Rep. Hank Johnson's 2013 Thanksgiving E-Newsletter

Dear Friends,

I want to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and to those celebrating – Happy Hanukkah. I’m back in town this week meeting with constituents, and I’m looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the DeKalb County School District’s Parent Educational Awareness & Empowerment Conference at Georgia Piedmont Technical College this past Saturday. It was the culmination of a month’s worth of involvement and engagement events aimed at energizing students, parents and educators on how we must continue to improve student and school achievement. For more, click HERE.

On Thursday, Nov. 21, I was pleased to join Commissioner Stan Watson in honoring seven of our community leaders – mostly from south DeKalb – during the Trail Blazer Awards at the Porter Sanford Center. It was good to hear the honorees speak from the dais and share their stories of success. … and struggles – overcoming obstacles only makes us stronger, and their leadership serves as the ultimate example to all of us.

The honorees were: Jennifer Parker, editor/publisher of CrossRoadsNews; Carolyn Jernigan Glenn, co-publisher of The Champion; Valerie Morgan, editor/publisher of On Common Ground News; Olympic gold medalist Gwen Torrence; legendary high school football coach William “Buck” Godfrey of Southwest DeKalb; CEO of Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home Inc. Gregory B. Levett Sr. and south DeKalb activist and longtime educator Gil Turman. For more, click HERE.

MOBILE APPS COMPETITION: I’m excited to announce the new Congressional app competition for high school students in participating districts. As part of the first ever House Academic Competition to promote innovation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the mobile apps competition will be first and will be formally launched in February 2014. Please stay tuned for more information beginning in early 2014.

KENNEDY ANNIVERSARY: Friday, Nov. 22 was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Across the country, people recounted their memories of that tragic day in American history. To read my thoughts on that fateful day, click HERE.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: Seniors and people with disabilities with Medicare prescription drug plan coverage saved $8.9 billion to date on their prescription drugs thanks to the Affordable Care Act, according to new data released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In Georgia, nearly 100,000 seniors and people with disabilities saved more than $82 million or an average of $875 per beneficiary, during the first 10 months of 2013. Overall, seniors in Georgia have saved more than $250 million since passage of the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, these seniors will be free to use more of their Social Security benefit cost of living adjustment on what they choose because the Medicare Part B premium will not increase in 2014, thanks to the health care law’s successful efforts to keep cost growth low. For more, click HERE.

CHANGING THE FILIBUSTER: I was pleased to offer my support to Sen. Harry Reid after the Senate’s vote to eliminate the use of the filibuster and allow up-or-down votes on presidential nominees except for those to the Supreme Court. For more, click HERE.

As always, I appreciate your time and feedback. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Congress. Please have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!