Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Garamendi – Representing California’s 3rd Congressional District
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman John Garamendi (CA-08), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s unhinged and dangerous threat to wipe out Iran:
“The President is unhinged and completely out of control. Trump’s Easter evening threat to ‘wipe out a whole civilization’ is not only shocking and despicable, but also a dangerous escalation in a war that is already spiraling out of control.
“Trump continues to put service members in harm’s way, including the more than a dozen brave Americans who have already been killed or wounded.
“Since day one, Donald Trump has said he would be a ‘dictator,’ and in the nearly 442 days since taking office, he has governed like one. He has repeatedly made unhinged, reckless and despicable statements, including his latest remarks about Iran, and, like a dictator, has launched a war of choice without Congressional approval and against the will of the American people.
“Trump is clearly unfit to serve as President of the United States and it is time for him to be removed from office, either by impeachment or by invoking the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. I call on every congressional Republican to put country over party and help stop this insanity before it is too late.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Sherman Oaks, CA – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) released his 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 California and federal tax returns.
“I have always believed that public service requires openness, accountability and the trust of the people we represent,” said Congressman Brad Sherman. “By releasing these returns, I am making clear that I hold myself to the same standards that I believe every elected official should meet.”
Congressman Sherman has long championed transparency as a cornerstone of democratic governance. He believes that when elected officials operate openly and honestly, they strengthen the public’s trust in government and set a standard for integrity that benefits the entire democratic process. Today’s release of both federal and California state tax returns reflects that conviction.
By voluntarily releasing his tax returns Congressman Sherman is providing his constituents with a clear and complete picture of his personal finances and reinforcing his commitment to ethical conduct in public office.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)
WASHINGTON, DC—Today,Congresswoman Alma S.Adams, Ph.D. (D-NC-12)released a statement condemning President Donald Trump’s words and actions regarding the war in Iran.
“President Donald Trump continues to engage our country in reckless wars, putting the lives of our military in harm’s way without an objective or even a clear exit strategy.
“My fear at the start of his military action in Iran led me to support H.Con. Res. 38, a concurrent resolution directing the President to terminate the use of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted.
“The unhinged threats of ‘A whole civilization will die tonight‘ shows a lack of leadership,” said Congresswoman Adams.
“Under President Trump the cost of living at home continues to rise and our nation’s reputation gradually lowers around the world.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on CNN’s Special Coverage with Anderson Cooper, where he emphasized that Democrats demand that Republicans in Congress bring the House back into session and pass a War Powers Resolution to end Donald Trump’s war in Iran permanently.
ANDERSON COOPER: Joining me now for more on President Trump’s ceasefire announcement is Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, your reaction to what we know about this ceasefire tonight.
LEADER JEFFRIES:Well, a two-week ceasefire is insufficient. We need a permanent end to Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice, which is why House Democrats have demanded that Speaker Mike Johnson immediately reconvene the House back into session so we can move a War Powers Resolution that will end this conflict permanently.
ANDERSON COOPER: That seems unlikely to happen. What do you actually think is gonna happen in this two-week period? What do you need to—assuming that doesn’t happen, what do you need to see happen or want to see happen in this two-week period?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Assuming it doesn’t happen this week, we’ll go back into session next week and we will present a War Powers Resolution as soon as it becomes available to us to do so as a matter of privilege on the House Floor. All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us. The American people strongly oppose this reckless war of choice and know that we should not be spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in Iran while Republicans and Donald Trump are unwilling to spend a dime to actually make life more affordable for the American people, including but not limited to, by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. It’s unbelievable in terms of their priorities, and yet we’ve seen this President’s behavior—unhinged, unpresidential, unconscionable, including the messages that he’s communicated to the American people over the last few days.
ANDERSON COOPER: Is there a scenario where the Iranian regime gains control, I mean, they have control now of the Strait of Hormuz, according to this ceasefire, if it holds, it seems like for this two weeks they will have control of it as well, and very well possibly beyond that. If Iran gains full control over passage through the Strait of Hromuz, is that an acceptable outcome to you?
LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, it would be an extraordinary outcome, but not surprising, given the fact that what we’ve seen from Donald Trump is that he’s plunged America into this war that now involves more than a dozen countries without any plan, any objective and any exit strategy in terms of how actually this conflict improves the national security of the American people. What we do know is that as a result of Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice, life has become more dangerous for the American people and life has become more expensive as a result of gas prices skyrocketing across the country, further exacerbating an affordability crisis that are crushing everyday Americans, middle class Americans and working class Americans throughout the land.
ANDERSON COOPER: Do you think the President of the United States looks weak for having now five deadlines that he has made, this last one saying he would kill off the entire—that he would kill Iran’s entire civilization and then not following through on that?
LEADER JEFFRIES: I think the President has consistently weakened America’s standing throughout the world as the leader of the free world. In fact, he often confuses friend from foe. We’ve seen him do this as it relates to how he’s engaged with Ukraine and continuing to play footsie with Vladimir Putin and Russia, who are sworn enemies of the United States of America. He never treats them in that fashion. And in terms of the outcome of the situation, which has already been very costly and deadly—more than a dozen brave patriotic Americans have lost their lives, men and women in uniform, and hundreds have been seriously injured. And the question is, to what end?
