MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Larsen (2nd Congressional District Washington)

Larsen, Trahan, Walkinshaw, DeLauro, Gillen Lead Effort to Expand Access to IVF

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Larsen (2nd Congressional District Washington)

Larsen Stands Firm Against Trump’s Unjustified War

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, introduced a bipartisan Resolution that would require the Speaker to initiate or intervene in litigation to support the legal enforcement of H. Con. Res. 86, which requires the President to cease hostilities with Iran and has passed both chambers of Congress.

A PDF of the Resolution can be found here. 

By requiring Speaker Johnson to lead as plaintiff, this Resolution would help address concerns over legal standing in the courts. 

“The power to declare war rests unequivocally with Congress, yet Speaker Johnson and the vast majority of Republicans have allowed President Trump to trample over the Constitution and wage a war that has not been authorized by Congress. Nevertheless, Democrats, together with the few Republicans who upheld their oath, successfully passed my Iran War Powers Resolution that requires the president to end his hostilities in Iran last month. Despite what the administration might say, I believe my War Powers Resolution is binding, and it is time to settle that question in the courts. As the Speaker of the House, Johnson must bring this suit forward. If the Speaker won’t defend congressional prerogatives, we must compel him to do so, which is why I’ve introduced this legislation to force his hand.” 

###

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

Washington, DC — Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at a full committee hearing entitled “United Nations Accountability and Reform: Advancing an America First Foreign Policy Through Strategic Diplomacy and Burden Sharing.”

Members heard testimony from Mike Waltz, Representative of the United States to the United Nations, and Jeff Bartos, Representative of the United States to the United Nations for UN Management and Reform.

“Thank you, Chairman Mast, for calling this hearing. Welcome, Ambassador Waltz and Ambassador Bartos.

“In the eight decades since the United Nations’ formation, the United States has benefitted greatly from the multilateral world order it helped create and led. Of course, the United Nations has never been perfect. It is a complex institution, often slow-moving and imperfect. Congress has often demanded that it pursue reforms so the UN can better deliver on its mandate to promote international peace, security, and human rights.

“That’s because leaders from both parties have understood a fundamental truth: American security and prosperity are strongest when we shape the international system – not when we abandon it.

“The UN is not simply a forum for speeches. It is where sanctions are negotiated, peacekeeping missions are authorized, and pandemic responses are coordinated. It’s where refugees get help, international law is made, and coalitions are built to meet the shared challenges of our time. No nation, not even the United States, can solve these problems alone.

“American leadership at the UN has always been about ensuring those debates and decisions serve the American people. That is why I am deeply concerned by this administration’s ‘burn it down’ approach. Rather than strengthen America’s leadership within the UN system, this administration has surrendered it.

“Since January 2025 the Trump administration has withdrawn the U.S. from 69 UN agencies or entities, including the very UN body responsible for protecting children from sexual violence in war. It has pulled the U.S. out of UNESCO, withdrawn from the Human Rights Council, and abandoned the World Health Organization—even during an active Ebola outbreak, when it refused to let Americans exposed to the virus come home.

“This is not reform. This is retreat.

“And it has failed to pay our UN dues—funds Congress already appropriated—forcing severe budget cuts across UN entities, even ones the administration claims to champion.

“We hear the argument that this is tough love, necessary to drive UN reforms. But you cannot reform an institution by starving it. You can only weaken it, and hand the advantage to those who wish us harm. And the administration’s approach is also confounding our allies and accelerating our decline on the world stage.

“Mr. Waltz, you are leading this American retreat. Under your tenure, China is now paying to keep the lights on at the UN headquarters in New York, using our own austerity to cast itself as the responsible steward of the very system we built. The PRC has even offered to host UN bodies in Beijing and Hong Kong.

“Under your ambassadorship, the U.S. is siding with Russia and other adversaries on key votes, opposing UN resolutions on human rights, women, children, and refugees — not on principle, but over culture war objections to a single word: ‘gender.’

“And, Ambassador Waltz, you have called Trump the ‘peace president,’ yet this administration has gutted UN peacekeeping and replaced experienced negotiators with real estate developers. You have been a defender of President Trump’s war-of-choice in Iran, a war that has cost the lives of 18 U.S. servicemembers and achieved none of our core objectives. This includes one of my constituents, Sgt. Angel Rampersad from Ozone Park, who was killed this past Friday. You’ve done so with indifference to the costs this war has imposed on American families, or its upending of the global economy and our bilateral relationships.

