MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Donald Norcross (1st District of New Jersey)

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Donald Norcross (1st District of New Jersey)

CHERRY HILL, NJ – Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01) delivered $850,000 in Community Project Funding to Pennsauken Township to support renovations and upgrades to the township’s Public Works facility.

The project will be used to establish a new, accessible public office facing Clement Avenue to improve public access, construct a covered storage structure to protect critical equipment and support the Fleet Maintenance Division, upgrade maintenance and garage areas, and replace aging building infrastructure.

“It’s great to be in my hometown of Pennsauken today to deliver an investment that supports the people who keep our community running,” said Congressman Donald Norcross. “From trash collection to snow removal and pothole repair, Public Works crews provide essential services we rely on every day. Modernizing this facility will help ensure our crews have the safe workspace they need to serve South Jersey residents.”

“Pennsauken’s Department of Public Works is the backbone of many of the critical services our residents rely on every day, from maintaining our roads and public spaces to responding when our community needs us most,” said Mayor Patrick Olivo. “These funding resources will allow us to make essential infrastructure upgrades to our Public Works Facility and Vehicle Repair Garage, ensuring our team has the safe, modern space they need to continue serving effectively. We are grateful to Congressman Norcross for recognizing the importance of this investment and supporting Pennsauken’s goals to strengthen the foundation of the services our community depends on.”

These improvements will help create a safer, more efficient workplace for employees while strengthening services for more than 36,000 residents. The existing complex, built more than 70 years ago, is aging and in need of upgrades.

This investment is a part of the $11.98 million Congressman Norcross secured for 15 Community Project Funding (CPF) awards throughout New Jersey’s First Congressional District to support economic development, create jobs, and respond to the most pressing needs of the community.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Donald Norcross (1st District of New Jersey)

CHERRY HILL, NJ – Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01) delivered $1,900,000 in Community Project Funding to Rowan University and Gloucester County to support the research, development, and testing of concrete 3D printed housing and critical roadway infrastructure improvements at Rowan’s West Campus.

“With this new Community Project Funding we are making smart investments that keep South Jersey on the map as a leader in education and innovation,” said Congressman Donald Norcross. “One project will support groundbreaking 3D printing research into new housing technology and the other will strengthen the roads and infrastructure needed to support Rowan’s continued expansion. “I always say that my three priorities are jobs, education, and security in our nation and our neighborhoods, and this funding helps deliver on all three—expanding educational opportunities that prepare the future workforce while improving traffic safety in our communities.”

“We are deeply grateful to Congressman Norcross for securing federal support for these transformative projects,” said Dr. Ali A. Houshmand, president of Rowan University. “This investment will accelerate our work to develop affordable, resilient housing through advanced 3D-printing research and will strengthen the infrastructure needed to support the continued growth of our West Campus. These initiatives will expand economic opportunity, attract new industry partners and help us continue building a stronger future for South Jersey.”

“This is a huge win for Gloucester County and Rowan’s West Campus, helping us deliver the road and infrastructure upgrades that will support growth for decades to come,” said Matthew Weng, Gloucester County Commissioner. “We’re excited to keep moving this project forward and to make travel safer, smoother, and more reliable for students, residents, and local businesses.”

The $1,050,000 grant to Rowan University will help students research, develop, and test advanced concrete 3D printing technology to build affordable and resilient homes. Rowan partners closely with labor unions and trade schools to cultivate the future workforce.

The $850,000 grant to Gloucester County will support Phase II of the County’s roadway infrastructure project at Rowan’s West Campus. The project includes the continued construction of Gilbreth Parkway in Mantua, from its existing terminus near the Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine and extending it up along route 55 right-of-way to Edison Parkway and ending at Lambs Road.

These projects is a part of the $11.98 million Congressman Norcross secured for 15 Community Project Funding (CPF) awards throughout New Jersey’s First Congressional District to support economic development, create jobs, and respond to the most pressing needs of the community.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (3rd District of Ohio)

WASHINGTON – Today’s scanty document production shows that there is no adequate basis to close the Kennedy Center and that Donald Trump’s statements to the contrary are not founded. 

 

President Trump claims that his proposed closure of the Kennedy Center was based on a “a one-year review” including “Art Institutions” and other experts and advisors. Rep. Beatty’s court filings (see here and here) establish that indeed such an extensive review is required for a decision of this magnitude. 

