What Joe Courtney said, and what was done

“Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Education Committee, I represent a military district with about 7,000 sailors and officers.”

“Mr. Chair, I think Congresswoman Tokuda did a very nice job in terms of laying out the reality of what is actually going on in communities where military installations and military bases exist.”

“Mr. Chairman, as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, I yield myself 2\1/4\ minutes. Mr. Chairman, I rise to endorse many provisions of the Seapower and Projections Forces mark of the 2027 NDAA, which our subcommittee crafted under the able leadership of my good friend, Chairman Trent Kelly.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of Mr. Michael DeVito during his outstanding service as an engineer at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. Mr. DeVito began his time at Electric Boat in 1989 as an Engineering Associate and now, on July 17, 2026, he will retire as a Manager of Engineering.”

“Mr. Speaker, 5 days from now, on July Fourth, our country will be celebrating its 250th birthday. All over the Nation, there will be enthusiastic events in big cities and small towns to recognize the publication, 250 years ago, of the Declaration of Independence, which, as historian Jill Lepore recently wrote, is ``arguably the most important piece of prose in modern history.''”

“Its author, Thomas Jefferson, laid out a vision of an independent America built around the individual's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which still inspire not only our own people but people all over the world.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the commendable career of Mr. Robert Testa as he retires this month after 11 years of dedicated service as Assistant Superintendent of Vernon Public Schools.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and commend the service of a lifelong educator, Dr. Joseph Macary. He has served as the Superintendent of Vernon Public Schools for eleven years, where he successfully fostered an environment where students from preschool to 12th grade can succeed.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to mourn the passing of a lifelong public servant, Mrs. Natalie ``Nikki'' (Damon) O'Neill. Mrs. O'Neill passed away on Monday, May 18, 2026, at age 90, surrounded by her close friends.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of Bret Jacobson, who selflessly served our country and retires today from his position as Director of the Manufacturing Apprenticeship Center at CT State Community College Three Rivers.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to draw the attention of the House to another milestone in the extraordinary history of the Submarine Capital of the World, Groton, Connecticut, where this Saturday, USS Idaho (SSN-799) will be commissioned.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an extraordinary constituent and pay special tribute to Lois Bruinooge, who retires from The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) this month after 20 years of dedicated service to the organization.”

“Ms. Bruinooge began her career serving as an environmental lawyer protecting waters and woods with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. She later joined TLGV as a deputy director in 2006 and was promoted to executive director in 2014.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a true patriot, Mr. William ``Bill'' Scarano who passed away peacefully on Friday, March 20, 2026, at the age of 101.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 4624, which I also opposed in committee along with three other members who opposed the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, a bill which radically amends the existing Muhammad Ali Act that was passed in 2000.”

“Mr. Speaker, I also include in the Record a letter from Top Rank boxing CEO Robert Arum, who again criticized this bill for the damage it is going to do to boxers' legal rights, and states that a UBO is deemed in compliance with such provisions simply by virtue of being recognized as a UBO.”

“Mr. Speaker, as this headline on the whiteboard proclaims, we in New England received welcomed news on Friday that, after years of hard work and massive investments by both the private sector and the government, a new, reliable source of energy for our electrical grid was officially turned on.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think all of New England and the mid- Atlantic States owe a huge thanks to Judge Royce Lambeth, the Reagan appointee who lived up to his oath and twice asserted the power of the judiciary, a coequal branch of government, to rein in the administration's ludicrous, harmful abuse of executive power.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the people of Denmark and Greenland for their quick professional evacuation last Saturday of a U.S. submariner on board the USS Delaware 7 miles off Greenland's coast.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take a moment to honor an extraordinary public servant and pay special tribute to Ronald O'Rourke for his 42 years of service to Congress and the American people as a Specialist in Naval Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, or CRS.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the extraordinary career of Bob Canova as he prepares for retirement after a long and storied career at General Dynamics Electric Boat.”

“Mr. Speaker, a few days ago the U.S. House of Representatives--and the House Armed Services Committee--bid farewell to one of its most invaluable, talented, professional staff experts: Mr.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of Brian Anderson, who is retiring from AFSCME Council 4 after more than two decades of service to the hard-working state employees who provide critical services to the people of the state of Connecticut.”

“Mr. Speaker, last Friday, President Trump hosted a meeting at the White House with all the major oil company executives and members of his Cabinet to talk about Venezuelan oil.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the contributions of Lieutenant Commander Jarrett Crossgrove, United States Navy, during his outstanding service as a legislative fellow in my Washington, D.C. office this year.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to mourn the passing of a longtime consummate public servant and friend, Connecticut State Representative Kevin Ryan. Representative Ryan died on November 23, 2025, after a courageous battle against cancer, surrounded in his final days by family, friends and political colleagues.”

“Connecticut Psychological Association, Legislator of the Year from the Connecticut Farm Bureau, the American Lung Association's Breath of Life Award, a Public Service Award from the Connecticut Secretary of State, and Legislative Awards from the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut.”

“Madam Speaker, as this headline from Newsweek magazine reports, a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education issued probably the most out-of-touch, offensive new rule in the history of the Department, excluding nursing from its definition of ``professional occupations,'' part of its new graduate student loan program, which was created by the one big, ugly bill.”

“Mr. Speaker, there are many flaws in the hastily written Senate Republican Continuing Resolution, before us today. The most egregious is the Continuing Resolution's failure to ``continue'' tax credits for health insurance which have been on the books for 4 years, right at the same time 24 million Americans are enrolling for 2026 insurance coverage in the ACA health exchanges.”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, which would have our Nation turn its back on the brave people of Ukraine in their greatest hour of need by cutting off all military assistance.”

“Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 3838 as it came out of committee. The bipartisan tradition of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee continued this year under the leadership of my good friend, Chairman Trent Kelly, to ensure maximum support for our sailors, airmen, and marines.”

“Madam Speaker, on August 22, the Trump administration, with absolutely no warning, issued a halt work order to an offshore wind project off the coast of southern New England that has been in the works for 9 years.”

“Madam Speaker, I have a letter from the Department of Defense dated December 2024, which states that the Department ``has found that construction of the Revolution Wind project . . . would not have adverse impacts to DOD missions in the area.'' I include this letter in the Record.”

“Regarding the swarming undersea drones, Revolution Wind has a contract with ThayerMahan, a maritime company that installs and operates undersea surveillance technology using sonar rays and pickets to keep watch and detect malign activity.”

“Madam Speaker, after an extraordinarily lengthy recess that Speaker Johnson ordered at the third week of July, Congress is finally back in session with a huge to-do list.”

“Madam Speaker, again, this journalist went out and interviewed hospitals across the State. This included urban, rural, and suburban hospitals. What all of them are reporting is that the hit of $1 trillion of Medicaid is going to ripple through the system and cause impact for everybody who relies on those critical services.”

“Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House of Representatives will be taking up H.R. 4275, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2025. That is legislation that updates and codifies changes and reforms to America's oldest continuous maritime service, the Coast Guard.”

“Mr. Speaker, today is June 24, and it is almost exactly a month ago that in this House, the misnamed One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed in the dead of night after hours and hours of debate while the American people were asleep at home.”

“The bill is moving in the Senate, literally as I stand here in the well of the House. In the light of day over the last month or so, a lot of the rocks have been kicked over in H.R. 1 to sort of see what is in there.”

“Peter DeBiasi's journey with Access began in March 2005, a challenging period marked by high leadership turnover and significant budgetary and staffing hurdles. Yet, it was precisely during this time of adversity that Peter's vision, dedication, and unwavering commitment to serving low-income individuals in Windham and Tolland counties truly shone.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend and honor Mr. Michael Price of Essex, Connecticut, for his outstanding achievements in the realm of American theatre and the arts.”

“Mr. Speaker, today, June 3, Congress reconvenes after a 12-day break. On May 22, the last time we were here, this Chamber was involved in a 2-day marathon.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate a devoted public servant, Elissa DeVito of Preston, Connecticut. Elissa is retiring from teaching at Waterford Public Schools after over 30 years of dedicated service.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enthusiastically honor Mr. Jon Roe, a pillar of eastern Connecticut, for his lasting contributions to the town of Vernon, Connecticut and the Tankerhoosen River Valley.”

“Jon always knew he could make a difference when he put his mind to something. He established a deep interest in natural health and spirituality in the 1980s.”

“Madam Speaker, for the last 5 months, across the country, people have been waiting with bated breath to see what this big, beautiful bill is that the Republicans have been working on behind closed doors, much of it down in Florida putting it together, particularly America's healthcare sector.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a stunning, dominant victory by the UConn women's basketball team yesterday over a very good University of South Carolina team by a margin of 23 points, which actually is lower than really where it was for most of the second half.”

“School graduate. That is the same as the Boston Celtics have in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers have 18 titles, as well. Eighteen titles for a land-grant university in rural Connecticut defies any conventional wisdom about big, high-paying university programs.”

“Mr. Speaker, candidate Trump and President-elect Trump consistently and repeatedly promised the American people that when he was elected, on day one that he would lower the cost of living for Americans.”

“Steel and lumber used in home construction were one of the biggest factors of increased prices on last Friday's Consumer Price Index. That is, again, why the homebuilders are warning us at this time of a housing crisis.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the extraordinary career of Timothy Bowen as he prepares for his retirement from E.O. Smith High School at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and legacy of an eastern Connecticut legend and public servant, my friend, Danny Rovero. Danny sadly passed away on March 5, 2025, at age 87.”

“Mr. Speaker, we are now in the eighth week of the 119th Congress, which has distinguished itself with incredibly low productivity and low effort. So far, we have brought up just a bunch of moldy old leftovers from the last Congress.”

“House about where their priorities are because that is what budgets are about. They are an expression of people's moral values and their priorities in terms of who should get help in our country.”

“Mr. Speaker, at the end of the first week of President Trump's Presidency, he announced with great fanfare that he was imposing 25 percent tariffs on our neighbors, Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.”

“Farm Bureau, which represents a cross-section of American food producers all across the country, warned the minute that proposal came out that it was going to raise the cost of fertilizer input costs that was going to end up in the grocery stores in terms of higher prices.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Bethany Braman Foster of Ludlow, Massachusetts on celebrating 10 years of sobriety, which she achieved on January 31, 2025. This milestone, which required a lot of faith, self-discipline, and healthy choices is an achievement that her new husband Micah Welintikonas (U.S.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn a devastating loss in eastern Connecticut, with the passing of a beautiful married couple--Dr. Neil Brooks and his wife Sandi (Silverman) Brooks of Vernon, Connecticut.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and accomplishments of a long-standing public servant, Gordon John Frassinelli, Sr. of Stafford Springs, Connecticut. Aged 88, Gordon passed away sadly but peacefully on October 26, 2024, in the arms of his loving wife Barbara and surrounded by his family.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing Mr. Frederick ``Jay'' Stefany for his 44 years of outstanding Federal service as a senior acquisition executive, as well as the first Maritime Industrial Base Program Manager for the Department of the Navy (DON).”

“Mr. Speaker, today, January 13 in Washington, we are in a little bit of a hiatus waiting for a new administration and a new Congress to begin the process of bringing forward new policy proposals and a budget.”

“Mr. Speaker, on January 1, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap is going to be initiated for seniors on the Medicare part D program.”