Rep. Hank Johnson's E-Newsletter for May 15, 2014

Statement

Dear Friends,

There's been a lot going on in Washington, D.C. and in the Fourth District, and I'd like to get everyone caught up on issues and projects I've been working on.

I was excited to take part in MSNBC's "Growing Hope" on May 9 for a special edition of PoliticsNation with The Rev. Al Sharpton live from the Sweet Auburn Springfest in downtown Atlanta.

One of the issues we discussed was increasing the minimum wage. Two-thirds of people in this country who make minimum wage are women -- who often have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet, and they are the ones most likely to be taking care of their children and their aging parents. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would give more than 500,000 hardworking Georgians a pay raise, totaling $1.3 billion in additional income here in Georgia. It's time to have a House vote on raising the minimum wage.

HOMESAFE GA EXPANDS ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

I'm pleased to announce that there are now more ways to qualify for HomeSafe Georgia, which helps homeowners who are unemployed or underemployed through no fault of their own with up to two years of mortgage payments. Not only has the assistance expanded from 18 to 24 months, but homeowners who have suffered a medical hardship, a death in the family or a military hardship may qualify for assistance.

I'm proud of our office's work with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) -- which runs HomeSafe GA -- to get the word out about the program and help get DCA's Fourth District outreach off the ground. It's resulted in more than $18 million in relief, more than any other congressional district in Georgia. For more, click HERE.

FUNDS FOR STEM RESEARCH

I was honored to help secure a $10 million increase in the House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) intended base funding level for science research at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) as the the Committee "marked up," or amended and approved the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) recently.

One of my amendments increased science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) funding for HBCU's by $10 million to $34.4 million. It prevented the funding from being cut by more than $14 million below FY14 levels. There is still work to be done during the authorization process in the House and Senate because the current approved $34.4 million is a cut below the current funding level of $35.9 million, and this is a critical investment for our nation. For more, click HERE.

MILITARY ACADEMY NOMINATIONS

I'm pleased to announce the names of the 14 Fourth District students who have been nominated to attend a U.S. Service Academy -- Military Academy (West Point), Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy this fall.

To date, seven students have received appointments to attend a Service Academy for the class of 2018. Since 2007, I have awarded more than $13 million in service academy scholarships. For more, click HERE.

FOR YOUR/MORE INFORMATION:

Comcast-Time Warner merger |Housing help | Jobs Center | Healthcare | Small Businesses | Seniors | Students |Veterans | Arts Competition Winners | Helping Homeless

As always, I appreciate your time and feedback. Please remember you can reach me on Facebook and Twitter as well as e-mails, phone calls and letters. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Congress.

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