Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Andy Biggs (AZ-05)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the family of former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl announced his passing at the age of 84. Congressman Andy Biggs (AZ-05) issued the following statement:

“For almost three decades, Jon Kyl served the people of Arizona in the U.S. House and Senate with distinction, integrity, and an unwavering dedication to our state. He was an exemplary public servant who understood Arizona, fought tirelessly for our interests, and approached his responsibilities with humility and conviction. I was honored to serve alongside Senator Kyl in Congress during his return to the U.S. Senate in 2018. I greatly valued his wisdom and his deep understanding of the critical issues facing our state.

“Senator Kyl leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of service to Arizona and our nation. His example demonstrated that public service can be carried out with principle, dignity, and a genuine devotion to the people one represents. My prayers are with his beloved wife, Caryll, their children, grandchildren, and the entire Kyl family as they mourn his passing. May Senator Kyl always be remembered as a servant leader who loved Arizona and dedicated so much of his life to making our state and country stronger.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Suzanne Bonamici (1st District Oregon)

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led their Oregon Congressional Delegation colleagues—including Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)—to introduce the Grand Ronde Land Transfer Act. The bicameral bill would transfer 18,626 acres of federal land from the U.S. Forest Service into trust for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The Tribe will maintain all public and recreational access to the area.

“With the Grand Ronde Land Transfer Act, we will enable the Grand Ronde to enhance their self-determination and ability to sustainably steward ancestral lands, while boosting economic opportunity across the region,” said Merkley. “This is long-overdue, and I’ll keep pushing to ensure the federal government upholds its commitment to Tribal communities across Oregon.”

“For too long, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has faced historic injustices that stripped them of their ancestral lands,” said Salinas. “This legislation is a meaningful step towards righting those wrongs. By transferring these 18,626 acres to the Tribe’s stewardship, we honor their deep connection to this land and their leadership in strengthening forest health, wildfire resilience, and community safety for all Oregonians.”

“This bill takes a big step toward helping the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde to support services and provide opportunities that will enhance quality of life in the surrounding community,” said Wyden. “I’m proud to support this legislation and will keep battling for all Tribes in Oregon to have the federal government working with them every step of the way as they exercise their sovereignty.”

“Oregonians know that responsible conservation and resource stewardship improve ecosystem health, reduce wildfire risks, and preserve healthy forests for future generations,” said Bonamici. “This land transfer will enhance long-term forest health, expand public access to outdoor recreation, and enhance reconciliation among the tribal, state, and federal governments. I’m grateful for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde’s commitment to sustainable land management and will continue to advocate for tribal rights and justice.”

“This bill rights a historic wrong for the Grand Ronde who have worked tirelessly to return a just fraction of its ancestral territory,” said Hoyle. “The Grand Ronde Tribe are experts in sustainable forestry management and Indigenous ecology. They are the best stewards of these federal forest lands, and will continue to do so for all Oregonians, as they have done since time immemorial.”

“For generations, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have cared for the lands within their ancestral territory,” said Dexter. “This legislation recognizes the Tribe’s deep connection to these lands and its generations of experience protecting Oregon’s forests and natural resources. Placing these lands in the Tribe’s care will honor that connection and help keep Oregon’s forests healthy for future generations. I will continue working to deliver on our commitments to Oregon’s tribal communities.”

“The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has shown that it is a responsible steward of Oregon’s natural resources, and I’m proud to support this effort,” said Bynum. “This bill transfers over 18,000 acres of forest land in Tillamook and Yamhill Counties to the Tribe, strengthening tribal sovereignty and ensuring the land is managed for conservation, recreation, and sustainable harvest for generations to come. I’ll keep working to honor our commitments to Oregon’s tribal communities.”

The Grand Ronde Land Transfer Act is supported by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Tillamook County, Yamhill County, Oregon Department of Forestry, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, The Nature Conservancy, Sustainable Northwest, The Stewardship Project, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts. 

“We are grateful to Senator Merkley for introducing this bill and standing with Grand Ronde,” said Grand Ronde Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy. “The transfer of these lands helps us rebuild the reservation, community and economy we lost as a result of termination. We will care for these forests with the knowledge our people have carried for generations, the same way we care for the nearly 16,000 acres we manage today. Under our care, this land will stay healthy for generations to come.”

Full text of the Grand Ronde Land Transfer Act can be found by clicking here.

A map detailing the land transfer can be found by clicking here.

