MIL USHOR-2b Engine

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

SCHAUMBURG – Yesterday, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) joined WGN Chicago and Fox32 Chicago to discuss the passage of a House Republican budget plan that calls for drastic spending cuts to offset tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) have called for total spending cuts up to $1.5 trillion, the majority of which would come from essential programs including Medicaid and SNAP that millions of Illinoisans depend on for access to health care and food.

“The House Republicans’ budget plan is a direct assault on Illinois families. Slashing Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaires would strip health care from over 850,000 Illinois residents, including two out of every five infants and two-thirds of nursing home residents who rely on this vital program. This reckless plan endangers lives and threatens the stability of our health care providers — harming the health and well-being of every single Illinoisan. Furthermore, this horrendous plan protects Trump’s irresponsible blanket tariffs that are already driving up costs and pushing our country toward recession. I will continue to fight this draconian GOP plan and do anything I can to protect Illinoisans from Donald Trump’s havoc.” 

What They’re Watching:

WGN Chicago:

“It would end up as a tax cut of almost 7 trillion dollars financed by trillions of dollars of cuts to our social safety net, including to Medicaid, including to SNAP, once known as food stamps, and it’s going to hurt millions of families.”

Fox32 Chicago:

“We estimate that it will basically slash $880 billion from Medicaid, $230 billion from food stamps, now known as SNAP, and then a host of other cuts that are unspecified that total $1.5 trillion in cuts.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the House Freedom Caucus released the following statement after their support of the Senate amendment to the House budget (H. Con. Res. 14). 

“Today, the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) unanimously supported the Senate amendment to the House budget (H. Con. Res. 14), which passed 216-214, to begin the budget reconciliation process that will enact President Trump’s America First agenda. Thanks to the efforts of HFC Members and fellow fiscal conservatives, we are now on a path to pass a reconciliation bill that that is fiscally responsible. This is a major shift from just 48 hours ago when we were faced with a Senate commitment of as little as $4 billion in spending cuts over 10 years — as opposed to the $1.5 trillion spending reduction floor in the House-passed resolution.  After hearing concerns from our Members, the White House committed to historic spending reductions including, targeting the “Green New Scam” IRA tax credits as well as waste, fraud, and abuse in the expanding Medicaid program. In addition, the Speaker committed to ensuring the final bill will provide enough spending reduction so that tax cuts will be fully offset. As important, the Senate leadership has committed to follow the House’s lead on spending cuts. Today’s vote will allow us to proceed with that framework – and given these new commitments, anything that falls short will face serious problems in the House. Thank you to President Trump, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Thune for your leadership in making this commitment to ensuring a fiscally responsible reconciliation bill. This is a win for the American people and sets the stage to deliver massive tax relief, unleash domestic energy production, fully fund border security and our military, while also securing unprecedented spending reduction.”  

 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01)

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Andy Harris, M.D., Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration released the following statement on the Senate’s amendment to the budget resolution.

Statement From Chairman Harris:

“If the Senate can deliver real deficit reduction in line with or greater than the House goals, I can support the Senate budget resolution. However, by the Senate setting committee instructions so low at $4 billion compared to the House’s $1.5-2 trillion, I am unconvinced that will happen. The Senate is free to put pen to paper to draft its reconciliation bill, but I can’t support House passage of the Senate changes to our budget resolution until I see the actual spending and deficit reduction plans to enact President Trump’s America First agenda.”

For media inquiries, please contact Anna Adamian at Anna.A@mail.house.gov

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO-02)

Washington, D.C. – Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Subcommittee Chair Ann Wagner (MO-02) hosted a roundtable of industry leaders to hear how private sector companies are working with the Intelligence Community (IC) to support the U.S. national security mission through the use of OSINT. The industry panel included representatives from WireScreen, Recorded Future, the Grist Mill Exchange, and Reality Defender. The goal of the event was for these private sector companies to showcase for the subcommittee members the capabilities they offer to the IC.

This OSINT subcommittee roundtable served as another touchpoint in a series of events the newly established subcommittee is holding in its fact-finding mission to examine how the IC can more effectively and efficiently use Commercially Available Information (CAI) to create open-source intelligence products. 

