MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sharice Davids (KS-3)

Today, U.S. Representative Sharice Davids announced that she secured $8.3 million for the Kansas State Department of Education through the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL). The program strengthens teacher and school leader recruitment, retention, professional development, and leadership opportunities across the country.

“I went to Kansas public schools and became a first-generation college student, so I know firsthand how much a good teacher and a strong education can change a student’s trajectory,” said Davids. “This new investment will help Kansas continue to build the kind of schools where students can thrive by supporting the teachers and school leaders who show up for our kids every day.”

The TSL program helps schools recruit and keep quality teachers and school leaders. The funding can help schools provide teachers with additional training and coaching, create opportunities for experienced teachers to take on leadership roles, and offer incentives for educators who take on more responsibility. The program also helps schools attract and keep strong educators in low-income and rural communities where they are needed most.

A U.S. Department of Education evaluation of the program’s predecessor found that performance-based incentives led to student achievement gains equivalent to roughly three to four additional weeks of learning. The TSL program has since funded 160 projects serving more than 2,000 schools in 36 states and Washington, D.C.

Last year, Davids spoke out against the Trump Administration’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, warning that eliminating the department could put critical education funding and services at risk for students, teachers, and families. She has continued pushing for federal investments that support Kansas classrooms, including securing funding for early education, STEM programs, and apprenticeships.

This award includes $2,903,167 in base funding and $5,483,666 in additional frontloaded funding, bringing the total FY 2026 award to more than $8.3 million. The FY 2026 TSL program is expected to provide approximately $60 million nationwide through competitive grants to eligible state agencies, school districts, and other organizations.

Federal funding for this grant was authorized by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, which Davids voted to support in 2024.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Robin Kelly IL

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (IL-02), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Emily Randall (WA-06) led 49 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz calling for an immediate end to the sharing of Medicaid enrollee data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Despite a federal preliminary injunction limiting data transfers, CMS continues to share private data belonging to millions of enrollees—including U.S. citizens and lawful residents—beyond court-approved limits. Reports also reveal ICE improperly mishandled the data across internal channels and shared it with third-party analytics contractors like Palantir Technologies. 

“The role of HHS should be to protect the health of all those living in this country and provide essential human services, not to be a watchdog for DHS or act as immigration enforcement,” the Members stated in the letter. 

Read the Full Letter Here

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CONTACT: Kevin Kiser (Kevin.Kiser@Mail.house.gov)

                   202-603-8390

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, today announced $6 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant funding to expand processing capacity for invasive wild-caught catfish.

The funding, available through USDA Rural Development’s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, will provide grants of $50,000 to $2 million to help eligible processors expand facilities, purchase equipment, and increase invasive catfish processing capacity. Applications are due December 7, 2026, through Grants.gov.

Statement from Congressman Harris:

“Invasive blue catfish are reducing the blue crab and native fish populations that Maryland watermen harvest and sell. Increasing processing capacity will strengthen the market for wild-caught catfish, expand opportunities for watermen and seafood processors, and remove more invasive fish from the Bay. I thank Secretary Rollins and USDA for making this funding available to protect the Chesapeake Bay and strengthen Maryland’s seafood economy.”

To read USDA’s full press release, click here.

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

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

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07), a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, released the following statement after Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced that he would retire from his position after seven years leading the Smithsonian Institution. 

 

“Lonnie Bunch has spent his life telling America’s full story, with honesty, with humanity, and a deep belief in the power of history to help us better understand one another. His leadership has made the Smithsonian stronger, more inclusive, and more open to the millions of people who look to this treasured institution to learn who we are as a nation.

“Lonnie and I have known each other and worked together for two decades, first when he was Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and now as Secretary. As the Board of Regents’ representative to the Museum’s Council, I worked alongside him through its development and construction, and saw up close the vision and persistence it took to build a place worthy of the stories it holds. Lonnie took the Museum from a bold idea to a national treasure, one that faces our painful history squarely and sends every visitor home with hope.

