WASHINGTON — Before recessing for the midterm elections two weeks earlier than originally planned, the U.S. House passed two measures sponsored by New Jersey representatives.
First was legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) designed to protect seniors and their families from financial fraud. Gottheimer knows first-hand how serious the problem is; his own mother was scammed, though he was able to put a hold on her bank account before any money was lost.
Known as the Guarding Unprotected Aging Retirees from Deception (GUARD) Act, the measure allows local law enforcement to use existing federal grant funds to investigate scams, and makes it clear that federal officials can help state, local and tribal agencies to follow the money and find the criminals responsible.
It also instructs the U.S. Treasury Department to report on how much these scams are costing Americans, who is responsible the stealing the money and how effective current efforts to address the problems are.
“Every day, scammers are targeting our seniors — draining the hard-earned savings they spent a lifetime building, often with a single phone call or a fake investment scheme,” Gottheimer said. “These criminals don’t play it straight, and too often they hide behind overseas networks that make them nearly impossible to track. Protecting our parents and grandparents is just common sense.”
The second bill, Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s Preventing Rip-offs and Obtaining Oversight of Funds (PROOF) Act, would make it easier for federal investigators to obtain state records as they look for fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, and other federally funded programs.
“To me, it is simple. If taxpayer money is being stolen, investigators should be able to get the records they need to find out where it went,” said Van Drew (R-Dennis). “If the attorney general is investigating fraud involving federal taxpayer dollars, the state has to provide the records needed for that investigation. Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar not going to a family, senior, or individual counting on that help.”
Kim targets hunger in military families
For military families, their basic housing allowance is considered income, making them ineligible for free or reduced-priced school meals.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim is trying to change that. His legislation would exclude the allowance from the income calculations that determine eligibility for school meals. The bill also would require the Defense and Agriculture departments to report to Congress on what would take to set up a separate program to certify military children.
“No child in our country should go hungry, but right now, red tape is preventing many military children from getting nutritious breakfast and lunch at school,” Km said. “While they’d otherwise be eligible for school meal programs, these kids are unfairly being penalized because their parent serves in uniform. This is a simple but critically important fix, and just one of many actions we need to take to fully tackle hunger amongst servicemembers and their loved ones.”
Pou resolution welcomes Bangladesh ascending to UN General Assembly presidency
When the United Nations General Assembly convened last month for its 81st session, a representative of Bangladesh wielded the gavel.
Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), who represents one of the largest Bangladeshi communities in the U.S., introduced a resolution congratulating the country on taking over the UNGA presidency. Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman began serving in the post in September.
“Bangladesh’s leadership at the United Nations is a proud moment for Bangladeshis around the world, including the thousands of Bangladeshi Americans I am honored to represent in North Jersey,” Pou said. “Our two nations share deep economic, security, and personal ties that have grown stronger over more than half a century.”
Pou co-chairs the Congressional Bangladesh Caucus.