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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV)

Washington, D.C. – This week, Reps. Miller (R-WV) and Sánchez (D-CA) introduced the Child Care Supply Tax Credit Act. This bipartisan legislation establishes a tax credit to help child care providers hire and retain highly qualified staff, addressing the nationwide child care shortage that continues to impact families across the country.

“Parents across the country continue to struggle with the rising costs of child care due to the industry’s workforce shortage. Attractive wages attract employees, and a large part of the cost of retaining the staff needed to adequately and safely care for the children is often passed on from the provider to the parents. Building on the increased Child Tax Credit and expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit that were secured by the passage of the Working Families Tax Cuts last summer, I am happy to join my colleagues Rep. Sánchez and Senators Justice and Warner in introducing the Child Care Supply Tax Credit Act to go one step further in addressing rising childcare costs. By providing a tax credit to assist our providers in paying their staff, we can limit the costs being passed on to parents,” said Congresswoman Miller.

“It’s ridiculous that it can be cheaper to send a child to college than to preschool. If we’re serious about supporting working families, we need to make child care more affordable and accessible. Our bill will help providers hire and retain qualified staff, so parents have reliable options for their young children without paying higher prices,” said Congresswoman Sánchez.

 

Senators Jim Justice (R-WV) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA)  introduced companion legislation in the Senate last year.

 

“Childcare providers simply can’t afford to pay their workers enough without passing those high costs on to parents. Families in West Virginia and across the country are spending thousands of dollars just to secure reliable childcare – it must be addressed. By creating a targeted tax credit tied directly to caregiver wages, we can pay the people who take care of our kids what they deserve while giving our hard-working families some breathing room,” said Senator Jim Justice.

“From health care premiums to groceries to utility bills, life is only getting more and more expensive for American families, and for many, the math simply doesn’t work without affordable child care. Child care is the foundation that allows parents to earn a living while providing kids with the head start they deserve. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to address the workforce challenges contributing to our nation’s child care crisis,” said Senator Mark Warner.

A copy of the bill text can be found here.

Background:

• Child care providers across the nation are facing persistent resource constraints that have limited their ability to offer competitive wages.
• The recruitment and retention of qualified child care staff has become increasingly challenging, leading to workforce shortages that have, in some cases, caused facility closures.
• In West Virginia, families need an additional 20,000 childcare spots.

• The Child Care Supply Tax Credit Act creates a new tax credit for eligible childcare providers to help offset the cost of employee wages, allowing providers to increase worker wages, retain talent, and increase childcare supply.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (25th District of FLORIDA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, chaired by Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, will hold a field hearing on accountability and reform at the United Nations today Friday, March 20, at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The proceeding, which will include bipartisan appropriations participation and Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations Michael Waltz, will examine implementation of FY26 NSRP bill directives aimed at advancing lasting structural reforms and strengthening oversight and effectiveness of the UN system.

The full event will be available and livestreamed on the House Appropriations Committee’s YouTube channel.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS: 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Media Bureau approved the merger between Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. The move would allow a single media conglomerate to exceed the long-standing 39 percent national television ownership cap.

“Congress established the 39 percent national television ownership cap and only Congress has the authority to change it. Yet here we are watching an agency charged with enforcing the law tear it up on behalf of Donald Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr. This approval is an outrageous abuse of authority. It throws out limits designed to protect local journalism and viewpoint diversity. It hands Nexstar Media Group, a single conglomerate, unprecedented control over what millions of Americans see and hear.

“Let’s be clear about what this is and what it is not. This is not a serious effort to support local news or address the challenges posed by Big Tech. This is about handing power to a few massive corporations at the expense of local voices—the very voices that hold power accountable. We’ve already seen this administration intimidate broadcasters to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. And now the same companies that folded under that pressure are being rewarded with a multi-billion-dollar merger. That’s not coincidence. That’s government pressure—and it’s unacceptable. If an agency can ignore clear statutory limits because it ‘wants to,’ then no law is safe.

