Friday, March 29th, 2024 Church Directory

Events & Meetings

After a long few weeks of debt ceiling negotiations, we were thrilled to have the chance to participate in some events and meetings back home in Minnesota.

We met with Delano High School’s Orange Crush robotics team to see their robot and discuss the importance of STEM and computer science education. I also had the pleasure of announcing that the team had been awarded a $5,000 STEM Talent Pipeline Grant to support the team’s growth. STEM education can open countless doors, and I look forward to seeing what else these talented students accomplish.

Later in the day, we stopped by Gather and Grow Waconia United Food Shelf to meet with Executive Director Angie Cruzen and some dedicated volunteers. We were hugely impressed by the number of services they provide to residents of Carver County! The great work being done at Gather and Grow goes beyond simple food assistance, their talented staff also provide employment and budgeting services, nutrition classes and life coaching, and mental health support. Watch this report from Kare 11 for more on our visit to Gather and Grow.

It is no secret that the past few years have had a serious impact on our young people’s mental health. 1 in 4 American teens have been diagnosed with a serious mental health condition. In 2021 alone, the CDC reported 30% of teenage girls had seriously considered suicide. As we work towards solutions to this national epidemic, we hosted a Youth Mental Health Roundtable with local mental health advocates and providers.

We were joined by representatives from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, CentraCare, Nexus Family Healing, Gillette Children’s, Health Partners, and Sophie’s Squad. We had an in-depth conversation on the work being done at the federal level to incentivize quality mental health care, as well as the impact that social media and the pandemic have had on our students’ mental health.

Manufacturing is crucial to the State of Minnesota and plays an important role in the economy in the Sixth Congressional District. Recently, we hosted a roundtable discussion with manufacturing leaders from across the state. It was a great conversation with participants from the National Association of Manufacturers, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and numerous manufacturing companies like General Mills and Ecolab.

Investing in local transportation infrastructure keeps Minnesotans and our state’s economy moving forward. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with a group of Carver County leaders to discuss the recently completed Phase 1 of the U.S. Highway 212 Rural Freight Mobility and Safety Project and discuss construction plans for Phase 2. We are pleased to see progress being made on this project and look forward to its completion. Our office was proud to support funding for this project.

Finally, on May 21st, I had the chance to sit down with Eric Chaloux of KSTP to discuss the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, the situation at our borders, and the State Legislature’s many misguided policies.