Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 23, 2026

Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov

Rep. Barragán Reintroduces Resolution to Highlight Serious Risks Posed by Air Pollution and Extreme Heat to Latina Maternal and Infant Health

Washington D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44), as part of Maternal Health Awareness Day, reintroduced a resolution drawing attention to the serious risks that air pollution and extreme heat pose to Latina maternal and infant health. 

The resolution underscores mounting evidence that exposure to poor air quality and rising temperatures is closely linked to negative pregnancy and birth outcomes, particularly in Latino communities. These communities are more likely to live and work in environments with elevated pollution and extreme heat, increasing the risk of complications such as preterm birth and stillbirth.

“Extreme heat and dirty air are more than environmental challenges—they are public health and equity issues that place Latina mothers at greater risk,” said Rep. Barragán. “This resolution urges Congress to take meaningful action by expanding clean air investments, ensuring bilingual air quality warnings, strengthening maternal health care, and more. No mother should have to sacrifice her health or her child’s safety simply to get through the day.”

“During my high-risk pregnancy, which was eventually diagnosed as preeclampsia, I was never warned about the dangers of high temperatures. It wasn’t until I joined EcoMadres that I learned about the severe – and even fatal – impacts of extreme heat and air pollution on maternal health, and how Latino communities in the US are disproportionately impacted. As we call on Congress to recognize these risks and take meaningful action, I feel hopeful that we can protect families and prevent other moms and babies from experiencing these harms,” said Luz Drada, Spokesperson, EcoMadres and Moms Clean Air Force.

The resolution calls on Congress to pursue a range of solutions, including increased funding for air quality monitoring, expansion of green spaces, access to bilingual air quality alerts, and enhanced training for public health professionals.

The full text of the resolution can be found HERE.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2026

Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov

Reps. Barragán and Brown Introduce Bill to Open Door for Faith-Based Organizations and Institutions of Higher Education to Build Affordable Housing

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44) and Shontel Brown (OH-11) announced the Yes in God’s Backyard Act, legislation designed to address the nation’s housing crisis by empowering faith-based institutions and institutions of higher-education to build affordable housing on underused land they already own.

The bill will unlock new housing opportunities in communities facing severe housing shortages and rising homelessness. Across the country, housing costs continue to climb while the number of available homes falls far short of demand. At the same time, faith-based institutions and institutions of higher education — often among the largest landholders in their communities — are frequently blocked from building affordable housing because of outdated zoning rules, lengthy permitting processes, and limited access to technical expertise.

The growing Yes in God’s Backyard (YIGBY) movement offers a solution rooted in local leadership. By empowering trusted community institutions to use their land for affordable housing, YIGBY helps meet urgent needs while strengthening neighborhoods.

“Across the country, communities are facing unprecedented housing shortages and growing homelessness,” said Congresswoman Barragán. “Faith-based organizations and institutions of higher learning want to step up and help address the housing crisis, but too often they’re held back by outdated rules and unnecessary red tape. We need every possible tool to expand affordable housing—that’s why this bill puts trusted community partners at the center of the solution and gives local governments the tools they need to remove unnecessary barriers and build homes people can afford.”

“We need to use every tool we have and work with every partner we have to lower housing costs. Because the last thing any working family should have to worry about is finding a safe and affordable place for their children to lay their heads at night. The YIGBY Act helps religious institutions address the housing crisis and cut through the red tape so that we can remove the barriers, lower the cost of housing, and expand the options Americans have. I’m proud to partner with Congresswoman Barragan on this legislation to lower housing costs and help religious institutions serve their communities,” said Congresswoman Shontel Brown. 

“The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is grateful for Rep. Barragán’s leadership in introducing the Yes in God’s Backyard Act”, said Nicole Williams, Executive Director, LISC Los Angeles. “We’ve seen firsthand the increasing challenges families are facing with rising housing costs in our communities. At the same time, many faith-based organizations have expressed a desire to mitigate the housing crisis by developing affordable housing on their land. The Yes in God’s Backyard Act would provide flexible resources to support the development and preservation of affordable housing, ultimately increasing housing options in the communities we serve.”