“Local journalism cannot be strong when it is concentrated in fewer hands, and it cannot be free when it is vulnerable to political coercion. If the FCC insists on rubber-stamping this merger, then Congress must act immediately. That’s why I introduced the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act—to stop political interference in our newsrooms and protect local broadcasters from retaliation. This is about whether we still believe in the promise of the First Amendment. And I will continue using every tool at my disposal to defend it.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (8th District of New York)

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on MS NOW’s All In With Chris Hayes, where he emphasized that Democrats will continue to push back on Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice in the Middle East and the administration’s requests to continue spending taxpayer dollars in ways that do not make life better or more affordable for the American people.

CHRIS HAYES: Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York is the House Democratic Leader and he joins me now. Do you feel that you have a strong understanding of even what the U.S. objectives are? I mean, Tulsi Gabbard said today that the President has been clear about what the objectives are. They differ from what Israel’s are. And she sort of sputtered a little bit in trying to describe that tension. But are you even clear what our objectives are?

LEADER JEFFRIES: It’s a great question, Chris, and the administration has articulated shifting objectives. One day it’s regime change. The next day it’s about stopping Iran’s nuclear aspirations, even though the President claimed several months ago that Iran’s nuclear program had been completely and totally obliterated. Day after that, it was about stepping in to protect Iranian civilians, to try to push back against the Iranian regime. Then the day after that they’ll say it’s about intercontinental ballistic missiles, where there’s no evidence that Iran actually has missiles that could strike the United States. Then they have a broad claim saying that it was about an imminent threat to the United State of America, and their own former national security professionals acknowledge that there was no imminent threat to America. This is the reason why, Chris, amongst many others, that the war is so deeply unpopular because the American people understand there’s no justification for it. It’s a reckless war of choice. And billions of dollars are being spent to drop bombs in the Middle East while this administration can’t find a dime to actually make healthcare more affordable for the American people.

CHRIS HAYES: Speaking of those billion dollars. Today we got this headline. The Pentagon is going to try to get $200 billion dollars in a budget request for the Iran war. CNN reporting there’s some cracks emerging in the GOP over the Iran war cost. Some, a little bit of dissent from some Members in Congress about that price tag. I’m imagining you’re a no on this. But the question is, are you confident you can hold an entire Democratic Caucus together in the House and get full unanimity in a no for that $200 billion supplemental?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Yeah, we’ll have to have that conversation, but as your suspicions suggest, Chris, it would be my expectation that there is strong Democratic opposition against the notion of continuing to pour billions of dollars of additional money into a war with no justification, no plan, no strategy and no clear indication as to how to get out of it where there was no rationale to get into it in the first place. And, in fact, Donald Trump said as Candidate Trump that he was not going to get us into a reckless war of choice in the Middle East and then President Trump got us into a wreckless war of choice in the Middle East wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money. And the notion of them coming to Congress asking for $200 billion more is so beyond the pale that I’ve got to hope that these reports are inaccurate.

CHRIS HAYES: There was a War Powers vote, I think, a few weeks ago, in which Democrats, all but I think five, I want to say, on the Whip count, voted to force basically a restraint, a resolution, right? They would have forced a vote where Congress would have had to okay the action. My understanding of the reporting was that leadership whipped that vote. You whipped that vote, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, others, right. This was an important vote. Are you committed to whipping a vote on the supplemental if, in fact, they come to you for $200 billion, and really making this a priority for leadership?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, I don’t want to get out ahead of Whip Katherine Clark, because those are conversations that we have. But needless to say, clearly, there’s deep skepticism that I’ve publicly articulated, and other members of leadership have publicly articulated, including the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro. But we’ll have that conversation when we need to have that conversation. What I can say is that it’s my expectation that we will have another War Powers Resolution vote sooner rather than later, potentially as early as next week, and we’re going to try to get to uniform Democratic support and get a handful of Republicans to join us so we can stop this reckless war of choice so that we don’t even have to deal with the possibility of considering some kind of request for $200 billion in additional taxpayer money who, as Bernie Sanders said, so much can be done with that to actually make life better for the American people in healthcare, in nutritional assistance, in housing and in other areas.