 

Accordingly, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, a federal court issued an emergency order requiring the government to provide Congresswoman Joyce Beatty–a Kennedy Center trustee–with proof backing up the President’s statement. That includes “a list of the experts or advisors who provided input during [the] ‘one year review.’” The court also ordered production of “any reports provided by those experts and advisors” “relating to the ‘one year review’ or the planned closure of the Center.”

 

“We called Donald Trump’s bluff, and the results are in,” said Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.  “These inadequate documents prove that there is absolutely no basis to shutter this precious living memorial and beloved institution. It certainly looks like President Trump is shutting down the Center because he is embarrassed that ticket sales are down and artists are fleeing since his illegal renaming. I’m not letting him get away with it – we’re holding him accountable.”

 

The documents just produced fall far short. “President Trump’s February 1, 2026 Truth Social post claimed he conducted a one-year review with contractors, musical experts, art institutions, advisors and consultants to determine whether to shut down the Kennedy Center,” said the Congresswoman’s counsel Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, Senior Counsel at the Washington Litigation Group.  “According to the scanty materials we have received, the Kennedy Center did not consult a single outside expert or adviser from February 1, 2025 to February 1, 2026 as part of a one year review, and there appears to be no report from the supposed one year review during that period. This only confirms that there is no legal or other basis to close the Kennedy Center.” 

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Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

 

The Washington Litigation Group is a nonpartisan team of attorneys dedicated to defending individuals and institutions that have been unlawfully targeted for exercising their legal rights and to fighting against governmental overreach.

 

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 Velshi, where he emphasized that the Trump administration should be using taxpayer dollars to make life more affordable in America rather than breaking their promises to the American people by entering an unpopular war of choice in the Middle East.

ALI VELSHI: For more on this, I’m joined by New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives. Congressman Jeffries, good to see you. Thank you for being with us this morning.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning. Great to be with you.

ALI VELSHI: Everything about this war, forgetting the part that it seems to have been badly thought out and badly planned and all of that, it is illegal. It is not permitted for the United States to enter into war without either an authorization of the use of military force or explicit permission from Congress. What do you do about the fact that that simply hasn’t happened? Whether you like the war with Iran or not, or you hate the Islamic regime, doesn’t matter. This is not a legal war.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, we brought a War Powers Resolution to the Floor of the Congress that fell a few votes short when we were in session earlier this month. Upon our return, we’ll continue to do the same thing. The President has failed to make the case to the American people and to their representatives in Congress, and that is one of the reasons why, of course, this war of choice is deeply unpopular.The American people want their taxpayer dollars spent to make their lives more affordable. Instead, the administration, of course, is spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in the Middle East when Donald Trump, as Candidate Trump, promised not to get us involved in this type of conflict.

ALI VELSHI: You said that the administration failed to make the case to Congress, and one might say that one could try to make a case to Congress, and Congress could say you didn’t make the case well enough. I would assume that some of your Republican colleagues would say you didn’t even attempt to make that case. The legal part of this is you’ve got to actually come and try and tell us about that. Why wouldn’t Republicans have joined hands with Democrats, and why did a handful of Democrats not support this?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, you know, you’ll have to talk to those individual Democrats who made a decision to not support the prior War Powers Resolution, although several of them have indicated that the next time we bring such a resolution to the Floor, they will be prepared to support it. In terms of Republicans, what’s clear is that from the very beginning of the Trump presidency, these extremists have functioned like wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Trump cartel, continuing to be nothing more than reckless rubber stamps for Donald Trump’s extreme agenda, as opposed to functioning like a separate and co-equal branch of government.And what is clear to me is that Donald Trump’s war of choice that Republicans are supporting was poorly planned. There was no plan as it relates to dealing with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. There was no plan as it relates to evacuating thousands of Americans who, for days after the conflict, were stranded. There were no plans to deal with the fact that Iran was going to strike out at our allies in the Gulf states throughout the region, and now this war has intensified, so more than a dozen countries are actually involved. And there’s no clear plan to end this conflict in a way that enures to the benefit of the national security interests of the American people.