“He brought that same spirit to his time as Secretary. Lonnie has led the Smithsonian with grace and integrity through some extraordinarily difficult moments. He never lost sight of what the Institution is for: to preserve our history, pursue knowledge, and tell the American story in all of its complexity. Grounded in the truth of that history, he has pushed it to new heights.

“Lonnie has my deepest gratitude for his decades of service and for everything he has done to strengthen the Smithsonian for generations to come. Most people know him as one of the nation’s great historians and cultural leaders. I am proud to say he is my dear friend. I wish him and his family every happiness in this well-earned next chapter.” 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Representing the 12th District of California

Washington, D.C. — Today, Speaker Emerita Pelosi joined Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), along with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Top Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), and 13 of their colleagues in filing an amicus brief in California v. Wright, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, to challenge the Trump Administration’s use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to facilitate the restart of the Sable Offshore oil pipeline system along the California Central Coast.

The brief argues that the Administration has failed to identify a legitimate national defense need for Sable’s crude oil and that the DPA order does not satisfy the statutory requirements for invoking this extraordinary authority. Sable produces crude oil—not finished fuels used by the military—and the order does not establish a connection between Sable’s production and an unmet military fuel requirement.

“The Trump Administration’s abuse of the Defense Production Act to revive the Sable pipeline is an unlawful corporate giveaway masquerading as a national security measure,” said Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. “California communities know the devastating consequences of offshore oil spills. Congress created the Defense Production Act to protect our national security—not to reward political allies, endanger our coastline and override vital environmental safeguards.”

An excerpt from the brief is below.

“This case is not about national defense. It is about a heavily leveraged, crude oil company asking the President to transform the Defense Production Act (DPA) from a statute designed to ‘assure the availability of domestic energy supplies for national defense needs,’ 50 U.S.C. § 4502(a)(5), into a corporate rescue operation for political allies; a rescue that advances the Administration’s political preference for fossil-fuel development at the expense of all other concerns. The Department of Energy’s (‘DOE’) March 13, 2026 order (the ‘Wright Order’) comes nowhere close to identifying a need for Sable crude oil or pipelines in the Order’s generalized invocation of California’s military presence and increased reliance on foreign crude. DOE never explains why those general circumstances create a national-defense need for Sable’s crude, much less how restarting its beleaguered pipelines would meet one. 

“Merely invoking “national defense” or an “emergency” does not insulate executive action from the statutory prerequisites that Congress imposed in the DPA on the exercise of delegated authority. Enforcing these requirements, i.e., that the Secretary establish the statutory predicates for invoking the DPA, does not amount to second-guessing genuine executive judgments about national defense. Instead, enforcement honors the conditions precedent Congress imposed to prevent abuse of the DPA. DOE’s failure to satisfy these statutory prerequisites invalidates the Wright Order.”

The full amicus brief is available HERE.

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

Pressley Has Fought to Protect Black History Against Trump’s Crusade to Whitewash Museums; Demanded Investigation Into Trump’s Attack on Smithsonian

Pressley Has Drawn Parallels Between Trump’s Attempt Remove Museum Exhibits to Nazi Germany Destroying Jewish Art

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement thanking outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III and slamming the Trump Administration’s ongoing fascist assault on American museums. Secretary Bunch announced that he would step down from his role at the end of this year.

Congresswoman Pressley has led efforts in Congress to protect Black history against Trump’s crusade to whitewash American museums and has demanded an investigation into Trump’s attack on the Smithsonian. In a July committee hearing, the Congresswoman highlighted Trump’s attempts to erase, whitewash, and rewrite American history, through his attacks on Smithsonian museums and cultural institutions.

“Secretary Lonnie Bunch III spent his career making sure America tells the full truth about itself. I am deeply grateful for his extraordinary leadership, his stewardship of American history, and his unwavering defense of our stories during an unprecedented, anti-Black, and fascist assault from the highest levels of power.

“I was honored to meet with Secretary Bunch last year to discuss his work and how we can push back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on the Smithsonian’s independence and its mission to tell the full, complicated, and beautiful story of America. It is a shame that he is stepping down at a moment when Black America and Black history are under attack by an occupant of the Oval Office hell bent on erasing, whitewashing, and rewriting our shared history to push a false narrative about our country.

