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WGXC Congressional Report: 20191014
Oct 14, 2019 12:10 am
This is WGXC's Congressional Report, tracking the votes, words, and actions of Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from Rhinebeck representing the 19th Congressional District, and Paul Tonko, a Democrat from Amsterdam from the 20th Congressional District. The Fivethirtyeight.com website reports that, so far, the first-term Congressperson Delgado votes with Donald Trump's positions 4.3 percent of the time. Since Democrats took over the House of Representatives Tonko also votes with Trump's positions 2.1 percent of the time. In the previous Congressional session, Tonko voted with Trump 22.6 percent of the time. Click here to download or play an audio version of this report (3:51).
• Emilie Munson is reporting for the Times Union Congressional representatives from upstate have joined the chorus of Republicans and Democrats criticizing the decision of President Donald Trump to pull U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria in advance of an expected attack by Turkey and the anticipated impact on Kurdish allies. Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, of Schuylerville, recently returned from a trip to Turkey and the Syrian-Jordanian border. A member of the House Armed Services Committee, Stefanik called Trump's move "a misguided and catastrophic blow to our national security interests," in a joint statement issued along with four Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee. Democrat U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, of Rhinebeck, said the American troops' removal was "deeply alarming." He told reporters, "Making this move without warning, at least without appearance of any coordination with our other allies in the region is reckless and dangerous." Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called the Kurds a key U.S. friend and ally. "To abandon them would make no sense at all when there's strong bipartisan opposition to that abandonment, from Democrats and Republicans, and we're going to push the Trump administration to reverse its decision," he said. Read the full story in the Times Union.
• Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said Oct. 10 that she is not in favor of impeachment. “It is illegal to ask any foreign nation for help electorally,” she said. “I don’t think that’s what the president did in this case.” On a telephone call in July, President Donald Trump released a summary of the discussion where, after the Ukraine president asks to buy weapons to fight the Russians, he says, “I would like you to do us a favor, though" and then asks for an investigation of a political rival. Then a few days after Trump revealed that conversation, he then publicly asked China to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. "I think when it comes to the China statement, that was certainly not an appropriate statement to make, but I don’t think that was actually asking a foreign nation to support his campaign. It was not that,” Stefanik said. But a Trump advisor, Michael Pillsbury, told The Financial Times that he got, "quite a bit of background on Hunter Biden from the Chinese" after Trump made that public statement. Pillsbury changed his story after the first report was published. The three other Hudson Valley Representatives, Democrats Paul Tonko, Antonio Delgado, and Sean Maloney, all have backed the impeachment inquiry. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.
• Emilie Munson reports in the Times Union that Democrat Antonio Delgado has raised more than $2 million this year for a reelection campaign in New York's 19th Congressional District. Delgado, from Rhinebeck, has $1.5 million cash on hand after launching television commercials in response to the Republican National Committee recently airing a TV commercial attacking his support for an inquiry into removing the president. Three Republican have announced campaigns to unseat Delgado: Anthony German, a retired National Guard general, Ola Hawatmeh, a fashion designer and stylist, and Michael Roth, who runs a charity non-profit. They have until Oct. 15 to report their most recent fundraising totals. Read more about this story in the Times Union.
• Paul Tonko does list any public events this week on his website. Antonio Delgado lists public appearances on his website only if his staff organizes the events. He has none listed this week.
• Emilie Munson is reporting for the Times Union Congressional representatives from upstate have joined the chorus of Republicans and Democrats criticizing the decision of President Donald Trump to pull U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria in advance of an expected attack by Turkey and the anticipated impact on Kurdish allies. Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, of Schuylerville, recently returned from a trip to Turkey and the Syrian-Jordanian border. A member of the House Armed Services Committee, Stefanik called Trump's move "a misguided and catastrophic blow to our national security interests," in a joint statement issued along with four Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee. Democrat U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, of Rhinebeck, said the American troops' removal was "deeply alarming." He told reporters, "Making this move without warning, at least without appearance of any coordination with our other allies in the region is reckless and dangerous." Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called the Kurds a key U.S. friend and ally. "To abandon them would make no sense at all when there's strong bipartisan opposition to that abandonment, from Democrats and Republicans, and we're going to push the Trump administration to reverse its decision," he said. Read the full story in the Times Union.
• Nick Reisman reports at New York State of Politics that Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said Oct. 10 that she is not in favor of impeachment. “It is illegal to ask any foreign nation for help electorally,” she said. “I don’t think that’s what the president did in this case.” On a telephone call in July, President Donald Trump released a summary of the discussion where, after the Ukraine president asks to buy weapons to fight the Russians, he says, “I would like you to do us a favor, though" and then asks for an investigation of a political rival. Then a few days after Trump revealed that conversation, he then publicly asked China to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. "I think when it comes to the China statement, that was certainly not an appropriate statement to make, but I don’t think that was actually asking a foreign nation to support his campaign. It was not that,” Stefanik said. But a Trump advisor, Michael Pillsbury, told The Financial Times that he got, "quite a bit of background on Hunter Biden from the Chinese" after Trump made that public statement. Pillsbury changed his story after the first report was published. The three other Hudson Valley Representatives, Democrats Paul Tonko, Antonio Delgado, and Sean Maloney, all have backed the impeachment inquiry. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.
• Emilie Munson reports in the Times Union that Democrat Antonio Delgado has raised more than $2 million this year for a reelection campaign in New York's 19th Congressional District. Delgado, from Rhinebeck, has $1.5 million cash on hand after launching television commercials in response to the Republican National Committee recently airing a TV commercial attacking his support for an inquiry into removing the president. Three Republican have announced campaigns to unseat Delgado: Anthony German, a retired National Guard general, Ola Hawatmeh, a fashion designer and stylist, and Michael Roth, who runs a charity non-profit. They have until Oct. 15 to report their most recent fundraising totals. Read more about this story in the Times Union.
• Paul Tonko does list any public events this week on his website. Antonio Delgado lists public appearances on his website only if his staff organizes the events. He has none listed this week.