MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) today issued the following statement on the passing of his longtime friend and colleague, Congressman Gerry Connolly:

“Gerry Connolly was one of a kind, and I am heartbroken that he has passed.

“Gerry will leave a towering legacy of accomplishment in Fairfax County, he was a forceful advocate for our region and the people in it. Everyone who runs for office says they want ‘to get stuff done,’ but comparatively few actually succeed. Gerry got stuff done for years in Fairfax, where he advocated successfully for projects including the Silver Line and the Cross County Trail, which now bears his name. Then he brought the same attitude and outlook to Congress, where he wrote and passed a major postal reform, led efforts to create the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, and was one of the most tireless and active advocates for the federal workforce ever to serve in Congress. Gerry was especially proud to have been named the House’s ‘most effective legislator,’ and to have earned the trust of his colleagues to lead our Caucus on oversight and government reform, topics he knew more about than almost anyone.

“Everyone who worked with him knew Gerry as a pugnacious fighter for his constituents, for good government, and for a range of causes around the world. He was also warm, witty, and loyal, and he loved acting in community theater as a company member of the Providence Players of Fairfax. Above all, Gerry was beloved by his family, friends, and staff. Megan and I send our condolences to all of them, and especially my best wishes to Smitty, Caitlin, and their family.”

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

Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement:

The Democratic Caucus, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the country have lost a hardworking, humble and honorable public servant with the passing of Congressman Gerry Connolly. 

For more than three decades, Gerry relentlessly defended our democracy on the Oversight Committee, where he became a Subcommittee Chair and then the Ranking Member. As the co-author of the Issa-Connolly Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), he was instrumental in overhauling our federal IT laws and ensuring our government institutions remain strong and secure. He used his foreign policy expertise as both a Senate staffer and a Member of the People’s House to bolster our transatlantic alliance, serving twice as the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Even as he battled a difficult cancer diagnosis, Ranking Member Connolly continued to push back against the unprecedented attacks on the federal workers in his district and across the country.

In addition to his legislative wisdom, Gerry always brought his signature mirth and wit to the House, making even something like proxy voting a point of levity during an otherwise challenging time in our nation. My prayers, and those of the entire House Democratic Caucus, are with Congressman Connolly’s loved ones and the devoted staff who he considered to be his family. 

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

ICYMI: Griffith Appears on Fox & Friends First to Discuss House GOP Efforts to Pass “Big, Beautiful Bill”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)

(Washington, DC) — U.S. Representative Ed Case (HI-01) was presented with the 2025 Statesmanship Award by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) in a ceremony tonight in Washington, D.C.

In presenting the prestigious award to Case, the FMC said:  “U.S. Representative Ed Case, who has the rare distinction of being both a current Member and a former Member, is a leader on issues ranging from education to environmental protection and more, bringing his collaborative and collegial approach to often-difficult debates as a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations and otherwise.

“He exemplifies a pragmatic and productive approach to legislating that FMC considers essential for the nation’s success.”

Case was joined in receiving this year’s award by U.S. Representative Young Kim (R-CA, and a graduate of St. Andrews Priory (now St. Andrews Schools) in Honolulu), and U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

On receiving the award, Case said: “I’m deeply honored and somewhat embarrassed to receive this award, as there are a number of my House colleagues who deserve it.

“I have always believed as they do that our representative democracy relies absolutely on inclusion and responsiveness to real citizen concerns with real practical problem solving. That is the only approach that will lead us out of this disturbing time to deep national division and polarization and validate to the rest of our world that democracy remains the best path forward.

“It doesn’t mean that we ignore deep policy disagreements and debates and make the tough decisions when required. But it does mean that we must consciously and constantly work to strengthen the institutions and ability of our government to solve them. 

The FMC (https://www.usafmc.org/) was founded over a half century ago and, at some 800 members today, is a “bipartisan, nonprofit, voluntary alliance of former United States Senators and Representatives, advocating for representative democracy at home and abroad.”

Its annual Statesmanship Award is given to Members who have demonstrated a life-long dedication to solutions-based governing, respectful debate, and placing the interests of citizens above politics.

Case served as U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2^nd Congressional District from 2002 to 2007, following which he continued his involvement with Congress on various FMC efforts.  He was re-elected to the U.S. House in 2018 and is now serving his sixth full term in the House. He has served on the House Committee on Appropriations since his return to Congress, currently on the Subcommittees on Defense and on Homeland Security. Among other activities, he serves as Vice Chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus (https://problemsolverscaucus.house.gov/), a bipartisan group of Members of Congress -evenly split between Republicans and Democrats – committed to advancing common-sense solutions to key issues facing our nation.

