Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
Pressley Affirms Medicaid Patients’ Right to Choose their Provider for Routine Rare
“Make no mistake, our most vulnerable and marginalized communities will suffer the most if the Supreme Court doesn’t stand with the people.”
WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, rallied with Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), colleagues, and advocates outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which could allow states to block Medicaid patients from accessing routine care at Planned Parenthood health centers.
Rep. Pressley rallied to support Medicaid patients – especially Black, brown, indigenous, disabled and queer folks – who are most at risk of losing their access to essential health care services, including cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and more.
Congresswoman Pressley also shared a deeply personal story about her experience receiving health care from Planned Parenthood as a college student, and underscored the critical role of Planned Parenthood in providing essential, routine healthcare.
A full transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks, as delivered, is available below and the full video is available here.
Transcript: Pressley, Planned Parenthood Rally for Medicaid Patients Outside Supreme Court U.S. Supreme Court April 1, 2025
Well hello there! Wow, you all look beautiful! My movement family.
You know the energy here reminds me of the energy of every movement throughout history, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall.
You are all here, freedom fighters, recognizing that we are one human family, and our freedom and our destinies are tied.
I’m here because I pride myself on being a justice seeker, and I’m here as a woman of faith. My faith requires me to be here in this moment. So it’s wonderful to be here with this broad and diverse coalition of reproductive justice advocates.
Let me make it plain: the attacks on our health care, our basic freedoms, and our bodily autonomy are tied. No matter who you are, where you live, or who you love, you should be able to get the health care you need, when you need it, in your home community.
But today, Republicans, these men and these complicit women, their anti-abortion allies in the courts want to rip away that fundamental freedom and continue their unprecedented assault on health care.
We are witnessing the most sweeping attempt yet to dismantle Medicaid. Republicans are attacking Medicaid in every branch of government and at every level of government, and they would love for us to stop fighting.
You know, that’s why they’re so anti-woke, because they want people to be asleep. They want people to be ignorant, they want people to be indifferent. They want people to be inactive.
But we will keep fighting, because we refuse to accept their harmful agenda as an inevitability and let them strip health care away from millions of people, especially those that are Black, brown, Indigenous, disabled and queer.
We will not back down. The law is on our side. Let me say that again for the people in the back, to the left and to the right: the law is on our side. The law is on our side. The law is on our side, and so too is the power of the people.
Now, again, as a Congresswoman, let me just do that quick history lesson. Congress codified the right of every patient with Medicaid coverage to have free choice of their health care provider. Your doctor, your choice. Your doctor, your choice. Your doctor, your choice.
This is the same freedom that everyone else has with their private coverage. So if you make less money, or you have a disability, or you receive your care through Medicaid, you shouldn’t be denied the right to choose your health care provider.
What they want is a scenario that would not only further entrench disparities in health care, but flat out deny people the care they need.
Y’all, people will get sicker, people will die, and we won’t stand for it.
Today, with our nation at a critical inflection point, we’re here to stand on the side of freedom.
The freedom to choose when, how and whether, to grow your family.
The freedom to choose whe[re] you get your health care.
The freedom to choose.
As a young college student myself, I exercised that freedom. I was in a city where I had no family, no community, experiencing debilitating pain. I thought I was dying. I went to Planned Parenthood. Mind you, I was afraid and alone, and had to navigate treacherous terrain, even to access the doors, while people screamed at me, threatened me. But because of the dedicated workers at Planned Parenthood, what I found out that day is that I was not dying, but I was diagnosed with a number of uterine fibroids.
To every worker at Planned Parenthood that has met someone where they are as they did with me, in a moment of pain, and fear, and feeling alone, I stand with you. This Congresswoman loves you, sees you, and values your essential labor. When you could have taken your talents anywhere else, you chose to work at Planned Parenthood because you recognize that our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people.
I’m for Planned Parenthood because they’re for care, no matter what.
I am so very proud to stand here before you as the Co-Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, and I’m proud that our caucus stood together with every Senate Democrat and nearly 200 House Democrats to make our collective voices heard in this case, to tell the courts that we’re watching you.
We will be watching if they let Medicaid’s integrity be illegally undermined.
We will be watching if they rob Medicaid patients in South Carolina and across our country of the quality, compassionate care that Planned Parenthood has long provided them.
Make no mistake, our most vulnerable and marginalized communities will suffer the most if the Supreme Court doesn’t stand with the people.
The entire case is an unlawful, unjust, and cruel assault on Black women and people of color. It is an assault on low-income folks, the LGBTQIA community, those in rural and underserved communities — all people who are most likely to get their routine health care through their state and federal Medicaid programs.
Our fundamental right to health care should not be up for debate. Stop playing politics with our lives!
You do not get to pick and choose when it comes to our health care.
The high fountain phase of episode 16 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 10:24 a.m. HST on April 1, 2025, about 12 hours after the start of the episode. Fountaining from the south vent rapidly increased to over 200 feet (70 meters) in height by 10:40 a.m. HST and exceeded 700 feet (215 m) by 10:50 a.m. HST. Low dome fountaining and overflows continue from the north vent.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced new enrollment will not be accepted at the Penobscot Job Corps Center and the Loring Job Corps Center in Maine. The Job Corps facilities continue to face ongoing sustainability issues due to rising costs.
In the coming weeks, the department will continue to carefully evaluate these and other Job Corps facilities.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded an additional $2 million to help North Carolina workers dislocated by the closure of Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill and by reductions at its Waynesville facility. The funding will ensure impacted workers have uninterrupted access to needed resources, including employment and training services.
In June 2023, the department’s Employment and Training Administration announced the National Dislocated Worker Grant award of up to approximately $7.5 million, with an initial award of $2.5 million. The funding enables North Carolina to provide retraining, skills development, and job search assistance for dislocated workers in Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Swain, and Transylvania counties. With this incremental funding, the total awarded for the project to date is $4.5 million.
Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.
WASHINGTON, April 2, 2025 – Brian Bryant, International President of the IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), representing 600,000 workers, and David Chartrand, IAM Canadian General Vice President, issued a statement on President Trump’s tariffs announcement:
“We must confront the legacy of trade policies and tariff rollouts that treat workers as pawns. Today’s tariffs announcement will erode relationships and diminish human dignity and respect for workers across North America.
“Imposing tariffs on Canada would be like cutting off our nose to spite our face.
“The IAM Union will continue to speak out against this short-sighted trade war and fight for a comprehensive, long-term strategy that strengthens manufacturing and prioritizes the interests of U.S. and Canadian workers.”