“I cannot imagine a worse time to cede U.S. influence at the U.N than during a war Trump started with Iran—and still cannot end. The threats Iran poses can only be addressed diplomatically, multilaterally, with our allies and partners. Instead, this administration treats our friends like enemies—absurd new tariffs against Canada being the latest example. Countries around the world are asking—if this is how the U.S. acts toward its closest friends, how will it treat us? That doesn’t make them yield to our demands—it drives them to look elsewhere for leadership, and China is happy to provide it.

“The administration casts its foreign policies as putting ‘America First.’ In reality, it is America alone, a foreign policy of chaos and corruption that puts Americans last.

“Let me be frank: Ambassador Waltz, you moved into this job at the UN after a debacle in which you and other senior administration officials texted classified war plans to a journalist. 16 months later, nothing has changed. The incompetence continues—and it is Americans who keep paying the price.

“I welcome the witnesses’ testimony on the matters before us today. Thank you.”

###

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN)

WASHINGTON – Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Peace & Security Taskforce Chair Rep. Ilhan Omar and 10 other CPC members—Representatives Greg Casar, Maxine Dexter, Jesús “Chuy” García, Jonathan L. Jackson, Jim McGovern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, Delia C. Ramirez, Rashida Tlaib, and Nydia M. Velázquez—issued the following statement in response to the Trump State Department’s release of the 100-page report, Cuba: Capital of 21st-Century Communism:

“Trump appears hellbent on taking America back 70 years to the height of Cold War McCarthyism, when hawkish foreign policy was paired with unsubstantiated accusations of communist subversion and political repression against dissidents at home.

“Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over Cuba and has deployed U.S. military ships to seize fuel vessels attempting to arrive on the island. And yet, in an Orwellian move, this administration now claims it is Cuba carrying out the ‘assault’ against the United States, by turning ‘Americans into instruments of their own nation’s undoing.’

“We condemn this report’s attack on Americans’ constitutional rights to free speech and assembly. We denounce this administration’s irresponsible attacks against civil society organizations, activists, journalists, labor leaders, Members of Congress, elected officials, and private individuals based on their advocacy for peaceful foreign policy and social justice at home. 

“And we stand firmly against this report and other efforts by the Trump Administration to weaponize the federal government against dissent, which is a patriotic tradition. We commit to using our full oversight power as Members of Congress and elected officials to stop the persecution of Trump’s perceived political enemies. 

“Trump and Secretary Rubio are intensifying decades of economic war against the very people they say they want to help—all while attacking Americans who oppose the policy. The U.S. blockade deliberately deprives the entire island’s population of adequate food, fuel, and medicine. It is past time for Trump to obey the Constitution and end the dangerous, cruel and illegal naval blockade causing collective punishment against Cuba.” 

###

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II (5th District Missouri)

The Transportation for Reentry Act would provide one year of free public transit to help formerly incarcerated Americans reconnect with work, education, and essential services.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Bryan Steil (Wisconsin-1)

Washington, DC – Today, Congressmen Bryan Steil (WI-01), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), and Tony Wied (WI-08), applauded the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’(CMS) proposed rule 91 FR 46562, ensuring Wisconsin receives fairness in the Medicaid reimbursement formula and delivering historic Medicaid funding to WI.

Wisconsin’s Republican delegation has been working directly with CMS and the Trump Administration to ensure that Wisconsin providers receive the same treatment in the Medicaid reimbursement system as providers in other states. Recent changes resulted in an additional $1 billion in federal healthcare funding for Wisconsin. This funding will help ensure high-quality care for patients in Wisconsin.

“For years, Wisconsin providers have been reimbursed at a lower rate than other states. Under the Working Families Tax Cuts, Wisconsin will now be treated fairly, protecting Medicaid for the people it was designed for – children, pregnant women, and disabled Americans,” said the Representatives. “Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation worked closely with the State Legislature and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to guarantee fair treatment, implement meaningful reforms, and deliver affordable, high-quality healthcare for families and seniors.”

 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (9th District of Illinois)

Full Text of Letter (PDF)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and opened a new investigation into whether Big Tech companies are lobbying to avoid new AI rules using the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). In a new letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, the lawmakers raised concerns that Big Tech trade associations may be trying to use the USMCA to prevent the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) standards and holding them accountable for hurting consumers.

“U.S. trade policy should focus on creating jobs, strengthening supply chains, and lowering costs for American families — not advancing the interests of Big Tech CEOs by letting their companies run amok,” wrote the lawmakers. 

Big Tech companies have long lobbied against regulations that protect consumers, promote competition, and safeguard data security and privacy. In recent years, the industry has spent $100 million lobbying against AI regulation, including in support of a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulation. They are now attempting to use trade deals to preempt even the federal government from effectively regulating AI.  

