MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) released the following statement:

“It is no secret that the United States is facing a crisis of antisemitism, particularly on college campuses. While it is vital that officials at all levels confront this issue with urgency, the Trump Administration’s recent actions to target students who have protested Israel in a manner that has not violated any law or involved violence has crossed a serious line. Images of these students being arrested by unidentified, masked agents are disturbing. 

Since Hamas’s brutal massacre of 1,200 innocent Israelis, Americans, and others on October 7th, 2023, we’ve seen a shocking wave of antisemitism on campus – including violence, destruction of property, taking over buildings, and support for designated terrorist organizations. We’ve also seen students expressing support for ideas that I personally find reprehensible – but are not in any way illegal. 

The First Amendment protects all nonviolent speech, including speech that supports ideologies we believe to be abhorrent. By failing to distinguish between those who break the law by engaging in violence from those who express support for ideas we may find reprehensible, President Trump is using the very real threat of antisemitism to undermine the central American tenant of freedom of speech – which the Supreme Court has ruled on multiple occasions applies to citizens and noncitizens alike. By conducting these actions without regard for the right to due process, the President is undermining the most core American rights and values.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

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

Pressley Recently Visited Student Political Prisoners Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud at ICE Detention Centers in Louisiana

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s abrupt reinstatement of international student visas. Earlier this week, Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. James P. McGovern (MA-02) traveled to Louisiana to meet with her constituent Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil, two students who have been unlawfully detained by ICE and transported to Louisiana from their homes in retaliation for their protected speech.

“The Trump Administration’s termination of thousands of student visas was not only cruel and unjust—it was unlawful. These terminations should never have taken place and this reversal, while long overdue, also makes plain that it was never about protecting national security, but rather about silencing dissent, restricting due process, and sowing fear on our campuses and in immigrant communities,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “While we wait to learn more about the impact of this action and how many visas will be restored, one thing is clear: any student unlawfully detained, including my Somerville constituent Rümeysa Öztürk, must be immediately released. We cannot allow these attacks on our democracy to continue, and we must keep working to protect our Constitution, our students, and our immigrant neighbors.”

Earlier today, Rep. Pressley, Sen. Markey, and Rep. McGovern published an op-ed in the New York Times in which they discussed their meeting with Rümeysa Öztürk in detention and warned the American people of the dangers posed by the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and due process.

Rep. Pressley, along with Sens. Warren and Markey, have pushed for answers and action since Öztürk’s March arrest. Last month, they led over 30 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Acting Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons, demanding information about Öztürk’s arrest and detention as well as similar incidents across the country.

Earlier this month, the lawmakers sounded the alarm on Öztürk’s medical neglect in DHS custody and renewed urgent calls for her release. Last week, Pressley, Warren and Markey demanded Secretary of State Rubio released any documents related to her arrest after a recent report indicated that an internal State Department memo concluded that the key premise underlying Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s arrest and detention was false. Last month, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement condemning reports that ICE arrested and detained Rumeysa Ozturk, an international student with legal status in a graduate program at Tufts University. Earlier in the week, Rep. Pressley issued a statement following reports of ICE activity in Boston and other municipalities in Massachusetts.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA-12)

This evening, Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) recognized the winners of the 2025 Congressional Art Competition during a special reception held at his Augusta office. Members of Congress sponsor this competition each spring, challenging students from across the nation to produce an original artwork depicting life in their home district. This year’s competition drew participants from across Georgia’s 12th District, whose submissions were scored by a panel of judges.

The first-place winner’s artwork will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one full year. Other finalists will have their work displayed in one of Congressman Allen’s district offices.

Following tonight’s reception, Congressman Allen issued the statement below:

“I look forward to the Congressional Art Competition every year as the gifted young artists who call Georgia-12 home put their artistic talents on full display. It is a privilege and a blessing to spend time with these students, as well as their parents and teachers, to celebrate their achievements and dedication. I am eager to showcase this beautiful artwork in the U.S. Capitol and my district offices for the next year!”

First Place and People’s Choice Award Winner: Baron Trupp, from Greenbrier High School, with his piece: “Just a Moment”

First Runner-Up: Jacey Lariscey, from Davidson Fine Arts, with her piece: “Contemplation”

Second Runner-Up: Natalie Navarrette, from Greenbrier High School, with her piece: “Joy in Little Moments”

Third Runner-Up: Arianna Brunk, from Columbia Virtual Academy, with her piece: “Bruised Peach”

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

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah 6th District Wisconsin)

Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) released the following statement in response to reports that Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested for obstructing the arrest of an illegal immigrant:

“It is shameful, though sadly no longer shocking, that a liberal judge would go so far as to obstruct federal law enforcement in order to protect a violent illegal immigrant from arrest,” said Congressman Grothman. “This disgraceful conduct undermines the rule of law, jeopardizes public safety, and sends the message that political ideology comes before justice.”

