Dear Friend,

It’s been a busy month in Washington and back home. I’d like to start this newsletter by highlighting the work my office has done for constituents across our community. 

Since the beginning of this year my office has taken in 318 constituent cases and to date, we have successfully closed 165 of those cases. My office is here to serve you. If you have an issue with a federal agency or need help securing an earned benefit, call us at (541) 465-6732 or go to hoyle.house.gov.

                                                                                                                                  Snapshots from Home 

In March, I successfully secured $16.6 million in funding for community projects across the fourth district. While I was back home in April, I got the chance to visit some of these sites to see firsthand the impact these funds will have in supporting affordable housing, bolstering economic outcomes, increasing public safety and supporting improved pedestrian access. 
Elected officials and leaders from the City of Springfield showed me around the work being done on Mill Street. The $1,116,279 in funding will support complete reconstruction of Main Street to Centennial Boulevard, resulting in improved pedestrian access, protected bike lanes and improvements to the city's stormwater facilities.

Benton County officials welcomed me to their city offices to learn more about how they will use $963,000 to purchase handheld and mobile radios to improve public safety and emergency response across the county. This work will be critical to eliminating radio quiet zones.

With North Bend Mayor Jessica Engelke and City Manager David Milliron I toured the North Bend workforce housing project site and saw firsthand the impact this $4 million in funding will have in increasing public safety, building new workforce housing and fostering economic development throughout the community.

At the Port of Newport International terminal, I got a tour and learned more about how $361,075 in funding will go towards repairing dock pilings to ensure this port can continue supporting the local community and economy for years to come.

I met with outstanding students at Southwestern Oregon Community College in their pre-apprenticeship lab to talk about the importance of continued investments in apprenticeship and workforce training centers to support the next generation of the workforce.

Snapshots from Washington 

On Saturday, April 20th, we held a historic Saturday-session of Congress to vote on key national security bills. I voted for three foreign aid packages to support the United States’ role and responsibility to protect our national security and assist our allies. These bills are a critical step in the right direction to address the immediate and long-term security of the U.S. and our allies, while also bringing much needed humanitarian aid to Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine, our Indo-Pacific allies, the Palestinian people and Israel. 

I also voted against legislation that contained provisions to force the sale of TikTok. While this bill included other national security portions which I strongly support, including the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act – which I’m a cosponsor of. This bill represents government overreach and singles out one company when we need comprehensive data privacy legislation that applies to all social media companies.

I joined my Labor Caucus colleagues for a meeting with the President of IBEW, Kenneth Cooper. We discussed the work being done in Congress to support our transition to clean energy. 

During a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, I successfully passed an amendment to protect port workers from government overreach in negotiated labor agreements. My amendment passed with bipartisan votes. This is a win for workers across the country.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer and I spoke about our work supporting cannabis reform and fighting back against the failed war on drugs.

I stood up for data privacy and voted against attempts to reauthorize FISA section 702. This legislation represented the biggest expansion of government surveillance since the Patriot Act. I’m ready to get to work and pass real reforms that put an end to warrantless government surveillance and protect Americans’ Constitutional right to privacy.

Carleen Madigan and Eoin Ò Catháin from the Irish Whiskey Association stopped by my office to talk about their work to strengthen consumer protections in Irish Whiskey Sales. American consumers should have confidence that labels on the products they buy are accurate and not misleading. You can check out our full conversation on the latest episode of What’s Cookin’ with Val.

Congressional App Challenge

My office is now accepting applications for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge. 

How to Apply:

The Challenge’s submission portal is now open. Students can register and submit their applications until October 24, 2024.

Eligibility and Rules:

Applicants must be a middle or high school student at the time of submission.

• Students can register either as individuals or as teams of up to four. However, no more than four students are allowed to form a team.

• The Congressional App Challenge accepts computer programs (or apps) written in any programming language, for any platform (desktop/PC, web, mobile, raspberry Pi, etc.).