Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)

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

Collegeville, PA – Today, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Co-Chairs, Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Robin Kelly (IL-02) and Nanette Barragán (CA-44), led a roundtable discussion with local leaders and stakeholders impacted by the Trump Tariffs and Republican threats to cut Medicaid and SNAP. Witnesses warned that the Republican ‘One Big Ugly Bill’ would only exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis for Pennsylvania’s working families.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-04) hosted the committee’s field hearing, and took testimony from community leaders who work directly helping people meet their basic needs to hear how the cost-of-living crisis would worsen with the Republican tax scam to slash Medicaid and food assistance while giving huge new tax breaks to billionaires.

“At a time when families need stability, President Trump has thrown our economy into turmoil with reckless tariffs that continue to decimate retirement and college savings accounts,” said Dean. “Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans are pushing their ‘Big Ugly Bill,’ which will kick more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians off their healthcare and rip away food assistance from 140,000 of our neighbors. We should be fighting to lower costs for working families — not spiking prices and financing another tax break for the wealthy.”

“Republicans are not interested in making life more affordable for American families. Trump’s One, Big, Ugly bill will take away food and rental assistance, and life-saving health care from millions of Americans,” said Barragán. “House Republicans have refused to work with Democrats to deliver solutions that support hardworking Americans. Seniors, children, and veterans will bear the burden of higher costs of food, healthcare, and housing while Trump’s billionaire donors get richer.”

“Grocery checkout lines and the fear of falling ill are still major sources of financial anxiety for families, yet the Republican response is to give the wealthiest Americans a tax break windfall and pay for it by taking affordable health care and food assistance from millions of people. It’s a cruel, deplorable and fiscally irresponsible response, and we heard that message loud and clear today in Pennsylvania,” said Wasserman Schultz. “Far from lowering costs, Trump’s chaotic economic policies are driving recessionary fears, and Republicans’ ‘Big Ugly Bill’ would steal health care from 16 million Americans and deny food assistance to millions more. The net effect makes life even harder for paycheck-to-paycheck workers.”

“President Trump promised to lower the cost of living on Day One. He lied,” said Kelly. “Instead, Americans are paying the cost of his shortsighted trade war at the checkout counter while Republicans in Congress attack food assistance and healthcare. This is a recipe for a cost-of-living disaster, yet Republicans’ solution is to give more tax breaks to the well-off and well-connected. I, alongside my Democratic colleagues, will continue to travel across the country to hear directly from the American people and bring their concerns back to Washington with real solutions.”

The Steering and Policy Committee has gone on the road to hear from the American people, convening a town hall in California and a hearing in Virginia exposing the extreme Republican agenda. The Steering and Policy Committee will continue to travel the nation in the months ahead to reach the American people where they live and hear from them directly.

The full video of today’s hearing can be found here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David Scott (GA-13)

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), alongside Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), announced the introduction of the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act. The bill expands access to music and arts education for students across the nation, particularly in historically underserved and underfunded communities.

The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act will provide Department of Education grants to support the professional development of arts educators. The bill allows program funding that expands inclusive curricula, innovative adaptation of lesson plans, and unique arts lesson accommodations for a wider variety of students. Importantly, the bill prioritizes funding for Title I schools to ensure educators with fewer resources have access to professional development opportunities.

“Decades of research show that students who are involved in arts education perform better academically, have improved emotional well-being, and are better prepared for careers in a 21st-century economy,” said Congressman David Scott. “Regardless of their abilities, students deserve equal access to visual Arts, theatre, dance, and music, all of which are all integral components to a well-balanced curriculum. The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act will provide arts educators with the tools needed to make their lessons accessible to all students. The bill has the capacity to push young minds to think critically and socialize—skills that are crucial for students with disabilities who may be left out of other avenues of expression.”

“Art programs in schools can provide important benefits for intellectual development – especially for young people with disabilities,” said Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. “Unfortunately, many schools lack basic resources and funding to maintain these programs. I’m proud to partner with Reps. Scott, Frost, and Adams on this legislation to help our schools fill the funding gaps, ensure equitable accessibility for students with disabilities, and set up our children for success in the future.”

