Meeting Mainers on the Road

I spent August meeting with constituents to discuss the things that matter most

Dear Mainer,

I hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend. We were home celebrating Izzy’s birthday — fitting timing since she’s one of the hardest-working people I know. 

I wanted to use this month’s letter to tell you how I spent the August Work Period, so I hope you’ll indulge my being a couple days late on my monthly letters. Congress adjourns for the whole month so members can spend time working in the District. Given that ours is the largest district east of the Mississippi, I spent a lot of the month on the road. But all those miles on the truck are well worth it. Here’s a look at what I was focused on during the recess. 

Border security and manufacturing jobs in Madawaska

Touring the floor of the Twin Rivers Paper Mill and the new CBP Land Port of Entry, both in Madawaska.

Maine’s border with Canada is 611 miles long, and orderly screening at each of our 24 border crossings is critical to national security and Maine’s international trade. 

Nowhere is this more important than it is in Madawaska, where generations of Mainers have shared a bond with friends, family, and coworkers across the St. John River in Edmunston, New Brunswick. The ties between the two communities are symbolized by the dual Twin Rivers Paper Company plants on either side of the river. Wood is delivered to the pulp mill on the Canadian side, and that pulp flows via pipeline back across the river to the paper mill in Madawaska.

I was able to join officials from both sides of the border to open the new international bridge connecting these two communities, as well as a new, state-of-the-art Land Port of Entry where U.S. Customs and Border Protection will work night and day to keep America safe and to help people and goods move quickly and efficiently. With this upgraded infrastructure, Madawaska will demonstrate that our international border can be both secure and welcoming in equal measure. 

I also spent time on the floor of the Twin Rivers paper mill, meeting with management and workers to hear how things are going.

I am always impressed at the quality products made by Maine’s manufacturers, and the quality jobs these plants provide, from skilled trades to sales to logistics. But none of it exists in a vacuum. We discussed how European “point of origin” requirements are jeopardizing the success of Twin Rivers and other pulp and paper makers, holding them to an unworkable standard because of bad forest management practices in other corners of the world. I pledged to work with my colleagues in Congress to find solutions to ensure needless red tape and bureaucracy don’t hold back Maine manufacturers. 

Checking in with Operation Reboot Outdoors

There are many ways to heal, including for service members returning from overseas. Operation Reboot Outdoors is a veteran-founded nonprofit in Byron that helps veterans and law enforcement officers find healing and community through outdoor recreational opportunities like hunting, hiking, fishing and camping. 

I first visited Reboot’s headquarters in Byron a few years back, when it was just getting started and I was inspired by the vision of providing veterans a “reboot” by connecting them with other veterans and with the great outdoors. Since then, it’s grown leaps and bounds with a new lodge, fishing pond, trail network, and plans in the works for campsites and new lodge. 

I was grateful to accept an invitation to join Reboot and American Legion Department of Maine to commemorate the opening of a new ADA-compliant fishing dock at Camp Byron, made possible with support from the Legion. For many of us, service doesn’t end when we take off the uniform. Reboot and the Legion are great models for what it looks like for veterans to continue their service in civilian life. 

Meeting fishermen on Swans Island

It was great to meet with fishermen recently on Swan’s Island, where I’m supporting plans underway to rebuild the town dock.

Even after five and a half years as your Congressman, there are still parts of our district I haven’t been able to visit. So when I was invited to make my first trip to Swan’s Island to hear directly from fishermen and lobstermen, I jumped at the chance. 

We discussed the challenges facing Maine’s working waterfronts, from ongoing concerns about offshore wind development to all of Maine’s fishermen to the seemingly constant threat of overregulation to Maine’s lobstermen. If government overreach or ill-considered development put fishermen out of business, it’s not just their families that are threatened. It’s entire communities, from the secondary businesses patronized by fishermen to the schools and other local institutions supported by the tax base the fishery provides. 

I’m looking for ways to extend the current six-year moratorium on federal right whale-related gear requirements, block a proposed gauge increase that puts Maine lobstermen at a competitive disadvantage, and push federal agencies to work with the fishermen — not against them — to ensure the future viability of our fisheries. And I’m exploring ways to help fishermen and municipalities secure state and federal funds to maintain or upgrade critical infrastructure, like the dock on Swan’s Island. 

Other District work in August

I also had good conversations during the August Work Period with Mainers focused on farming, forest products, and law enforcement. Here’s a quick rundown: 

• I spoke with farmers about the shrinking of Maine’s agricultural land portfolio. It’s a concerning trend, with some farms shutting down thanks to unfair international competition while other, leased land being sold out from under the feet of farmers for solar developments. Meanwhile, state and federal regulators continue to miss the mark on right-sizing regulations to balance food safety with the real financial and operational constraints of Maine’s small and family-run farms. After my meeting, I wrote to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, urging the state to take action to protect high-value agricultural land from being sold to foreign solar power developers. 

• I met with the Maine Forest Products Council and toured Hancock Lumber’s recently renovated facility in Augusta. It’s going to take a lot of construction to create the housing stock this country needs, but high interest rates are making it harder to get building. I’m determined to find ways for Congress to support this critical Maine industry, which should be a key partner in resolving the housing crisis. 

• I visited the Penobscot County Jail and Sheriff’s Department to discuss law enforcement in Eastern Maine and the work underway to modernize the outdated jail operations. Sheriff’s Departments play a critical public safety role in large, rural places like Maine and I’m committed to their success. 

Hearing directly from Maine’s farmers is invaluable to me as I work to ensure policies are in place that support their success.

While I try to meet constituents whenever I’m home, the August Work Period is one of the best annual traditions on the Congressional calendar — not just because it’s one of the most beautiful times to hit the road in Maine, but because it gives me ample opportunity to hear directly from Mainers about the things that matter most: our families, our communities, our economy, and our future.

Now, with August closed, members are heading back to DC for yet another annual tradition: the September budget crunch. We must finish a new budget, or extend the current one with a continuing resolution, before the end of the month. 

There will be more to come on that front, but I’ll let you know my top priority is sticking to the bipartisan spending framework that’s already been negotiated by the White House and both parties in both chambers of Congress. It might be a foreign concept to many of my colleagues, but if we all stick to our word, we should be able to finish the people’s work in a timely manner. 

Thanks for reading,