ANDERSON COOPER: Leader Jeffries, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)
Griffith Statement on U.S.-Iran Ceasefire
According to U.S. President Donald J. Trump, the United States of America has agreed to a two-week ceasefire with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The two sides will work out a 10-point proposal and allow for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
In response to this news, U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement:
“President Trump is to be commended for reaching a ceasefire agreement with Iran. Thanks to the great efforts of U.S. armed forces, Iran has been crippled and has been forced to the negotiating table.
“I support negotiations that lead to Iran never having nuclear capabilities.
“Also, I am praying for the Americans who gave their lives for their country and for their families. Their service is to be commended.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA)
SHERMAN OAKS, CA — Today Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32) released the following statement responding to President Donald Trump’s warning about Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”:
“Trump claimed his war strategy was to win over the Iranian people — now he’s threatening their ‘entire civilization’. That’s reckless, unhinged and puts America at risk.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Larsen (2nd Congressional District Washington)
Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democratic Leadership in the following statement:
“Donald Trump is completely unhinged. His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response. The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III.
“For years, Republicans have enabled and excused Donald Trump’s deeply dangerous and extreme behavior. Enough is enough. Our brave men and women in uniform have been put into harm’s way in the Middle East. Over a dozen have already been killed and hundreds injured. Gas prices are skyrocketing, the cost of living in America is out of control and billions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on a reckless war of choice.
“It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.”
This morning, President Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8:00 p.m.
In March, Rep. Larsen voted against President Trump’s reckless war in Iran. He continues to honor and respect the women and men of the United States military.
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 on Trump’s threats to strike Iranian civilian infrastructure, which is a war crime:
“Threatening to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges is not a strategy, it is a war crime. This is not who we are. These threats are reckless, they are illegal under international humanitarian law, and they put nearly 100 million Iranian civilians at risk of catastrophic harm.
“The president’s threats raise urgent questions this administration has not answered: Has it fully considered the scale of potential Iranian retaliation against U.S. personnel and partners in the region? Has it assessed the likelihood of massive refugee flows or food shortages that could destabilize neighboring countries and strain our allies? Has it accounted for the impact on global energy markets and rising costs for American families at the gas pump? I believe the administration has not bothered to plan for any of these contingencies, just as it has failed to plan for Trump’s war of choice.
“At this critical moment, the United States must pursue immediate de-escalation and a coordinated diplomatic strategy with our allies. We cannot allow Iran to simply reset to a dangerous status quo — but the answer is not to threaten war crimes and isolate us from every partner we need to end this conflict.
“There is still time to change course. But threatening to destroy a nation of 100 million people without a strategy, without allied coordination, and without a plan for what comes next is not strength. It is recklessness that America and the region will pay for long after this president is gone.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social and his remarks during a press conference on the war in Iran:
“This morning’s remarks from the President of the United States shows how dangerous his judgement and state of mind really are. His threats to eradicate Iranian civilization require all Americans to think carefully about whether he can be trusted with the enormous power of the American presidency. No U.S. leader, nor any leader of a democracy, should use the language of genocidal tyrants. That must not be who we are as a nation, and it does not represent who we have ever been.
“His comments with reference to NATO are also shameful, unacceptable, and untrue. Every responsible leader and citizen should be outraged at the comments this President continues to make. The Congress, Republicans and Democrats, should reject these irresponsible, dangerous, false, and morally repugnant comments.
“Instead of making unhinged threats online, the President should explain clearly to the American people and Congress how he intends to bring this operation to a close.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Follows $2.4 million in grants to the children’s research hospital announced Monday
MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced four more National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, totaling $1,191,875, to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The announcement follows $2.4 million in NIH research grants reported on Monday.
One grant for $76,780, from the National Eye Institute, is for vision research under the direction of Dr. Mellisa Clemons. A second, for $508,750, is from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for research on epigenetic gene regulation for stem cell fates under the direction of Dr. Jamy C. Peng. Dr. Peng’s research seeks to better understand the genetic and molecular triggers underlying how a stem cell can become any other type of cell, specifically during when an embryo is forming. This research will further our understanding of human development, and how things can go right, or wrong. The third, for $465,506, from the National Cancer Institute, is for research on epigenetic reprogramming of T cell exhaustion to enhance tumor immunotherapy under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Alan Youngblood. Epigenetics are the changes in gene expression – genes creating proteins – that do not occur as a direct result of changes to the DNA sequence, but are rather the patterns of expression. Dr. Youngblood’s work will help us to better understand the factors affecting the efficacy of a type of T cells in certain tumor environments. This work helps pave the way for increasingly targeted, tailored types of immunotherapies. And the fourth, for $140,839, is from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for research into comparative vertebrate neural crest contributions to the hematopoietic stem cell specification niche under the direction of Dr. Diana Sa da Bandeira. The neural crest are a group of cells during embryonic development, which became a large number of different cell types including neurons, the immune cells of the sensory, sympathetic and parasympathetic immune system, epinephrine-producing cells of the adrenal gland, and more. The grant to Dr. Diana Sa da Bandeira will support her transition from the post-doctoral fellow level to becoming a faculty member.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“St. Jude works at the cutting edge of medical research as these complex project descriptions demonstrate. I am pleased to see the substantial federal funding our premier children’s research hospital is receiving and am confident it will lead to important breakthroughs that enhance and save lives.”