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.
Syndicat de l’IAM : Les travailleurs et travailleuses américains et canadiens attendent toujours d’avoir leur voix dans la politique tarifaire et commerciale
Brian Bryant, président international du syndicat de l’IAM, représentant 600 000 travailleurs et travailleuses, et David Chartrand, vice-président général canadien de l’IAM, ont publié une déclaration concernant l’annonce des tarifs douaniers par le président Trump :
“Nous devons confronter l’héritage des politiques commerciales et des mises en œuvre de tarifs qui traitent les travailleurs et travailleuses comme des pions. L’annonce d’aujourd’hui sur les tarifs va éroder les relations et diminuer la dignité humaine et le respect des travailleurs à travers l’Amérique du Nord.
“Imposer des tarifs au Canada serait contre-productif et nuirait des deux côtés à long terme.
“ Le syndicat de l’IAM continuera à s’opposer à cette guerre commerciale à court terme et se battra pour une stratégie globale et à long terme qui renforce la fabrication et priorise les intérêts des travailleurs et travailleuses américains et canadiens.”
Le syndicat de L’IAM est l’un des plus grands et des plus diversifiés syndicats industriels d’Amérique du Nord, représentant environ 600 000 membres actifs et retraités dans les secteurs de l’aérospatiale, de la défense, des compagnies aériennes, des chemins de fer, des transports, de la santé, de l’automobile et d’autres industries.
Disinfectant Wipes/Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
Trials
United States v. Don M. Rynn
No. 2:24-CR-00653 (District of South Carolina)
AUSA Winston Holliday
AUSA Amy Bower
On March 20, 2025, a jury convicted Don M. Rynn of making false statements to federal agents and falsifying fishing records (18 U.S.C. §§ 1001, 1519).
Rynn managed several commercial fishing vessels in the McClellanville area, including the Maximum Retriever and the Crystal C. The vessels docked at Carolina Seafood, a federally licensed dealer.
On March 21, 2023, the Maximum Retriever embarked on a commercial fishing trip captained by the defendant’s son, who Rynn instructed to catch as many fish as he could (ignoring federally imposed quotas). Rynn told his son he would “take care of things” when he returned.
The Maximum Retriever returned to McClellanville shortly after midnight on March 27, 2023, with almost three times the legal limit of snowy grouper on board, and one and a half times the allowable number of grey tilefish. Rynn was waiting for the boat to arrive. Once the Maximum Retriever was in place, the Crystal C was maneuvered so that the two boats were side-by-side.
Rynn then directed deckhands to move fish from the ice hold of the Maximum Retriever to the Crystal C. They removed additional fish from the Maximum Retriever to Rynn’s truck to take to another seafood dealer in Georgetown.
In the mandatory trip report filed shortly thereafter, Rynn reported his catch only up to the limit, hiding the fact that the Maximum Retriever had vastly overfished. He attributed a substantial portion of the catch to the Crystal C, which had remained moored at the dock.
On March 27, 2023, law enforcement officers received an anonymous tip alerting them to the excessive catch. The Georgetown seafood dealer that had received some of the overage initially lied to cover for Rynn. When he realized the agents were closing in, the dealer threw the fish in the river to get rid of them.
In October 2023, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) agents interviewed Rynn about the incidents in March. Rynn lied, saying the snowy grouper and tilefish had been contaminated by a fuel spill while at sea, and that he had disposed of them in a dumpster. Rynn further implied that a U.S. Coast Guard report addressing an unlawful discharge into Jeremy Creek was inaccurate and should have been attributed to the Crystal C, which would have bolstered his fuel spill story.
In total, the Maximum Retriever caught approximately 560 pounds of snowy grouper and 450 pounds of tilefish. The legal limit for grouper is 200 pounds and 300 for tilefish.
NOAA, the U. S. Coast Guard, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Saltwater Team conducted the investigation.
Photo from dock surveillance camera showing Rynn on back of boat directing two individuals to carry a tote of federally protected fish to his truck.
On March 14, 2025, a court unsealed a complaint charging the chief executive officer of a Georgia-based heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) company with illegally importing 500 cylinders of potent greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) into the United States from Peru.
William Randolph Hires is charged with violating the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act) by unlawfully importing 500 cylinders of HFCs (42 U.S.C. §§ 7675, 7413).
In April 2022, on behalf of his company, Hires purchased 500 cylinders of HFCs in Peru. Over the next several months, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials explained to Hires’s employees that, under the AIM Act and its implementing regulations, Hires’s company could not lawfully import the HFCs into the United States because it did not have the required EPA-issued allowances. In a July 22, 2022, email to one of Hires’s employees, an EPA official stated “it is not possible to import bulk HFCs without consumption allowances.”
Hires’s employees conveyed this information from the EPA to Hires on several occasions. On one occasion, an employee forwarded an email to Hires that the employee had received from an EPA official which stated, “[t]he HFC you listed (R-410A) is a regulated substance. So, if you do not have allowances, you cannot import those bulk HFC refrigerants.” In another email exchange between Hires and an employee, the employee informed Hires that, based on a video conference the employee had with EPA officials, shipping without the necessary allowances would violate import laws so “[i]t is out of our hands.”
Hires nevertheless instructed his employees to illegally import the HFCs into the United States. In a July 28, 2022 email, Hires stated to his employees: “[y]eah you have to be careful what agencies you’re reaching out to because the EPA . . . can create a hassle and they can hold our stuff up in customs there[.]” In a subsequent email, Hires instructed his employees to “get [the HFCs] on the ship and get it out to sea . . . don’t care what it takes[.]” Hires later instructed his employees via email: “Do not call the EPA please do not.”
The EPA Criminal Investigation Division, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.
United States v. Leshon E. Johnson
No. 6:25-CR-00012 (Eastern District of Oklahoma)
ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy
ECS Trial Attorney Sarah Brown
AUSA Jordan Howantiz
ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
On March 20, 2025, Leshon E. Johnson was arraigned on an indictment charging him with violating the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. § 2156(b) & 18 U.S.C. § 49). Specifically, Johnson possessed 190 pit bull-type dogs for the purpose of having the dogs participate in an animal fighting venture, and for selling, transporting, and delivering a dog for use in an animal fighting venture. Federal authorities seized the 190 dogs from Johnson in October 2024 as authorized under the Animal Welfare Act. This is believed to be the largest number of dogs ever seized from a single person in a federal dog fighting case.