“The arts provide a platform for creativity and solidarity, and as someone who attended an arts school growing up, I know how important it is for students to have the space and opportunity to express themselves. By making intentional investments in our arts educators and therapists, we ensure that every student, especially those with disabilities, can harness their creativity and thrive,” said Congressman Maxwell Frost. “I’m proud to cosponsor this Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act so we can build a more inclusive, accessible arts education system where every student can experience the power and joy of the arts.”

“As a former art professor of 40 years, I’ve seen firsthand the profound impact arts have when they’re accessible to everyone,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams. “Every student, no matter ability, should have the opportunity to have arts in their life. I’m proud to support the Inclusive Arts Education Act so we can create inclusive, art-filled classrooms in schools across the country.”

“The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) stands in strong support of the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act, reintroduced by Congressman David Scott (GA-13)” said NAfME President Deb Confredo. “This bill speaks to the fundamental right of all children to effective arts education. Grants stemming from this bill would fund professional development for arts educators and creative arts therapists in their mission to provide innovative, inclusive, high quality, and accessible arts education experiences for all and, in particular, those children with disabilities. Research demonstrates that the outcomes of systematic and purposeful arts education are highly positive and far-reaching, often fostering growth in social skills, problem solving, creativity, team building, and cooperation, while physical, mental, and emotional health are often fortified. Funds designated through this bill would substantiate that the arts benefit all children, and especially those with disabilities. NAfME urges the 119th Congress to adopt this legislation as an investment in humanity and a demonstration of the belief in unity made more attainable through the arts.”

“The American Music Therapy Association is very pleased to support the Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act,” stated Judy Simpson, Director of Government Relations. “This important legislation will support innovative and inclusive creative arts therapies provided by credentialled music therapists, art therapists, dance/movement therapists, and drama therapists for children with disabilities.  Expanding opportunities for these unique learning interventions will improve students’ ability to successfully access education and achieve academic goals.”

“The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education Act opens doors for students with disabilities to engage fully in high-quality arts education,” said Erin Harkey, CEO of Americans for the Arts. “This legislation strengthens mental health, boosts academic success, and nurtures the development of well-rounded individuals. We’re proud to support Congressman Scott’s leadership in advancing professional development for arts educators and creative arts therapists—building more inclusive classrooms where all students can succeed.”

Endorsing Organizations: American Music Therapy Association, Americans for the Arts, Arkansas Music Education Association, Arts Alliance Illinois, Arts Ed NJ, Arts Education in Maryland Schools, Arts North Carolina, California Music Education Association, Council of Administrators of Special Education, Cure SMA, DC Music Education Association, Delaware Music Educators Association, Education Theatre Association, El Sistema USA, The Feierabend Association for Music Education, Florida Music Education Association, Georgia Music Educators Association, Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom, Hip-Hop Education Center, Ingenuity Inc., JazzSLAM, J.W. Pepper, Kansas Music Educators Association, Kentucky Music Educators Association, Kindermusik International, The Lang Lang International Music Foundation, League of American Orchestras, Maryland Music Educators Association, Massachusetts Music Educators Association, Mental Health Association of Central Florida, Michigan Music Educators Association, Montana Music Educators Association, Music Teachers National Association, Music Travel Consultants, Music Will, National Arts Education Association, National Association for Media Arts Education, National Association for Music Educators, National Center for Learning Disabilities, National Dance Education Organization, National Down Syndrome Congress, National Guild for Community Arts Education, National Music Council of the United States, Nevada Music Educators Association, New Hampshire Music Educators Association, New Jersey Music Educators Association, New York State School Music Association, North Carolina Music Education Association, Ohio Music Educators Association, OPERA America, Oregon Music Educators Association, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, Percussive Arts Society, Rhode Island Music Educators Association, Save the Music, South Dakota Music Educators Association, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, TASH, Utah Music Educators Association, Vermont Music Educators Association, Vermont Music Educators Association, The Viscardi Center and Henry Viscardi School, Young Audiences Arts for Learning

Full text of the bill can be found HERE.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17)

