Yesterday, one of my staff members in my Enfield district office opened a mailed envelope which contained a suspicious, unknown white substance and a malicious letter. My staff member is okay. Thank you to the Enfield Police Department and EMS, U.S. Capitol Police, the Connecticut State Bomb Squad, and the FBI for their prompt response and ongoing investigation. My Enfield office remains closed until all testing is completed. This is one of many suspicious packages across the country targeting Congressional offices and election officials. U.S. Capitol Police has stated that all reported incidents thus far have been deemed non-threatening. The clear malicious intent behind these mailings, whether to physically harm or cause alarm, will not deter dedicated Congressional staff from serving constituents who rely on their expertise and care for help.

Home heating oil prices are up over 74% compared to this time last year. Connecticut households are feeling the impact as they fill up their tanks.   This week, I visited Norwich heating oil delivery firm Viking Fuel to discuss how their customers are struggling to cope with skyrocketing prices. Viking does great work to provide critical help to low-income consumers.    On Tuesday, after my colleagues and I pushed for more federal assistance for energy costs, Connecticut received an early allotment of $73.5M in home heating assistance. Connecticut residents can apply for energy assistance through the CT Department of Social Services: portal.ct.gov/dss/economic-s…

Eastern CT students interested in attending a U.S. service academy can apply for a nomination through my office. The application deadline is October 30 at 5pm. Please contact my Norwich Office at 860-886-0139 with any questions that you may have about the Nomination Process.

American taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for the construction of Big Tech’s data centers.   I joined a bipartisan group of colleagues in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Bessent to push back on Meta’s outrageous plans to claim research tax credits to build data centers using technology that already exists.   These credits are intended to encourage American innovation. Using them for the construction of data centers by a billionaire is grotesque.

Tomorrow, October 16th, is the last day to register to vote in Connecticut. Your vote is your voice. Register or confirm your registration using the following links: Register to vote here: myvote.ct.gov/register And verify voter registration here: myvote.ct.gov/lookup

Eastern Connecticut needs more quality affordable homes to meet demand and lower costs.  Yesterday, I sat down with housing advocates, home builders, and realtors to talk about the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan bill that became law this summer. The bill makes long-overdue reforms to clear pathways to new housing construction. Now, Congress must follow through with robust investment that capitalizes on the reforms made by the ROAD to Housing Act.

Last month, the CT Insurance Department officially approved an 11.3% average rate increase in 2027 for state-regulated, individual and small business health care coverage plans. Rx drug costs make up 30% of a Connecticut health care premium dollar. That amount has doubled since 2010. This trend screams out for action.  Congress needs to pass the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act, a bill to empower Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower Rx drug costs not just for Americans 65 and older, but for all Americans on employer-based plans and individual ACA marketplace plans (Access Health CT here in Connecticut).  By lowering drug costs for working-age Americans, Congress would bring down health insurance premiums across the board. It's simple, and it will work. Read more in my op-ed in the Day: theday.com/news/929211/healt…

Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy! To all Navy sailors and aviators, thank you for serving with honor, courage, and commitment. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution, clearly states, “Congress shall provide and maintain a Navy” — that power is NOT vested in the President, or the Navy, for that matter. As Ranking Member of the Seapower Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that passed authority for the largest submarine construction contract in history, I am committed to building and maintaining a fleet for the future.

A special day for the Submarine Capital of the World. On Friday, I joined the Groton community for the groundbreaking of the USS Groton Sail Monument at the Groton Public Library. Electric Boat employees have contributed over 25,000 training hours towards restoring the USS Groton’s sail, rudder, and planes. Thank you to the USS Groton Sail Foundation and everyone helping to build this tribute to Groton’s proud submarine heritage.

Back in 2024, I worked with the Town of Madison to secure $2.5 million in federal Community Project funding for a new emergency operations center at Madison Hose Company No. 1. Yesterday, I joined First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons, Fire Chief Robert Kyttle, Executive Director of Operations for Emergency Management Sam DeBurra, and State Sen. Christine Cohen to mark the opening of the new dedicated space to coordinate emergency response. Thank you to these local leaders for their years of work to make this boost to public safety in Madison happen. The good news doesn’t stop there. The Madison Hose Company No. 1 was also just awarded a new federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant for firefighter turnout gear, another round of federal support for the town’s first responders.

If you’ve been at an event with me this year, you’ve probably seen me holding this submarine construction tonnage chart from the U.S. Navy. It shows that today, in 2026, we are near peak submarine production going back to 1952, and in the coming years, production will ramp up significantly and continue for decades. Through a region-wide skills training movement, eastern CT’s workforce is answering our nation’s call for a next-generation submarine workforce.

To keep up with thousands of new jobs at Electric Boat, I’m working with local leaders to support community infrastructure projects in southeastern CT.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Every survivor deserves safety and support.  If you or someone you know is in need of help, call the National DV Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. It's free and confidential, and it's open 24/7.

It was great to visit Stafford High School’s very impressive career pathways program today with First Selectman Bill Morrison.  Students and teachers gave me a tour of architectural drafting, construction, welding, and photography classes, which are part of the 13 career pathways offered at the school.  Thank you to Superintendent Sugarman, Principal Pellica, the teachers and school leaders who are connecting talented students with their interests and prepare for careers.

With the growing number of incidents involving rogue AI agents, Congress must pass commonsense safeguards to protect the public.  Last week, I officially became a cosponsor of the bipartisan AI Kill Switch Act, a bill to establish third-party protections against rogue AI agents. We need safeguards that ensure AI remains under human control.

Thanks to Access Community Action Agency for briefing me on their work ensuring people’s basic food and home heating needs are met. They are seeing a spike in need from local families due to high food costs, federal cuts to food assistance, and surging home heating prices due to the war in Iran. Congress must reverse the SNAP cuts made in the Big Ugly Bill. We also urgently need to increase home energy assistance funding as homeowners are going to fill their tanks this fall.

Reminder: CT farmers who faced losses caused by severe weather in 2023 & 2024 can apply for USDA disaster relief funding through the CT Dep. of Agriculture. The deadline to apply for Round One of aid is this Wednesday (10/7). Learn more & apply here: portal.ct.gov/doag/adarc/ada…

Today is World Teachers’ Day! Teachers help students discover their strengths and see new possibilities in their futures. Thank you to eastern Connecticut’s wonderful teachers for the hard work you bring to our classrooms every day.

Exciting news in Lebanon. On Tuesday, I joined students and faculty at Lyman Memorial High School for the launch of the school’s new welding lab and welding career pathway program. The excitement from students to learn welding speaks to the skills training movement happening across our region as we see the historic surge in submarine production for the U.S. Navy. As a Member of the Education and Workforce Committee, I'm fighting to increase Perkins funding to expand career and technical education in our schools and connect students to quality careers in eastern Connecticut.