Johnson ran a dog fighting operation known as “Mal Kant Kennels” in both Broken Arrow and Haskell, Oklahoma. He previously ran “Krazyside Kennels,” also out of Oklahoma, which led to his guilty plea on state animal fighting charges in 2004. Johnson selectively bred “champion” and “grand champion” fighting dogs — dogs that have respectively won three or five fights — to produce offspring with fighting traits and abilities desired by him and others for use in dog fights. Johnson marketed and sold stud rights and offspring from winning fighting dogs to other dog fighters looking to incorporate the Mal Kant Kennels “bloodline” into their own dog fighting operations. His trafficking of fighting dogs to other dog fighters across the country contributed to the growth of the dog fighting industry and allowed Johnson to profit financially. Trial is scheduled to begin on May 5, 2025.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
Guilty Pleas
United States v. Terrell Williams
No. 4:23-CR-00692 (Eastern District of Missouri)
AUSA Jillian Anderson
On March 7, 2025, Terrell Williams pleaded guilty to an Animal Fighting Venture violation for hosting dog fights in his home and training dogs to fight (7 U.S.C. § 2156(a)-(c); 18 U.S.C. § 49(a)). Sentencing is scheduled for June 6, 2025.
Between September 2020 through May 2022, Williams hosted fights in a wooden “box” setup in the basement of his home in Riverview, Missouri. He also owned and bred bull terriers and terrier mixes that were used for fights. On June 22, 2022, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Williams’s home and seized eight bull terrier mixes and three Yorkshire terriers. The dogs bore scars consistent with fighting. Agents also removed equipment used to train and condition dogs, including weighted vests and a canine treadmill.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
Dog rescued from defendant’s home during execution of search warrant. Photo included with detention motion filed with the court.
On March 11, 2025, Nicholas Dryden pleaded guilty to creating and distributing videos depicting the torture of monkeys (known as animal “crush” videos) (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(3)). Co-defendant Giancarlo Morelli entered a similar plea in December 2024.
Dryden commissioned videos from a 17-year-old in Indonesia who was willing to commit specified acts of torture on video in exchange for payment. Dryden utilized Telegram, a cross-platform messaging app that includes encrypted group messaging and private chats, to advertise the animal crush videos and solicit funding for additional videos. Within these private groups, Dryden shared snippets of videos that he commissioned and advertised that the full content was for sale. Co-defendants Morelli and Philip Colt Moss each sent money to Dryden more than a dozen times in exchange for monkey torture videos.
Thereafter, they frequently gave feedback on the videos and Morelli sometimes suggested torturous acts he’d like to see in future videos.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
United States v. Jose Manuel Valenzuela
No. 3:24-CR-01037 (Southern District of California)
ECS Assistant Chief Stephen DaPonte
AUSA Laura Sambataro
On March 18, 2025, Jose Manuel Valenzuela pleaded guilty to intentionally failing to present refrigerant tanks for inspection (19 U.S.C. §§ 1433, 1436). Sentencing is scheduled for June 10, 2025.
On April 22, 2024, Valenzuela (an HVAC technician) attempted to enter the United States from Mexico without declaring four 24-pound tanks of 404A refrigerant (a hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant) in his vehicle.
Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Robert C. Schmid
No. 3:25-mj-00011 (Eastern District of Virginia)
AUSA Carla Jordan-Detamore
On March 25, 2025, Robert C. Schmid pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(1)(A), 1361(b)(1)(B)). Sentencing is scheduled for July 22, 2025.
Schmid owned the Atlantic Manufacturing Group, LLC (AMG), which manufactured and sold cleaning and janitorial products. AMG marketed and sold its products via various means, including a website, as well as through outside sales representatives. In September 2017, AMG entered into an agreement with “Company 1” to purchase a product called “Maquat 64-PD” for which Company 1 had obtained a registration from the EPA. AMG entered into this Agreement because it wanted to distribute and sell its liquid ProAmenities Lemon Detergent Disinfectant, made with Company 1’s Maquat 64-PD.
In October 2017, the EPA approved the label for AMG’s ProAmenities Lemon Detergent Disinfectant. The label made clear that the product was hazardous to humans and animals and was not for use on clothing or on skin.
Beginning in May 2020, and acting on behalf of AMG, Schmid began manufacturing and selling AMG “Hygienic Facility Wipes” that purportedly protected users from COVID-19. Schmid sold these wipes to janitorial services that supported government entities, gyms and health clubs, universities, and janitorial product retailers. AMG manufactured these wipes by applying the ProAmenities Lemon Detergent Disinfectant to dry wipes and packaging the wipes in plastic buckets or plastic packages. These wipes, however, were not registered with the EPA pursuant to FIFRA and did not have EPA approved labels or safety guidance. Investigators also determined that Schmid, his employees, and outside sales reps made unauthorized claims about the efficacy and safety of these wipes to potential customers.
After Company 1 issued Schmid a cease-and-desist email in August of 2020 about the unauthorized use of its product, Schmid switched to “Company 2” to use its liquid, which was not registered with the EPA, in its wipes. Schmid, however, continued to claim that his wipes were an EPA-registered product. AMG also generated product labels claiming the wipes eradicated corona viruses, in addition to other falsified information (to include the ingredient list).
Between March and November 2020, AMG sold approximately 5,000 cases of the wipes, taking in close to $415,000 in sales and making approximately $33,000 in gross profit.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Robert J. Bullock, Sr.
No. 1:24-CR-10056 (District of Massachusetts)
AUSA Benjamin Tolkoff
On March 26, 2025, Robert J. Bullock, Sr., pleaded guilty to violating the Safe Drinking Water Act for tampering with public water systems (42 U.S.C. § 300i-1(a)). Sentencing is scheduled for June 25, 2025.
On the evening of November 29, 2022, Bullock, a former Stoughton Water Department employee, went into one of the Water Department’s pumping stations and turned off the pump that introduces chlorine into drinking water. As a result, water that had not been properly disinfected was introduced into the drinking water system.
When questioned by investigators, Bullock claimed to not have tampered with the water system. Specifically, Bullock said that he had not knowingly turned off the chlorine pump at Goddard Pumping Station 7 on the night of November 29, 2022, when in fact he had; and that he did not set the alarms for the chlorine level to zero that night, when he did.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, and the Stoughton Massachusetts Police Department conducted the investigation.
