MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21)

Today, Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22) released the following statement following reports that Israel and Hamas have signed off on the “first phase” of a Gaza peace plan.

“My heart is full of hope and joy that after more than two years of devastating war, the remaining hostages held by Hamas may finally return home and the fighting will end,” said Rep. Frankel. “May this moment lead to lasting peace, security, and long-awaited relief to all innocent people who have suffered since October 7.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — On Day Nine of the Democrat Government Shutdown, Speaker Johnson held a press conference alongside House GOP Leadership and Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost to discuss Chuck Schumer celebrating U.S. troops not receiving their paychecks due to the Democrat Government Shutdown.

“Chuck Schumer did an interview last night and bragged, this is what he had the audacity to say, ‘Every day of this shutdown gets better for us.’ For his party,” Speaker Johnson said. “I don’t even know how to comment on that. It’s so stunning to me how callous he can be, to play political games and use American citizens as pawns in a political game.”

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full remarks here.

On Chuck Schumer celebrating the pain of the government shutdown:

And I just want to tell you one of the most outrageous things I’ve seen since I’ve been following politics, in the mid-eighties when I was a kid in the Reagan era. Chuck Schumer did an interview last night and bragged, this is what he had the audacity to say, “every day of this shutdown gets better for us.” For his party. I don’t even know how to comment on that. It’s so stunning to me how callous he can be to play political games and use American citizens as the pawns in a political game. We’re in day nine. The consequences of this Democrat shutdown are very real, and he can mock it, and he can pretend like it gets better for him, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t get better for the country. Right now, half our civilian federal employees are on furlough. Real vital, critical services that American citizens in all categories rely upon are halted. And when we talk specifically about our military right now, service members, military personnel at home and abroad, as well as border patrol agents, TSA air traffic controllers, they’re all working without pay.

I was on C-SPAN this morning on that program they do in the morning where American citizens call in. They have a Republican line, Democrat line, and an Independent line. One of the callers called in and she was so upset. She’s a young military mother. She has two special needs children as she told her story in tears. She’s so angry and so am I, that their services are being delayed. I mentioned here at this podium last few days, I have a big military district in Louisiana, the Fourth District. We have Fort Polk and Barksdale Air Force Base, lots of airmen, lots of soldiers, many are deployed right now defending your freedom around the world. And they’ve left the young families at home. They live paycheck to paycheck, many of these service members. And this is not a game. Chuck Schumer thinks it is. He says, “Every day of the shutdown gets better for us.” What the heck is he talking about?

On the stark contrast between Congressional Republicans and Democrats: 

Americans are watching a remarkable split screen. Two things happening simultaneously, and there’s a rather stunning contrast between the two on one screen, you see President Trump and Republicans delivering for the American people. You see, President Trump and Republicans cutting taxes for hardworking American families. You see us ending the border crisis, ending the crime crisis. You see us eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse in government, and now resolving violent conflicts around the world.

What President Trump achieved yesterday was announced last night, is a truly historic foreign policy achievement. I mean, it cannot be understated. We should give a whole press conference just about that. The deal that he struck between Israel and Hamas will achieve incredible results, not just for that region, but for every peace-loving people around the world. Everyone around the world, he’s going to return, bring the hostages home, two years they’ve been in captivity, they’ll finally be delivered home. We’re all watching the images of the celebrations in Israel and around the world by people in Gaza and in Israel, that this is coming to an end. He’s going to bring the hostages home. He’s going to bring peace and security back to Israel and truly lay the foundation for a lasting peace in the Middle East. This is a goal and an objective that’s been stated by presidents and politicians and policy makers and people around the globe for generations.