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Attachments: Pictures of U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Young Kim at tonight’s Statesmanship Awards ceremony, along with the Award to Case.

 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

San Diego, CA  – Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) made the following statement regarding the data from the Point-in-Time Count released by the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness:

“I’m encouraged by the decrease in the number of families and veterans who are unsheltered. The results show our investments have us headed in the right direction, yet we know that much more must be done to shelter our neighbors,” said Rep. Peters. “We must build more low- and middle-income housing and we must do it faster and we must protect the services available to those in need.”

The 2025 Point-in-Time Count identified 9,905 people in San Diego County who are homeless, compared to 10,605 a year ago.

The data shows that proven strategies are making a difference. Homelessness among Transitional Youth (18 to 24 years old) decreased by 22 percent. Rep. Peters recently celebrated the opening of a new youth shelter which he secured $1.5 million for as part of the City of San Diego’s Safe Shelter for Transition-Age Youth (Safe STAY) program. The shelter will provide wrap-around case management to help young people exit homelessness through education, employment, and supportive services. 

Still, too many San Diegans remain unsheltered, with many of them living in their cars. According to the Point-in-Time Count results, the population of people living in their vehicles rose by 7 percent. Rep. Peters’ staff recently toured the new H-Barracks safe parking site, San Diego’s 7th safe parking site. The site will add 190 spaces, nearly doubling the capacity of the Safe Parking Program, and will offer critical services to connect individuals and families to housing.

Rep. Peters participated in Point-in-Time Count in January, which he does every year when he is not in Washington, D.C. for votes in the House of Representatives.

“The best way to learn is to talk to people living on the street and hear their stories,” Rep. Peters said. “I thank every volunteer and service provider and will keep pushing to bring home federal resources to support our local partners.”

During his time in Congress, Rep. Peters has led many efforts to increase homelessness funding for the San Diego region, provide more shelter beds, make housing more affordable, and incentivize housing construction. In addition to the recent opening of the youth shelter which he secured funding for, in the last several months, he has:

• Launched the Build America Caucus, a bipartisan group dedicated to cutting the self-imposed red tape that has led to out-of-control housing costs and other lagging investments.
• Launched the YIMBY Caucus, a first-of-its-kind group working to promote pro-housing growth policies that lower costs, help people achieve the dream of home ownership, and create vibrant, walkable, and transit-connected communities.
• Urged the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to finish processing and disbursing Fiscal Year 2024 homelessness funds that had yet to be sent out and requested that HUD adhere to the recent congressionally approved two-year homelessness funding cycle.

Rep. Peters’ legislation that is now law in this space includes:

• The Veteran HOUSE Act, which became law in the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2021 and is working to tackle veteran homelessness by expanding the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.
• The Housing Assistance Efficiency Act, which became law in 2015 and is helping non-profits directly administer homelessness assistance grants to those who need it by eliminating a bureaucratic step previously requiring non-profits to connect homeless individuals with federal agencies to receive aid.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman David G Valadao (CA-21)

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 1147, the Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act. This legislation, introduced by Congressman Valadao earlier this Congress, would make the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) more accessible for our disabled veterans by establishing a permanent advisory committee within the VA to allow for direct and regular communication with the Secretary on behalf of disabled veterans. Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) co-led this legislation.

“I’m proud to see the House pass my Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act with strong bipartisan support,” said Congressman Valadao. “This bill gives disabled veterans a permanent voice at the highest levels of the VA, ensuring that their experiences help shape the policies, services, and facilities they rely on. Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and we have a responsibility to remove the barriers that stand between them and the care they’ve earned, and this bill brings us one step closer to fulfilling that promise.”

The Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act:

• Requires the VA Secretary to create a permanent advisory committee on issues related to the accessibility of VA benefits, services, and facilities for veterans and employees with mobility impairments, hearing, visual, cognitive, or other disabilities.
• Eliminates an inactive Department of Veterans Affairs advisory committee not established by Congress, consolidate two smaller committees, or recommend the termination of an inactive committee established by Congress to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs.
• Would be composed of 15 individuals including disabled veterans, experts, employees, and veteran service organization representatives.
• Provides informal consultations and advice to the Secretary and other VA officials, as well as formal reports. 

