Congress

WASHINGTON - Bipartisanship ruled the day Monday when several amendments were added to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021 to better regulate a class of cancer-linked chemicals on military bases and surrounding communities. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also... Read More

WASHINGTON - Reps. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., introduced a bill Tuesday providing a tax credit to food and beverage distributors to cover debt incurred for products shipped, but not yet paid for, due the coronavirus outbreak. The... Read More

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday provided the most detailed description yet of what's going to be in the Republican-controlled Senate's next coronavirus relief proposal. Speaking on the floor of the Senate, McConnell said the GOP... Read More

WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide a classified briefing before the August recess on how the agency is combating an active... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Gilbert Cisneros, Jr., D-Calif., is the co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill aimed at providing financial relief for independent, non-chain restaurants within the restaurant industry. The Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive Act... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump acknowledged a “big flareup” of COVID-19 cases, but divisions between the White House and Senate Republicans and differences with Democrats posed fresh challenges for a new federal aid package with the U.S. crisis worsening and emergency... Read More

Georgia Democrats have selected state Sen. Nikema Williams, chair of the state party, to replace Rep. John Lewis on the ballot in November. The executive committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia voted overwhelmingly on Monday for Williams to take... Read More

WASHINGTON - Members of the largest ideological caucus in the House threw down the gauntlet on a new coronavirus relief package Monday, calling on their colleagues on Capitol Hill to strike a deal extending existing benefits now while ensuring continued... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, has... Read More

WASHINGTON – Members of the Blue Dog Coalition issued a letter urging congressional leaders to include measures to further protect taxpayer dollars in the next round of pandemic response funding.  The coalition, founded on fiscal responsibility and centrist-ideals, highlighted the... Read More

WASHINGTON - Small business representatives made a plea to Congress Thursday for assistance in getting Americans back to work after millions of workers lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that without financial assistance and retraining of the... Read More

WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans agreed Wednesday during a congressional hearing that the U.S. government needs a more proactive strategy for protecting against cyberattacks but disagreed how to accomplish it. Democrats want a new agency to address cyberthreats while Republicans... Read More

WASHINGTON - A week before Congress turns its attention to the next coronavirus relief bill, advocates for the nation's restaurants are urging lawmakers to include a number of provisions to specifically bolster the struggling industry. “In just the past two... Read More

WASHINGTON - Reps. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., and Bill Posey, R-Fla., have introduced legislation that would create Centers of Excellence on Harmful Algal Bloom research, prevention, response, and mitigation to aid in the fight against harmful outbreaks of red tide and... Read More

Challenges faced by residents of rural and underserved communities regarding barriers to health care were analyzed in a report released by the House Ways and Means Committee. The report, entitled “Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved... Read More

WASHINGTON - U.S. experts on European financial and political policy added their voices to an international call for greater cooperation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic during a congressional hearing Tuesday. They described the struggle to find a vaccine and to... Read More

WASHINGTON - The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved the fiscal year 2021 defense spending bill on a vote of 30 to 22.  The legislation funds the Department of Defense, including operations and maintenance, readiness activities, research and development, equipment... Read More

WASHINGTON - The recent passage of the first significant expansion of the Affordable Care Act provided House Democrats with a high profile opportunity to draw distinctions between how they and their Republican colleagues differ on the health care law. It... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government incurred the biggest monthly budget deficit in history in June as spending on programs to combat the coronavirus recession exploded while millions of job losses cut into tax revenues. The Treasury Department reported Monday... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., has joined the growing number of lawmakers calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to explain their decision to upend the educational plans of thousands of international students holding F-1 and M-1 visas. Last... Read More

Nineteen months ago a Democrat who had never run for elected office stunned the political intelligentsia and won a U.S. House seat when barely anyone thought he would succeed. South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, snaking along the southeastern coastline of... Read More

WASHINGTON - Reps. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., want intelligence officials to immediately notify key members of Congress when they determine -- with moderate to high confidence -- that a foreign government is deliberately seeking to kill or... Read More

WASHINGTON - When House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer explains the congressional appropriations process, it all sounds so simple. "Funding the government is the Constitutional responsibility of the Congress," he told The Well News recently, in a statement for this article.... Read More

WASHINGTON — House appropriators approved a $115.5 billion Military Construction-VA spending bill Thursday on a 30-20 vote, with Texas Republican Will Hurd joining Democrats to advance the legislation to the floor. The rest of the panel’s Republicans opposed Democrats’ decision to add $12.5 billion... Read More

WASHINGTON - Business leaders, during a congressional hearing Thursday, advocated for greater access to financial services for minority and women-owned businesses. They said government bailout money and low-interest loans for businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic are going first to established... Read More

WASHINGTON - Foreign policy experts at a congressional hearing Tuesday described the Russian government as increasingly troubled under the rule of Vladimir Putin and a growing threat to the United States. They said recent reports that the Russian military paid... Read More

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., has been recognized for her support of small business, by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Houlahan, who has represented Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District since 2018, is not only an Air Force veteran, engineer and educator, she’s... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recognized Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y, with its yearly Spirit of Enterprise Award for his support of business-friendly initiatives in the first session of the 116th Congress. The chamber has rated members of Congress... Read More

A congressional committee criticized President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday for a series of problems in distributing personal protective and testing equipment during the coronavirus pandemic and called on the administration to come up with a better plan. “We need... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters at his weekly pen and pad session that the House will vote later this month to remove the bust of Chief Justice Roger Taney from the U.S. Capitol. Taney wrote the... Read More