 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12),Congressman Raul Ruiz (CA-25), and Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE) introduced the Community Health Worker Access Act, legislation that would improve Medicare coverage for community health worker services and encourage states to cover these services under their Medicaid programs.

“One of my core beliefs as a legislator is that healthcare should be affordable and accessible,” said Congresswoman Adams. “Community health workers help provide preventative care, basic health screenings, and frontline medical support in our neighborhoods. This bill will strengthen the community health workforce and close long-standing gaps in access to care for underserved communities, especially in rural areas.”

“Community health workers are often the first and most trusted connection our communities have to the health care system,” said Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25). “In the Coachella Valley, Imperial Valley, San Jacinto Valley, and the Pass area, they close gaps that clinics and hospitals alone cannot. This bill recognizes that work and invests in it, so families get the coordinated, culturally responsive care they deserve.”

“Accessing the right care can feel impossible in our increasingly complex healthcare system, but community health workers help bridge the gap. From connecting people with the right providers to serving as trusted advisors, these community-based navigators drastically improve the quality of life for their neighbors,” said Senator Blunt Rochester. “I’m proud to introduce the Community Health Worker Access Act to add coverage for community health workers under Medicare and formally acknowledge the vital role they play in keeping our communities healthy and safe.”

Community health workers serve as a bridge between patients and the formal health care system, especially for high-risk, high-need, and underserved populations. Their work includes basic health screenings, chronic disease symptom management, health education, and helping patients navigate complex health systems.

These programs could save Medicaid an average of $4,200 per beneficiary every year. Every dollar invested in community health worker services is worth over double that amount in savings.

The bill creates two new categories of reimbursable services under Medicare:

• Preventative services to avoid illness, reduce physical or mental disability, and restore body function.
• Educational services and referrals to health care and community-based resources to address health-related social needs, including assistance navigating insurance enrollment, easing transportation barriers, and connecting patients to support services.

 

The bill also allows state Medicaid programs to cover the same services with an increased Federal Medical Assistance Percentage to help offset state costs.

You can read the full bill here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03)

Yesterday, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) voted to advance the bipartisan 2026 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), reauthorizing federal investments in water infrastructure projects across the country and in Massachusetts. The legislation authorized $180 million in federal funding for communities in the Third District, including $90 million split equally among Fitchburg, Lawrence, and Methuen, plus $90 million for Lowell and Haverhill.
Compared to 2024 funding levels, this legislation would increase Lowell’s authorization from $30 million to $40 million and Haverhill’s from $30 million to $50 million. The additional funding could help address Haverhill’s combined sewer system challenges in the wake of this summer’s main sewer failure.
“For too long, Washington has passed the buck on costly water upgrades to communities like ours that can’t afford them. The result is decades of delay while sewage spills into our rivers every heavy storm. Families deserve better,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “This authorization puts real support within reach for our gateway cities. I look forward to partnering with our local, state, and federal leaders to turn this authorization into real dollars for our communities.”
Reauthorized by Congress every two years, the Water Resources Development Act provides an opportunity to ensure federal investments in local water infrastructure and development projects reflect the needs of communities. Lowell alone has invested over $150 million in CSO projects that have reduced the annual volume of overflows from the Lowell system and drastically reduced street flooding.
Many older cities, including communities across Massachusetts, were built with combined sewer systems. During heavy rain or snowmelt, these systems can become overwhelmed, causing untreated wastewater and stormwater to flow directly into rivers and other waterways. These combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are a major source of water pollution in cities with aging water infrastructure.
Following July’s main sewer line failure in Haverhill, Trahan partnered with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to introduce the Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act to authorize emergency assistance and grants during clean water and drinking water infrastructure crises. The legislation would create a new emergency grant program under the Clean Water Act, funded at $50 million annually, to help communities respond immediately to failures in their wastewater systems, including combined sewer overflows and other critical system failures that threaten public health. 
Since arriving in Congress in 2019, Trahan has successfully fought to increase WRDA funding for MA-03 and address combined sewer overflow (CSO) problems in the district. In 2022, Trahan secured over $100 million in WRDA investments for the district. This year’s WRDA increases on previous authorization to reflect the current needs of cities and towns in MA-03.
The 2026 WRDA now moves to the Senate. Once law, the community authorizations will be eligible for funding through the appropriations process.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), and Sam Liccardo (CA-16) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval regarding a regulation, entitled “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media,” which changes how international students and journalists maintain their immigration status.