States and cities are already showing what can happen when these barriers are removed. In California, SB 4allows qualifying faith institutions and higher education institutions to build 100 percent affordable housing by right. As a result, at least 80 congregations in Los Angeles alone are now exploring housing development on their property. Similar efforts are underway or being considered in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, and New Jersey, signaling growing national momentum behind this approach.

The Yes in God’s Backyard Act would extend this progress nationwide by:

– Offering technical assistance to faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education seeking to use existing land to expand or preserve affordable rental housing;

– Providing technical support to local governments to share best practices and streamline the development of affordable housing on faith and university property; and

– Establishing challenge grants to reward communities that adopt policies removing barriers to affordable housing on these sites.

The legislation is supported by a broad coalition of national organizations, including NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), United Church of Christ, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) Los Angeles, LeadingAge, Enterprise Community Partners, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Housing Conference, and True Ground Housing Partners.

Original cosponsors of the bill are Reps. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Danny Davis (IL-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03).

The full text of the bill can be found HERE. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Reprepsentative Kathy Castor (FL14)

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor Statement on SCOTUS Overturning Trump’s Costly Tariffs

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on WVON’s The Morning Show with Rufus Williams, where he reflected on the life and legacy of the late great Rev. Jesse Jackson and articulated how House Democrats will continue to keep hope alive and end the national nightmare that Donald Trump has visited on the American people.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: This gentleman, he is, again, the House Democratic Leader, and it’s none other than Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, good morning and welcome back to WVON. Good to talk to you, good brother.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning, Rufus. Great to be on with you.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: And I should also mention, you know, obviously he’s achieving, therefore, he is a good man of Kappa Alpha Psi. Leader Jeffries, let’s talk about this, because we had a great loss in our world earlier this week. Share your reflections on Reverend Jackson.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Reverend Jackson was a profound, legendary, transformational American hero. You know, one of those individuals who, because of his presence and his leadership, his commitment to making life better for the American people, he bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice, inspired millions of people, myself included, with his presidential runs, with his advocacy, his eloquence, you know, and his commitment to building this rainbow coalition, this gorgeous mosaic of people here in America to make this country the best version of herself.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: I’d love to say that we have so appreciated the fight that you’ve been putting up in Washington and I thank you for saying that you were inspired by the Reverend because he did that for so many people and even as we think about his impact there, can you talk about how he’s generally perceived there in Washington and certainly the perception would be greater now that we have him no more.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we certainly recognize this is the case with every single Member of the Congressional Black Caucus, but beyond, that we stand on his shoulders, and those are legendary shoulders. And he was in the fight for economic justice, for social justice and for racial justice. And that baton has been passed to another generation of folks, Members of Congress included, but certainly not limited to, because Reverend Jackson was in the political realm, he was in the civil rights realm, he was in the faith realm. He was just a multi-dimensional leader and that generation, of course, has been transitioning to heaven, but we can continue to be inspired by him, by his life, his leadership, his legacy and what he stood for. His remarks will always be with us, to continue to inspire us. Certainly, the iconic speeches that he gave, including at the Democratic National Convention in both 1984 and 1988 and we’re thankful for the opportunity of having spent some time with him every single time, including in his most recent years, when he was on the Hill with his son, Congressman Jackson, a good friend of mine. He would always be generous with his time, with his advice and with his perspective and I always valued it.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: This is always valued. Thank you so much for that. That leads right into the next thing because one of the things that was really pushed hard for during the Civil Rights era was voting rights and the opportunity to vote. Can you talk about, from your perspective, the importance of this midterm election and the importance for people to vote up and down the ticket no matter where we are?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, Donald Trump’s presidency has been a disaster for our communities and for the American people. He’s failed on the economy, failed on healthcare, ripping it away from millions of people, failed on making sure that immigration enforcement is actually fair and just and humane as opposed to what we’ve seen, Donald Trump unleashing these masked and untrained ICE agents with violent brutality on American communities and on law-abiding immigrant families. So it’s been a failure. And what our system allows for in the midterm elections is for the country to rise up and say, enough. We need to go in a different direction. And in order for that to happen, to have a Congress that actually is a check-and-balance on an out-of-control executive branch, the Trump administration, then it’s important for people to show up to vote and to make sure that the gavels change hands so that Democrats can be in power and actually fight to make your life better, fight to lower the high cost of living, fight to fix our broken healthcare system, fight to get ICE under control and to rein them in and fight to improve the quality of life for everyone in our community and for every single American.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: Leader Jeffries, I know you’re extraordinarily busy, so I don’t know if you heard it this morning, but I saw a clip where he said he had won affordability. Is that even conceivable, given how things are?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I mean, he’s so unhinged and out of touch with reality. This is someone, Donald Trump, who promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. But costs haven’t gone down. We’re more than a year into his presidency, and we know that costs have gone up. Housing costs are out of control. Healthcare costs are under control. It’s one of the things, of course, that Robin Kelly has been leading on, working to fix our broken healthcare system. We know child care costs are out of control. Utility costs through the roof. And, of course, the healthcare costs have been made worse by this guy who refuses to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and enacted a trillion-dollar cut to Medicaid, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. And so, of course, the affordability crisis has not been solved. And the fact that he’s trying to convince the American people of it just shows how deranged he has become at this point in time.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: I hope somebody tells the emperor that he’s naked, because he is not only naked, he is inside out. You mentioned Robin, Congresswoman Kelly, and I’m glad you did, because this whole thing that he is doing around immigration, the lawlessness of DHS, the assault on our cities, and again, Congresswoman Kelly brought forth these impeachment charges against Kristi Noem. Can you comment on where we are with all of that, and it leads us to where we stand today with, which is the partial shutdown. there in D.C. Where do things stand?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, we’re certainly thankful for Congresswoman Kelly’s leadership as it relates to holding Kristi Noem accountable. We know that Kristi Noem is deeply unqualified, she’s flawed, she’s unhinged, she’s out of control, she’s a pathological liar and she’s got to go. And we’ve made clear that either she gets fired or those impeachment proceedings will commence forthwith to make sure that we deal with her in the House of Representatives, and we’ll only need a handful of Republicans to join us to make sure that we can end the national nightmare that has become Kristi Noem. At the same period of time, in terms of the current DHS shutdown, our view is that we don’t simply need a change in personnel, but we need a dramatic change in policy that is bold, that’s meaningful, that’s transformational. Things like a judicial warrant requirement so ICE agents can’t simply break into your home without a judicial warrant, rip you out of your house and then detain you, as we know they’ve been doing. We need to make sure we have an explicit prohibition on the excessive use of force, an explicit prohibition on racial profiling, ethnic profiling and language profiling. We believe that sensitive locations, like houses of worship, schools, hospitals and polling sites should be completely and totally off limits. We also believe that there should be independent investigations, because Pam Bondi cannot be trusted to actually hold ICE agents who break the law violently accountable, which is why we need to empower state attorneys general, state and local authorities, to criminally investigate and prosecute anyone, any DHS agent who brutalizes American citizens, breaks the law, violently targets law-abiding immigrant families and then believes they’ll get away with it because the Department of Justice is not going to do anything about it, which is why independent investigations are one of our core demands.

