Dear Friend,

We’re back in Washington this week, but I look forward to giving everyone an update during my town hall tonight. We will begin at 7PM CT and focus on providing resources for Minnesotans seeking employment and answering other workforce related questions. Read on to learn about how to join!

All topics are open for discussion, however, I will be joined by experts from Career Solutions and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). I hope you will join us for another telephone town hall, and you can learn more about how to participate by visiting my website here!

In the meantime, read on to learn more about our recent work…

Ensuring Transparency in Government Spending

We’ve seen concerning news reports coming from Minnesota’s Sixth District this week. According to reports, ISD 748 entered into an $80,000 contract with Equity Alliance Minnesota to use COVID-19 relief funding for an “equity audit.”

Sartell-St. Stephen students were reportedly forced to participate in an “equity survey,” which made some of them feel confused and uncomfortable. As one fourth grader recounted during a July 19, 2021, school board meeting, she and her classmates were prohibited by their teacher from repeating the contents of the survey to their parents, and were discouraged from asking their parents questions raised in the survey they did not understand. 

Yesterday, I led a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calling into question the use of COVID-19 relief funding for a survey like this. Trillions of dollars in federal spending has been provided to help families and businesses weather the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s important to ensure taxpayer funds are being used for their intended purpose.

I’ll continue to monitor the situation and ensure accountability.

Supporting Our Dairy Farmers

Minnesota’s dairy industry provides 27,000 jobs and 110,000 indirect jobs. On average, our farmers produce nearly 10.2 billion pounds of milk, with Stearns County, in the Sixth Congressional District, coming in as the largest dairy-producing county in the state!

Our dairy farmers play a major role in our agriculture community and overall production. We saw a huge win for farm families across Minnesota with the enactment of the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement last year. Canada’s Class 7 Dairy pricing scheme was eliminated, putting our dairy farmers in a better position to compete with our neighbors.

However, recently it seems that Canada may be bending USMCA rules to unfairly benefit its own dairy industry at the expense of U.S. producers. A dispute settlement case is underway to protect our dairy farmers, and I encouraged United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai to continue monitoring Canada's actions as we work towards a resolution. Specifically, I encouraged her to focus on Canadian milk protein isolates (MPI) exports and to explore the use of USMCA’s dairy consultation provisions to address this circumvention further with Canada.

I have seen firsthand how determined Minnesota’s dairy farmers are, and how their success is tied to our agriculture community. These men and women bring jobs and economic growth to our state and we must ensure our trade agreements are fairly enforced to allow them to thrive.

Addressing Our Physician Shortage for Rural Minnesota

Even before COVID-19, American hospitals were experiencing a shortage of qualified physicians—a problem only made worse by the outbreak. Reports from the Association of American Medical Colleges indicate that by 2033, the United States will face a shortage of between 54,100 and 139,000 physicians. These shortfalls are expected to increase among both primary care doctors and specialists as physician burnout caused by the pandemic grows. It is imperative that we encourage and train top-notch medical professionals to join the workforce.

Many underserved and rural communities rely on doctors from foreign countries to fill critical positions in hospitals. Our hospitals cannot provide quality care if they are facing physician shortages. With that in mind, I joined my colleague Representative Grace Meng in introducing the Grant Residency for Addition Doctors (GRAD) Act. This will address delays in the J-1 visa process to help stave off the country’s doctor shortage. You can read more about the bill here.

Until next week, if you are in need of assistance or would like to share your thoughts with me, please write me an e-mail here.

To keep up with what we’re doing in Washington, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more updates!

Sincerely,