And President Trump has the strength and the vision and the resolve to do it. He’s the only President who could have, as has been demonstrated, and look at the other side of the screen. So that’s all going on on one side of the split screen. Now look at the other, the stark contrast with the Democrats who have shut down the government. Republicans are busy working around the clock to deliver for the American people, voting over and over to open the US government and laying the foundation for lasting peace and working to deliver for American troops and military families. And what do you see on the other screen? Democrats playing games at the lives and livelihoods of the people we represent. They have now voted in the Senate six times to keep the government shut down.

On Democrats pulling publicity stunts instead of voting to reopen the government:

It’s political theater to them. They’ve reduced Americans pain to a political prop. I’ll just say this briefly; I’m going to let the other leaders speak here. But just a few things that you’ve seen while we’re doing all this work. We’re working around the clock to deliver on all these things I’ve just listed. Democrats are playing games. They film themselves wandering the Capitol, beating on doors, posting flyers, and pretending to look for their colleagues. They hosted a livestream. Oh, it was so embarrassing. The House Democrats, they hosted this livestream where they ate candy and told terrible jokes to each other. They had an audience smaller than this room. The leader of the Democrat party is bragging about the cost that is borne by the American people. And just yesterday, I had two Democrat Senators come over and stage a failed publicity stunt outside of my office.

I heard about it, walked out, and confronted them and set them right on the truth. They came to this side of the Capitol to try to put on a little political show for their online audience, and then they walked right back over there and voted for the sixth time to keep the government shut down. Give me a break. Democrats seem to be doing everything except the one thing that Americans desperately need and deserve. And that’s passing our clean CR to get the government operating again. That’s all we’re asking. Stop the political stunts. Stop the madness. Stop saying that you’re enjoying inflicting pain on the American people for goodness sakes. And pass the clean CR and end the shutdown today.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

As the U.S. government enters a second week of a shutdown, U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) penned an op-ed that encourages Senate Democrats to end their shutdown and vote for the Republicans’ clean, short-term Continuing Resolution to reopen the government. 

Read his full op-ed in Cardinal News here or below.

The Democratic move to attempt to force Republicans to place long-term programs within a short-term Continuing Resolution is not serious governance, but political posturing.

Republicans in Washington voted to responsibly fund the government through a clean, short-term Continuing Resolution (CR). It was the right thing to do!

The government funding bill gives Congress additional time to work through several policy matters, including working on appropriations bills through the regular order.

This also continues funding at current levels and extends significant bipartisan programs whose authority ran out September 30.

Nonetheless, Democrats voted to shut it down.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate, including Virginia’s Democratic senators, repeatedly rejected the noncontroversial Continuing Resolution that funds the government through November 21.

This decision breaks from recent Democratic tradition: under President Biden, the Democratic conference supported 13 short-term Continuing Resolutions!

But this time, Democrats are mostly united in their opposition to the Republican Continuing Resolution. Many of them, including Virginia’s Democratic senators, say they are using their shutdown to force Republicans to the negotiating table.

What do they want to negotiate?

Democrats claim they are fighting for $1.5 trillion more in spending.

That much is true.

But what Republicans put forward is a short-term spending plan, not a long-term one.

And yet, in this short-term Continuing Resolution, Democrats demanded numerous things, including permanent programs! 

If they were serious about their demands, they would have developed a better plan.

What Democrats did was repackage old ideas and throw everything and the kitchen sink into a spending bill!

Accordingly, they included health care for illegal aliens.

Would they have proposed this if it was a serious policy offer?

I hope not.  

Democrats claim Republicans are lying.

Unfortunately, we are not. 

It is in the Democratic proposal!

If this was a serious proposal for a short-term Continuing Resolution, among other things, Democrats could have removed that provision.

Further, some Senate Democrats, led by Senator Chuck Schumer, sing a tune that vastly differs from earlier this year. 

Schumer, who has supported similar short-term Continuing Resolutions throughout his career, voted in March to allow a Republican Continuing Resolution to advance.

Following his decision, Schumer received intense backlash from members of his party and New York progressive base. Schumer’s position was so underwater that he went on a national media blitz in an attempt to repair whatever standing he had left with his Democratic base.