“The illegal immigrant Judge Dugan allegedly sought to shield, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, has a lengthy criminal history that includes charges of strangulation and suffocation, battery, and domestic abuse. Ruiz had already been deported once, illegally re-entered the United States, and again committed violent crimes while unlawfully present in the country.”

“Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with public officials who use their positions of power to shield individuals who have no legal right to be in this country, especially those who pose a threat to our communities,” Grothman continued. “If these allegations are true, this judge violated the trust of the people she was elected to serve. Far too many public officials today seem either unable or unwilling to understand why our immigration laws must be enforced. We stand firmly behind President Trump as he works to reestablish the rule of law and restore accountability.”

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) serves the people of Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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

“When a government begins to imprison writers for their words, when it abandons legal norms for political convenience, when it cloaks oppression in the language of national security, alarm bells must ring. Loudly.”

Full NYT Op-Ed

BOSTON – Today, in a powerful New York Times op-ed, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), along with Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), discussed their meeting with Rümeysa Öztürk in detention and warned the American people of the dangers posed by the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and due process. The op-ed follows their recent visit to Louisiana to meet with Ms. Öztürk at the ICE facility where she is being unlawfully detained.

In the piece, the lawmakers emphasize that her experience – being abducted off the street and detained with no due process, simply for co-authoring an op-ed – is not one in isolation, and has implications for American democracy and everyone who calls this country home. Additionally, the lawmakers renewed their call for the immediate release of Ms. Öztürk, and called for an investigation into the inhumane conditions at the for-profit, privately operated detention center in Basile, Louisiana where she is being held.

Full text of the op-ed is available here and a short excerpt is below.

New York Times Op-Ed: We Visited Rümeysa Öztürk in Detention. What We Saw Was a Warning to Us All.
By Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Ed Markey, and Congressman Jim McGovern
April 25, 2025

We visited Ms. Ozturk earlier this week…

What we found was not just a young woman locked up without charge but also a democracy being put to the test.

…

When a government begins to imprison writers for their words, when it abandons legal norms for political convenience, when it cloaks oppression in the language of national security, alarm bells must ring. Loudly.

…

The Constitution is only as strong as our willingness to defend it.

Read the full op-ed on the New York Times website here.

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

“We write to seek answers about why you are crippling an agency that punches so far above its weight and is essential to enabling access to libraries, museums, archives, historic sites and more for Massachusetts residents and Americans in every state.” 

Lawmakers highlight Massachusetts impacts, including canceled projects which helped state capture and preserve history and culture, promote learning, make humanities more accessible

Text of Letter (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joins Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), along with Representatives Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Bill Keating (MA-09), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Richard Neal (MA-01), and Lori Trahan (MA-03), in sending a letter to Michael McDonald, Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), regarding the impacts of recent staffing cuts and attempts to cancel grants in Massachusetts and across the country.

During the week of April 1, 2025, following the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) recommendations, a majority of NEH staff were placed on administrative leave and hundreds of grants were canceled. In the following days, state humanities councils and other grant recipients received emails notifying them that their funding would be terminated immediately and that the Trump administration would be “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the president’s agenda.”

“We write to seek answers about why you are crippling an agency that punches so far above its weight and is essential to enabling access to libraries, museums, archives, historic sites and more for Massachusetts residents and Americans in every state,” wrote the lawmakers.

Congressionally appropriated NEH program funds directly benefit local communities. The NEH was founded by Congress in 1965 to “promote progress and scholarship in the humanities and the arts in the United States,” and the agency enables work in the humanities by funding libraries, museums, archives, historic sites, media outlets, research institutions, educators and independent scholars. These cuts will have devastating impacts on cultural institutions and scholarship in Massachusetts and across the country.

The Trump administration’s actions put tremendous financial strain on researchers, universities, and institutions. According to one institution in Massachusetts, the termination notices sent to individual recipients of NEH grants included language that the individuals will remain “subject to audit.” Grant recipients now face concerns that they will have to repay their funds to NEH at an undetermined time.

NEH-funded projects in Massachusetts — including research projects to better understand the impact of war on naval veterans and their families, projects to understand the role of historic textile mills in the American industrial revolution, and programs supporting museums’ efforts to digitize, archive, and modernize the products of Massachusetts art and culture — have enriched the state’s ability to capture and preserve history and culture, promote new knowledge and learning, and make the humanities more accessible.