For more than 40 years, F-1 visa students, J-1 visa exchange visitors, and I visa international journalists have been permitted to remain in the U.S. for as long as they engage in the activity that qualifies them for the visa, a practice known as “duration of status.” However, on July 17, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule that eliminates duration of status and requires recipients of F-1 student visas and J-1 exchange visas to enter the U.S. for a fixed admission period capped at a maximum of four years; similarly, recipients of I visas would be admitted for the length of their project in the U.S. or a maximum of 240 days. The rule also includes significant limitations on transfers and changes of educational objectives for student visa recipients. Educational institutions, labor unions, and medical associations have raised serious concerns about this rule’s impacts on the nation’s ability to attract the best and brightest students to U.S. universities and to retain doctors in American communities that desperately need them.  The rule is scheduled to go into effect on September 15.

“International students make our institutions of higher learning better for all students and create pipelines to ensure the best and brightest lend their talents to strengthen our economy and American innovation. We should be welcoming students, not wrapping the processes to obtain visas in layers of red tape. This has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with Trump and Stephen Miller’s plan to prevent all forms of legal immigration. I first came to this country on a student visa and understand deeply just how important these visas are,” said Jayapal.

“America has always benefited from attracting brilliant students, researchers, doctors and journalists from around the world. The Trump Administration wants to obstruct that path with bureaucratic hurdles and quicksand designed to make legal immigration harder. This senseless rule will drive away talented people who come here to study, practice medicine, do research and contribute to our communities. It harms the American economy and American innovation and makes all of us worse off,” said Raskin.

“Our international students, researchers, and journalists in our community and across our country make important contributions to our schools, our communities, and our economy,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “Placing fixed time limits on their studies ignores how long some study programs actually take and adds red tape to an immigration system that is already overwhelmed.  Visiting students should have a stable, welcoming environment to further their education and contribute to our communities—not obstacles that undermine their ability to do so.  That is why I am glad to introduce legislation with Congressman Raskin, Congresswoman Jayapal, and Congressman Liccardo to repeal this rule and to help ensure the success of our universities and communities.”

“America wins when we can continue to attract the best and brightest students from around the world to drive American competitiveness, particularly in STEM fields. Eliminating the Duration of Status framework will push talented students and researchers toward our competitors, undermining our ability to win the global battle for talent, essential to our innovation economy,” said Rep. Sam Liccardo (CA-16).

“This proposed rule is just another part of the Donald Trump-Stephen Miller mass deportation agenda. They want to make the immigration process so difficult, so cumbersome, and so onerous that legal immigrants decide to leave the U.S. or never come here at all—which will result in the loss of talented, bright individuals who make America better,” Durbin said. “Our nation is already confronting a serious health workforce shortage. Now is not the time to make it even more difficult for health care professionals to care for our most vulnerable communities. I appreciate my Democratic colleagues in joining me on this important measure and encourage members on both sides of the aisle to support it.”

“International students deserve fair opportunities to receive an education in the United States. Students, exchange visitors, and foreign members of the media should never have to live in fear of the Administration’s unprecedented attacks on legal immigration,” said Padilla. “Diversity is our country’s strength, and international students and exchange visitors support American innovation, job growth, higher education, and global competitiveness. We have a responsibility to protect these visa holders, including international students who contribute to the culture of American universities and eventually to our nation’s economy.”

“Rhode Island’s institutions of higher education help power the Ocean State’s economic competitiveness.  International students and medical residents drive innovation, contribute to cutting-edge research, and spend big not only on tuition, but also at local restaurants and businesses.  This Trump administration rule punishes international students, young doctors, and foreign journalists as well as local small businesses and universities as part of their extreme anti-immigration agenda,” said Whitehouse.

Bill text is available here.

This regulation will have adverse impacts on foreign students, international medical school graduates (residents), and foreign members of the media. The federal government last implemented a fixed period of admission for these visa categories in the 1970s, and the changes resulted in significant backlogs. This new regulation will likely yield the same result, as the most recent available data shows the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing backlog at 12 million cases. Universities have predicted significant hardships for PhD students, who can often take as long as seven years to complete their programs. In addition, universities have expressed concerns that the strict regulation will prevent graduate students from changing their educational objective and prevent undergraduate students, including athletes, from transferring to another university in their first year of education or changing their majors. Medical associations have similarly raised concerns about the impacts of the rule on medical residents.

