Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
Nov. 27
Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led members of the Massachusetts delegation, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) in sending letters to United States Postal Service (USPS) Inspector General Tammy Hull and USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to address persistent postal service issues across Massachusetts. In their letter to USPS Inspector General Hull, the lawmakers called for a review of postal operations in Massachusetts and decisions from management which have caused several pressing issues with daily mail delivery and closed postal facilities, including: mail delivery delays in Boston; closed post offices in Medway, Watertown, and Allston; lost mail in greater Boston; the proposed consolidation of the Brockton Processing and Distribution Center; and the USPS proposal for a rural mail delivery slowdown.
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Nov. 27 | STATEMENT
Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw slammed a proposal calling for a ban on congressional members trading on the stock market, branding accusations of insider trading as "bull***** headlines."
Speaking to The Free Press, the Republican hit back at allegations that he used his position in Congress to "beat" the stock market, addressing claims made by Fox News anchor Jesse Watters about his finances.
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Nov. 26
U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, demanding answers to questions that Administrator Criswell was unable to provide during her testimony before the House Oversight Committee. During her testimony, Administrator Criswell agreed to followup with Rep. Steube’s office to provide responses.
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Nov. 26 | STATEMENT
Today, November 26, 2024, at MetLife Stadium, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) joined local and state law enforcement to announce new, bipartisan federal action to protect the lives of Jersey families and ensure the 2026 World Cup is safe and secure. Gottheimer also announced new action to protect the pocketbooks of hardworking Jersey residents from having to cover the cost of safety during the World Cup games.
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Nov. 26 | STATEMENT
Led by Rep. Adrian Smith (NE-03), the Rural America Tax Team has been meeting with farmers and rural communities about the positive impact of the Trump tax cuts. Consistently, they are sharing that the doubling of section 179 immediate expensing for small businesses and farmers in the Trump tax cuts as well as immediate 100 percent expensing lowered the cost of investing in new, more productive farming equipment while allowing the next generation to continue the family business.
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Nov. 26 | STATEMENT
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new proposal that would expand coverage of anti-obesity medications for Americans with Medicare and Medicaid:
“The good news is that HHS recognizes that vitally important anti-obesity medicines like Wegovy and Zepbound should be made available to all Americans, regardless of income. The bad news is that unless Medicare demands that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly substantially reduce the prices for these anti-obesity drugs, Medicare premiums for all seniors would skyrocket. If this proposal is to be financially responsible for seniors and taxpayers, Medicare and Medicaid cannot pay up to 10-15 times more for these drugs than they cost in Europe and other major countries. We cannot allow Medicare and Medicaid to simply be a cash cow for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.”
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Nov. 26 | ANNOUNCEMENT
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today a total of $758,810 in funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)’s Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund (Pollinator Fund) for two projects that will increase and improve western monarch butterfly and pollinator habitats in Oregon.
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Nov. 26 | PRESS RELEASE
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) announced he secured $2,000,000 for the New York City Department of Transportation as part of the government funding law.
The federal funds include $1,000,000 for the Jamaica Bay Greenway to build out a missing segment of New York’s bike network, bringing safer cycling opportunities to Canarsie residents, and another $1,000,000 in funding for the B82 Select Bus Service project to upgrade bus reliability and improve pedestrian safety along the route.
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Nov. 26 | BUDGET COMMITTEE CONSUMER REPORT
The Conference Board released its report on the Consumer Confidence Index for November 2024. The report showed that overall consumer sentiment ticked up in November, showing that as a second Trump Presidency comes into focus, hope for the future rises.
Chairman Arrington on Consumer Confidence:
House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) released the following statement on Consumer Confidence for November:
“Americans’ confidence in their economic future started turning around when it became evident that the unsustainable deficit spending and failed Biden-Harris policies would be replaced with a Trump economic agenda, and it continues to improve as we get closer to launching round two of a Republican-led surge in economic growth and opportunity.”