Now, Schumer is helping Democrats shut down the government, an idea unfathomable to him just six months prior!

Is it that when Schumer saw “Democratic Socialist” Zohran Mamdani secure the Democratic nomination for mayor in New York City this summer, Schumer saw the writing on the wall for his own career?

I believe Schumer is trying to save face for his own political prospects.

Accordingly, instead of a serious short-term proposal, Democrats threw a spending package together to satisfy their base. 

How do we know this is what the Democratic base wants?

Look no further than the 2020 Democratic presidential debates. 

In a June 2019 debate, the moderator asks the Democratic candidates to raise their hands if their government plans would provide health insurance coverage for undocumented immigrants.

Their response?

All 10 candidates on stage, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, raised their hands. They received a raucous applause from the progressive audience.

Just recently, a reporter asked California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters if Democrats are demanding health care for illegal aliens during this shutdown impasse.

Her response?

“Democrats are demanding health care for everybody!”

The Democratic move to attempt to force Republicans to place within a short-term Continuing Resolution things such as health care for illegals is not serious governance, but political posturing.

Republicans will not be bullied into some political ploy. Our constituents depend on government programs and services that are jeopardized because of this shutdown. Congress is limited in acting if Democrats drag out this process.

As the Republican Continuing Resolution comes up for another vote, I welcome my Democratic colleagues to do the right thing. Fund the government. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Don Bacon (2nd District of Nebraska)

Bacon Issues Statement on Reported Israel and Hamas Deal

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02) issued the following statement regarding the reported agreement to a deal between Israel and Hamas:

“We are all hopeful that the hostages still being held by Hamas will finally be released, which is long overdue. They have been abused, physically and mentally, and we need to get them home as soon as possible.  This reported agreement to the first step in President Trump’s peace agreement between Israel and Hamas is very welcome and celebrated. I pray that the rest of the agreement will be decided upon soon.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Scalise (1st District of Louisiana)

