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Audio Feature: This week in news for Rep. John Faso: 20170911

Sep 08, 2017 9:56 am
Here's the week in the news for Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook), the District 19 Congressman for the WGXC listening area. Fivethirtyeight.com currently reports Faso votes with Donald Trump's positions 88.1 percent of his votes. This week Congress is not in session, and Faso is visiting Israel. Click here to download or play an audio version of this report.

Eliana Johnson reports at Politico.com that President Donald Trump is expected to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Sept. 5. The program grants work permits to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. Locally, Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is being criticized from his right for supporting the program. The right-wing Breitbart News, which has been criticized for spreading white supremacist views, named Faso among Congresspeople urging, "Trump to continue former President Barack Obama’s executive action, put in place in 2012, to give some 850,000 illegal aliens temporary legal status and work permits, at least until Congress can come up with immigration legislation to determine its fate." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman both said Sept. 4 that they will sue the federal government if Trump repeals the DACA program. Read the full story at Politico.com.

Matthew Hamilton in Capitol Confidential rounds up reaction to President Donald Trump's ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which could result in 42,000 children who have grown up in New York state being kicked out of the country. Reactions from New Yorkers were not positive. More than 300 people gathered Sept. 5 soon after the announcement, outside U.S. Rep. John Faso’s Kingston office, to show support for the program. Faso, in Washington D.C., released a statement saying, "I support Congress addressing DACA legislatively and believe that Congress must address this issue within the next six months. This is why I sent a letter to Speaker Ryan last week urging him to address and protect DACA legislatively. In fact, I am a co-sponsor of two bills that maintain DACA – H.R. 496, the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy Act or “BRIDGE” Act, and H.R. 1468, the Recognizing America’s Children Act." Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who previously promised to sue if Trump rescinded DACA, said in Harlem that the president was, "just feeding the beast of bigotry red meat." Sen. Chuck Schumer Tweeted, "These hardworking #DREAMers & their contributions are vital to our economy & biz who will be hurt if this order stands," and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement of Trump, "He is needlessly targeting children who know no other country as home than America." Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.

Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media U.S. Rep. John Faso has introduced legislation to reauthorize funding to help veterans and young farmers get a start in agriculture. The measure would extend the federal Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas program that provides grants for fledgling farmers and veterans looking to enter farming. The program is set to expire next year. “The average age of a farmer is almost 60 ... while the post-9/11 veteran unemployment rate is at more than 4.5 percent,” Faso said. “This common-sense piece of legislation addresses these two problems and ensures that this program continues to serve our veterans and farmers. ....” According to data cited by Moody, in 2007 the average age of a farm operator in Columbia County was 58, with 181 out of the 554 farmers surveyed older than 65. Gary Flaherty, executive director of the Columbia County Veterans Services Department, said he supports the legislation. “We definitely need younger farmers to come up through the ranks,” Flaherty said. “If the legislation passes, my office would be happy to promote the program.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Ben Kamisar reports in The Hill that the Congressional challengers who have raised the most money to take on an incumbent nationally are here in New York's 19th District. Democrats Antonio Delgado and Brian Flynn, who want to challenge Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) in 2018. Delgado, a 40-year-old attorney who moved to Rhinebeck in January after spending two and a half years living in Montclair, N.J., has raised $652,000. Flynn, 47, of Hunter, has loaned his campaign $500,000, and raised another $254,000, for a total $754,000. Faso raised $276,105.58 in the first three months of 2017, and $337,096.16 in the second quarter of the year. Read the story in The Hill.

Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) on Sept. 6 voted with all but three members of the House of Representatives to approve $7.85 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief, 419-3. The White House, reportedly, wants to merge the debt relief bill with the hurricane aid, so the bill might not pass the Senate as easily, or might be back in the House for another vote.

Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Greene County EMS officials met with U.S. Rep. John Faso at his office in Kinderhook last week. The discussion with county EMS Chief Stephen Brucato and EMS Coordinator Sean Hotaling focused on federal grant funding, a spokesman for the Kinderhook Republican said. One of two projects discussed was the purchase of four battery-powered Lucas CPR devices. The device allows EMS professionals to perform other tasks while simultaneously conducting CPR. The price tag for the equipment, with batteries and the charging units, totals $76,000, Brucato said. Another item of interest to the EMS team are stab-resistant ballistic vests. Overdose patients sometimes become violent after being jolted into consciousness by naloxone, Brucato said. “There are stories every day of EMS providers being attacked,” Brucato said. “Thankfully, we haven’t had that yet.” The price for 75 to 100 of the special vests could total close to $54,000, the chief said. In a related item, the congressman announced Wed., Sep. 6, Assistance to Firefighter Grants awarded to the Claverack and Stuyvesant Falls fire districts in Columbia County and the Milan Fire Department in Dutchess County. In Claverack, the grant will be used to help replace obsolete self-contained breathing apparatus devices, A.B. Shaw Fire Company Assistant Chief George Keeler said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Matthew Hamilton reports in Capitol Confidential that 15 states, led by New York, filed a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration Sept. 6 for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The lawsuit claims that by ending DACA, the Trump administration violated the U.S. Constitution. Because 78 percent of DACA "dreamers" are from Mexico, the lawsuit says, ending the program is a discriminatory act. The lawsuit also seeks to stop federal immigration authorities from using information obtained from DACA applicants in enforcement proceedings. Locally, Rep. John Faso (R-Kinderhook) is being attacked from the right for supporting the DACA program, and attacked from the left for not completely supporting DACA. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.
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