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Nov. 26 | WAYS & MEANS CHAIRMAN STATEMENT
Family-owned farms are a critical part of America’s food supply and form the fabric of rural communities. The 2017 Trump tax cuts gave family farms, ranches, and small business owners relief by doubling the Death Tax exemption and indexing it for inflation each year. If this provision is allowed to expire at the end of 2025, more grieving families will fall under its prey and be forced to sell a long-held family farm or business just to pay a 40 percent tax bill. In the United States, 96 percent of the nation’s 2 million farms are family-owned and 88 percent are small family farms.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:
“Ahead of Thanksgiving, every American can be grateful for the hard work done by farmers to put food on our tables everyday. As a fourth-generation family farm owner who grew up in a small town, and represents one of the most working-class, rural districts in America, I know family farming is a way of life. The Death Tax can be a death sentence for American families wanting to carry on the legacy of a family farm. The Trump tax cuts were a welcome relief for these families worried about passing down their farm or small business to the next generation. Across the country, farmers and rural communities are telling Ways and Means Tax Teams about the certainty that President Trump’s doubled Death Tax exemption offered to family-owned small businesses. In our listening sessions, families have made clear the loss of the doubled exemption would mean more families choosing between attending to their grief or the threat of losing their farm or business because of excessive costs imposed by Washington. The American people gave Congress a mandate to build on the success of the Trump tax cuts to provide relief from the Biden-Harris economy, including for farmers.”
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Nov. 25 | STATEMENT
Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statements after their Strengthening Child Exploitation Enforcement Act, which would close loopholes in existing criminal child sexual abuse statutes to help law enforcement better prosecute offenders and protect victims, passed the Senate:
“I am proud that this critical legislation—which ensures that those who exploit and sexually abuse children are held accountable—has passed the Senate,” said Senator Booker. “This bipartisan effort reflects our shared commitment to strengthen current laws to better protect children and provide justice for victims.”
“Perpetrators who attack our children must face consequences for their heinous actions,” said Senator Cornyn. “By closing loopholes in current law, our legislation would ensure these dangerous offenders aren’t able to escape accountability on a technicality and are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
U.S. Representatives Troy Nehls (TX-22) and Madeleine Dean (PA-04) are leading companion legislation in the House.
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Nov. 22
Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) led a letter with Congressmen Mike Flood (NE-01), Cory Mills (FL-07), John Curtis (UT-03), and Andy Ogles (TN-05), to the newly installed Haitian Prime Minister, the Honorable Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, imploring the Haitian Government to expedite processing and departures for approximately 70 children being adopted by American families. This is the latest in a series of letters led by Congressman Pfluger urging action by the Government of Haiti, Department of State and Department of Homeland Security in response to the rapidly deteriorating security environment in Haiti. Mounting gang violence is placing these vulnerable adoptees at grave risk as they await processing of administrative requirements in the capital city, Port-au-Prince.
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Nov. 22
In a bicameral letter led by House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), 112 Members of Congress today asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate and report on the amount of federal funding that has been awarded to abortion providers—including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the International Planned Parenthood Federation—over the past three years.
Among the 81 House Members and 31 Senators who signed the letter are the top three leaders of the new Congress: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
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Nov. 21
U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Peter Welch (D-VT), along with 39 of their colleagues, are calling on Senate leaders to protect access to Medicare services by ensuring health care providers who treat Medicare patients are adequately compensated for the care they deliver.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a rule to cut payments to Medicare-serving physicians by 2.8 percent in 2025. This would represent the fifth consecutive year that reimbursement rates were reduced.
“Persistent instability in the health care sector––due, in part, to consistent payment cuts––impacts the ability of physicians and clinicians to provide the highest quality of care,” the senators wrote to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. “These continued payment cuts undermine the ability of independent clinical practices––especially in rural and underserved areas––to care for their communities. Some practices have limited the number of Medicare patients they see, or the types of services offered.”
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Nov. 1
President Joe Biden has been urged to pardon Julian Assange by two US congressmen who warn they are “deeply concerned” the WikiLeaks founder’s guilty plea deal sets a precedent for prosecuting journalists and whistleblowers with espionage offences.
James McGovern, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts, and Thomas Massie, a libertarian Republican from Kentucky, wrote to the president with the bipartisan request to pardon the Australian publisher earlier in November.
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Nov. 13
On November 13, a House Financial Services Committee member Rep. David Scott (D-GA) sent a letter to President Biden urging him to support the Fed’s recommendation to re-propose the Basel III endgame rules. Scott requested the President’s assistance in compelling the FDIC to proceed with a vote to begin negotiations.
The letter addressed the delays that have hindered negotiations between the Fed and FDIC, warning that further stalemate could jeopardize the completion of the final rule before the Trump Administration takes office in 2025. Rep. Scott called on President Biden to urge the FDIC board to set aside “partisan tactics” and move forward with the vote.
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