“If you want to have a tantrum, this is not the third grade. This is the lives of American people.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to discuss how Democrats are putting their far-left base over the needs of the American people, how Senate Democrats could end the shutdown today, and the absurdity of Democrats making the American people suffer to prove a political point. While Chuck Schumer is preoccupied with appeasing the far left to keep his job, Leader Scalise urged him to think about the thousands of Americans whose jobs the shutdown affects.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise’s full remarks.
On Chuck Schumer putting his political base ahead of the American people:“It was Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries who chose to take their toys and go home, all to appease the most radical elements of the far left, because Chuck Schumer is more concerned about his political job than he is about the jobs of millions of American families. American families’ lives are at stake here. Whether or not we’re going to be able to pay our troops, whether or not people can get on an airplane and go visit a relative or take a vacation, whatever their plans may have been, are being disrupted. Real lives of real people are being disrupted so that Chuck Schumer can show the far-left Marxists in his party that he’s having some kind of tantrum and fighting Donald Trump because he’s afraid of the far-left part of his political base.”On Democrats holding hardworking Americans hostage: “A lot of people say, ‘What is this really about?’ Obviously, you see Democrats trying to make it about things that have nothing to do with the basic funding of government, the bill that we passed here in this House just a few weeks ago. In fact, a lot of Democrats are having buyer’s remorse, but every one of us has a voting card. Weeks ago, Republicans and Democrats in the House had an opportunity to put this voting card in a machine and tell the American people where they stand on a government shutdown. And 99% of House Republicans voted ‘yes’ to keep the government open while we negotiate our differences. And 99% of Democrats voted ‘no’ to shut the government down. Some of them are having buyer’s remorse, and I don’t blame them. They’re now realizing the dire consequences that their ‘no’ vote caused to real families across America. Some of them are begging the Speaker, ‘Please bring us back in so they can get another shot at this.’ You don’t get a do-over. They picked the wrong side. They voted to shut the government down. They failed the test. But the good news is they can get bailed out by the Senate. If they really want to solve these problems, if they really want to make sure our troops get paid, which, by the way, we voted for, they voted against, they can call their two Democrat senators who have five times voted to shut the government down and say, ‘Today’s the day you can make amends. Today’s the day you can open the government up.’”On Senate Democrats’ political games:“Let me tell you what another senator just said yesterday about why this shutdown is going on. He said, this is a Democrat senator yesterday, ‘The point of this shutdown is not just suffering for suffering’s sake, but to make a point.’ So you even have Democrat senators admitting that they’re imposing suffering on the American people, but they just want to make a point? My God, millions of lives are at stake. They know they’re inflicting suffering on the American people, so they can make some kind of point. If you want to have a tantrum, this is not the third grade. This is the lives of American people. Real lives are at stake, real careers and families. Will they be able to pay their house note come the 15th? That’s at stake, the safety of our air traffic control system. So that some senator that wants to have a tantrum can make a point. “I think the American people are getting sick of this charade that’s going on. They know what the Democrats in the House did to shut the government down. But they also know that just [five] senators doing the right thing can turn this around and open the government back up again. And yes, we have big differences on a lot of things that we need to be negotiating on. All those bills that Chairman Cole and his appropriators sent out of committee, you can’t have those negotiations while you’re in a shutdown. And they know that, but they don’t mind inflicting suffering on the American people because they want to make a point.”On the hypocrisy of the Democrat party:“The Maryland delegation of Democrats held a press conference just days ago talking about how bad a shutdown will be for the state of Maryland. They’re right. The irony is they’re the ones who voted to shut it down. Over [150,000] employees in the state of Maryland alone will be hurt, and their own Democrat delegation is saying how bad it’s going to be, yet they’re the ones who voted to inflict that suffering on the people of Maryland. This madness can end. This madness needs to end with sanity finally emerging. Bring some common sense in. Chuck Schumer, if you can’t do the right thing because you’re so afraid of your political job, think about the jobs of millions of families out there who don’t want to have that suffering inflicted on them.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Scalise (1st District of Louisiana)

