June 24, 2022

Greetings! 

This week was filled with some high points and very low points. Between passing the National Defense Authorization Act out of committee and sending the biggest gun violence prevention package in over 30 years to the president’s desk, Congressman Kim delivered some major wins for New Jersey and the country. Unfortunately, the end of the week was marred by two Supreme Court Decisions, the ripple effects of which could end up being felt by generations to come. As always, we hope you find this newsletter helpful.

The Supreme Court

This week, Congressman Kim stood firmly against two major decisions that came down from the Supreme Court. Below is what he had to say.

On weakening states’ rights to place reasonable limitations on carrying a concealed weapon in public:
“12 hours after the Supreme Court weakened gun violence prevention in our country, the Senate just voted in a bipartisan way to do more to keep weapons away from those who seek to hurt others. I’m ready to vote to pass this in the House tomorrow and get this signed into law.”

On striking down Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey:
“I never imagined today would come. A day when the rights of Americans are going backwards. The health and lives of many women are in jeopardy by this reckless decision that overturns half a century of precedent. Americans will immediately feel this dangerous change in many states around the nation that will overnight change what health care rights and options women have. And the threat of a nationwide ban and further attacks on birth control makes no one feel safe. We passed legislation in the House that would stop this and the senate must find a way to codify the rights of women and families to make their own decisions about their health.”

House Passes Bipartisan Gun Violence Prevention Legislation

Today, Friday, June 24th, following its passage in the Senate, Congressman Kim voted to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the largest gun violence prevention legislative package to head to the President’s desk in over 30 years.

Congressman Kim has previously voted for the Protecting Our Kids Act and the  Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, and he cosponsored and voted in support of H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and H.R.1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act. He is a cosponsor of the Disarm Hate Act, the Extreme Risk Protection Act, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021, and the Federal Firearm Licensee Act.

House Passes Congressman Kim’s Bills to Expand Access to Addiction Treatment and Highlight Dangers of Synthetic Opioids

On Wednesday, June 22nd, Congressman Kim voted to pass the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, a bipartisan package of legislation to strengthen and expand more than 30 critical programs that collectively support mental health care and substance use disorder prevention, care, treatment, and recovery support services in New Jersey and communities across the nation. 

The package includes the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, cosponsored by Congressman Kim, which would eliminate the burdensome X-waiver and allow more healthcare providers to prescribe buprenorphine for medication-assisted treatment of substance use disorder. It also includes Congressman Kim’s Synthetic Opioid Danger Awareness Act to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a public education campaign that raises public awareness of the dangers of synthetic opioids and explains the services available with respect to opioid treatment. 

Congressman Kim Votes to Pass Bipartisan National Security and Defense Budget out of Committee, Delivering Jobs and Wins for New Jersey

On Thursday, Congressman Kim voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 through the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman Kim worked to secure historic investments in technology and innovation that will help keep jobs in New Jersey, prepare our country for the unprecedented challenges ahead, and honor the sacrifices our servicemembers and their families make through a much needed pay raise. This includes provisions from Congressman Kim’s Put Our Neighbors to Work Act and his Dental Care for Our Troops Act, which is a part of Congressman Kim’s larger Healthcare for Our Troops Act.

House Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Extend Free Summer Meals for Kids

On Thursday, June 23rd, Congressman Kim voted to pass the Keep Kids Fed Act, which includes his effort to extend free meals for kids this summer. The legislation was quickly passed by the Senate and now heads to the president’s desk for signature. Thanks to the new law, schools and nonprofits can begin serving universal free summer meals immediately for one more summer.  Schools will also receive additional reimbursement for the 2022-2023 school year to help with supply chain challenges and food price inflation.

The legislation includes a temporary extension of flexibilities in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) that made meals more accessible to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on Congressman Kim’s Summer Meals REACH Act. Congressman Kim’s bill would make permanent some of the flexibilities that have allowed more community sites to serve free meals during the past two summers. The Congressman will keep working to pass his full bill to make sure no kids go hungry during their summer break.

Congressman Kim Welcomes the District’s Congressional Art Competition Winner to Washington

On Friday, June 24th, Congressman Kim welcomed Jeremy from Burlington County Institute of Technology - Westampton, our district’s winner of the Congressional Art Competition, to Washington D.C. Check out his artwork hanging in the U.S. Capitol here.

COVID Vaccines for Children Under Five Years Old

On Saturday, June 18th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their vaccine recommendations saying all children 6 months through 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This expands eligibility for vaccination to nearly 20 million additional children and means that all Americans ages 6 months and older are now eligible for vaccination. For more information about this updated recommendation please click here.

Join Congressman Kim at his Town Hall Monday on Veterans Issues 

On Monday, June 27 at 5:30 pm, Congressman Kim will host a town hall at New Jersey VFW Post 8867. He looks forward to speaking with veterans and their families on the issues that matter most to them. For more information on town halls, head to https://kim.house.gov/news/town-halls.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you every day!

Have a wonderful weekend,

The Office of Congressman Andy Kim