Read the full bill here.

Prior to the vote, Congressman Valadao spoke on the House floor to urge passage of the bill. You can watch his full remarks here or read them as prepared below:

I urge my colleagues to support the Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act, which would make the Department of Veterans Affairs more accessible for our disabled veterans.

Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and we have a responsibility to make sure they receive the benefits and services they’ve earned.

Sadly, too many disabled veterans face unnecessary obstacles in accessing care because of avoidable barriers at the VA.

This bipartisan bill would create a permanent advisory committee within the VA made up of disabled veterans, experts, and advocates who understand these challenges firsthand. 

This committee will give our veterans a direct line to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs—ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are prioritized.

This is a commonsense, bipartisan step to improve oversight, enhance accessibility, and uphold our nation’s commitment to the men and women who have sacrificed so much defending our freedoms.

I want to thank Chairman Bost and his staff at the Committee on Veterans Affairs for their work on this important bill to make the VA more accessible for the disabled veterans it serves.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (21st District of New York)

ICYMI: Stefanik Joined Mornings with Maria on FBN to Speak About Enacting President Trump’s Agenda, Harvard’s Ties to China, and Joe Biden’s Health Scandal | Press Releases | Congresswoman Elise Stefanik

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

“Donald, there is nothing beautiful about making people sicker, poorer, and more vulnerable. And that’s exactly what this bill would do.”

Republican Reconciliation Bill Would Rip Away Healthcare and Food Assistance from Millions, Harm Everyone Especially Black and Brown Communities

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) co-hosted a press conference with Color of Change to oppose the Republicans’ cruel and harmful budget reconciliation package, which would gut critical programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to fund billions of dollars in new tax giveaways straight into the pockets of Trump’s billionaire friends. The bill is estimated to cause 14 million people to lose their healthcare and raise costs for millions more. It would also make the largest cuts to food assistance in American history, taking food away from millions of children, seniors, veterans, and folks with disabilities.

Across Massachusetts, over 955,000 Medicaid enrollees are at risk of losing healthcare coverage under MassHealth, the Commonwealth’s Medicaid program, due to the bill’s work reporting requirements for Medicaid. In the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District, approximately 135,000 enrollees would lose coverage.

Republicans’ extreme budget plan also threatens the approximately 1,216,000 people in the Commonwealth who depend on SNAP to put food on the table, including 187,000 people in the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District.

Congresswoman Pressley was joined by Representatives Summer Lee (PA-12), Shontel Brown (OH-11), Alma Adams (NC-12), Gabe Amo (RI-01), and Rashida Tlaib (MA-12), as well as Color of Change’s Interim Executive Director Portia Allen-Kyle, Families over Billionaires’ Campaign Director Michael Linden, and advocates from Color of Change.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s opening remarks, as delivered, is available below, and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley, Color Of Change Host Presser Opposing Medicaid Cuts for Trump’s Billionaire Handouts
U.S. Capitol
May 20, 2025

Good afternoon everyone!

Thank you for joining us. It is so good always to be surrounded by what I consider to be movement family. I am immensely proud to be partnering with Color of Change as we demand that Republicans take their hands off our healthcare, hands off our food assistance, and hands off other essential, life-saving programs.

Thank you to Portia, for standing in the gap in such a time as this. Thank you for the indefatigable efforts of the entire team at Color of Change, to the folks here today who are opening their hearts to share their stories with us all. 

And thank you my colleagues, Representatives Lee, Brown, Adams, Amo and Tlaib for their partnership and to our friends at Families over Billionaires for the work you do each and every day.

We stand here today because Republicans are trying to gut Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential, life-saving programs so they can line the pockets of billionaires including Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is stealing from the poor, the elderly, the vulnerable and everyday working families to line his own damn pockets.

This is the great Republican ripoff.

These attacks are precise, intentional, targeted. 

They mean harm to everyone who calls this country home, beginning with our most vulnerable.

They’re coming for our veterans, our elders, and folks with disabilities. 

They’re coming for those in need of life-saving medications for chronic diseases like asthma, high blood pressure, and dementia.

They’re coming for babies who need formula, parents who are just trying to put food on the dinner table.

And of course, they mean to harm our Black and brown communities who stand to be the most impacted by these devastating cuts.

Medicaid is essential healthcare. About 1 in 5 Medicaid enrollees are Black.  