“OSINT is changing the way intelligence is being gathered and analyzed, unlocking new opportunities for the IC,” said Chair Wagner. “As a maturing discipline within the IC, we must be cognizant of how data is being purchased across the various agencies and ensure we are standardizing contract structures to meet necessary mission requirements. I appreciate the panel sharing their honest and valuable perspectives to help inform our subcommittee’s work. Open-source Intelligence is vitally important to the intelligence gathering process, and we must understand what is and is not working when doing business with the IC.”

During the roundtable, WireScreen, a global intelligence platform with a focus on China and global supply chains, showcased how its platform enables the IC to proactively counter CCP influence efforts in a variety of ways.

Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company explained how its platform provides complete coverage across adversaries, infrastructure, and targets. By combining its Intelligence GraphⓇ-powered AI with the world’s largest collection of specialized threat data, Recorded Future enables cyber teams to see the complete picture, and proactively act with confidence.

Grist Mill Exchange, a commercial data marketplace that connects government agencies with thousands of commercial data sets from hundreds of data providers, underscored the opportunity for the IC to harness the rapid innovation happening in the private sector. By leveraging proven commercial data solutions, the IC can quickly advance its OSINT missions while strengthening its capacity to derive new insights for decision advantage. This approach positions the IC to stay ahead of future technological advancements by building on the momentum already underway in the private sector.

Reality Defender, a deepfake detection startup that has developed a multi-model and multimodal AI detection platform, shared with the members how they support private companies and governments in detecting AI-generated content at scale.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Olivia Porcaro 202-225-6165

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom Cole released the following statement after voting in favor of the budget resolution:

“Last November, the American people overwhelmingly voted for a secure border, American energy dominance, investment in the defense of America, a more efficient federal government, and an extension of the Trump Tax Cuts. Through the passage of this budget resolution, we will now be able to begin the drafting stage in order to deliver on these promises,” said Congressman Cole. “The American people are counting on us – and, today, we got one step closer to getting the job done!”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Olivia Porcaro 202-225-6165

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after voting in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require an individual to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections, as well as remove non-citizens from its voter registration rolls:

“As a result of the previous Administration’s radical open-border policies and lax voter registration laws, more illegal immigrants than ever have the opportunity to vote in federal elections across our nation. It is crucial to the future of America that we do not let this happen – and the SAVE Act does just that,” said Congressman Cole. “This legislation will not only secure our elections but will also stop illegal immigrants from influencing the outcome of our elections. I am proud to have voted in favor of the SAVE Act today, and I hope to see it become law.”

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

Letter from Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Hoyle, Salinas, Bynum, Dexter cites disastrous decisions in Social Security field offices in Warrenton, La Grande and The Dalles

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

Representatives offered an amendment to sweeping GOP budget blueprint to protect Medicaid from being used to finance tax cuts for the ultrawealthy

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

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led his Democratic colleagues in the Oregon delegation—Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)—in calling for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to immediately restore Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grants. These federal grants are critical to ensuring that Oregon’s communities—especially in frontier, rural, and coastal regions of the state—can withstand the increasing threat of natural disasters. But, on April 4th, FEMA decided to cancel all current and future awards under the BRIC program.

“Terminating the BRIC program, including the terminations of projects that are already underway, is not only wasteful and makes us less safe, but will make our communities bear a higher cost for repairs and recovery when disaster inevitably strikes. The Department should immediately restore this program,” the Oregon lawmakers demanded.

The Oregon delegation made it clear to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA Acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton the Trump Administration’s shortsighted cancellation comes with a disastrous economic impact, as every $1 spent on preparedness and resilience saves communities $13 in damages, cleanup costs, and economic impacts. The lawmakers also noted the BRIC program itself was signed into law in 2018 by President Trump as part of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act. At the time, this legislation had wide bipartisan support to enhance the resiliency of communities against natural disasters, including floods, tornadoes, and other severe weather events that are increasing in both frequency and severity.

