Catching Up With Quigley: Week of January 29
Dear Friend,
I hope you've had a good week. I wanted to share some of the work I did this week while in Washington.
1. Met with Senators to Discuss Union Station Improvements
On Wednesday, Senators Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, and I met with Union Pacific to discuss the positive impact improving Union Station will have across the region. With Union Pacific's help, we can make the station safer and more efficient for riders. In December, I joined my Senate colleagues to announce $93.6 million for Amtrak's plan to revitalize Chicago Union Station and revolutionize Midwest passenger rail. Some of the improvements will include expanding the station platforms, adding an ingress/egress to improve passenger capacity, bringing platforms into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards and improving ventilation systems and air quality for nearly 120,000 Amtrak and Metra weekly passengers.
2. Held a SEEC Meeting on Off-Shore Wind Energy
As Co-Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, I'm consistently meeting with my colleagues to offer new and innovative ideas that will protect our environment and minimize our reliance on fossil fuels. During this week's meeting, we were joined by Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Liz Klein. Director Klein discussed BOEM's strategy for achieving President Biden's goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. If we achieve this goal, we can generate enough energy to power 10 million homes, support 77,000 jobs and spur private investment up and down the supply chain.
3. Kicked Off Ukrainian Week
On Tuesday, I helped kick-off Ukrainian Week on Capitol Hill. The week-long gathering is intended to bring together Ukrainian and American leaders to discuss enhancing collaboration and partnership opportunities. For myself, it was an especially important chance to remind my colleagues about the need to send additional assistance to Ukraine. Later in the week, I met with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets. We discussed the need to shed light on Russian crimes against Ukrainian children and the work being done to help bring these children back home from Russian captivity.
Don't forget, our office is always here to help.
You can call my DC office at (202) 225-4061 or my Chicago office at (773) 267-5926. You can also email me through my website at Quigley.house.gov/contact.
Sincerely,
Mike Quigley