Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2nd CT)
Congressman opposes health care tax, supports shipbuilding
REP. JOE COURTNEY (D-2nd CT) will receive the Boilermakers’ Legislator of the Year (LOY) award at the 42nd annual conference of the Legislative Education Action Program (LEAP) this April in Washington, D.C.
Political Affairs Director Bridget Martin said the award acknowledges Courtney’s exemplary efforts to support working men and women.
Now in his second term in the U.S. House, Courtney serves on the Education and Labor Committee and on the Armed Services Committee. He earned a 100 percent voting record from the AFL-CIO in 2008 (97 percent lifetime) and has backed labor in such key areas as health care, jobs, and the economy.
A proponent of health care reform, Courtney stood up against a Senate bill provision that would have taxed higher-end insurance plans, including some plans negotiated by labor unions. President Obama had initially proposed taxing only the most expensive, so–called “Cadillac” plans enjoyed by top corporate executives and members of Congress. The Senate eventually lowered the cut-off to include plans that many union members had struggled to achieve over many years of wage trade-offs. The AFL-CIO vigorously opposed the Senate’s tax and later reached a compromise with Democratic leadership that would lessen its impact on union families.
Courtney also introduced a bill that would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions (the Preexisting Condition Exclusion Patient Protection Act).
A supporter of the minimum wage, Courtney cosponsored the Fair Minimum Wage Act in 2007 — the first increase in over a decade — which was signed into law in May of that year. The law raised the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over three years.
In the wake of the economic collapse of 2008, Courtney voted against the bailout of Wall Street banks while supporting the stimulus package, which is intended to jumpstart the economy and create jobs.
Courtney has pushed hard to accelerate authorization of two Virginia-class nuclear submarines a year, double what is currently being built. He has argued that the U.S. Navy fleet faces serious decline and that the Chinese are outpacing the United States in submarine development by more than two to one. His constituents include members of Boilermakers Local 614 (New London, Conn.), who depend on government contracts with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division in Groton, Conn., for their livelihood. In his first two years in Congress, Courtney secured $667 million in authorization and funding to build two subs a year beginning in 2011 — a year ahead of the Navy’s plan. Nuclear submarine construction work is shared between Electric Boat’s Groton facility and Northrop Grumman’s shipyard at Newport News, Va.
“Joe Courtney is one of our strongest allies in securing naval contracts at Electric Boat,” said International President Newton B. Jones. “Those contracts mean good Boilermaker jobs as well as a navy that is second to none. Rep. Courtney is unafraid to take a stand on behalf of union families — as evidenced by his opposition to the Wall Street bailout and the health care tax. We are privileged to count him as one of our very best friends in Congress today. No one is more deserving of the Legislator of the Year award.”
Courtney lives with his wife and their two children in Vernon, Conn. A 1975 graduate of Tufts University in Boston, he earned a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1978. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.
