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Cobb says pharma cash steers Stefanik’s votes

(Photos provided)

Democratic NY-21 Congressional District candidate Tedra Cobb last week called on U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, to return an $11,500 donation she received from the pharmaceutical company Amgen, which was recently fined for a Medicare kickback scheme.

The company was forced to pay a nearly $25 million fine to resolve the matter with the U.S. Department of Justice.

“I think it just shows the kind of corporate money that Congresswoman Stefanik takes and I think it’s also a continued pattern. We’ve made the case that she will take this kind of money and then vote their way,” Cobb said on Tuesday.

Cobb started an online petition calling on Stefanik to return the money.

“In a matter of hours, we had over 200 people signing this petition. That’s 10 times more people than she reported contributing to her campaign from within the district,” she said.

Lenny Alcivar, Stefanik’s campaign spokesman, did not provide a statement regarding the Amgen donation.

Impeachment fight

Stefanik criticized Cobb for not stating whether she supports impeaching President Donald Trump.

Stefanik last week voted in opposition to a House impeachment resolution. In a tweet, Stefanik said: “Far-left #TaxinTedra is part of the #Resist movement but refuses to say if she supports impeachment. Just like her gun ban position, she can’t be honest w/ voters because she knows she will lose in another landslide.”

In response, Cobb said Tuesday that she does not support impeachment and believes Congress should continue to do its job to investigate election meddling.

“At the end of the day, voters are going to have their say in November (2020) as to how they feel about Trump and the investigation,” she said.

Funding veterans halls

Stefanik is co-sponsoring a bill to create a $5 million grant program to fund repairs and improvements to Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion halls and posts.

The Renovate and Enhance Veterans’ Meeting Halls and Posts bill would award grants of up to $75,000 to veterans organizations to fund upgrades to existing facilities or installation of new technology.

“Funding long-overdue repairs and renovations for veterans’ organizations is one small way we can continue to thank our veterans for their heroic service,” Stefanik said in a news release. “Veterans should have a fully functional, up-to-date, and enjoyable place to congregate with each other.”

Family caregivers bill

Stefanik has introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at providing funding to help people who provide in-home care to family members.

The Supporting Family Caregivers Act would help identify the specific needs of family caregivers to allow services to be tailored to each person more effectively and efficiently, according to a news release.

Broadband funding

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., last week announced more than $39 million in federal funding to expand internet access to more than 15,000 upstate rural homes and businesses.

Funding has been allocated to help 3,517 homes and businesses in Washington County, according to a news release.

“To build the vibrant upstate New York economy of tomorrow that creates and sustains the jobs of the future, we must invest in high-speed internet access today, so that every upstate home, school or small business gets — and stays — connected,” Schumer said in a news release.

Stefanik criticizes Omar

Stefanik criticized U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for introducing a resolution supporting the right of people and businesses to boycott Israel because of the government’s treatment of Palestinians.

Omar supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Trump and others have criticized Omar for making anti-Semitic comments, such as earlier this year when she suggested that members of Congress were beholden to Israeli interests because of campaign money they receive.

Stefanik said in a tweet that “anti-Semitism has no place in our country, let alone in the People’s House. This is not hard to understand: the BDS movement seeks to destroy our greatest ally, Israel. Shame on Rep. Omar for bringing this dangerous rhetoric to the halls of Congress.”

Budget concerns

Stefanik was among a group of 33 House members who sent a letter to House and Senate leadership to stress the importance of a swift resolution to the ongoing budget negotiations to avoid what they called “dangerous” cuts to defense and national security spending.

The government must pass appropriations bills and address the impending debt ceiling and budgetary spending caps. If no agreement is reached, then it would trigger imposition of sequestration cuts, under the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“The significant progress we have made in rebuilding our nation’s military is at risk if Congress cannot come together and reach an agreement,” Stefanik said in a news release.

Intelligence Authorization Act

Stefanik last week voted in favor of the Intelligence Authorization Act, which includes a provision that she pushed for that requires the FBI to provide quarterly counterintelligence briefings to congressional committees.

Stefanik had introduced her own bill in response to then-FBI Director James Comey testifying that he did not follow the protocol to notify Congress when a counterintelligence investigation was started into the 2016 Trump campaign.

Stefanik receives award

The Educational Theatre Association on July 16 honored Stefanik for her support of theater and other arts education initiatives.

Stefanik serves as co-chairperson of the Congressional STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) Caucus since 2015 and pushed to include the arts component into the bill that reauthorized the K-12 education program. She also has consistently supported the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Endowment for Humanities, according to a news release.

“The arts were a very important part of my childhood, my education and my life and I take my personal passion with me as an advocate for arts education,” she said in a news release.

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