This rule is the most recent in a series of attempts by the Trump Administration to stop legal immigration to the United States.  Last year, Senator Durbin led a group of 35 Senate Democrats in pressing the Trump Administration to reconsider the decision to revoke student visas without adequate notice.  In April, Durbin led Judiciary Democrats in requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct an independent investigation after the Trump Administration summarily halted most immigrant benefits processing for immigration applicants from 39 countries, stopped visa processing for immigrant visa applicants from 75 countries, and ended most refugee and asylum processing. In a separate letter to GAO, Durbin and his colleagues also requested GAO investigate the Trump Administration’s attempts to “re-review” immigration benefits granted to all individuals from 39 countries who were approved under the Biden Administration—including those who have since become U.S. citizens.

The CRA resolution of disapproval is endorsed by: AAMC – Association of American Medical Colleges; AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management; Alliance for International Exchange; American Academy of Family Physicians; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers; American College of Radiology; American Council on Education; American Gastroenterological Association; American Immigration Lawyers Association; American Osteopathic Association; American Psychiatric Association; American Society of Nephrology; American Society of Neuroradiology; Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment; Association of American Universities; Association of Independent California Colleges & Universities; Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities; Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU); Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges; Cornell University; Council of Graduate Schools; Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities; Global Detroit; Illinois State University; Illinois Tech; International Educators of Illinois; Miles for Migraine; NAFSA: Association of International Educators; National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities (NAICU); Northern Illinois University, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration; Shorelight, LLC; Third Way; UC Berkeley; UCLA; University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources; University of California System; University of California-San Diego; University of California, Davis; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Francisco; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of Illinois System; and U.S. For Success Coalition.

Durbin has introduced bipartisan legislation to make long-needed reforms to our legal immigration system, including the Keep STEM Talent Act, the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, and the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act.

Issues: Immigration

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), the Senior House Democrat on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks yesterday during the Ways and Means Committee’s markup of crypto tax legislation, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, explaining his vote against the measure:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I truly appreciate you and your staff for working across the aisle on the bill before us today.

I am also thankful for Mr. Horsford’s hard work and leadership through this process.

This legislation is a substantial improvement from the measure we considered in our committee earlier this year.

Some of the more egregious giveaways to the digital asset industry have been sanded down or removed altogether.

And I am particularly happy to see the inclusion of improved language that would limit the ability of taxpayers from using Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories as venues for tax evasion.

However, despite these improvements, I cannot support this legislation at this time.

Simply put, this bill does not exist in a vacuum.

Most Americans, for good reason, associate digital assets and cryptocurrencies with fraud, instability, illicit finance, and most all, with corruption.

Everyday, we are confronted with story after story of malfeasance of all types, either enabled or worsened by the increasing ubiquity of digital assets in the global economy.

The promises that crypto boosters have made over the years that greater digital asset adoption would somehow lead to lower costs, higher financial inclusion, more transparency, and so on have all been unmet.

Instead of this utopian vision, the reality of crypto is that most Americans experience is much darker.

Unfortunately, the fact is that the digital asset marketplace is dominated by bad actors, and none more so than the current occupant of the White House and his family.

Through their various cryptocurrency ventures like World Liberty Financial and the Trump-branded meme coin, the Trump family has amassed billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains coming in part from foreign governments, criminals, and wealthy donors – all through crypto.

And hundreds of millions of these dollars are flowing through the President’s political apparatus and flooding the airwaves to attack his political opponents.  

The crypto industry has been weaponized to corrupt our presidency.

In exchange, this Administration has worked hard to water down or eliminate regulations aimed at protecting consumers while also halting prosecutions of numerous crypto fraudsters.

And most of all, the President has been focused on ensuring that he can continue to personally rake in massive cryptocurrency profits without any accountability.

Just look at what happened yesterday in the Senate, where CLARITY Act, a digital asset market structure bill, failed due to the President’s desire to avoid any restrictions on his ability to benefit from his own crypto holdings.

Even the most basic ethics requirements limiting the President and other senior government officials from profiting from the policies they oversee were onerous to him.

The close relationship between the President and cryptocurrency, and his relentless profit-seeking while in office, is doing the industry no favors in the long-term.

This staggering level of corruption is unprecedented in our history and leaves our nation extremely vulnerable, to say nothing of the more mundane criminal activity enabled by crypto which inflicts a heavy cost on the American people every single day.

I do not believe that we should proceed with legislation that would further embed this industry into our economic life and republic until we can get a handle on these more pressing and immediate challenges.

And with that, thank you again, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

Representatives Don Beyer, and Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brad Sherman, and John Garamendi, today issued the following statement raising serious concerns with the Trump administration’s nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia and announced the introduction of a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to block this agreement’s entry into force.