NEW ORLEANS, La.—Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News’ The Big Weekend Show to discuss Democrats’ refusal to reopen the government over their partisan demands, including taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants. Leader Scalise urged constituents to call their Democrat Senators and tell them to end the shutdown and vote ‘yes’ on House Republicans’ clean CR, which includes the same spending levels Democrats voted for in March.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise’s full interview.
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s interview:On debunking Democrats’ claims they don’t support free health care for illegal aliens:“Chuck Schumer decided he wanted to shut the government down. In doing so, he didn’t just vote ‘no’ on that bill. He filed an alternative bill, and the bill includes a trillion and a half dollars in new spending. You can go read his bill. Part of what he does in his bill is he takes away, repeals the verifications on illegals getting free health care. So on one hand, they’ll point to the law and go, don’t worry, the law says illegals can’t get free health care. But in the bill that Chuck Schumer is demanding that we pass to open the government up, he repeals the verifications. It’s like saying you’ve got a nightclub and you can only get in if you’re 21 years old, but then Chuck Schumer passes a law and says you can’t check ID. Well, guess what? Anybody who walks up to the door and says, ‘I want to be let in,’ you’ve got to let them in.“It’s why, by the way, the estimates say, illegals will get about $100 billion of your tax money in government health care. That’s in his alternative bill. He filed it. You can go read it. Why did he include it in is I think a fair question. But the problem is Chuck Schumer put that in his bill.”On Chuck Schumer appeasing the far left:“Well, you can see the pressure building because obviously, the far left has gotten Chuck Schumer doing their bidding right now, and that’s what it’s about. The far left, the Socialists in their party that are about to elect Mamdani, want a fight with Donald Trump. They don’t care what it’s about. Schumer is doing what they want because he’s afraid of AOC in New York. Well, think about if you’re a Democrat senator from a state that’s not New York, and you are now caught up in this New York proxy fight, and the whole government is being held hostage over it. Troops will not be paid in a few days if they still keep playing this game. Other federal employees, the same thing.”On ending the government shutdown:“All we need is five more Democrats. We’ve gotten three so far. Five more Democrats need to end this madness. It is a mad game. It’s insanity when you think of why Chuck Schumer has shut the government down to gut rural hospital funding, to give health care to illegals. But ultimately, five Democrats in the Senate need to vote for that bill and the government’s back open again. I hope it’ll happen. We don’t need to be in this position.“It shouldn’t have happened. But the Democrats have done it. They’re voting to continue the shutdown. John Thune is going to bring them back in on Monday, and they’re going to have another opportunity. So people, if you’re represented by a Democrat senator, call your Democrat senator and say, ‘Look, just vote to open the government up.’”On Democrats holding the American people hostage:“Well, there’s nothing to trade because ultimately what we passed through the House two weeks ago is a bill that is the same funding level of government that Chuck Schumer himself voted for just back in March. So where’s the Chuck Schumer from March. Did he get kidnapped by the left and somebody else is there? I don’t know. But at the end of the day, Chuck Schumer even voted for these spending levels. They’re playing political games with the American people, and I think people are fed up with that. We’ve got differences, obviously, on a lot of bills. We’re in a conference committee on a number of the appropriations bills right now. Why don’t they go back to work negotiating those differences? But you’ve got to open the government up first. You can’t hold the American people hostage, not pay our troops, for goodness’ sake, and all of those other things. Women Infant and Children program, the WIC program. Those people don’t even get their benefits while Chuck Schumer is playing these political games.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Scalise (1st District of Louisiana)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Newsmax’s The Record with Greta Van Susteren to discuss Democrats’ malpractice in shutting the government down over demands for harmful spending for illegal immigrants’ health care. Leader Scalise called on Senate Democrats to open the government back up so Congress can finish the appropriations process.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise’s full interview.
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s interview:On Democrats rejecting a clean CR and shutting down the government:“[House Republicans’ CR has] no changes, no new things, no taking out things that we don’t like. It just keeps everything status quo till November 21st, so we have more time to negotiate our differences. And believe me, our differences are very wide between Republicans and Democrats. But you can see they have been hell-bent on getting funding, taxpayer funding for health care for illegal aliens. And that’s why they shut the government down. Maxine Waters even confirmed that yesterday. So they have made it clear why they want to shut the government down because of things that are not in the bill that we voted on. 99% of Democrats voted to shut the government down in the House. That bill is in the Senate. They can vote today to open the government back up.” On Democrats halting Republicans’ appropriations work:  “Frankly, if you look at it, it’s supposed to be, Greta, the 12 normal appropriations bills that fund government. The House Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 out of committee. The Senate has passed a lot of their bills out of committee as well. And so there are differences between the two. And normally, you would have a negotiation over the differences between those bills with Republicans and Democrats. That was actually happening. And there is a conference committee. A lot of people really haven’t seen a conference committee, but it’s going on right now on those bills. And that all stops during a government shutdown. And so if Chuck Schumer votes to reopen the government and end this tantrum that he’s having, then we can get back to a negotiation on the differences on those bills and get normal government operations open again.” On Republicans rooting out wasteful federal spending: “Yeah, they’re going to have to drop this crazy demand that illegals should get health care for free. I mean, look, the American people don’t want that. And if you look at what we did in the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Working Families Tax Cut, we put verifications in place to save taxpayer money from waste, fraud, and abuse. And there was hundreds of billions of dollars. Everybody knew it was going on in all parts of government. One of the areas was in verifying whether somebody is here legally. They’re not supposed to be getting taxpayer-funded benefits on things like Medicaid.” On Democrats trying to focus on Obamacare instead of funding the government: “Greta, there are things that expire that Democrats, by the way, set to expire in December. That’s not supposed to be part of the government funding debate. Government funding goes through September 30th. There are other things that expire in December that we can have separate debates on. The Democrats and Chuck Schumer are trying to bring those debates into this government shutdown debate and create another set of arguments. At the end of the day, stop holding hostages. If you want to have a debate on all of this stuff, whether it’s government funding, our defense priorities, border security, or health care, we can debate all of those things, but not while the government shut down, not while Chuck Schumer is holding our military pay hostage, Greta.” 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Scalise (1st District of Louisiana)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) appeared on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus to discuss how Democrats are holding the government hostage over demands for free, taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants. Leader Scalise outlined how hardworking Americans are suffering under the Schumer Shutdown and called on Senate Democrats to vote with Senate Republicans and end the chaos.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise’s full interview. 
