Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
Dec. 10 | HOUSE FLOOR SCHEDULE
First votes expected: 1:30 p.m. Last votes expected: 4:30 p.m.
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 7673 – Liberty in Laundry Act (Sponsored by Rep. Ogles / Energy and Commerce Committee)
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
H.R. 9769 – Strengthening Cyber Resilience Against State-Sponsored Threats Act (Sponsored by Rep. Lee (FL) / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 9689 – DHS Cybersecurity Internship Program Act (Sponsored by Rep. Clarke (NY) / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 6229 – DHS Special Events Program and Support Act (Sponsored by Rep. Titus / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 7365 – VETS Safe Travel Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Gosar / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 9668 – SHIELD Against CCP Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Strong / Homeland Security Committee)
S. 2781 – Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024 (Sponsored by Sen. Heinrich / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H.R. 8692 – Amtrak Transparency and Accountability for Passengers and Taxpayer Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Nehls / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
Postponed Suspensions:
S. 4367 – Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, as amended (Sponsored by Sen. Carper / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
S. 3613 – Improving Federal Building Security Act of 2024 (Sponsored by Sen. Peters / Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
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DEC. 10 | HEARING TOMORROW
The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party's Critical Minerals Policy Working Group, led by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), will hold its final meeting this Wednesday, December 11th at 10:00 a.m., E.T. in Room 1539 of the Longworth House Office Building.
The event will be live-streamed on the Select Committee's website and social media.
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Dec. 09
A group of swing district House Democrats signaled their support for Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) to succeed Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) as the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee days after Grijalva endorsed Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) for the role.
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Dec. 09
Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE-03) along with Nebraska House delegation colleagues Congressmen Mike Flood (R-NE-01) and Don Bacon (R-NE-02) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary-Designee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to congratulate him on his expected nomination and invite him to Nebraska to witness firsthand the state's world-leading food supply chain and challenges to rural health care access.
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Dec. 09 | FLOOR STATEMENT
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor previewing tomorrow’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “How Mass Deportations Will Separate American Families, Harm Our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy.” The hearing will examine the consequences of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations, as well as stress the need to shift our focus toward sensible solutions that would bring order to the border and provide a path to citizenship to longtime residents with no serious criminal convictions.
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Dec. 09
Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), alongside U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Summer Lee (D-PA), urged the U.S. Coast Guard to protect the personnel, equipment, and vessels from being removed at Coast Guard Station (STA) Pittsburgh.
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Dec. 09
Senator Thom Tillis sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Deputy Director Paul Abbate demanding answers from the FBI concerning leaks about a recent Iranian-backed cyberattack against Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director.
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Dec. 09
More than 150 lawmakers are banding together to prevent billions of dollars in hospital funding for caring for the poor from expiring at the end of the year.
The lawmakers, including Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), penned a letter Monday urging House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to “take action on upcoming cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, slated to start on January 1, 2025.”
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Dec. 09
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee leaders sent a fourth letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm, expressing ongoing concern that pausing the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) without scientific justification could eventually lead to a permanent ban on one of our country's most valuable clean energy resources.
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Dec. 09
We write to thank you for your continued support of our nation’s health care providers and the countless individuals they serve. With this in mind, we are writing to urge you to take action on upcoming cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments, slated to start on January 1, 2025.
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Dec. 09 | STATEMENT
“I am honored to announce that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Congresswoman Robin Kelly and Congresswoman Nanette Barragán will serve as the three Co-Chairs of the Steering & Policy Committee for the 119th Congress. These distinguished leaders will work alongside me and the entire leadership team to ensure that every Democratic Member of the House is fully engaged and empowered to serve America.”
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Dec. 09
Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) sent a letter to United States Attorney General Marrick Garland asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do more to publicize the availability of federal grant money that can be used for police body camera data storage. This came after Houlahan went on a ride-along with the Phoenixville Police Department, during which she learned that storing the data from police-worn body cameras can be extremely expensive and often leads departments to stop using them.
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Dec. 09
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN); Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Dan Bishop (R-NC); and Emergency Management and Technology Chairman Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) sent a letter to Disaster Survival Assistance Task Force Lead Chad Hershey, requesting he sit for a transcribed interview with the Committee. Hershey was the Task Force Lead for former FEMA employee Marn’i Washington, who was fired for giving guidance to other relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” when surveying for potential recipients of disaster relief in Florida after Hurricane Milton.
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Dec. 09
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Eric Schmitt have issued a bipartisan call for “meaningful regulation” to encourage smaller companies to compete for Pentagon contracts acquiring new artificial intelligence and cloud computing tools.