“This U.S.-Saudi nuclear agreement dangerously departs from decades of nonproliferation standards and presents considerable risks. For decades, across administrations of both parties, the United States has committed to a clear nonproliferation policy that no new countries should be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. In order to prevent nuclear weapons development, two provisions are critical: the Gold Standard commitment to no enrichment and no reprocessing, and the Additional Protocol that allows International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections to confirm enrichment and reprocessing are not occurring. The proposed nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia fails to secure these critical safety measures. Several countries – including Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, the UAE – successfully pursued civilian nuclear cooperation under this framework. There’s no credible reason Saudi Arabia should get a weaker deal.

“A region already gripped by conflict and escalation does not need another nuclear power. Saudi Arabia’s own statements make that risk explicit: In a 2023 interview, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said plainly that, ‘if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, we must obtain one as well.’ The Kingdom has also obtained multiple nuclear-capable Dongfeng-3 ballistic missiles from China and is actively developing its own long-range ballistic missile program that could provide the means to deliver nuclear weapons. Handing Saudi Arabia enrichment capacity under these conditions – even with the stipulations included in the agreement the administration has shared with Congress – isn’t just reckless nonproliferation policy, it’s an invitation to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

“That is why we are introducing a Joint Resolution of Disapproval to block this deeply flawed agreement and stop the Trump administration from further dangerous global nuclear proliferation.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Don Bacon (2nd District of Nebraska)

Bacon, Walkinshaw, Landsman, Fitzpatrick Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Rescue Ukrainian Children Abducted by Russia

The Justice for Ukrainian Children Act would fund efforts to locate and return abducted children, mandate sanctions on those responsible, and counter Kremlin propaganda

Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Representatives Don Bacon (NE-02), James R. Walkinshaw (VA-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), and Brian Fitzpatrick(PA-01) introduced the bipartisan Justice for Ukrainian Children Act, legislation to strengthen efforts to locate and return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, hold those responsible accountable, and reunite families.

According to the Ukrainian government, Russia has abducted at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since the start of its full-scale invasion. Just over 2,100 have come home. Those still held have been separated from their families, subjected to political indoctrination and militarization, and stripped of their Ukrainian identity. 

“Russia has taken thousands of Ukrainian children from their families and tried to strip them of their identity and homeland,” said Congressman Bacon. “We cannot sit by while parents, grandparents and siblings wait for their children to come home. The Justice for Ukrainian Children Act will strengthen efforts to find these children, return them to their families and hold those responsible accountable. I’m pleased to join Reps. Walkinshaw, Landsman and Fitzpatrick on this bipartisan legislation.”

“Russia is running a deliberate campaign to erase these children’s identity and steal Ukraine’s future,” said Congressman Walkinshaw. “As a father, I cannot imagine the anguish of having your child taken and indoctrinated by a foreign government. The United States cannot look away. This bipartisan bill will help find these children, bring them home, and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

“Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children is among the most unconscionable crimes of this war,” said Congressman Fitzpatrick. “Thousands of children have been taken from their parents, separated from their communities, and forced to endure horrors no child should ever have to face. Our responsibility is clear: find them, bring them home, and hold accountable those responsible. This legislation ensures that responsibility remains central to our strategy—and that the fate of Ukraine’s children is inseparable from the pursuit of accountability and a just and durable peace.”

“Tens of thousands of children from Ukraine are being brainwashed and hidden in Russia’s adoption system. We have to do everything to bring these children home and reunite them with their families, where they belong,” said Congressman Landsman. 

The Justice for Ukrainian Children Act would:

• Authorize $15 million a year of existing national security funding, through 2032, toward finding these children, getting them home, and helping them recover.
• Maintain a secure database to preserve evidence of Russia’s crimes, and share it with Europol, Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice, and the groups working to bring children home.
• Require the President to freeze assets and revoke visas for anyone who takes part in abducting, deporting, indoctrinating, or militarizing Ukrainian children.
• Authorize $10 million for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America broadcasts into Ukraine and the region, and toward technology that defeats Russian jamming.
• Make it United States policy to veto any Russian-led U.N. Security Council resolution that would shield Russia from accountability.
• Require the State Department to report to Congress every year for five years on what it is doing to bring these children home, including in any talks to end the war.

Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children has been widely documented and condemned by the international community. In March of this year, a United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that Russian authorities committed crimes against humanity in deporting and forcibly transferring Ukrainian children and in making them disappear. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova over their alleged responsibility for those crimes.