ALI VELSHI: I’m hoping this war is not continuing in November when the election is on, the midterms are on, and in January when the new Congress is formed. But is there something you can do if and when you take control of Congress to immediately stop this war if it’s going on, and immediately impose a requirement on this administration that they cannot go into war without the permission of Congress?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, certainly, it would be our hope that this would resolve itself way earlier than November or January of next year, as you’ve indicated, Ali. But the one thing that is clear is that Democrats, in taking back control of the House and/or the Senate, needing both chambers, of course, to ensure that the congressional requirement of approval of an act of war, particularly one that continues to sustain itself now for weeks, is vindicated and brought to life. And that certainly will be our intention. Listen. As Democrats, we need to reclaim the institution of Congress as a separate and co-equal branch of government, because Republicans have decided that they just want to hand over our authority on behalf of the American people to Donald Trump and the sycophants that are filled within his administration and his cabinet. And so listen. Our focus has got to be on the issues that matter for the American people, and that’s our promise to everyday Americans: that we’re going to focus on driving down the high cost of living, focus on fixing our broken healthcare system, focus on making sure that immigration enforcement in this country is fair and just and humane and focus on making sure that the taxpayer dollars of the American people are actually spent to make their quality of life better.

ALI VELSHI: So let’s talk about that. You mentioned the price of gas, $3.67 now. It’s up 25% or something since before the war. Price of oil itself is up 40%, and gas always follows that. So the average American is now going to be paying probably 40% more for a gallon of gas. Then they’ll pay surcharges for everything that they order, that UPS or Amazon has to deliver, every flight they take or for every company that ships things. For farmers who have to pay more for diesel, for farmers who have to pay more for fertilizer. And then there’s the $2 billion a day that this war is costing that is not going toward the things that we need. So we can’t give healthcare subsidies to people, but we can spend $2 [billion] on a war that nobody explains to us. From an affordability perspective, this fits right into what should be Democratic messaging.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, that’s absolutely correct. Listen, our view is that Donald Trump and Republicans have taken affirmative steps to make life more unaffordable for the American people, when these are people who promised—these extremists, these Republicans—to lower the high cost of living on day one. And of course, costs aren’t going down. They’ve gone up. The Trump tariffs have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. Republicans refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, causing dramatic increases in health insurance premiums for more than 20 million Americans directly and tens of millions of other Americans indirectly who receive their insurance from their employers. We’ve also seen Republicans make the affirmative decision to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, to cut SNAP by $186 billion, which is making food more unaffordable for the American people. And, of course, as a result of this war of choice, this reckless war that Donald Trump and Republicans have launched, we’re seeing gas prices increase through the roof. And that’s already on top of electricity bills that have been skyrocketing because of the Republican attack on the clean energy economy. And so Republicans have affirmatively made life more expensive for the American people, and Democrats plan to do everything that we can to reverse that.

ALI VELSHI: A special election in [New Hampshire] last year—last week—over a state seat, a Democrat flipped a seat to—a Republican seat to Democrat. That’s the 28th seat that’s been flipped so far. Republicans have flipped no legislative seats—state legislative seats—since the last election. What are you reading into this? What are you hearing about that in terms of the effect that it’s going to have on primaries and the midterms?

LEADER JEFFRIES: Well, Democrats have effectively won every single meaningful election for 15 consecutive months at this point in time. The American people are rejecting Republican extremism and embracing our focus on actually doing the things necessary to drive down the high cost of living and ensure that every single American who works hard and plays by the rules can actually live an affordable life, a comfortable life or live the good life. And we’ve been very clear on what that means: a good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children and then when it’s all said and done, a good retirement. And we’re going to continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal to focus on the things that matter for the American people, to lay out a clear, forward-looking agenda in advance of November. And it’s my expectation we’re going to take back control of the House.

ALI VELSHI: Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader. Thank you for joining us this morning. We appreciate your time.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you so much.

Full interview can be watched here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04)

Congressman Baird Offers Condolences to Family of Captain Koval

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (3rd District of Ohio)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to ensure Congresswoman Joyce Beatty is provided with the crucial information about Donald Trump’s plan to close the Kennedy Center and that she can participate in next week’s Kennedy Center Board meeting.

“I serve on the Board on behalf of my colleagues in Congress and the American people, and I take that responsibility seriously. The Kennedy Center is a national cultural institution created by Congress and supported by the American public,” said Congresswoman Beatty. “No president has the authority to shut Congress out of the governance of the Kennedy Center, much less unilaterally rename or demolish it. We will not stand by while an important part of our national heritage is jeopardized, and I intend to make that clear at next week’s board meeting.”

The ruling orders the administration to allow Rep. Beatty to participate at the March 16 meeting, where trustees are expected to discuss the president’s plan to close and potentially demolish the Kennedy Center. In December, Congresswoman Beatty was barred from speaking at a Board meeting where trustees purported to rename the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump.

The Court also ordered the government to provide Rep. Beatty documents regarding the shutdown of the Kennedy Center, including information about the “one year review” that Trump claimed he conducted.  If the documents do not exist, the government must state so in writing.