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s interview:On Democrats’ push for taxpayer funding for illegal immigrants:“I think what you’re seeing is Democrats are starting to feel real political pressure that the American people figured out why Chuck Schumer shut the government down. It’s not over some nebulous issues. It’s over trying to get health care, free, taxpayer-funded health care for illegals. That’s why Chuck Schumer shut the government down. They filed it in their alternative bill. Look, the Speaker pointed it out. Stephanopoulos was reading from Democrat talking points which were just false. They filed a bill, the Democrats did, to get rid of all the verifications that President Trump put in place. President Trump has been very clear: We’re going to secure the border, but we also are going to protect taxpayer money for hard-working families, not to give that money away to people here illegally. We put that in our bill. Chuck Schumer wants to reverse that and give taxpayer-funded benefits to illegals, and he shut the government down to do it. It’s insane.” On the consequences of the Democrat shutdown for hardworking Americans: “Well, clearly, Chuck Schumer doesn’t care right now about the American people. He’s trying to appease the most far-left radical elements of his base, and he’s doing it over things like troop pay. There are real consequences to American families during a government shutdown. Military troops who are out there defending our freedoms will not get paid during a shutdown. Closings on homes in most American cities are canceled today if you need flood insurance, for example. That program is shut down right now while Chuck Schumer shut the government down. Those are things affecting real families. I mean, so many other things that are real that Chuck Schumer doesn’t seem to care about because he’s fighting to get health care for illegals at the expense of taxpayers.” On the need for Senate Democrats to vote on the clean CR: “Look, President Trump brought the leaders into the White House just a few days ago, Chuck Schumer, Speaker Johnson, all the leaders, and he made it very clear, look, we’ll negotiate over how to properly fund the whole United States government, but we’re not going to do it while Chuck Schumer is holding people hostage. Let’s have this short-term funding bill go through so it buys us just until November 21st. This isn’t a long-term solution, but let’s at least free up the American people, get the government back open again until November 21st, while we negotiate our differences. We have big differences, but don’t hold the American people hostage while Chuck Schumer has a tantrum. “The American people see what their priorities are. They literally want to shut the government down to fund $200 billion of taxpayer money for illegal health care. That’s why Chuck Schumer is shutting the government down. It’s not going to hold. Five Democrat senators need to reverse course and vote today to open the government back up again, and we can end this madness, but that’s where we are.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Scalise (1st District of Louisiana)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) to discuss Democrats and Chuck Schumer holding Americans hostage over partisan demands. Leader Scalise highlighted how House Democrats voted to shut down the government but are looking to blame others, and that the shutdown could easily end if Senate Democrats vote to pass the clean CR the House passed two weeks ago.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise’s full remarks.
Excerpts from Leader Scalise’s remarks:On Democrats shutting the government down:“As we mark day 2 of Chuck Schumer’s shutdown, we know that there is a very straightforward way out of this, and that is for Senate Democrats to join with Senate Republicans and vote for the bill that opens up the government and allows negotiations to continue. Surely, by opening up the government again, it doesn’t resolve all of our differences, but it allows us to negotiate without Chuck Schumer holding the American people hostage. That’s really what’s going on here. We had a vote on this House floor two weeks ago, and 99% of House Democrats voted to shut the government down, led by their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who whipped their members to vote to shut the government down. “And so, they’re running around this town right now doing podcasts and trying to be commentators. They’re doing everything but being legislators. When they had an opportunity to actually govern, House Democrats voted to shut the government down. And now that the government shut down, they’re trying to blame somebody else for what they did. They voted to do this. They can get bailed out by Senate Democrats. The bill is still sitting over in the Senate. And so rather than trying to figure out who to assign blame to, what they should do is go over to the Senate, talk to their Senate Democrat counterparts, and say, Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, open up the government again. And then let’s have a negotiation over our differences. President Trump, you saw Vice President Vance as well, saying, ‘We will negotiate, but not while you’re holding hostages of the American people.’”On Democrats demanding taxpayer dollars for healthcare for illegal immigrants:“Throwing hundreds of billions of new taxpayer dollars to things like funding illegal alien healthcare is not the answer to that problem. And it surely is not the reason for Democrats to be shutting down the government. And yet that’s what they’re doing. Some of their own leaders have confirmed that’s why they’re shutting down the government. And it’s unacceptable to most American people who just want the government to work for them and deserve that. And we had a vote on the House floor. You can go look at that vote and see that over 99% of Democrats voted to shut the government down. It’s a real vote that we held, and that bill is still sitting in the Senate.”On House Republicans getting their work done:“We stand ready to negotiate on a lot of differences. We are in a conference committee right now on three of the appropriations bills, and Tom Cole and his appropriators have passed all 12 of the bills out of committee. John Thune, to his credit, changed course from the old days of Chuck Schumer, when Chuck Schumer ran the Senate and didn’t bring any of the appropriations bills out of committee. “They’re now moving those bills in the Senate. And so, we can have a broader negotiation on how to properly fund government, how to properly set priorities over funding government. Which, by the way, shouldn’t be complicated. It’s what every family does sitting around their kitchen table. They figure out how to properly budget their households. Businesses do this all the time. A small business, whether it’s good times or bad, has to sit down and figure out how to make the budget work. Washington needs to do the same thing. And that means House Democrats and Senate Democrats need to stop holding temper tantrums, stop making trillion and a half dollar demands for illegal alien funding, and vote to open up the government, release the hostages, and let’s go get back to a negotiation over what the priorities of this country really should be.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Bennie G Thompson (D-MS)