June 09, 2025 | Press ReleasesWASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) today introduced the Federal Government Reform Act of 2025, a comprehensive bill that codifies five of President Trump’s executive orders addressing waste, restoring accountability, and modernizing the federal government.“This bill locks in President Trump’s America First reforms and strikes at the heart of the bloated federal bureaucracy. For too long, unelected bureaucrats have operated without consequence, pushing regulations that punish the American people while protecting themselves. My bill puts a stop to it,” said Rep. Steube. “We are eliminating useless agencies, restoring accountability in the federal workforce, reducing overcriminalization, and modernizing government operations. To put it simply, this bill delivers the accountability that the deep state fears.”The Federal Government Reform Act of 2025 codifies:

The elimination of the outdated Federal Executive Institute (EO 14207)
The modernization of Treasury payment systems (EO 14247)
Stronger probationary periods for federal employees (EO 14284)
A crackdown on overcriminalization in federal regulations (EO 14294)
Efficiency upgrades at the Office of the Federal Register (EO 14295)

The bill strengthens the federal workforce by enforcing performance standards, improves regulatory transparency, and modernizes how the federal government serves the American people.
Rep. Steube serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and continues to lead on efforts to shrink government and defend taxpayers.Read the full bill text here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

30-Year-Old Pregnant Mother Declared Brain-Dead at 9 Weeks Pregnant Mandated to Remain on Life Support Under Georgia’s Cruel Abortion Ban

“This is cruelty. The latest episode in a long history of the experimentation and exploitation of Black bodies. I grieve for Adriana’s family. For the torture they are experiencing, layered with the daily uncertainty they are navigating as they try to do right by their daughter and lay her to rest peacefully. Her parents are by her bedside. Her 5-year-old asks when will mommy wake up.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor demanding justice for Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old pregnant mother who was declared brain dead in February and forcibly remains on life support due to Georgia’s abortion ban. She underscored that Adriana’s case is far too common in the unjust history of denying Black women their dignity, humanity, and right to bodily autonomy – and that GOP abortion bans such as Georgia’s deepen this pain and bar critical healthcare freedom.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks, as delivered, is available below, and the full video is available here.

Transcript: In Impassioned Speech, Pressley Calls for Justice for Adriana Smith, Condemns GOP’s Cruel Abortion Bans

U.S. House of Representatives

June 5, 2025

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the story of Adriana Smith.

Adriana Smith was a 30-year-old nurse from Georgia. 

The mother of a vibrant 5-year-old boy. 

She started to experience debilitating headaches, and she sought medical care. 

She was discharged, her pain dismissed – as is so often the case in this country and certainly in our healthcare system for Black women. 

The next morning, Adriana woke up gasping for air and was taken to Emory Hospital where she was declared brain dead.

There are no words to provide healing for a pain this deep. 

A dedicated and loving mother, a compassionate nurse, gone at the age of 30. 

In the days that followed, Adriana’s family and son should have been able to make a solemn independent decision about what happened next as they celebrated her life, as they mourned this devastating loss, as they pieced their lives back together and began helping their 5-year-old cope with the grief and loss of his precious mother.

But the state of Georgia denied Adriana her bodily autonomy and dignity in death. In the days and weeks that followed her family found themselves in a desperate battle with Emory Hospital. 

The hospital believed that the anti-abortion bill that Georgia enacted in 2022 following the gutting of Roe v. Wade tied the hospital’s hands, mandating that Adriana’s body – her brain-dead body – remain hooked to machines, not because there was any chance of survival – she had already transitioned. 

But because Adriana was 9 weeks pregnant, about a month past a missed period. 

Adriana’s body has been turned into an incubator. 

An incubator with no medical rationale, no ethical reason, and no compassion.

Mr. Speaker, from the days of enslavement Black women’s bodies have been subject to medical abuse, assault, and degradation in this country. 

We are more likely to die in childbirth. We are routinely denied medical care. We are dehumanized. And like the case of Adriana Smith, our bodies and our dignity are desecrated in death.

This is cruelty. The latest episode in a long history of the experimentation and exploitation of Black bodies.