“The Kennedy Center is a national institution created by Congress and held in trust for the American people. As a member of the Kennedy Center Board, Congresswoman Beatty is entitled to have a say in the President’s unlawful efforts to close and potentially demolish it,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), executive chair of Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, Senior Counsel at the Washington Litigation Group. “The court rightly recognized this and sent a clear message that the Kennedy Center is not Donald Trump’s renovation project any more than it is his political trophy or personal property. He cannot simply make unilateral decisions about it and have those decisions rubber-stamped by his hand-picked board.”

The ruling can be found here: https://f9c23fd5-1644-4a5f-a561-d04e6b5736d6.usrfiles.com/ugd/f9c23f_e6efb0daa2ea4d49891fde9e5d5ea2af.pdf 

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Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

The Washington Litigation Group is a nonpartisan team of attorneys dedicated to defending individuals and institutions that have been unlawfully targeted for exercising their legal rights and to fighting against governmental overreach.
 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Bruce Westerman (AR-04)

The internet and social media have become a modern-day Wild West. The increased use of AI and social media by bad actors with little regulation from the tech industry has led to severe impacts on our children’s safety and mental health.

Big Tech companies continuously refuse to take responsibility for the impact their content can have on kids and families. So now, Congress has an obligation to restore order and enact policies that put our kids’ safety first along with their digital well-being.

Last week, the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a markup to discuss the Kids Internet and Digital Safety(KIDS) Act, a bill that aims at protecting our kids and teens from the dangers of online usage, empowering parents, and holding Big Tech companies accountable.

The long-standing “honor system” adult websites have used is no longer feasible. We cannot be naïve to think that children will not be exposed to pornography and other graphic content at such young ages. In response to this epidemic we are watching unfold, KIDS requires all websites containing adult content to uphold the same levels of safety measures and restrictions that a brick-and-mortar store would use. That’s just plain common sense.

Newer online threats, like the misuse of AI, are also addressed in this bill – an issue that has already proven to create great risks and concerns in the online world regarding our children’s safety. From AI-generated photos to chatbots on social media, we are seeing an increased amount of deception online that feed dangerous narratives. We must think: if it’s becoming difficult for us as adults to discern what is real or fake online, how can we expect our children to have the ability to do the same?

The responsibility doesn’t rest solely on the shoulders of Congress or the government to ensure the safety of our children online. That’s why the KIDS Act also aims at empowering parents to get involved and learn how to better detect and respond to digital threats.

According to the National Library of Medicine, a Spanish study was conducted in 2016 of children ages 13 to 17. This study found that 60% of boys and 11% of girls use the internet for sexual activities. But surprisingly, it was found that 75% of parents believe their children have never been exposed to adult content like pornography.

So much of our children’s exposure to adult content online happens in the home. The internet isn’t even close to what it was like 20 years ago – even five years ago! That’s why parents must be informed and aware of the new challenges that are sure to continue developing online so they can make the best decisions regarding the well-being of their children and their families.

Serving the Fourth District in Congress, I’ve had the privilege of sitting with family members who have shared their own experiences with online safety. Oftentimes, these are not happy stories that are shared. They’re serious, sobering, and incredibly difficult to process.

Being told the story of a mother’s son who took his own life because of an AI chat box or content fed to him by a social media algorithm is a devasting story to hear. Learning about the use of AI-generated photos to produce inappropriate images of someone’s underage son or daughter is sickening. There are countless stories to be told, each more devastating than the last. But these stories are why it matters that Congress steps in to create guardrails around an industry whose sole motive is to keep kids – and adults – chronically online for profit.

It may come as a knee-jerk reaction to feel unease when seeing the words “Congress,”  “guardrails,” or “restrictions” in the same sentence, but when it comes to an issue where our children’s lives are on the line, we cannot gamble with the hope that Big Tech will step up to do the right thing after years and years of opportunity to do so.

For years, I’ve been heavily supportive of legislation that prioritizes child safety online. This is exactly why I introduced my bill, the Focus on Learning Act, in 2024, to study the impact of cell phones in schools. This bill gets to the heart of the need to protect children from the unhealthy use of technology by conducting studies to provide up-to-date reports on the real-life implications of its use.

We have got to give our kids the best opportunity to succeed. These bills are excellent steps in the right direction, but there is still so much work to be done. House Republicans remain dedicated to protecting our kids, empowering families, and holding industries accountable that prey on their innocence.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA)

LAFAYETTE, LA – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) released the following statement on efforts to address workforce challenges facing Louisiana’s crawfish industry.