Sentencings
United States v. National Water Main Cleaning Company
No. 3:25-CR-00002 (District of Connecticut)
AUSA Hal Chen
RCEC Man Chak Ng
On March 4, 2025, a court sentenced the National Water Main Cleaning Company (NWMCC) to pay a $500,000 fine, complete a three-year term of probation, and implement an environmental compliance program. The company will also employ an independent outside consultant to perform a compliance audit and identify an environmental compliance manager for its Connecticut facilities. NWMCC will also make a payment of $500,000 to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) to fund aquatic ecosystem enhancement projects in the South-Central Coastal Watershed.
The company pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) for knowingly discharging a pollutant into Cuff Brook while refurbishing a large culvert pipe in Cheshire, Connecticut, in July 2019 (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319 (c)(2)(A); 1311(a)). The unauthorized discharge of uncured geopolymer mortar killed more than 150 fish and contaminated Cuff Brook.
At the time of the incident, NWMCC was operating under a Code of Conduct as part of a 2014 settlement with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office to resolve civil allegations involving environmental pollution.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
United States v. Fidelity Development Group LLC
No. 3:24-CR-00077(Southern District of Ohio)
ECS Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman
On March 4, 2024, a court sentenced Fidelity Development Group LLC (Fidelity) to pay a $100,000 fine and complete a two-year term of probation. Fidelity pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act for failing to inspect for the presence of asbestos (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(1)).
In 2015 or 2016, Fidelity purchased a building and planned to renovate it into a mixed-use property. Fidelity failed to perform or acquire an asbestos survey for the building prior to renovations. Around April 2020, a certified asbestos company conducted an asbestos survey in the Fidelity Building and identified more than 12,000 linear feet of 80% chrysolite asbestos pipe wrap insulation in friable condition.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Frock Brothers Trucking, Inc.,et al.
Nos. 1:24-CR-00235, 00250 (Middle District of Pennsylvania)
AUSA William Behe
On March 6, 2025, a court sentenced Frock Brothers Trucking, Inc., to pay an $80,000 fine and complete a two-year term of probation. Mechanic Leon Martin will complete a two-year term of probation, to include three months’ home detention, and pay a $500,000 fine.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) for tampering with the emission control systems for several heavy-duty diesel trucks (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)).
Between 2018 and October 2023, Martin provided “tuning” or “reprogramming” services by modifying the engine control modules (ECMs) on diesel trucks. The ECM is a computerized system that manages and controls the engine’s performance. During that time, Martin tampered with the emissions diagnostic systems on the vehicles for many companies to prevent the diagnostic system software from monitoring the emission control system hardware.
Frock, a long-distance trucking company based in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, transports a variety of goods, including snack foods, refrigerated items, and produce. Ed Frock owned the company until his death in August 2022.
Between November 13, 2018, and December 28, 2018, Frock contracted with co-defendant Martin to disable and/or remove emission control components from eight of their diesel trucks. Frock removed the vehicles’ ECMs from their engines and shipped them to Martin for reprogramming. Once the devices were “tuned,” Martin shipped them back to Frock, where they were reinstalled on the trucks. Martin also tampered with the onboard diagnostic equipment (OBD) to delete factory-installed emission controls from Frock’s heavy duty diesel trucks. Martin’s tunes enabled those deleted trucks to operate without emission control devices, which are required by federal law.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
On March 6, 2025, a court sentencedBenjamin Gathercole to complete a one-year term of probation, after he pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for illegally transporting hazardous waste without a manifest (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(5)).
Gathercole lived in Tappahannock, Virginia, and worked at a local brake manufacturing facility. In 2019, a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inspector determined that the brake manufacturing facility failed to make an accurate waste determination for 32 55-gallon drums stored on site. Some of the drums displayed labels noting they contained hazardous waste, but not in accordance with RCRA requirements. The DEQ issued a notice of violation to the facility in May 2019.
In September and October 2019, Gathercole removed 31 of the 55-gallon drums from the facility and transported them to his residence. He dug a hole near his property and buried the drums in the ground. He crushed some of them in the process, causing their contents to spill onto the ground.
In December 2020, a citizen tipped off the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the illegal burial. In November 2021, agents executed a search warrant on the defendant’s property. Gathercole admitted to burying the drums at the request of his employer and directed authorities to where he had buried them. Further testing confirmed the waste was ignitable hazardous waste. The EPA finished excavating the site in November 2022.
The EPA Criminal Investigation Division and the EPA National Enforcement Investigation Center conducted the investigation.
United States v. Keidrick D. Usifo, et al.
No. 24-CR-00040 (Eastern District of Arkansas)
AUSA Edward Walker
On March 6, 2025, a court sentenced Keidrick Usifo to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation. Co-defendant Deon Johnson will pay a $1,000 fine and complete an 18-month term of probation. Usifo and Johnson previously pleaded guilty to violating the Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA)(16 U.S.C. §§ 3372 (e)(1)(A), 3373 (d)).
Lawmakers enacted the BCPSA in December 2022 to protect the public by prohibiting the private ownership of big cats (such as tigers and lions) as pets and by prohibiting exhibitors from allowing public contact with big cats, including tiger cubs. This law places new restrictions on the commerce, breeding, possession, and use of certain big cat species.
In April 2023, a citizen tipped off local game authorities after seeing a tiger cub in a residential neighborhood in Conway, Arkansas. Further investigation confirmed that Usifo purchased a tiger in March 2023 from a broker in Dallas, Texas, and brought it back to his residence in Arkansas.
After receiving a second complaint about the tiger cub, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on April 21, 2023, arresting Usifo on a felony state warrant. The Conway Police Department then executed a search warrant at Usifo’s residence. The animal was not there, but they found evidence of its presence, including the fact that rooms in the house matched those in photos of the tiger that Usifo posted on Instagram.
While in the Pulaski County Detention Facility (PCDF), Usifo made several calls to Johnson, asking him to take care of the tiger while Usifo was held in detention. Johnson concealed his knowledge of the tiger when questioned by agents.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Conway Police Department, and the Little Rock Police Department.
Tiger cub, now named Fred, rescued by the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Photo taken by case agent June 2024.
United States v. Frankluis Carela De Jesús, et al.
No. 3:24-CR-00174 (District of Puerto Rico)
ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan
AUSA Seth Erbe
On March 6, 2025, a court sentenced the final two Dominican nationals who attempted to smuggle tropical birds from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the Dominican Republic. Frankluis Carela De Jesús will serve 12 months and one day of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Domingo Heureau Altagracia will complete eight months of incarceration and three years of supervised release. Waner Balbuena and Juan Graviel Ramírez Cedano were each previously sentenced to serve 12 months and one day of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. All the defendants pleaded guilty to Lacey Act trafficking and to smuggling wildlife from the United States (18 U.S.C. § 554; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), (a)(4), 3373(d)(1)(B)).