CHRIS HAYES: Well, I have to say, you know, everyone’s forgotten about the weird DOGE months in Washington when the President came in and Elon Musk set loose a bunch of twenty-somethings with AI to go fire a bunch of folks. But I, like, talked to, like, a park ranger that made $48,000 a year that lost their job. There are people that worked with veterans who lost their jobs. There are people that work in food safety that lost their job. We cut off emergency nutrition to some of the poorest, most starving people in the world. I mean, what does it say to you to say they’re going to spend $200 billion after going through all that?

LEADER JEFFRIES: I mean, it’s such an extraordinarily out-of-pocket request, out of bounds, out of control. I mean, the extremists just continue to show the American people who they are: the same group of people who enacted the largest cuts of Medicaid in American history, literally ripped healthcare away from 14 million Americans and, in that same One Big Ugly Bill, enacted the largest cut to nutritional assistance. They took $186 billion away from hungry children, veterans and seniors in America to give ICE a $75 billion slush fund to brutalize and kill American citizens, to give their billionaire donors a massive tax break and now they want to come back to the taxpayers for an additional $200 billion for a reckless war of choice. The whole thing is so extreme, so extraordinary in its request that you would think it was being written by a Hollywood screenwriter, this is not reality. But unfortunately, this is the national nightmare that we’re living through right now in Trump’s America, and we’re going to do everything we need to do to get through it, starting by winning the midterm elections in November.

Full interview can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett (USVI)

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Mark Pocan (WI-02), co-chairs of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, released the following statement after reporting that the Pentagon will request an additional $200 billion to fight their illegal war with Iran:

“It is preposterous for the White House and the Pentagon to think of requesting any defense money from Congress while waging a war we never authorized, let alone $200 billion. Recent reporting has shown that this war is already costing American taxpayers between $1 and $2 billion a day and has caused the deaths of 13 servicemembers, nearly 1,500 Iranian civilians, and dozens of civilians throughout the Middle East. Donald Trump owns this war. He walked us into this catastrophic and deeply unpopular war. 

“This is a war of choice with no apparent endgame. Instead of getting us into another quagmire, this money could go towards lowering costs for Americans, including by fully funding the ACA tax credits, feeding hungry kids, and taking care of our veterans. It is deeply shameful that Republicans always find money for wars, but are unable to allocate funds to take care of the American people. Congress should immediately reject this request.”

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

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army Ranger and Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, pressed top Trump intelligence and national security officials over the rationale behind the President’s war of choice with Iran. Testifying before the Intelligence Committee at its annual Worldwide Threats hearing were Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Acting Director of the National Security Agency Lt. Gen. William Hartman, and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. James Adams.

During his exchange with Gabbard, Crow pressed the intelligence chief about the radicalism of Iran’s new leader, brought about as a result of Trump’s war. Gabbard agreed that Iran’s new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is more extreme than his father.

Gabbard also acknowledged under questioning from Crow that it was the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment before the war that Iran did not have intentions to obtain a nuclear weapon. With the new leadership in place, she agreed, their intentions are now unknown.

When pushed by Crow to explain how imminent Iran’s threat to the United States was in the lead-up to Trump’s war, Gabbard failed to provide a clear answer.

Crow has repeatedly condemned Donald Trump’s illegal war of choice in Iran. As an Army Ranger who grew up in a working-class family and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Crow saw firsthand the repercussions of forever wars on servicemembers and hard-working Americans. He voted to reclaim Congressional authority over war with Iran, and he called for Donald Trump and his cronies to end their military adventurism. Crow has outlined a new vision for American foreign policy that benefits working Americans over the elites and ends unnecessary wars that risk American blood and treasure.

Watch Crow’s full exchange with DNI Gabbard here.

Congressman Crow: Director Gabbard, it is your job and the job of your agency and department to assess the views of Iranian leadership, their policy beliefs, and policy positions, correct? 

Director of National Intelligence Gabbard: Yes.

Crow: That includes now-deceased Ali Khamenei of Iran, correct? 

Gabbard: Yes.

Crow: And the now-leader, his son Mujtaba Khamenei, correct? 