“The abrupt termination of this program is not only counterproductive to the goals of disaster risk reduction, but also undermines the commitment made by Congress to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate chaos,” the lawmakers continued.

Since the first round of BRIC funding went out the door in 2020, over $5 billion in grants have funded hundreds of important projects that have been instrumental in reducing disaster damage and protecting vulnerable communities across states, localities, and Tribes. BRIC is so popular that the need for these funds continually surpasses currently authorized levels. In fact, FEMA has rejected nearly 2,000 applicants seeking an additional $13 billion in grants.

In Oregon, these funds are having an immense impact, particularly in rural communities. Disrupting projects designed to reduce hazard risk now—especially many of the projects already in progress—could do lasting damage.

For example, Mapleton in Lane County, with a population of about 530 people, was preparing to buy a water storage tank using a BRIC grant to protect against flooding and improve drinking water supply for their city and the surrounding area. And in Clatsop County, Columbia Memorial Hospital had already begun work under a $20 million award for upgrades to existing facilities and a hospital expansion to construct the North Coasts’ only vertical evacuation shelter. This would ensure that patients can continue to get care and over 1,900 people can seek refuge in the event of a disaster.

The lawmakers asserted that the abrupt cancellation of BRIC funding seems to be part of a broader and troubling trend of decisions made by the Trump Administration to undermine FEMA’s effectiveness and shift disaster preparedness responsibilities solely to state and local governments, without the proper federal support needed to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response.

“This action risks leaving already underserved communities without the necessary tools to mitigate the long-term impacts of climate change, particularly as the Trump administration appears to prioritize state-level efforts without sufficient federal backup,” the lawmakers said. “To cancel funding for projects mid-way will cause catastrophic setbacks for these communities, and place lives and property art unnecessary risk from increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters.”

The lawmakers are pushing the federal government to honor its commitments to our communities. Together, they are urging FEMA to restore the BRIC program and funding for projects that are already in progress or have been fully approved.

“Given the broad support BRIC has garnered from Congress and local stakeholders, and the growing risks posed by our changing climate and natural disasters, it is essential for FEMA to continue to support these efforts,” the lawmakers closed. 

Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

 

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Summer Lee (D-PA-12), led colleagues in writing a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor calling for the Department of Education (ED) to immediately rescind their guidance on inclusive classrooms. 

 

“In February, OCR’s DCL threatened to rescind federal funding from any school, district, or state that seeks to create inclusive classrooms. Although ED published the March FAQ ostensibly to clarify this guidance, the FAQ document spreads misinformation by falsely suggesting, without evidence, that social and emotional learning (SEL) and culturally responsive teaching are discriminatory,” the lawmakers wrote. 

 

SEL and culturally responsive teaching are both evidence-based educational practices that create supportive environments, help students build social and emotional skills, and promote student engagement and academic achievement in the classroom.

 

“Although we have numerous significant concerns with the substance and content of OCR’s recent guidance, we write specifically to express our opposition to the guidance provided in Question 8 of the FAQ, which falsely claims that “schools have sought to veil discriminatory policies with terms like ‘social-emotional learning’ or ‘culturally responsive’ teaching,” and suggests such curricula are discriminatory under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This erroneous guidance contradicts scientific evidence, prior OCR guidance, and long-standing state and local laws and practices,” the lawmakers continued. 

 

The Department of Education’s guidance seeks to override state and district leadership over curriculum despite Congress and numerous federal laws specifically prohibiting federal involvement in curriculum decisions.

 

“Because of the strong, established evidence that supports schools’ use of SEL and culturally responsive teaching, we strongly urge OCR to immediately rescind the February 14th Dear Colleague Letter and March 1st FAQ, both of which undermine OCR’s long-standing guidance and threaten critical funding that supports students nationwide,” the lawmakers concluded

 

The letter is endorsed by the following organizations: CASEL, National Association for College Admission Counseling, National Science Teaching Association, Educators for Excellence, International Literacy Association, National Parents Union, National Association of School Psychologists, American Federation of School Administrators, and Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the United States.

 

The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Terri Sewell (D-AL-07), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-07), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-03), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), and  Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03). 

 

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

 

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