RUFUS WILLIAMS: That is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Thank you so much for your voice, for your fight, and thanks so much for being on with us this morning on WVON. We so appreciate you and look forward to having you back.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Always great to be on with a good Kappa brother. Appreciate what you do.

Full interview can be listened to here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL)

WASHINGTON, DC—The Congressional Jewish Caucus (CJC) issued the following statement, signed by its 21 members, condemning recent anti-Muslim X posts by Congressman Randy Fine (FL-06): 

“We stand with Democratic Leader Jeffries in condemning the abhorrent, racist, and anti-Muslim remarks by Congressman Fine. As political violence and attacks on religious minorities hit record levels, Members of Congress must lead by example, not fuel more hatred through dehumanization. As Jewish Americans who all come from families that immigrated to this country and faced ethnic and religiously based discrimination, seeing any Member, and particularly a fellow Jewish Member of Congress, spew such hatred is wholly unacceptable and against our Jewish values.”

The Congressional Jewish Caucus is co-chaired by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) and Brad Schneider (IL-10). Members include Jake Auchincloss (MA-4), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Greg Landsman (OH-1), Mike Levin (CA-49), Seth Magaziner (RI-2), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Jamie Raskin (MD-8), Reps. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Kim Schrier (WA-8), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Eugene Vindman (VA-07) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL)

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL – Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, released the following statement responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling that Trump’s emergency tariffs are illegal: 

“It’s finally Liberation Day. 

