Joe Sempolinski

Congressman Joe Sempolinski discussed concerns about student loan forgiveness in his first media call as the 23rd District‘s new representative.

Sempolinski, who was sworn in September 13, was named to the Education and Labor Committee, and Budget Committee. He said one of the topics that came up in the Education and Labor Committee was the student loan forgiveness program recently announced by President Joe Biden.

Sempolinski said his concerns with the program is that it’s not fair, “So it’s not fair to people who have paid off their loans on time. It’s not fair to people who are working in jobs where they didn’t get a loan. And also, the president doesn’t have the authority to do it in the first place. This wasn’t passed via law. This wasn’t something that we voted on in the House of Representatives, United States Senate. It was done by executive action and I don’t believe, constitutionally, the president has the authority to do it.”

Sempolinski added that all constituent offices in the district are fully operational again. The Congressman will be in Jamestown on Friday, September 23 for the Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Congressional Breakfast. The event will take place at Moonbrook Country Club.

According to an article in Friday’s Jamestown Post-Journal, Carlson is a Jamestown native who’s served on the board of directors at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Robert H. Jackson Center, CODE Inc., Jamestown Kiwanis Wives Club and the Eastside YMCA.

She also spent 22 years with the First Presbyterian Church and was recognized as the United Way’s Volunteer of the Year in 2002 for her work with children at the Eastside YMCA.

The John D. Hamilton Award is presented by the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and given annually to an individual who has shown support and dedication in the community.