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Bennie G. Thompson announced Mississippi’s open application period for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The NSGP provides funding for physical security enhancements and other security-related activities for eligible nonprofit organizations anywhere in the country that are at risk of a terrorist attack.

Congressman Thompson has been a steadfast advocate for the NSGP. Under his leadership as chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congress enacted the Securing American Nonprofit Organizations Against Terrorism Act (P.L. No: 116-108), which was sponsored by Congressman Thompson. This legislation formally authorized the NSGP, increased NSGP funding, and made funds available to nonprofit organizations located in rural and urban areas. In 2022, Congress enacted the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act of 2022 (P.L. No: 117-263), which was also sponsored by Congressman Thompson. This legislation increased NSGP’s funding, strengthened its impact and effectiveness, and ensured greater resources to protect nonprofit organizations across the nation.

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program empowers nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, to continue serving their communities without fear or disruption. Given the concerning rise of violent threats targeting these institutions, it is imperative that Federal resources are made available to protect and preserve nonprofits and safeguard our communities.”

All grant proposals must be submitted to the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security (MOHS) by 5pm, October 17^th, 2025. MOHS will host grant-writing sessions for interested applicants. For additional information on applying for NSGP funding, please visit: https://www.homelandsecurity.ms.gov/grants/homeland-security-non-profit-grant-programs-np

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