NRCC Weekly Rundown: DCCC retreats to Santa Fe, Bryan Caforio’s long lost relative, DCCC recruiting failures in PA and VA, and more!
And here’s this week’s Opening Day edition of the NRCC Weekly Rundown:
National: The DCCC is holding a retreat in Santa Fe this weekend with featured guest Joe Biden. The NRCC asked whether Biden would advise them to steer clear of the Obama administration’s unpopular policies, like Obamacare and the Iran Deal, or if he would give them advice on how to fix their candidate recruitment mess.
CA-21: Carpetbagger Emilio Huerta is holding fundraisers everywhere but in the district he hopes to represent, hitting San Francisco with Nancy Pelosi, as well as Phoenix and Bakersfield. Not exactly the best way to endear yourself to already skeptical local voters.
CA-25: Beverly Hills Attorney Bryan Caforio has taken to citing his Second Great-Granduncle-in-Law, who left Antelope Valley for Los Angeles in 1925, as his connection to the 25th District. Seriously. This complete lack of connection to the district goes a long way to explaining why Caforio received no donations from residents of the district on his last FEC report.
PA-06: Lindy Li dropped out of the congressional race in a second congressional district this weekend. This leaves the DCCC with Mike Parrish and his $27k cash-on-hand as their only candidate in this Southeast PA district.
VA-02: The Virginia filing deadline came and went, and when the dust settled, Democrats were left with perennial losing candidate Shaun Brown as their only candidate. How bad is Brown? Left-leaning Daily Kos Elections declared that this district is “now all but guaranteed to stay red.”
WI-08: Tax hiking Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson declared his candidacy this week. The NRCC highlighted his greatest hits, including his tax hike votes, acceptance of a big pay raise, and support for giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Welcome to the race Tax Hike Tommy!
NEWS AND NOTES:
Zeldin, Roskam question administration’s response to Iranian ballistic missile tests
In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Zeldin, Roskam and U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) said that the October launches drew “bare-minimum sanctions,” and that subsequent launches in March had left the international community “struggling to respond to Iran’s continued provocations.” “In arguing for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), (Kerry) and other administration officials assured the American people and Congress that (United Nations Security Resolution 2231) still allowed the U.S. to respond to dangerous actions, like these, from the Iranians,” Zeldin and Roskam wrote. READ
Katko calls on Congress to pass bipartisan bill to address opioid epidemic
“There is no question that the heroin and opioid epidemic has hit central New York hard,” Katko said. “Far too many lives have been lost to opioid and heroin addiction, and families throughout our community are struggling to find treatment for their loves ones.” READ
Mike Coffman presses VA about criminal charges for Aurora hospital project
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is asking the VA to see if anyone should face criminal charges for the agency’s $1.7 billion hospital in Aurora, a project that’s been called the biggest construction failure in VA history. READ
Rep. John Katko: Transfer of two Guantanamo Bay detainees puts U.S., world at risk
In a statement Tuesday, Katko, R-Camillus, said the release of Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar puts American national security at risk.
“Both men … were classified as ‘high risk detainees,’ have close ties to al-Qaida and are known explosive experts,” he said. “What’s more, their release comes just days after the Obama administration confirmed that former Guantanamo detainees have killed American citizens.” READ
Comstock: Women must be involved in STEM fields for America to compete in 21st century
“The goal of NASA GIRLS is to create a virtual mentoring project that offers a one-of-a-kind experience to middle school-aged female students using online capabilities,” Comstock wrote. “NASA’s vision for Aspire to Inspire is to present STEM career opportunities to young girls by introducing them to, and explaining the life stories of, career women at NASA. The SISTER program is designed to increase awareness of nontraditional career fields by introducing female middle school students to women engineers, mathematicians, scientists, technicians and researchers at the Goddard Space Flight Center.” READ
ZELDIN: “CARING FOR OUR DISABLED VETERANS – THE FIGHT TO EXPAND ADULT DAY CARE”
In an effort to address this, and expand access to care for our heroes, I recently introduced bipartisan legislation in Congress, H.R. 2460, which would ensure that 70% or more service connected disabled veterans are able to receive Adult Day Health Care at no cost to the veteran and their family by defining the program as a reimbursable treatment option through the VA. This would expand this great option of care for our veterans. READ
The next fight to help combat veterans
“Irrespective of what these infractions are, to deny these combat veterans access to mental healthcare given the multiple deployments and stresses that they’ve been under in this over-a-decade-long war, I think is just unfortunate and I think it’s wrong,” Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who introduced the bill in the House, told the Washington Examiner. “When I look at veteran suicide, I think we owe it to these combat veterans to give them access to mental healthcare.” READ
Davis Remains Unhappy With VA
In a recent visit to The Big Z, U.S. Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) reiterated his desire to see the head of the Veteran’s Administration relieved of his duties. Davis tells The Big Z there’s still a backlog of appointments, of disability claims, and there’s still reports of different facilities being mismanaged. READ
On the Horizon: Female WWII Pilots Closer to Gaining Entry to Arlington Cemetery
Rep. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, a former Air Force fighter pilot who attained the rank of colonel before taking office, cosponsored the House bill to grant WASPs the right to be inurned at Arlington. She said that the legislation wouldn’t have been needed if it weren’t for the discrimination that women faced at the time if they attempted to step outside the role of homemaker. READ
MacArthur calls for resignation of FEMA head, congressional hearings into reports of flood insurance program shortcomings
“The people who run FEMA apparently lack the ability or will to properly identify and alleviate the problems within the program that insures 5.5 million families and more than $1.25 trillion in total property values,” MacArthur wrote. “It seems to me that if someone won’t effectively implement and fix problems within the NFIP program, that this person should no longer be responsible for doing so. Because of this, I again call on administrator Craig Fugate to resign. READ