“These actions at NEH mark another instance of overreach by the Trump administration, causing more destruction and devastation to research institutions and scholars across the country, but providing little in savings,” wrote the lawmakers.

A copy of the letter is available here.

Congresswoman Pressley has been a leading voice in Congress speaking out against Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s unprecedented assault on our democracy and federal agencies, and she has been a steadfast advocate for protecting the essential services that federal workers and agencies provide.

• On April 14, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined the Massachusetts delegation in sending a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy demanding answers on staff cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a critical home energy program supporting vulnerable households.
• On April 9, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined the Massachusetts delegation in sending a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers after the abrupt shuttering of the entire HHS Regional Office in Boston.
• On April 9, 2025, Rep. Pressley led lawmakers in sending a letter to Trump’s trade official demanding he resign from holding multiple positions with clear conflicts of interest that would further harm federal workers.
• On March 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees.
• On March 21, 2025, Rep. Pressley led Massachusetts lawmakers in a letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sharply criticizing and demanding answers about the impact of the Musk-Trump Administration’s mass firings of federal workers in Massachusetts.
• On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley spoke out against the U.S. Department of Education’s mass layoffs of over 1,300 workers, which effectively guts the agency.
• On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley voted against Republicans’ shameful government budget bill, which would harm vulnerable families and provide a blank check for Elon Musk and Donald Trump to continue their unprecedented assault on our democracy. She later issued a statement condemning its final passage in the Senate.
• On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined 13 of her colleagues on a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers and the immediate release of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, whose illegal abduction is an attack on his constitutional right to free speech and due process.
• On March 4, 2025, Rep. Pressley walked out of the House chamber in protest during Donald Trump’s presidential joint address to Congress.
• On March 4, 2025, Rep. Pressley welcomed Claire Bergstresser, an Everett constituent, dedicated public servant, AFGE union member, and former HUD worker who was unjustly terminated as part of Musk and Trump’s assault on federal agencies as her guest to the presidential joint address to Congress.
• On February 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley led 85 lawmakers in a letter urging the Office of Special Counsel to immediate reinstate and expand protections for all unfairly fired federal workers.
• On February 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined over 200 Democrats in filing an amicus brief defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before a U.S. District Court.
• On February 26, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley discussed what true government efficiency looks like and denounced Elon Musk and Donald Trump for utilizing DOGE to gut the essential services that keep people safe, fed, and housed.
• On February 25, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley condemned Elon Musk’s abuse of government efficiency through the fraudulent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
• On February 25, 2025, Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she railed against Republicans’ cruel budget resolution that would slash Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion.
• On February 20, 2025, Rep. Pressley and her Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs issued a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
• On February 13, 2025, in a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley emphasized the critical role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in safeguarding consumers and sharply criticized Donald Trump and Elon Musk for halting the critical work of the agency.
• On February 10, 2025, Rep. Pressley rallied with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member Maxine Waters, and advocates to protest Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s unlawful takeover of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
• On February 11, 2025, in a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley criticized the Trump-Musk administration for halting the critical work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) with crypto scams on the rise.
• On February 10, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming the Trump Administration’s harmful cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to support hospitals, universities, and research institutions conducting lifesaving research.
• On February 10, 2025, as Trump and Musk threaten to dismantle the essential work of the U.S. Department of Education, Rep.  Pressley delivered a powerful floor speech to affirm the role of public education in American democracy.
• On February 6, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley delivered a powerful rebuke of Republicans’ efforts to gut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and eliminate essential services for vulnerable communities.
• On February 5, 2025, Rep. Pressley rallied outside the U.S. Department of Treasury to protest Elon Musk’s unlawful assault on federal agencies and our democracy.
• On January 30, 2025, Rep. Pressley slammed Donald Trump for blaming the tragic plane crash at Reagan National Airport, which killed over 60 people, including some families from Massachusetts, on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
• In January 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming Trump’s illegal freeze on federal grants and loans and its harmful impact on vulnerable communities.
• On January 23, 2025, Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned floor speech condemning Republicans’ cruel anti-abortion bill that criminalizes providers and denies families care.
• On January 23, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues to reintroduce the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, a bill to repeal an outdated law that has been used to target innocent immigrants without due process rights.
• On January 22, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s harmful executive actions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

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

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

Statement from U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor on Illegal Deportations in Tampa Bay