the needs of our community not only during the holiday season but year round, too.

Infrastructure Law Funding Improving Norwich Utilities  

On Monday, I caught up with Norwich Public Utilities to see firsthand their ongoing work to replace old natural gas pipelines. Some of the lines running across the city are from the Civil War era and are in desperate need of repair. 

Thanks to over $20 million in federal funding from the infrastructure law that I helped secure, NPU and local union workers are making tremendous progress in replacing the old pipelines – a project that was supposed to take 25 years, but will now take just five years because of the influx of federal funding.  Ultimately, this project will make the system safer and our air cleaner – at no cost to the natural gas customers.

The first phase of this work to replace the lines began in late October and will be completed by the end of the year. The preliminary schedule for replacement work is along Asylum Street, from Grant Court to West Main Street. The road will be resurfaced next spring.
 
In the Spring of 2025, work will move to North Main Street, from Burnham Square to Boswell Avenue, and then from Boswell Avenue along North Main Street to St. Regis Avenue, as well as along 4th Street, from North Main Street to Central Avenue.

Thank you to NPU General Manager, Chris LaRose, for providing me with an update on this important project, and to the team’s exceptional work on behalf of the city.

Tangible Progress for Scotland Zip Code Problem

Good news from Washington. The House Committee with oversight of the Postal Service unanimously passed my bill to fix the zip-code problems facing residents in the Town of Scotland.

Scotland has 1,600 residents, but six zip-codes, leading to misplaced packages, difficulty requesting mail-in ballots, and uncertainty about where to send students to school. In March, I introduced a bill to mandate that the Postal Service give Scotland just one zip code.
Now, by favorably reporting this legislation out of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the voice of the people of Scotland is finally being heard in Washington.
 
The Postal Service – who the town has worked with to seek relief to no avail – needs to pay attention to this bipartisan action that demonstrates small, rural communities – who depend on functional postal service – are serious about fixing zip code anomalies. I am pushing Speaker Johnson to bring this measure to the full house for swift passage in the final days of 118th Congress.

Improving Military Housing

Last week, I led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in introducing legislation to improve the health and safety of military housing. This is particularly important to eastern Connecticut, which is home to over 9,000 Navy sailors and their families.

Click here to read the article.

The Healthy at Home on Base Act directly contributes to our efforts on the House Armed Services Committee to make generational improvements to servicemembers’ quality of life. Far too many servicemembers and their families are living in barracks and military housing with toxic mold that poses serious health concerns. Our bipartisan, bicameral bill will provide the structural changes to rehab and prevent unhealthy conditions. 
  
I am hopeful this measure will be passed in the annual defense bill before the end of the year. 

Supporting Farmer Veterans

Eastern Connecticut is home to outstanding farmers and producers — many of them veterans.
 
I joined retired Navy submariner Chris Pacheco, owner of Seacoast Mushrooms Farm in Stonington CT, Catherine Marx, District Director of the US Small Business Administration, Brigadier General Ronald Welch, Commissioner of CT Veterans Affairs, and state officials to highlight the federally-funded CT Veterans Grown program that is marketing the outstanding work of veteran farmers to help grow their enterprises. 
 
Chris offered some of his specialty grilled mushrooms that restaurants are serving all across the northeast region. Delicious!
 
As you shop this holiday season, keep an eye out for the ‘CT Veteran Grown’ logo and support our local veterans.

Thanks for taking some time to read my update. If we can be of any assistance, don't hesitate to give my Norwich office a call at (860) 886-0139. Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Joe Courtney
Member of Congress

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