Duckworth Diary - January 10, 2014

Statement

Dear Neighbors,

This week, as the Chicagoland area braved below freezing temperatures, Congress convened for the second session of the 113th Congress.

On Monday, I attended jury duty despite the inclement weather. The judge thanked all of us for showing up even though it was -15° outside-- on that day we were all true Chicagoans! It was great to see so many of us who took our civil duty seriously.

This week in Washington, I met with the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Carolyn Colvin. We discussed efforts the agency has already taken to reduce fraud and waste in Social Security and what more can be done to preserve the integrity of this critically important program.

Additionally, I spoke on the House floor in support of extending unemployment benefits. I told one of our neighbors from Elgin's story. Lynn has been fighting to find work since April after losing her manufacturing job of three years. The absence of unemployment insurance is jeopardizing the economic progress we are making. By removing unemployment benefits from the 80,000 Illinois families who depend on them, we are taking more than $25 million out of our economy every week.

On Thursday, I attended an Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled, "Waste in Government: What's Being Done?" In this hearing, I questioned citizen watchdog groups about ways we can address fraud and waste in Deptartment of Defense acquisition and in Medicare. I am hopeful that we will work on a bipartisan and bicameral basis this year to end waste in these areas so we can have the resources to support our Troops and our Seniors well into the future.

Please don't hesitate to contact my office if we can be of service. I hope you are having a great week.

Best,

Congresswoman Duckworth

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