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Dec. 09 | OP-ED
U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) published an op-ed in TIME magazine today condemning Republicans’ consideration of recess appointments to confirm President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial nominees, warning the GOP that it will make it far more likely that Democrats will do the same at the next available opportunity.
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Dec. 08 | STATEMENT
After negotiating a bipartisan, bicameral fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) agreement, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Ranking Member of SASC, and U.S. Representatives Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Adam Smith (D-WA), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), to release this year’s reconciled defense bill.
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Dec. 06
Representative Mike Carey (OH-15) sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel expressing his opposition to the IRS’s controversial expansion of the Digital Assets Sale and Exchanges Rule, also known as the “Broker Rule.”
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Dec. 06
U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri on the growing risk of match-fixing in the United States and its potential ties to organized crime around the world.
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Dec. 06
Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking MemberJohn B. Larson (CT-01), Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Ranking MemberDanny K. Davis (IL-07), and Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden (OR) sent a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a review of ongoing efforts by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve customer service for beneficiaries who are seeking to resolve overpayments of their Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits.
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Dec. 06
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Senator Angus King, and Governor Janet Mills are leading a push to codify the temporary rule granting a 540-day automatic extension to expiring work authorizations for immigrants and asylum seekers. This comes as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to work through an extensive backlog in work permit processing, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of losing their ability to work and support themselves.
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Dec. 05
House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) led a letter to Executive Director of The People's Forum Manolo De Los Santos as part of an ongoing investigation into the pro-Hamas riots at Union Station on July 24, 2024. The People’s Forum and their partner organization, ANSWER Coalition, organized the violent protests
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Dec. 05 | COMMEMORATIVE RESOLUTION
Senator Rick Scott announced the passage of his resolution ahead of the fifth anniversary recognizing the terrorist attack at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, when a Saudi military trainee killed three U.S. Navy sailors and wounded several others on December 6th, 2019. Senators Marco Rubio, Katie Britt, Tommy Tuberville, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock co-sponsored the resolution.
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Dec. 05
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) led colleagues in opposing any potential language in the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require American women to register for the Selective Service System. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) joined in opposition.
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Dec. 05 | USPS SENATE HEARING DISASTER
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, demanded answers regarding the ongoing financial issues at the United States Postal Service (USPS). During a hearing titled “Oversight of the United States Postal Service: Understanding Proposed Service Changes,” Dr. Paul called on the Postal Service to implement significant structural labor reforms.
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Dec. 05 | HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CMTE. REPORT
Today, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence CIA Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01) released an unclassified interim report on the Committee’s investigation into Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs), also commonly known as “Havana Syndrome,” and the increasing likelihood a foreign adversary is responsible for some of the reported AHI cases. This interim report also criticizes the Intelligence Community (IC) for thwarting the Committee’s investigation into AHIs. The IC’s conclusions that foreign adversaries aren’t responsible for targeting U.S. personnel are dubious at best and misleading at worst. Additionally, this interim report encourages the U.S. government to codify and establish clear, effective medical care for AHI-affected personnel.
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Dec. 04 | “GET READY TO WORK”
Durbin Announces Senate Democratic Whip Operations For 119th Congress
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Dec. 04
U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger joined a bipartisan group of her colleagues in urging U.S. House leadership to bring bipartisan, bicameral legislation up for a vote on the floor of the U.S. House to guarantee that Veterans who medically retire due to combat-related injuries are able to receive their full disability compensation and retirement pay.
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Dec. 04
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, again pressed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today on his decision to revoke a long-sought guilty plea deal between prosecutors and defendants accused of perpetrating the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Secretary Austin revoked the deal two days after it was announced despite two years of negotiations, a move that frustrated victims’ families and put them through emotional whiplash.
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Dec. 04
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) a follow-up letter on its decision to discontinue Flovent HFA, the go-to inhaler for children, and replace it with an authorized generic version of the drug. This comes after new research from John Hopkins University revealed that GSK’s pricing scheme was costing patients, taxpayers, and state Medicaid programs.
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Nov. 02
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) wrote to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) urging it to strengthen the proposed Military Health System Modified Payment and Waiver Program (MHS MPWP) rule to limit costs for non-beneficiary civilians - people not covered by a military health care plan - who cannot afford to pay the high costs of treatment at a military hospital. The MHS MPWP establishes a sliding fee scale and “catastrophic fee waiver” for patients not covered by military health care. The lawmakers urged DHA to amend the proposed rule to prioritize using DoD’s authority to waive fees for patients and to require that financial relief options be provided to patients across services, including on invoices upon discharge. The lawmakers specifically want the agency to amend the rule to prioritize the Department of Defense’s (DoD) debt waiver authority, expand debt relief options for civilians, and implement a less bureaucratic process for civilians seeking relief.
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