I grieve for Adriana’s family. For the torture they are experiencing, layered with the daily uncertainty they are navigating as they try to do right by their daughter and lay her to rest peacefully. 

Her parents are by her bedside. Her 5-year-old asks when will mommy wake up.

Adriana should be here today – her blood clots treated, her voice trusted, her pain believed. 

She should be decorating a nursery for her little son with her family and celebrating her son’s last day of kindergarten. 

But Adriana’s body lies hooked to machines, in a hospital bed as part of an unjust medical experiment for more than 3 months. 

No family should have to endure this. None of us are free until all of us are free. 

I yield.  

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (38th District of CA)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) issued the following statement in response to reports that hundreds of immigrants were being detained while attending routine check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles:

“This is yet another cruel and deliberate act by the Trump administration in its ongoing campaign to dehumanize immigrants. Detaining individuals, some U.S. citizens, for appearing at their immigration hearings – doing exactly what the system demands of them – is a betrayal of justice.

“Immigrants are constantly told: ‘Follow the rules, do things the right way and you’ll be given an opportunity.’ But now, families who are following the rules are being ambushed, handcuffed and locked away in the basement of a federal building.

“They’re not being punished for breaking the law, but for trusting it. These inhumane actions by ICE upend our centuries-old due process protections and destroy the integrity of our immigration system.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (38th District of CA)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after ICE detained and injured David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, while he exercised his First Amendment rights:

“Violently detaining and injuring a labor leader for exercising his constitutional rights is an attack not just on him, but on every worker and immigrant.

“This wasn’t about law enforcement. It was political violence meant to intimidate anyone who dares to speak out against ICE’s Gestapo tactics. But we will not be silenced.

“The Trump administration’s brutality only sharpens our resolve to continue resisting every assault on our community and our rights.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06)

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), an Army veteran and member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, reintroduced the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, legislation that allows survivors and families members of victims of gun violence to hold the gun industry accountable for negligence and disregard for public safety. 

Historically, firearms manufacturers, sellers, and interest groups have relied on provisions in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to shield them from civil liability, leaving countless gun violence victims and survivors without a path to recourse through the justice system. This bill would repeal the PLCAA as a critical step towards delivering the justice gun violence victims, survivors, and their loved ones deserve. 

“Victims and survivors should be able to hold the gun industry accountable in court for negligent behavior. But right now, the gun industry is shielded from any liability when they disregard public safety. That’s wrong,” said Congressman Crow. “I’m introducing this bill so we can finally hold the gun industry responsible.”

Congressman Crow was joined by Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), Mike Thompson (D-CA-04), and Dwight Evans (D-PA-03). Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the U.S. Senate companion bill.

The legislation is endorsed by Brady United Against Gun Violence, Giffords, Newtown Action Alliance, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund.

Congressman Crow has been a champion of common sense gun violence prevention legislation, including reintroducing the Closing the Loophole on Interstate Firearm Sales Act. Crow also co-led efforts to ensure proper implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation he helped pass into law in 2022 and the first comprehensive gun safety reform package in nearly 30 years. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06)

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06) will serve as the top Democrat on the newly-formed bipartisan Cartel Task Force, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01) and Ranking Member Jim Himes (CT-04) announced today.

The bipartisan task force will work to identify legislative actions that can combat the threat from dangerous cartels in the Western Hemisphere. These cartel activities include narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, the arms trade, and other illegal and destabilizing activities.

“Our national security is not a partisan issue and protecting America’s homeland must be a top priority. Cartels make us less safe by smuggling dangerous drugs like fentanyl and opioids into our communities and trafficking vulnerable women and children. I look forward to working as a part of the Cartel Task Force to identify bipartisan solutions that help address threats from criminal organizations,” said Congressman Crow.

Other Members of Congress serving on the bipartisan Cartel Task Force include Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL-16), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06).

Any legislative solutions produced by the bipartisan Cartel Task Force will fall within HPSCI legislative jurisdiction. The Task Force will seek to garner consensus from relevant HPSCI Subcommittees on legislative initiatives within the Committee’s jurisdiction.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Levin (CA-49)