“While Secretary Bunch’s resignation is a loss for the Smithsonian and our country, his work must continue. I wish him the very best in his future endeavors, and I will not stop fighting to protect our museums, defend the truth, and preserve our history for generations to come.”

Rep. Pressley has been a leading voice in defending diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, protecting Black history, and pushing back against Republicans’ efforts to deny intellectual freedom—whether by banning books or threatening museums.

Rep. Pressley has also led on securing critical funding for museums, arts, and humanities.

In 2022, she secured $207 million in federal funding for both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment of the Arts, which has supported communities, schools, and small businesses throughout the Massachusetts 7th Congressional district. She also secured $2,505,000 for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program in the National Parks Service Operations.

Rep. Pressley has advocated for support for museums across the country that are dedicated to archiving, researching, and preserving the African American experience, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In FY26, she secured $6 million for the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture—including $500,000 for Boston’s Museum of African American History—which will provide such museums the resources they need to build on their work and continue to make history more accessible to the public.

In February 2026, Rep. Pressley led 52 of her colleagues in introducing a resolution to honor Black history museums and cultural institutions in their telling of our accurate, shared American history and protect these institutions from erasure, whitewashing, and funding cuts.

In August 2025, Rep. Pressley condemned Trump’s attempt to politicize, editorialize, and whitewash exhibits at Smithsonian museums—particularly museums and exhibits with diverse and factual presentations of American history.

In May 2025, Rep. Pressley, alongside Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20), Co-Chair of the Congressional Museum Caucus, led 69 of their colleagues on a letter to the Inspector General of the Smithsonian Institution demanding an investigation on the impact of Donald Trump’s harmful Executive Order attacking Smithsonian museums – namely, the American Art Museum, the American Women’s History Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture – attempting to erase histories of marginalized communities. A copy of the letter is available here.

In May 2025, Rep. Pressley convened a roundtable and press conference at the Museum of African American History in Boston to uplift the vital role of museums in preserving our shared history amid Donald Trump’s attack on cultural institutions and his attempts to erase the documented histories of marginalized communities.

In April 2025, Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech slamming Trump’s attack on Smithsonian museums and affirming that Black history is American history.

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

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued the following statement:

The career of Lonnie G. Bunch III has been defined by his work to tell the unvarnished truth of the story of America. The first African American to serve as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Bunch has dedicated his entire life to strengthening our museums and helping recommit America to its founding promise of liberty and justice for all. He has been at the forefront of the ongoing battle against efforts by Donald Trump and his far-right sycophants to cowardly and unpatriotically whitewash our history, ban books and turn back the clock on progress. 

The founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Lonnie has been instrumental in protecting Black history, which is American history. Lonnie Bunch has fought to ensure that the Smithsonian Institution remains the preeminent museum, educational and cultural system in the world as the Trump administration seeks to censor facts and bend history to his will. He previously served in prominent leadership roles at critical institutions like the National Museum of American History, the Chicago Historical Society and the California African American Museum. 

Under Donald Trump’s reign, far too many dedicated public servants have been shamefully and relentlessly attacked and undermined for doing their jobs with integrity. Inspired by Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch’s lifetime of commitment to preserving our nation’s history, House Democrats will continue to fight back against any effort to sanitize or rewrite the full story of our great country. Our cultural institutions and the nation are forever indebted to Secretary Bunch for his unequalled contributions, and we wish him and his family the best in this next chapter.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

Hoyer Statement on the Retirement of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) issued the following statement after Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III announced his plans to retire:

“For the past seven years, Lonnie Bunch has led the Smithsonian with a deft hand and a passion for its mission. He has skillfully navigated challenges to the institution’s independence and academic integrity, and the Smithsonian has benefited from his strong leadership and unique cascade of talents.

“Earlier, as the founding Director and principal architect who collaborated with John Lewis and other major African-American leaders, including from the Congressional Black Caucus, Secretary Bunch created one of the premier institutions teaching and preserving African-American history and culture. 