“The Supreme Court has reined in Trump’s illegal tariff taxes and delivered a resounding victory for American families and small businesses that have been burdened by higher costs caused by Trump’s punitive, harmful, and arbitrary tariffs. 

“The question before the Court was simple and clear: does the President have the authority to impose tariffs? The Court’s answer was equally straightforward: ‘IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.’ Our Constitution gives sole authority to impose tariffs to Congress, not the President. 

“Despite my Republican colleagues’ abject failure to stand up to President Trump and assert Congress’s constitutional authority over tariffs, I am grateful the Supreme Court stepped in to affirm what we have long known to be true – the power to levy tariffs lies within Congress.

“When used strategically, tariffs can be an important tool in defending U.S. economic interests. Instead, President Trump’s capricious, whipsaw approach has driven up grocery, energy, housing, insurance, and many other costs, and at the same time alienated our allies and strengthened our adversaries. 

“The cost of Trump’s tariff chaos is real, for American families, small business owners, and retirement accounts. It’s finally coming to an end.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Riley Moore (WV-02)

Washington, D.C. – Following the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision to strike down tariffs imposed by President Donald J. Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Congressman Riley M. Moore released the following statement:

“On Liberation Day last year, President Trump declared that the era of economic surrender was over. Today, the Supreme Court’s ruling attempts to force the President to raise the white flag once again.

The Court’s decision to strike down President Trump’s tariff policy is egregiously wrong, both as a matter of law and as a matter of justice for American workers.

As Justice Kavanaugh explained in his dissent, President Trump’s tariffs are clearly lawful as a matter of ‘text, history, and precedent.’ He specifically cited President Nixon’s 1971 decision to impose 10% tariffs ‘across the board on virtually all imports from every country in the world’ – a policy that federal courts approved.

In his own opinion, Justice Thomas emphasized that Congress may delegate many powers to the President and has done so repeatedly throughout American history, as with IEEPA.

The good news is that President Trump still possesses many statutory means to impose tariffs that protect American workers, who – as West Virginians know better than anyone – have been under assault in a trade war for the past 40 years.

Congress should also take action to give President Trump additional tools to defend our nation against historically unfair trade practices. My bill, the U.S. Reciprocal Trade Act, would explicitly authorize President Trump to negotiate with foreign nations and impose reciprocal tariffs on those nations, when necessary. It would also clearly grant the President the power to address quotas, export subsidies, and other non-tariff barriers that harm American firms. 

I invite other members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, to stand with me in this effort to support President Trump and put America and the American Worker first.”

 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Gregory W Meeks (5th District of New York)

Washington, D.C. – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against President Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to implement tariffs:

“The Supreme Court’s decision confirms what we argued in the bipartisan amicus brief I co-led on behalf of Members of Congress: IEEPA was never meant to be used to impose tariffs. The Court has now made clear that Trump’s actions exceeded the law.  

“While I’m glad that SCOTUS has struck down Trump’s harmful tariff regime, it should not have taken a Supreme Court Ruling to stop it. For more than a year, Republicans repeatedly blocked Democrats’ efforts to overturn these clearly illegal taxes that have burdened American families.

“I will continue to review the SCOTUS ruling to assess future legislative steps. As last week’s vote on the Canada tariffs showed, most Republicans have overwhelmingly chosen to stand by Trump’s tariffs at their constituents’ expense, keeping up costs on American consumers and harming our economy in the process. Democrats will continue fighting to lower the cost of living and deliver the economic relief that Americans need.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

WATSONVILLE, CA — Yesterday, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) visited the construction site for the Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center in Watsonville to deliver a check for $900,000 as one of her 13 community projects she submitted for the Fiscal Year 2026 congressional appropriations cycle. This funding will help to provide furniture, fixtures, and IT equipment for the new substance use disorder treatment facility operated by Encompass Community Services.

“One of my top priorities as a Member of Congress is ensuring that constituents in California’s 18^th congressional district have access to comprehensive care, no matter the language they speak,” Rep. Lofgren said. “I was very encouraged to hear that this facility was being built to offer bilingual services to hundreds and hundreds of our community members. It’s my pleasure to deliver this $900,000 check to ensure that this facility has the capacity to serve more clients and change more lives.”