On May 3, 2024, the four Dominican nationals traveled in a flagless vessel departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the Dominican Republic. They intended to smuggle various species of tropical birds to the Dominican Republic for financial gain. When the vessel was approximately 30 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) approached the vessel and witnessed the crew tossing objects overboard. Following the boarding of the vessel, USCG authorities recovered several of the jettisoned objects, which were wooden cages containing tropical birds. Approximately 113 birds drowned as a result.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.
On March 10, 2025, a court sentenced Travis Larson to pay a $40,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation. Larson will also pay $2,400 in restitution, to be divided between the State of Alaska and the Port Graham Authority. Larson will forfeit $150,000 and is prohibited from hunting anywhere in the world or providing any big game commercial services while under supervision. Larsen pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for illegally transporting four black bears and making false records (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(1)(B); (d)(3)(A)).
Larson worked as a licensed big game transporter since 2010, and provided transport services through his company, Alaska Premier Sportfishing LLC (APS). Larson and APS offered paying clients transportation for multi-day hunting and fishing trips aboard a 65-foot liveaboard vessel, Venturess.
In May 2018, Larson transported eight hunters on a black bear hunt in the Nuka Bay area of the Kenai Peninsula. Each hunter paid $3,500 to participate in the hunt. The group included four Norwegian nationals. Larson knew all four people were not U.S. residents, nor were they accompanied by a licensed hunting guide or assistant guide, as required under state law.
On May 9, 2018, one foreign hunter was transported to a beach adjacent to Surprise Bay to hunt a black bear. The hunter shot and killed a black bear on land belonging to the State of Alaska. On May 10, 2018, Larson transported three foreign hunters to a beach adjacent to Beauty Bay to hunt black bears. Two of the hunters each shot and killed a black bear on land belonging to the Port Graham Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation, and the other hunter shot and killed a black bear on land belonging to the State of Alaska. On both days, Larson transported the hunters and the illegally harvested black bears back to his vesselvia the smaller motorboat.
On May 11, 2018, Larson transported the four foreign hunters and the four illegally harvested black bears to Homer, Alaska, where he knew the black bears would be transported in interstate and foreign commerce following the hunt. The government dismissed the charges against Larson’s business.
The National Park Service Investigative Services Branch and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
On March 10, 2025, a court sentenced Dugan Paul Daniels to six months’ incarceration, followed by three years’ supervised release, for falsifying fishing records in violation of the Lacey Act and illegally taking a sperm whale in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(2), 3373(d)(3)(A), 1583(a)(1)(C), 1540(b)(1)). Daniels will also pay a $25,000 fine and perform 80 hours of community service, and is banned from commercial fishing for one year.
Daniels is a commercial fisherman with 20 years of experience. Between October and November 2020, he submitted falsified fishing records to make it appear that he lawfully caught sablefish, aka “black cod,” in federal waters on two separate occasions. In fact, Daniels illegally harvested the fish in State of Alaska waters, specifically, in Chatham Strait and Clarence Strait. The total market value of the illegally harvested fish was $127,528.
In March 2020, Daniels and three crew members were fishing for sablefish southwest of Yakobi Island in the Gulf of Alaska when they came upon a sperm whale. During the encounter, Daniels directed a crewman to shoot the whale multiple times and also tried to ram the whale with his fishing vessel. Daniels documented the encounter in writing and through text messages sent from a GPS communication device. Some of the messages stated he wished he “had a cannon to blow” the whale out of the water and that he hoped “to be reeling in a dead sperm whale.” It is a violation of the ESA to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct involving an endangered species.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
No. 2:23-CR-00177 (Eastern District of Pennsylvania)
AUSA Christopher Parisi
On March 11, 2025, a court sentenced Bien King and Khalil King to each complete three-year terms of probation, to include six months’ home confinement. Bien King was also sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine. The defendants pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act for selling a misbranded pesticide and for violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for selling misbranded animal drugs (7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(1)(E); 21 U.S.C. § 331(a)).
Bien King started “Little City Dogs” (LCD) a New York corporation with office space in New York City. Bien King also created a website that sold various products intended to treat diseases or pests in animals. Bien King’s son, Khalil, worked in the New York office. Khalil King was responsible for mixing ingredients and packaging various products for shipment. The defendants obtained the ingredients for these products from various suppliers in China. They knew that these suppliers routinely mislabeled shipments of these products to avoid detection by customs officials.
When LCD received orders from online sales, Khalil King and others shipped the products from the New York office to customers throughout the United States. An undercover agent placed several orders for various products through the LCD website. These purchases included a January 17, 2020, order for fipronil drops and ivermectin. Fipronil is designed to treat external parasites such as fleas and ticks. Ivermectin is designed to control heartworms in dogs and cats.
The defendants shipped the fipronil drops and ivermectin from New York to an address in Springfield, Pennsylvania. The labeling and packaging material accompanying the fipronil drops did not include information required by law. The labeling and packaging material accompanying the ivermectin likewise did not include required information. Furthermore, LCD’s facility in New York City was not registered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation.
United States v. Jose V. Fernandez
No. 1:24-CR-00071 (District of Rhode Island)
AUSA John McAdams
On March 11, 2025, a court sentenced Jose V. Fernandez to complete a two-year term of probation. Fernandez pleaded guilty to making false statements for distributing false asbestos abatement training certifications (18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a)(3)).
Fernandez owned the Rhode Island Safety Environment Training Center. The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDH) accredited the facility to provide asbestos abatement training. On multiple occasions between 2021 and 2023, Fernandez submitted false documentation to the RIDH attesting that nearly two dozen individuals paid for, attended, and successfully completed an Environmental Protection Agency-approved abatement training program when, in fact, no one attended any classes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Rhode Island Department of Health conducted the investigation.
On March 11, 2025, a court sentenced Pedro Luis Bones-Torres to 12 months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release. Bones-Torres pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act for illegally constructing and depositing material into the wetlands and waters of the United States in the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (the “Jobos Estuarine Reserve”) and Las Mareas community of Salinas, Puerto Rico (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 403).
Starting in January 2020, Bones-Torres engaged in construction and land clearing activities on a property to the South of Camino de Galileo in the Las Mareas area of Salinas, Puerto Rico (the “Property”). Much of the Property supported mangrove trees with an open area that was occasionally partially submerged by the sea tides. This wetland area was within the Jobos Estuarine Reserve.