SNAP is essential food for families. 20% of Black households have faced food insecurity in recent years, compared to 7% of white households.

As the saying goes, when the rest of America gets a cold, Black folks get pneumonia – and this bill is certainly a testament to that. 

I represent the Massachusetts 7th, a district that is vibrant, diverse, dynamic, one of the most unequal in this country, and was one of the hardest-hit Congressional districts by the first Trump occupancy.

And we have every reason to believe that this will be the case again in the second occupancy of the Trump White House.

Donald Trump was up here today threatening his caucus to fall in line behind his “one big, beautiful bill.” 

Donald, there is nothing beautiful about making people sicker, making people poorer, making people more vulnerable. And that’s exactly what this bill would do. 

Nearly 14 million people kicked off their healthcare. Food ripped out of the mouths of millions of children, seniors, veterans, and folks with disabilities. 

I mean seriously, the only people who’d benefit from this bill are toy spaceship billionaires like Elon Musk and Donald Trump himself.

The cruelty is the point. 

Republicans know exactly how cruel and unpopular this bill is. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying to move it forward under the cover of night at 11 o’clock on a Sunday or 1am on a Wednesday, like they’re doing this week. 

You know, Donald Trump and Republicans would love for us to stop fighting back.

Donald Trump’s a dictator. A dictator wants a citizenry that is uninformed, that is indifferent to the suffering of its neighbor, and that is inactive. 

They would love for us to cede this dark, dystopian vision that Donald Trump has for America as an inevitability.

But it is not. And the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance.

Our colleagues in the House across the aisle, you know, I’m asked all the time if there are opportunities for bipartisanship, to which I respond, “where is the party for bipartisanship?”

This is just a cult of cowards who have been complicit in wholesale harm. Just a cult of cowards. 

And the only way to beat a dictator is with defiance. 

So that’s what brings us here today. We won’t back down, not for a second. 

And Medicaid, SNAP, Head Start and the VA – these programs aren’t just line items in a budget. 

They are lifelines. They are lifelines. Policies determine who lives, who dies, who survives, who thrives.  

So together, we say: 

Hands off healthcare.

Hands off our food.

Hands off our bodies.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District of California)

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) signed onto Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (MD-8), resolution to condemn President Donald Trump’s effort to accept a $400 million luxury private jet from the royal family of Qatar without obtaining Congress’s approval, in violation of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause.

“President Trump continues to flout the Constitution and the rule of law,” said Rep. Peters. “It is so plainly obvious that this ‘gift’ is a means to curry favor and improperly influence U.S. foreign policy. Just because this corrupt act is taking place out in the open does not mean we should not call it out. Rather, it is more important than ever to hold the President accountable so that such unconstitutional behavior does not become normalized.”

On May 11, an ABC News report revealed that President Trump planned to accept a $400 million private jet from the Qatari royal family—a lavish and unconstitutional gift that would become the property of his personal presidential library foundation at the conclusion of his term. In a news conference on May 12, when asked about this reported gift, Trump stated, “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer… I could be a stupid person and say, ‘no, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’” In 2016, then-candidate Trump criticized Hillary Clinton for donations the Clinton Foundation accepted from Qatar.

While Trump claimed that this extravagant gift from a foreign government would result in “big savings [that] will be spent, instead, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT,” it in fact would require potentially billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to retrofit and debug the plane.

Click here to read the resolution.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

Washington, D.C. – In a major milestone for online safety and the protection of minors, Congressman Henry Cuellar, Ph.D. (TX-28), today celebrated the signing of the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, landmark legislation to crack down on non-consensual and sexually exploitative imagery, including dangerous AI-generated deepfakes.

“Let me be clear: no child, from Texas or anywhere in the world, should fall victim to AI-generated abuse,” said Dr. Cuellar. “Thanks to this law, families and individuals will finally have a way to demand action and accountability online. I’m proud to have worked with Senator Cruz, who co-led the bill in the Senate, and Congresswoman Salazar, who co-led it in the House, and I thank the president for swiftly signing it into law.”

The new law strengthens enforcement tools for law enforcement, speeds up the removal of abusive content, and protects lawful speech. For victims of AI-generated abuse, this law is more than legislation. It’s long-overdue justice and an important step forward in addressing the fast-evolving risks posed by artificial intelligence and online exploitation.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act passed both chambers with bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Trump on May 19, 2025.