“We are deeply grateful to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren for her leadership and steadfast advocacy on behalf of Santa Cruz County,” said Kim Morrison, Interim CEO of Encompass Community Services. “This funding will allow us to expand life-saving behavioral health treatment at our new Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center in Watsonville, ensuring more individuals and families can access the care they need, close to home. Congresswoman Lofgren’s continued support has a direct and lasting impact on the health and future of our community.”

The Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center will provide personalized, bilingual treatment to nearly 1,000 community members annually, directly contributing to a safer, more prosperous community. Equipping the facility with the latest medical technology will not only enhance the quality of care but also increase operational efficiency. Funding will also be used to outfit a kitchen, treatment and wellness facilities, and bedrooms and communal living spaces to serve 30 people at a time.

Rep. Lofgren will continue to deliver checks to community project funding recipients in the near future, which includes a total of $58,022,000 for Watsonville and Santa Cruz County.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-3)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to last year’s deadly midair collision of Flight 5342 from ICT to DCA, U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (KS-03) helped introduce the ALERT Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at modernizing aviation safety systems, strengthening air traffic controller training, and reducing the risk of future tragedies.

“There isn’t a single person in Kansas who wasn’t touched in some way by this horrific tragedy,” said Davids. “When lives are lost in a preventable accident, Congress has a responsibility to act. The ALERT Act follows expert recommendations to strengthen training, modernize safety systems, and reduce the risk of midair collisions — protecting pilots, passengers, military personnel, and communities on the ground.”

On January 29, 2025, Flight 5342 departed Wichita (ICT) bound for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). As the flight approached its destination, it collided midair with a military training helicopter, tragically killing the two pilots, two flight attendants, and 60 passengers on the airplane, along with all three crew members aboard the helicopter.

The ALERT Act, split between civilian air travel and military aircraft safety, is informed by recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and addresses concerns about airspace congestion, communication failures, outdated collision-avoidance systems, and coordination between civilian and military aircraft. 

Specifically, the ALERT Act would:

• Upgrade Aircraft Collision Warning Systems
  • Direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate and implement improvements to advanced collision-avoidance technology on commercial aircraft.
  • Establish a timeline for deploying updated systems that provide earlier and clearer warnings to pilots.
• Strengthen Air Traffic Controller Training
  • Create expert working groups to modernize controller training standards.
  • Improve risk assessment tools to help controllers identify hazards in real time.
  • Increase transparency if safety recommendations are not adopted.
• Improve Airspace Communication
  • Study technology that detects “blocked transmissions,” which occur when radio messages overlap and critical information is lost.
  • Provide Congress with cost and implementation recommendations.
• Review Airspace Congestion and Airport Capacity
  • Require the FAA to assess safe arrival and departure rates at congested airports.
  • Review aircraft spacing requirements in complex airspace environments.
• Enhance Military Aviation Safety
  • Require closer coordination between the Department of Defense and the FAA on collision-avoidance systems.
  • Strengthen helicopter safety management systems, particularly in shared civilian-military airspace.
• And more

Read Davids’ statement commemorating the recent one-year anniversary here.

Following the tragic collision, Davids and her Kansas colleagues expressed their steadfast solidarity with the families and communities affected by the tragedy. Davids has taken several additional steps to improve aviation safety and honor the lives lost:

• Met with the victims’ families in Wichita and pledged to be a voice for transparency and reform in the investigation.
• Pressed FAA and NTSB experts in a U.S. Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing on air traffic controller shortages and safety protocols.
• Toured the Olathe Air Traffic Control Center to highlight critical staffing needs and renew her call for increased investments in aviation safety infrastructure.
• Responded to initial NTSB recommendations with a commitment to act on any legislative fixes needed to keep passengers and crew safe.
• Pledged to act on recommendations from an initial NTSB investigative hearing on the tragic midair collision.

Aviation is central to Kansas’ economy and identity. As the Air Capital of the World, Kansas is home to leading aircraft manufacturers, suppliers, and a highly skilled aerospace workforce. Davids serves on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and has long championed bipartisan efforts to support innovation and strengthen aviation safety standards, including by helping pass into law a bipartisan FAA reauthorization.