With six months on the job, Keating’s doing right by his constituents.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 7, 2011

 

Washington, DC – The beginning of this week marked the end of Rep. Bill Keating’s first six months in office.  Since being sworn into office on January 5, 2011, Rep. Keating has made constituent services the hallmark of his first term.  He has also, however, tackled issues of national importance, such as airport perimeter security, where he is the lead voice calling for necessary reforms.

Said Rep Keating:

Being a Member of Congress is a balancing act between your work at home and your work in Washington.  But I believe our office’s results over the past six months indicate that my primary focus has consistently been on the residents on Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District.  I am proud that we were able to save or recover $150,000 for 10th District residents.  I am proud of our district’s new Online Office, which I believe will be a valuable resource.  And I am proud of the over 100 events we have organized or attended since January. I want the residents of this great district to know that I am here to serve them 24 hours a day, seven days a week and I will continue to work my hardest to do just that. I also vow to continue fighting for issues that are important to all Americans, such as our airport security and ending subsidies to Big Oil.  With hard work and compromise we can accomplish much, and I look forward to the next successful six months and beyond.

Below is a list of some of Rep. Keating’s accomplishments in the past six months:

CONSTITUENT OUTREACH:

• Casework that has resulted in approximately $150,000 recovered or saved for constituents.
• Over 100 district events.
  

 

• Formed Veterans’, Women’s and Service Academy Nominations Advisory Boards as well as a Fishing Task Force. 

• Released a Green Guide and Gold Star Families Guide for constituents.
  
• Launched a new website that will serve as an Online Office for his constituents. 

• Has Facebook and Twitter accounts so constituents can learn more about his work on their behalf. 

• Has started the “Breakfast with Bill” program to speak with constituents in convenient, casual settings. 

• His staff has already held eight Mobile Office Hours. 

• Held a Twitter townhall on his recent Congressional Trip to the Middle East. 

• Held two townhalls, one specifically on Medicare. 

• Held tele-townhall on the budget. 

• Held annual Congressional Art Competition for high school students in district. 

• Held a Veterans Fair. 

• Released the video “A Guide to Veteran’s Benefits.”

LEGISLATION AND ISSUES:

• Named Ranking Member of the Oversight, Investigation and Management Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee following his call for increased airport perimeter and tarmac security. 

• Asked to serve on three House Committees: the Homeland Security, Small Business and Foreign Affairs Committees, a rare honor for a freshmen Member of the House. 

• Introduced first piece of legislation: HR 1013, the Strengthen Fisheries Management in New England Act, which requires that penalties collected from New England fishermen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration be used to improve the management of New England fisheries. 

• Traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kuwait to visit our troops and review our counterterrorism operations. 

• Called for a renewed focus and review of our airport security procedures after questioning Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano twice on the issue. 

• Organized and conducted a security review of Logan Airport for Homeland Security Committee professionals with members of the Transportation Security Administration and Massport.
• Introduced an amendment to end oil subsidies to Big Oil.

o He also introduced two further amendments aimed at ending the “welfare program” for large oil and gas companies.

• Brought up a critical problem facing democratic uprisings throughout the world, in his role on the Middle East Subcommittee: the use of social media as a weapon that allows oppressive governments to target and censor dissenters.
  

o Rep. Keating has pledged to work on a solution to this problem and is currently drafting legislation that would require American companies selling internet monitoring technology to foreign governments to be subject to end-use monitoring agreements similar to those currently employed when selling arms

• Joined with the Massachusetts Delegation in opposing cuts to Community Block Grants and heating assistance for low-income individuals. 

• Joined with Massachusetts Delegation in asking for the high speed rail funding originally offered to Florida.

OTHER:

• Helped secure over $36 million in grants for small businesses and infrastructure projects throughout the district.

For a full list of grants Rep. Keating has helped secure for
the district, please view his “Delivering for Our Community” map on our district’s Online Office.

• Met with the owners of MassTank, which is based out of Middleboro, MA and is the largest industrial tank manufacturer in the Northeast, to push for the company’s new wind turbine manufacturing project to be located in Quincy, thus bringing hundreds of new jobs to Massachusetts’ 10th Congressional District. 

• Pursued federal funding for Quincy Downtown Redevelopment Project and met with project leaders. 

• Fought to finalize the conversion of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station into Southfield, a combined commercial and residential area that will create approximately 10,000 jobs in the district. 

• Toured Cape Cod Hospital and CapeAir, two of the largest employers on the Cape, as part of his job creation and sustainability review. 

• Met with Rear Admiral Daniel A. Neptun of the US Coast Guard to discuss the Menemsha rehabilitation project and the return of the Coast Guard rescue boats to Chatham Harbor. 

• Fought for the US Department of Commerce to increase the percentage of unused groundfish quota that can be carried-over into the 2011-2012 fishing year. 

• Toured Cape Air, another large employer on the Cape. 

• Teamed with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary team to provide boat inspections for residents of the 10th Congressional District at Monument Beach Marina. 

• Held Transportation Security District Work Week:
  

o  Security Tour of Logan International Airport o  Meeting on 10th District’s Water Highway System o  Review of PAVE PAWS Radar Installation at Cape Cod Air Force Station o  Tour of Bluefin Robotics o  Massachusetts Steamship Authority Safety Tour o  Security Tour of Cape Cod Canal and Cape Bridges with US Coast Guard

• Held Small Business District Work Week, which included meetings with:
  

o  Airxchange, a Rockland small business o  Manet Community Health Center in Quincy o  Hook Fishermen’s Association in Chatham o  Hy-Line Cruises, a family-owned business in Hyannis o  Plymouth Chamber of Commerce o  Craig Textiles Inc. , a Rockland small business

• Held Maritime District Work Week:
  

o  Had breakfast with cadets at Massachusetts Maritime Academy o  Toured Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute o  Met with US Coast Guard Captain Verne Gifford at Nobscot Lighthouse o  Met at Scituate Maritime Center regarding the Marine and Environmental Education Alliance’s proposed Ocean Campus Center o  Addressed Hull High School science class on wind power and green energy.

• Read at two schools in the district in honor of Read Across America Day. 

• Organized Service Academy Information Nights for high school students. 

• Met with State House Delegation to discuss local concerns.