“Many of Louisiana’s crawfish processors are facing significant workforce shortages due to complications involving legal immigrant temporary employee visas. Historically, seasonal workers and the visa system that allows them to be legally employed in America is fraught with controversy and bureaucratic uncertainty. Guidance from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor regarding supplemental H-2B visas failed to account for the unique seasonality and 2025 “start dates” used by some H-2B employers in Louisiana’s crawfish industry. We have been working to address this issue with the Executive Branch, proposing solutions and directly engaging DHS and DOL at the highest levels. My office will continue to advocate for an immediate solution from the Executive Branch.”

Timeline and Background:

• November 14, 2025 – Congressman Higgins joined other members of Congress on a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL), urging the agencies to “exercise authority provided by Congress to release the total allowable number of additional H-2B visas for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).” Read the full letter here.
• December 31, 2025 – DHS and DOL jointly announced that supplemental H-2B visas would be available for FY26 and that guidance would be forthcoming.
• January 30, 2026 –  DHS and DOL jointly announced a temporary final rule, which was formally published in the Federal Register on February 3, 2026. The temporary final rule outlined the award process for 64,716 additional visas through three tranches (January 1 – March 31, April 1 – April 30, and May 1 – September 30). While the guidance notes that employment start dates must match the dates of the respective tranche, it also states that “for purposes of this H-2B cap increase, petitioners may use TLCs that list an employment start date that has passed if the TLC is otherwise valid.” This language led crawfish processors, many of whom filed with employment start dates in November or December of 2025, to believe that their applications were eligible for supplemental visas to be awarded in the January 1 – March 31 tranche.
• January 30, 2026 – Congressman Higgins’ office reached out to DHS and DOL to seek clarification regarding the eligibility of 2025 employment start dates.
• January 31, 2026 – DHS and DOL experienced a lapse in funding after Senate Democrats opposed a House-passed appropriations package.
• February 3, 2026 – Funding for both agencies was restored, with DHS funding set to lapse again on February 14, 2026.
• February 9, 2026 – DHS affirmed to Congressman Higgins’ office that employment start dates in 2025 would be rejected.
• February 11, 2026 – DOL acknowledged the issue with start dates and deferred to DHS’ interpretation of eligibility.
• February 13, 2026 – Congressman Higgins delivered a letter to DHS and DOL, calling for immediate action to either allow applicants to resubmit with new dates or to deem 2025 start dates eligible. The letter reads, “I urgently request your agencies’ assistance in granting targeted exceptions for H-2B visa applications filed by Louisiana employers. These vital businesses have scrupulously complied with all applicable laws, regulations, and filing requirements. However, they now face an untenable situation due to the rapid exhaustion of the FY26 H-2B cap and the timing of the recently announced supplemental visa allocation.” Read the full letter here.
• February 13, 2026 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted a random selection process for the first tranche of supplemental visas, exhausting all 18,490 available for the January 1 – March 31 time period.
• February 14, 2026 – DHS experienced a lapse in funding after Senate Democrats opposed a House-passed Homeland Security appropriations bill.
• February 16, 2026 – Crawfish processors notified Congressman Higgins’ office that they had begun receiving denial letters, which stated the 2025 employment start dates were ineligible and that they could resubmit a corrected application.
• February 18, 2026 – Congressman Higgins’ office met with the Louisiana Farm Bureau and representatives from the crawfish industry to discuss ongoing engagement with the Executive Branch.
• February 19, 2026 – Congressman Higgins’ office continued backchannel communications with the Executive Branch.
• March 3, 2026 – Congressman Higgins delivered another letter to DHS and DOL, proposing “to remedy this situation, I request your immediate intervention to make up to 1,500 visas available for businesses that meet these narrow circumstances, drawing evenly from the remaining supplemental visa allocations planned for FY 2026.” Read the full letter here.
• March 5, 2026 – Congressman Higgins called USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, who expressed optimism that a solution was in process and pending DOL approval.
• March 11, 2026 – Congressman Higgins’ office participated in a call with USCIS, seeking a decision timeline and stressing the urgency of the workforce challenge for the crawfish industry.
• March 13, 2026 – Congressman Higgins’ office participated in a call with DOL, stressing the urgency of the issue and potential economic loss in Louisiana.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Grace Meng (6th District of New York)

Congresswoman tours federal prison and meets with New Yorkers detained at the facility by ICE including detained New York City Council Staffer