Gabbard: Yes.

Crow: The son is considered more of a hardliner than his father, isn’t that correct? 

Gabbard: Yes. 

Crow: So hardline, that even some of Iran’s leaders thought he was too aggressive, isn’t that correct? 

Gabbard: That is the intelligence community assessment, yes.

Crow: Mojtaba, the son, is particularly close to the brutal Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their most hardline commanders, correct? 

Gabbard: That is the intelligence community assessment. 

Crow: He was involved in ordering violent crackdowns on Iranian protesters, including their murder, correct? 

Gabbard: Yes. 

Crow: And we don’t know if the son will continue his father’s religious ban on developing nuclear weapons. Is that correct? 

Gabbard: It’s unknown at this time. 

Crow: You testified before this committee last year that the elder, now deceased, Khamenei had in 2003, banned the nuclear weapons program, or suspended it, correct? 

Gabbard: There was a fatwa in place that stated that.

Crow: And that fatwa remained in place last year when you testified before this committee, correct? 

Gabbard: Yes.

Crow: And that fatwa remained in place recently, correct? 

Gabbard: As far as I know, it has not been lifted. 

Crow: Yeah, you’re aware of no information that would lift that fatwa.

Gabbard: I’m not aware of any intelligence reporting that states that. To be clear on Mojtaba, the son who has been named to replace him, it is unclear of his status or his involvement. He was injured very severely through one of the Israeli strikes, and so the decision making is unclear about what’s happening in the Iranian leadership. 

Crow: So, It’s unclear. So we’re less certain of the positions of Iranian leadership and their intentions than we were 60 days ago, correct? 

Gabbard: That’s an accurate assessment. 

Crow: One of your jobs is to create products assessing Iran, and the threats it poses to the United States, correct? 

Gabbard: Yes.

Crow: And that includes potential outcomes for military action, correct? 

Gabbard: It includes potential outcomes of a variety of scenarios.

Crow: And the likelihood of those outcomes?

Gabbard: Yes. 

Crow: Generally, when you make assessments about threats facing the United States, you will look at, in Iran, and in any instance, the likely scenarios that have come out of military action, correct? 

Gabbard: The intelligence community takes all of those factors into account when they create these assessments. 

Crow: When you look at the threats posed by foreign countries, you also assess timelines to those threats, correct? 

Gabbard: What do you mean by timelines? 

Crow: Like a breakout time, for example, for nuclear weapons or the development of ballistic missiles. 

Gabbard: Yes, based on the information available at any given time.

Crow: And the timeline for potential terrorist attacks, correct?

Gabbard: Broadly, yes, assesses all matters available.

Crow: It’s common practice for the IC to assess the timeline of all threats, nuclear weapons development, ballistic, right? 

Gabbard: Yes. 

Crow: Ballistic weapons development.

Gabbard: Based on the information available, yes. 

Crow: Terrorist attacks?

Gabbard: Same applies. 

Crow: Cyber attacks, timelines for all of those, correct? 

Gabbard: When there is information available that point to that, yes,

Crow: And likelihood, as well as the timeline, correct? 

Gabbard: Based on the information available. 

Crow: Timing is important, is it not? 

Gabbard: It is an important factor that goes into the assessment. 

Crow: So it is your position sitting here today that you made no timeline determination as to threats that Iran had facing the United States, correct? 

Gabbard: That’s a very broad statement, but where the information is available, the intelligence community factors that into their assessment product. 

Crow: Did you or the IC make any assessments as to the timing of potential threats facing the United States from Iran in the last 90 days? 

Gabbard: I’m sure there was timelines factored into the intelligence assessments that were delivered. 

Crow: Did any of them show imminence? 

Gabbard: The imminent nature of a threat is determined by the president based on a totality of the intelligence and information provided to him. 

Crow: Did any of it show that there were attacks anticipated within the next 90 days from Iran? 

Gabbard: It’s too simplistic of a statement to say that because it depends on various scenarios occurring or not occurring. 

Crow: Did those assessments show timelines for the threats that Iran posed to the United States?