“I am extremely disappointed that a world-class institution is losing a world-class leader. The next leader of the Smithsonian must be someone like Secretary Bunch who will fight to preserve its independence. We must not allow political interference to shape how visitors experience the art, history, and science presented at Smithsonian facilities. They must be based on facts and on expert interpretation by respected scholars, not based on ideology. 

“Sadly, Secretary Bunch is the latest casualty of this Administration’s war on intellectual honesty and the complex facts of our history. This President and his advisors have no shame or regard for the truth, ordering messages to be posted in front of the Smithsonian Museum of American History and other places promoting revisionist, partisan interpretations of our past. 

“I look forward to engaging with the Board of Regents and with key Congressional colleagues to ensure that the process to select the fifteenth Secretary of the Smithsonian is fair, open, and unblemished by political interference.”

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

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, on 988 Day, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) brought together Sacramento behavioral health leaders and crisis response professionals at the future WellSpace Health Community Wellness Campus to highlight her newly introduced bipartisan legislation, the 988 Implementation Act, which underscores the need to strengthen crisis care for families in Sacramento and communities across the country.

“As we continue to fight the mental health crisis in America, we need to invest in what works. 988 works,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “WellSpace answers the phone when someone has nowhere else to turn. Leaders, providers, and advocates have built something here that delivers, and we need to ensure they have the resources they deserve. That’s my job. To take what’s working here. And make sure Washington pays attention. When I introduce legislation, I start with Sacramento.”

Congresswoman Matsui was joined by Dr. Jonathan Porteus, CEO of WellSpace Health, Dr. Le Ondra Clark Harvey, CEO of the California Behavioral Health Association, which represents behavioral health providers, including 988 call centers, across California, and Devyn Leslie, Lead Crisis Line Specialist at WellSpace Health to discuss what happens when a Sacramento resident reaches out for help during a mental health or substance use crisis and how Congress can help communities provide the care they need beyond the initial call.

WellSpace Health operates 988 for the Sacramento region and across Northern California, providing confidential crisis support by phone, text, and chat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its broader crisis system also connects residents with in-person behavioral health services and short-term crisis care.

“When someone is suicidal or experiencing another mental health crisis, help should be as easy to reach as possible and seamlessly integrated in a continuum of services,” said Dr. Jonathan Porteus. “Every connection is an opportunity to provide immediate support to ensure people know they don’t have to navigate a crisis alone. We’re thankful Congresswoman Matsui is prioritizing 988 funding now and for the future.” 

“988 cannot simply be a number we ask people to call. It must be the front door to a functioning system of care,” said Dr. Le Ondra Clark Harvey. “When someone reaches out during what may be the most vulnerable moment of their life, what happens next is critical. Congresswoman Matsui’s 988 Implementation Act recognizes that we need the full continuum: someone to call, someone to come, and somewhere to go. CBHA’s diverse, community-based providers see every day why sustained investment in 988 call centers, mobile crisis response, workforce, and stabilization services is essential. We have made tremendous progress since the launch of 988, but launching the number was never the finish line. We must build a crisis system with the capacity to answer, respond, stabilize, and connect every person to the care they need.”

“Our role is to meet people in that moment with compassion and listen without judgement,” saidDevyn Leslie. “We are here to help them find a path forward, and sometimes what a person needs to hear most is that someone is there who is ready to help and listen. 988 makes this possible every hour, everyday.” 

Today’s event was held at the future WellSpace Health Wellness Campus on Stockton Boulevard, where Matsui joined WellSpace and community leaders for the project’s groundbreaking earlier this year. The campus represents the kind of community-based approach the 988 Implementation Act seeks to expand, bringing behavioral health and other health services together so Sacramento residents can receive appropriate care closer to home.

Since the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched in 2022, it has received more than 26 million calls, texts, chats, and ASL videophone contacts from people seeking help. Congresswoman Matsui’s bipartisan legislation would build on that progress by giving states and communities additional resources to strengthen the services available when someone needs more than support over the phone.

The 988 Implementation Act is supported by more than 35 national organizations representing mental health advocates, health professionals, state and local officials, civil rights advocates, veterans, and others.

More information about the bill can be found HERE.

A summary of the legislation can be found HERE. 

 

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