Click here to listen to WGXC's Congressional report, a look back at the week in news for Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook).

Emily Masters in the Albany Times-Union reports a barge carrying 60,000 barrels of refined gasoline crashed just outside of Catskill in the Hudson River Tue., April 4. The barge spent hours listing in the Hudson River off Dutchman's Landing in Catskill, but did not leak, and no one was injured. Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) released a statement saying, in part, "I intend to make a request for a formal investigation into the cause of the accident through the U.S. Coast Guard and if circumstances warrant it, the Office of Marine Safety at the National Transportation Safety Board."

Extending a spat with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on April 6 Congressperson John Faso (R-Kinderhook) introduced H.R. 1871, the Property Tax Reduction Act, reprising the amendment he added to the failed Republican healthcare proposal two weeks ago. The bill, similar to the amendment to the Republican healthcare plan, would shift Medicaid costs from local counties to the state. “For 51 years Albany has been unfairly mandating counties to pay for a significant share of state Medicaid costs,” a statement from Faso read. “This mandate has caused property taxes to skyrocket and in turn crushing homeowners, seniors, and businesses. Exorbitant property taxes and lack of jobs are the main reasons why New York State continues to lose population to other states." After Faso added a similar amendment to the Republican healthcare bill a few weeks ago, Cuomo and Faso spent a few days trading barbs in the media on the issue.

James Nani reports in The Fray that Democrats lined up so far to challenge Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) raised almost a half million dollars during the first quarter of 2017. Rhinebeck Attorney Antonio Delgado said April 5 in a press release that he’s raised $300,000. Brian Flynn, a businessman from Hunter, says he's raised $175,000 so far. Steven Mitchell Brisee, a policy manager at Citi, said he has not started asking for donations yet, and reports for January-March campaign fundraising are not due to the Federal Election Commission until April 15. Faso has also filed for re-election. Faso raised $2.94 million in 2016, and has about $103,000 cash on hand, as of his last FEC filing. Read the full story in The Fray.

Congressman John Faso (R-Kinderhook) issued the following statement after the U.S. bombing of an airfield in Syria: “The U.S. attack on the Syrian air base associated with the chemical weapons attack was the correct response. The civilized world must respond to the horrific use of chemical weapons, especially against innocent civilians, or else we risk normalizing such behavior which has been outlawed since the end of World War I." Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also condemned the Syrian's chemical attack, and then said, “However, unilateral military action by the U.S. in a Middle East conflict causes grave concern, given the lack of any Authorization for Use of Military Force from Congress and the absence of any long-term plan or strategy to address any consequences from such unilateral action. Furthermore, there is no ‘military only’ solution to the suffering in Syria. The American people need answers from the Administration about their plan here and how they will bring coalition partners to the table for a long-term diplomatic solution.”