Gabbard: The totality of threats, yes, there were timelines involved where it applied and where that information was available. But again, to your question about the determination of imminence, the president makes that determination based on the totality of information and intelligence. 

Crow: The bottom line is there is no imminent threat, and you know that, and there’s no product that shows that. 

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to rising global oil prices linked to escalating tensions involving Iran, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will soon introduce the Iran War Oil Crisis Windfall Profits Tax Act to crack down on excessive oil company profits driven by instability in the Middle East and to return those funds directly to American consumers.

“American families should not be forced to pay more at the pump and at the grocery store simply because of geopolitical turmoil abroad,” said Congressman Sherman. “While war drives up prices, Big Oil is reaping record profits without lifting a finger. This bill ensures that those windfalls are redirected back to the American people who are bearing the burden.”

Sherman’s legislation would impose a windfall profits tax during the course of the Iran War on major oil producers and ensure that revenues are rebated to American households — prioritizing relief for working families most impacted by rising costs.

Global oil markets have seen sharp price increases in recent weeks amid instability in the region, with crude oil prices surging well above historic norms. These increases ripple through the economy — raising costs for transportation, food, and everyday goods. 

Sherman’s legislation would:

-Impose a 100% windfall profits tax on oil revenues earned above a defined baseline price;

-Apply the tax only during the period of war-related market disruption, ensuring it is targeted;

-Return collected revenues directly to American households, with a focus on low- and middle-income families most affected by rising costs.

The legislation is structured to remain in effect only until hostilities subside, global supply routes stabilize, and oil prices return to more typical levels.

Sherman is currently seeking bipartisan support for the measure and is urging colleagues to act swiftly to shield Americans from further economic strain.

“The goal is simple: if oil companies are benefiting from global instability, then American families deserve relief,” Sherman added. “This is about fairness, accountability, and protecting consumers during a time of economic pressure.”

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01) applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for awarding $1 million through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP) to BSA Seafood LLC to expand invasive blue catfish processing in Maryland’s First District.

This investment supports BSA Seafood, LLC of Grasonville, Maryland as it expands its processing capacity by purchasing and installing new equipment at its facility. This will increase the company’s ability to source invasive blue catfish from regional watermen and bring more value-added seafood products to market. The project is expected to remove more than 500,000 pounds of invasive blue catfish from the Chesapeake Bay annually, create 20 full-time jobs, and retain 15 existing positions.

Statement from Congressman Harris:

“I’m grateful to USDA and Secretary Rollins for this significant investment to combat invasive blue catfish in the Eastern Shore. This funding gives BSA Seafood the resources to expand blue catfish processing, open new market opportunities, and create good-paying jobs in my district. It directly supports our watermen and seafood processors and turns a growing challenge in the Chesapeake Bay into long-term economic growth for Maryland.”

For media inquiries, please contact Michella Carter at Michella.Carter@mail.house.gov

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today questioned leading intelligence officials at a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on threats to national security.

Congressman Cohen asked FBI Director Kash Patel about his firing of at least 12 FBI counterintelligence analysts with expertise on Iran days before the war broke out and whether they were terminated because of their role in investigating President Trump’s unauthorized storage of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago bathroom.

In responses to Congressman Cohen’s questions, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard acknowledged President Trump was aware of an unclassified intelligence assessment from last year that predicted closing off the Strait of Hormuz and “disrupting shipping” would likely be a retaliatory action taken by Iran if it were attacked. Knowing that he was aware of that prediction, Congressman Cohen asked why the president didn’t take steps to strengthen the defense of this critical oil transportation route before February 28 attacks.

Congressman Cohen’s questions about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium were deferred to a closed, classified hearing immediately after today’s public session.

See Congressman Cohen’s exchange with the witnesses here.

Witnesses at today’s hearing were:

• The Honorable Tulsi Gabbard, Director, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI);
• The Honorable John L. Ratcliffe, Director, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA);
• The Honorable Kash Patel, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
• Lieutenant General William J. Hartman, Acting Director, National Security Agency; and
• Lieutenant General James H. Adams, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

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