Between January 2020 and October 2022, Bones-Torres removed mangroves from the Property, depositing fill material onto the wetland area using excavation and earth moving equipment. After he filled the wetlands, he built a concrete pad, a concrete gazebo with an outdoor kitchen, a wooden gazebo, and a dock extending into Mar Negro. Bones-Torres did not seek or receive approval to fill the wetlands and was at no point permitted to fill wetlands on or near the Property.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
United States v. Royce Gillham
No. 2:24-CR-14046 (Southern District of Florida)
ECS Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman
AUSA Daniel Funk
On March 13, 2025, a court sentenced Royce Gillham to 37 months’ incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Gillham, the former General Manager of a biofuel producer based in Fort Pierce, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to make false claims (18 U.S.C.§ 371).
This biofuel company produced and sold renewable fuel and fuel credits and claimed to turn various feedstocks into biodiesel. When reporting the number of gallons produced to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Gillham and his employer vastly overstated their production volume in an effort to generate more credits. When auditors sought more information from the company, Gillham and his co-conspirators gave them false information about their fuel production and customers.
The scheme generated more than $7 million in fraudulent EPA renewable fuels credits and sought over $6 million in fraudulent tax credits connected to the purported production of biodiesel.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation.
No. 2:24-CR-00161 (Central District of California)
ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
ECS Trial Attorney Lauren Steele
AUSA Dennis Mitchell
ECS Law Clerk Maria Wallace
ECS Law Clerk Tonia Sibblies
On March 14, 2025, a court sentenced Sai Keung Tin, also known as Ricky Tin, to 30 months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release. Tin will also pay a $5,000 fine for his role in smuggling protected turtles from the United States to Hong Kong. Tin pleaded guilty to four counts of exporting merchandise contrary to law (18 U.S.C. § 554).
Between February 2018 and June 2023, Tin, a Chinese citizen, assisted turtle smugglers in the United States. During that time, Tin aided and abetted the trafficking of approximately 2,100 turtles to Hong Kong. The turtles were intended to be sold as part of the illegal Asian pet trade. Based on a conservative, contemporary market valuation of $2,000 per turtle, the smuggled reptiles were valued at $4.2 million.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) agents arrested Tin in February 2024 as he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
USFWS agents obtained a search warrant to seize Tin’s cell phones, and found evidence that Tin came to the United States to smuggle turtles. He planned to travel to New Jersey, Texas, and Washington — familiarizing himself with tourist locations to present a false story if apprehended. His ultimate plan was to pay for turtles in cash, ship them around the country, and eventually illegally export them to Hong Kong.
Tin was associated with international turtle smuggler Kang Juntao, of Hangzhou City, China, who was extradited from Malaysia in 2019 and later sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to money laundering. Kang caused the shipment of approximately 1,500 turtles (with a market value exceeding $2.25 million) from the United States to Hong Kong, which included shipments to Tin.
The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the common box turtle and native to the United States. Turtles with colorful markings are highly prized pets, particularly in China and Hong Kong, and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation, with assistance from Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations.
On March 19, 2025, Hino Motors, Ltd. (HML) was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation, during which it will be prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has manufactured into the United States, and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure. Additionally, the court entered a $1.087 billion forfeiture money judgment against the company.
Prosecutors charged HML in a single conspiracy count with five objects: to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency, to defraud the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, to violate the Clean Air Act, to commit wire fraud, and to smuggle goods into the United States, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.
Between 2010 and 2019, HML submitted and caused to be submitted false applications for engine certification approvals. Company engineers regularly altered emission test data, conducted tests improperly, and fabricated data without conducting any underlying tests. HML submitted fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data, which resulted in the calculation of false fuel consumption values for its engines. Company engineers also failed to disclose software functions that could adversely affect engines’ emission control systems. As a result of the fraud, HML imported and sold more than 105,000 non-conforming engines between 2010 and 2022.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
Nos. 1:24-CR-00124, 1:21-CR-00016 (Northern District of New York)
AUSA Benjamin Clark
On March 20, 2025, a court sentenced Kyle Offringa to pay a $100,000 fine for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA). His company, Highway and Heavy Parts, LLC (HHP), was sentenced on December 3, 2024, to pay a $25,000 fine. As part of the sentencing, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will monitor the company for ongoing compliance for a two-year period. HHP and Offringa pleaded guilty to conspiring to tamper with a required monitoring device in violation of the CAA (18 U.S.C. § 371).
Between June 2017 and March 2019, HHP and Offringa conspired with a diesel truck operator, and others, including co-conspirators Daim Logistics, Inc., and Patrick Oare, to remove, delete, and tamper with monitoring devices that were required under the CAA to be installed on heavy-duty diesel trucks. Truck operators delete the emissions control hardware on heavy-duty diesel trucks to allow them to run at higher horsepower, with greater fuel efficiency, and with reduced maintenance costs. HHP charged its customers a fee for Offringa to reprogram the vehicles’ on-board detection equipment so regulators would not discover the tampering. Customers paid HHP between $1,000 and $1,500 for each truck Offringa altered.
Oare and Daim Logistics were sentenced in November 2024 for tampering with a monitoring device or method in violation of the CAA (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Oare was sentenced to time served and to pay a $15,000 fine; the company will pay a $13,000 fine. In addition, prior to sentencing, the EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation monitored Daim for approximately 18 months to ensure the company complied with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding the emission control devices installed on diesel vehicles owned or operated by the company.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police.
Headline: Members discuss decarbonization, traceability, packaging, medical devices; address notifications
Thematic session: Traceability requirements for bulk agricultural commodities
The session recognized that traceability systems are becoming an important tool to demonstrate that agricultural products meet sustainability standards and regulations. Speakers discussed how such schemes could restrict market access and reviewed the challenges businesses face in complying with such requirements, especially in developing economies. They emphasized the role of public-private collaboration, national strategies, and the availability of traceability-related data to facilitate compliance with these schemes. The TBT Agreement disciplines, particularly transparency and the need to avoid unnecessary trade restrictions, were underscored as crucial for designing balanced and effective traceability schemes.
Thematic session: Regulatory cooperation between members on food contact packaging
Balancing multiple objectives when designing and implementing measures for reducing food contact packaging is a challenge, the session stressed. The discussion noted that food packaging serves a unique and essential role in preserving the shelf-life and safety of food we consume. Speakers identified various considerations to address these challenges, including avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches, leveraging international standards, ensuring transparency, using the best available scientific information and avoiding unnecessary costs for businesses.