The USMCA already prohibits signatories — including the United States — from requiring companies to share source code outside of open investigations, making it harder to proactively regulate these companies. 

“This language is far broader than what is necessary to protect companies from intellectual property theft or infringement,” said the lawmakers. 

Now, according to an analysis by Public Citizen, Big Tech trade associations — representing companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook — are lobbying to keep harmful rules and further prevent the governments of the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from regulating the digital ecosystem, including AI. If Big Tech is successful, they could even circumvent state laws that limit exports of sensitive personal data or guarantee protections to allow AI models to be trained on copyrighted materials.  

“(T)his digital trade strategy would limit — or even potentially bar — federal and state governments’ ability to enact or enforce domestic policies to counter Big Tech’s influence and protect consumers from harm,” noted the lawmakers. 

The lawmakers warned that restrictions on regulating these companies are especially concerning as AI plays a larger role in Americans’ lives. In particular, they point to employers’ use of AI to replace workers and AI chatbots engaging in inappropriate conversations with minors and possibly leading youth in crisis to self-harm. 

“It is crucial that governments have the tools they need to effectively protect their citizens against these harms,” said the lawmakers.

The members urged Mr. Greer to ensure that any revised version of the USMCA eliminates “source code secrecy provisions that allow Big Tech companies to escape regulatory scrutiny.” 

“Congress and state legislatures must work to ensure the safe, responsible deployment of AI, and special AI source code secrecy protections make it virtually impossible for regulatory bodies at home and abroad to secure AI accountability from Big Tech,” concluded the lawmakers. 

The lawmakers asked Mr. Greer to explain whether and to what extent the Trump administration is allowing Big Tech companies to influence USMCA negotiations by August 5, 2026.

###

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (12th District of Michigan)

Dingell Introduces the Childhood Disability Benefit Fairness Act

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Co 2)

Washington, D.C. — Today, Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse, Ranking Member of the Federal Lands Subcommittee, and New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján introduced the Local Input Act. This bicameral bill seeks to protect the right of local communities to provide input into proposed oil and gas lease sales on national public lands, and would restore the Department of the Interior’s discretion to incorporate public comments and defer nominated parcels that conflict with the public interest.

The bill’s introduction comes at a critical moment for the country, particularly for communities in the American West. Changes enacted by Congress in 2025 effectively stripped local communities, landowners, and state and local officials of a meaningful voice in leasing decisions on public lands by eliminating the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) authority to defer lease parcels even if legitimate conflicts are identified, including when proposed leases threaten water supplies, wildlife habitat, hunting and fishing, recreation, tourism, and cultural resources. The Department of the Interior is also currently proposing changes to the BLM’s oil and gas leasing rule that would further reduce public input in this process to a mere 10-day protest period.

“In Colorado, we’ve seen the value of giving local communities a seat at the table. From farmers and ranchers to conservationists, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, and Tribal communities, the people who live, work, and recreate on these lands should have a meaningful say in how they’re managed. That’s why I’m proud to introduce the Local Input Act. Together with Senator Luján, we’re working to put public lands back in public hands,” said Congressman Neguse.

“In New Mexico and across the country, our public lands belong to the people, and everyone deserves a meaningful voice in how they are managed,” said Senator Luján. “That’s why I’m introducing the Local Input Act, commonsense legislation that ensures local communities are not sidelined when decisions affecting their water, lands, livelihoods, and way of life are made. I’m proud to partner with Representative Neguse on this bill and will continue fighting to ensure every voice is heard when it comes to managing our public lands.”

The Local Input Act is a common-sense, targeted fix that restores balance, accountability, and community input to the management of America’s public lands. It reestablishes the Bureau of Land Management’s authority to meaningfully consider public feedback and defer oil and gas lease parcels when legitimate conflicts are identified, reversing unintended consequences created by Congress. By ensuring that local communities, landowners, hunters, anglers, ranchers, Tribal Nations, and other stakeholders once again have a meaningful voice in public lands decisions, the bill helps protect water supplies, wildlife habitat, tourism and recreation, private property rights, ranching and grazing operations, and other economic, ecological, and cultural values that are vital to Western communities. 

The bill is endorsed by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Colorado Fiscal Institute, Conservation Colorado, Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, Montana Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nevada Conservation League, Nevada Wildlife Federation, New Mexico Voices for Children, New Mexico Wild, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Nuestra Tierra, Public Land Solutions, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Save The Aurora Reservoir, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited, Western, Colorado Alliance, The Wilderness Society, Wilderness Workshop, Wild Montana.  

Statements of support can be found HERE. 

View the full bill text HERE.

###