U.S. Representatives Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), André Carson (IN-07), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Jim Costa (CA-21), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Val T. Hoyle (O-04), Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07), Bill Keating (MA-09), George Latimer (NY-16), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Sarah McBride (DE), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Norma J. Torres (CA-35), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), and Joe Wilson (SC-02) are original cosponsors of this legislation. 

This bill is endorsed by Human Rights Watch, Razom for Ukraine, FDD Action, and the American Coalition for Ukraine. 

The full text of the legislation is available here. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the full Maryland Congressional Delegation – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-MD) and U.S. Representatives Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Andy Harris (MD-02), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), and Johnny Olszewski (MD-02) – released the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to revoke an Executive Order declaring the Chesapeake Bay a national treasure and establishing a coordinated federal strategy for the protection and restoration of the Bay and its watershed, including by supporting state-led efforts on water quality goals, pollution limits, agricultural preservation, stormwater management, and climate resiliency:

“The Chesapeake Bay and its health are vital to lives and livelihoods across our state and the greater region. Now more than ever, we need continued federal partnership and support for Chesapeake Bay restoration, not efforts to roll back all the progress we’ve made. The 2009 Executive Order that the Trump administration just revoked provided vital federal resources that support state-led efforts to improve the health and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding area. Removing the coordinated federal backing that advances the watershed protection and restoration goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement risks undermining the future health of the Bay along with the businesses and communities that depend on it. This decision is shortsighted and harmful to our communities. Make no mistake: the Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure. And we will continue to fight for it.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)

WASHINGTON — Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today demanded answers from Attorney General Todd Blanche after FBI Director Kash Patel repeatedly refused to rule out deploying FBI agents to polling places during the November midterm elections, the latest Trump Administration official to leave open the possibility of armed federal agents being sent to polling places on Election Day.

During testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, Patel repeatedly declined to give senators an unequivocal commitment that FBI agents would not be stationed at or dispatched to polling places on Election Day. When Senator Richard Blumenthal pressed Patel to commit that zero agents would be present at polling locations, Patel instead declined to rule out deployments in response to reports of “problems” or “interference.”

In the letter, Krishnamoorthi writes:

“This ambiguity is difficult to reconcile with federal law. Since 1948, 18 U.S.C. § 592 has made it a felony for any officer ‘in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States’ to order, bring, or keep ‘armed men’ at any place where a general election is held, absent the need to repel armed enemies of the United States. The penalty includes up to five years’ imprisonment and disqualification from federal office. The Department’s own manual on the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses has long construed that provision to reach armed federal agents, not merely military personnel.”

Krishnamoorthi noted that Patel’s testimony follows months of similar statements from senior Trump Administration officials. At his confirmation hearing, Blanche declined to categorically rule out armed federal agents at polling locations, while DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said armed federal law enforcement could be sent to polls in response to a “specific threat.”
The letter also points to President Trump’s July address claiming that hostile foreign nations could “rig” or “steal” American elections, despite the intelligence community’s conclusion that there were no indications any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the 2020 voting process.

Krishnamoorthi writes:

“The purpose of that address was not to inform the public. It was to manufacture a national security predicate for federal intervention in the vote-casting process. This Administration is not responding to a threat to our elections. It is building the justification for one.”

Krishnamoorthi requested that Blanche respond by September 24, 2026, to the following questions:

1. Does the Department of Justice have a written policy, consistent with past practice, prohibiting FBI agents from being stationed at or dispatched to polling places on Election Day absent a specific, credible report of a federal crime in progress? If so, please provide a copy.
2. Has that policy changed, been suspended, or been reinterpreted at any point during your tenure or Director Patel’s tenure? If so, when, by whom, and why?
3. Did Director Patel or any other Department or FBI official communicate to John James, or any other candidate, party official, or campaign, that FBI personnel would have a “presence” in specific geographic areas of Michigan — or any other state — in the lead-up to the November election? If so, please describe the nature, purpose, and legal basis for that presence.
4. Will you commit, on behalf of the Department, that no FBI personnel will be stationed at or visibly deployed to polling places during voting hours on Election Day, absent a specific warrant or credible report of an ongoing federal crime?

Krishnamoorthi concludes:

“The American people deserve an unequivocal answer to a simple question: will armed federal agents be present at their polling places in November? Director Patel had every opportunity today to provide that assurance and did not. I trust that you, as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, will not permit that ambiguity to stand unaddressed.”

Congressman Krishnamoorthi’s letter is available here.