Thematic session: Decarbonization standards
Speakers recognized that standards and regulations are vital in supporting decarbonization objectives, with international standards playing an important role in ensuring interoperability in international markets. The importance of developing economies’ participation in developing international standards was acknowledged, alongside the necessity of coherence and periodic updates to standards.
Thematic session: Regulatory cooperation between members on medical devices regulation
Speakers emphasized the essential role of regulatory cooperation and convergence for ensuring timely access to safe and effective medical devices, particularly in times of public health emergencies. International standards were highlighted as a foundation for facilitating trade in safe medical devices, and the importance of avoiding duplication of regulatory efforts was underscored. Speakers stressed the TBT Agreement as a key tool to guide regulatory cooperation and reduce unnecessary trade barriers for medical devices.
TBT cross-cutting information session on trade and environment
The TBT Committee held a cross-cutting information session on trade and environment with the participation of delegates from the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) in an effort by members to find synergies across the work of relevant WTO bodies. Members shared their views on possible ways in which the TBT Committee can continue enhancing members’ understanding of TBT matters at the intersection of trade and environment.
As the TBT Committee’s agenda will continue to include issues related to environmental protection and TBT measures, members expressed support for closer cooperation between the TBT Committee and the CTE, noting the benefits of fostering synergies and cross-committee learning, while avoiding duplication.
Adoption of improved TBT notification formats
Following action taken by the Transparency Working Group, and in particular by Australia, Namibia, Paraguay, the United Kingdom and the United States, significant changes to TBT notification formats were adopted to streamline and modernize information contained in these documents.
Notifications resulting from actions of Transparency Working Group
Guyana, for the first time, submitted a notification on measures it has put into place to ensure the implementation of the TBT Agreement (Article 15.2). This follows last year’s adoption of a template and accompanying guidelines to help members prepare these notifications. The new notification facilitates access to information on government agencies involved in standards and regulations and the publications and websites they use to disseminate information about their work. Canada and Colombia also shared information on their recently submitted notifications.
ePing translations
The WTO Secretariat announced the launch of a new ePing feature that allows users to request unofficial translations of the full text of notified draft regulations into English, Spanish or French. This function is now available to all WTO members and ePing users. Additionally, the Secretariat encouraged members to update their enquiry point information on ePing, emphasizing the importance of keeping contact details up to date.
International Standards Organization (ISO)/ International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) terms and definitions
In conformity with a decision members took at the 10th Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement in November 2024 and following the Secretariat’s consultations with the ISO and IEC, access to their Guide containing standardization terms and definitions is now available on the WTO website. The Guide is expressly referred to in Annex 1 of the TBT Agreement.
Specific trade concerns
Members raised eight new trade concerns and 53 previous ones.
The new trade concerns addressed proposed measures related to eco-design requirements for electrical products such as chargers and sustainable products. They also covered regulatory issues on self-driving vehicles, restrictions on use of hazardous substances in certain electrical products, and recycling and recovery of materials from waste batteries. Concerns also addressed measures related to food and liquor labelling.
Members also shared progress in their discussion of trade concerns. The United States announced progress with respect to its concerns on Mexico’s measures affecting yoghurt and cheese. Mexico and the United States reported the resolution of their trade concern regarding Saudi Arabia’s technical regulation for electric vehicles.
Annual review
Every year, the TBT Committee carries out an annual review of activities relating to the implementation and operation of the TBT Agreement, including notifications, specific trade concerns, technical assistance activities and TBT related disputes. A brochure highlighting the Committee’s key results in 2024 is available here. These results include the MC13 Declaration on Regulatory Cooperation and the adoption of the 2025-2027 workplan.
WASHINGTON – After a shocking report revealed that the Biden Small Business Administration (SBA) failed to pursue nearly two million individuals suspected of stealing pandemic aid, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and House Committee on Small Business Chair Roger Williams (R-Texas) are introducing the SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act.
The bill extends the statute of limitations to 10 years for fraud surrounding the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) COVID relief programs to ensure criminals are caught and held accountable. Similar action was taken in 2022 to extend the statute of limitations surrounding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to 10 years.
“I will not allow criminals to run out the clock and escape justice simply because the Biden administration was asleep at the wheel,” said Ernst. “Thousands of hardworking small businesses were deprived of desperately needed relief because swindlers, gang members, and felons cashing in on COVID drained the programs. Every single con artist who stole from taxpayers will be held accountable.”
“The SBA distributes millions of dollars to small businesses in need every year. However, where small business owners found the capital needed to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, bad actors saw the opportunity to defraud the government,” said Williams. “It is imperative that every fraudster who stole and exploited taxpayer dollars during our nation’s utmost hour of need be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. As we approach the five-year anniversary of the pandemic and its lockdowns, the statute of limitations must be extended to ensure that no fraudster gets away scot-free.”
While criminals cashed in, thousands of small businesses in Iowa, Texas, and across the country were left out in the cold as RRF funds ran out.
Business Insider reported that celebrities received taxpayer funds through the SVOG program for private jets, parties, luxury clothes, and multi-million dollar bonuses for themselves.
Background:In a comprehensive 2023 report, Ernst outlined the Biden SBA’s effort to discount the full extent of fraud and cast doubt on the legitimate estimates made by expert investigators.
Ernst’s tireless advocacy forced the Biden administration to eventually take action to recover billions in COVID aid in January 2024.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 14 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter to U.S. Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi inquiring into what policies and procedures she will commit to implementing in her capacity as AG to ensure that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will continue to meaningfully function in its intended capacity under Kash Patel’s stewardship.
In February, President Trump announced that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel would also serve as Acting Director of ATF, the primary federal law enforcement agency responsible for addressing gun-related crime and violence in America. However, the Senators’ letter to AG Bondi argues that Mr. Patel threatens to undo the significant gains made in recent years to ensure Americans’ safety as he lacks the relevant experience to lead ATF and has ties to the gun industry.
“As the primary federal law enforcement agency dedicated to curbing illegal firearm use and enforcing federal firearms laws and regulations, it is critical that ATF be led by an experienced Director who has been confirmed by the Senate for this role and is dedicated to upholding the agency’s mission. For the reasons outlined below, Mr. Patel is not that person,” the senators wrote. “We therefore write to inquire into what policies and procedures you will implement to ensure that ATF will continue to meaningfully function in its intended capacity.”
Gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis. In 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory listing firearm violence—including homicide, suicide, nonfatal injuries, and unintentional injuries and deaths—as a “significant public health challenge[] that require[s] the nation’s immediate awareness and action.” Though under the Trump Administration, the Surgeon General has since removed the advisory, the report analyzed data from 2002 to 2022, finding that since 2020 the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in America has been gun violence, with rates higher than car crashes, poisoning, and cancer. In 2022 alone, 48,204 people died in the United States of gun-related injuries.
That said, following passage of the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and coordinated, nationwide efforts to curb gun violence during the Biden Administration, the United States is starting to see positive results. In 2023, provisional data indicates gun-related deaths totaled 46,728—representing a decline from 2022 by three percent or 1,476 fewer deaths. Violent crime has also declined significantly, due in part to ATF’s data collection, investigation, and enforcement efforts.
“While the decrease in violent crime and gun-related deaths is encouraging, 2023 still had ‘the third-highest number of gun-related deaths ever recorded in the United States,’ evidencing that significant challenges to America’s gun violence crisis remain,” the senators wrote. “The Department of Justice must do everything within its power to sustain this downward trend, including ensuring ATF is empowered to carry out its mandate and keep firearms from falling into the hands of those who should not have them. Now is not the time to pull back on ATF leadership and practices that helped bring about this progress.”
The senators’ letter went on to explain why Mr. Patel is not the right person to lead ATF.
“As an Acting Director, Patel’s appointment has not been subject to Senate confirmation, a crucial process for vetting those nominated by the President for significant leadership roles in the Executive, including ATF Director. Disturbingly, Mr. Patel would not affirm that firearm background checks—a well-established procedure for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals—are constitutional during his confirmation hearing for FBI Director. Notably, Mr. Patel’s appointment has been applauded by extreme gun advocacy groups seeking to rollback commonsense gun regulations,” they continued. “Mr. Patel’s appointment threatens to undo the lifesaving progress ATF has made to reduce gun violence in America.”
The senators concluded: “Attorney General Bondi, you have served as a prosecutor for much of your career. During your Senate confirmation hearing, you testified about the importance of keeping Americans safe, prosecuting criminals and gunrunners, reducing recidivism, and enforcing existing gun laws. During one exchange, you assured the Committee: ‘I will do everything in my power to prevent illegal gunrunners in our country.’ In discussing your time as Florida Attorney General and mass shooting responses, you reiterated: ‘I am an advocate for the Second Amendment, but I will enforce the laws of the land.’”
To better understand how AG Bondi intends to accomplish these goals, the senators asked that she promptly respond to a series of questions.
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also signed the letter.
Full text of letter is available HERE and below:
Dear Attorney General Bondi:
We write with great concern regarding President Trump’s appointment of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel as Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). As the primary federal law enforcement agency dedicated to curbing illegal firearm use and enforcing federal firearms laws and regulations, it is critical that ATF be led by an experienced Director who has been confirmed by the Senate for this role and is dedicated to upholding the agency’s mission. For the reasons outlined below, Mr. Patel is not that person. We therefore write to inquire into what policies and procedures you will implement to ensure that ATF will continue to meaningfully function in its intended capacity.
Gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis. In 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory listing firearm violence—including homicide, suicide, nonfatal injuries, and unintentional injuries and deaths—as a “significant public health challenge[] that require[s] the nation’s immediate awareness and action.” Analyzing data from 2002 to 2022, the Surgeon General reported that since 2020 the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in America has been gun violence, with rates higher than car crashes, poisoning, and cancer. In 2022 alone, 48,204 people died in the United States of gun-related injuries.
That said, following passage of the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and coordinated, nationwide efforts to curb gun violence during the Biden Administration, we were starting to see positive results. In 2023, provisional data indicates gun-related deaths totaled 46,728—representing a decline from 2022 by three percent or 1,476 fewer deaths. Violent crime has also declined significantly, due in part to ATF’s data collection, investigation, and enforcement efforts.
For example, ATF’s crime gun intelligence tools eTrace, which “is used to trace the purchase and/or use history of firearms used in violent crimes,” and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, which “is the only interstate automated ballistic imaging network in operation in the United States,” together “have transformed crime-solving by generating over 1.1 million investigative leads from ballistic evidence and linking suspects to major crimes within hours.” ATF has also worked to increase DNA matches from cartridge casings and has expanded Crime Gun Intelligence Centers, which use “data-driven strategies” to foster “cross-agency collaboration.”
ATF has also focused on eliminating firearms trafficking networks that unlawfully smuggle guns from the United States to Mexico, arming dangerous cartels which, in turn, send illicit drugs such as fentanyl into the United States. And ATF created an Emerging Threats Center, which among other things, has focused on the proliferation of privately-made firearms, or ghost guns, and machine-gun conversion devices, or Glock switches. These represent only some examples of ATF’s nationwide initiatives to reduce gun violence and keep Americans safe.
While the decrease in violent crime and gun-related deaths is encouraging, 2023 still had “the third-highest number of gun-related deaths ever recorded in the United States,” evidencing that significant challenges to America’s gun violence crisis remain. The Department of Justice must do everything within its power to sustain this downward trend, including ensuring ATF is empowered to carry out its mandate and keep firearms from falling into the hands of those who should not have them. Now is not the time to pull back on ATF leadership and practices that helped bring about this progress.
Mr. Patel is, quite simply, not the right person to lead the ATF. As an Acting Director, Patel’s appointment has not been subject to Senate confirmation, a crucial process for vetting those nominated by the President for significant leadership roles in the Executive, including ATF Director. Disturbingly, Mr. Patel would not affirm that firearm background checks—a well-established procedure for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals—are constitutional during his confirmation hearing for FBI Director. Notably, Mr. Patel’s appointment has been applauded by extreme gun advocacy groups seeking to rollback commonsense gun regulations. Last year, Mr. Patel spoke at the inaugural summit for group Gun Owners of America, a “no-compromise gun lobby” that has announced it “look[s] forward to dismantling gun control with Kash.” Mr. Patel’s appointment threatens to undo the lifesaving progress ATF has made to reduce gun violence in America.
Attorney General Bondi, you have served as a prosecutor for much of your career. During your Senate confirmation hearing, you testified about the importance of keeping Americans safe, prosecuting criminals and gunrunners, reducing recidivism, and enforcing existing gun laws. During one exchange, you assured the Committee: “I will do everything in my power to prevent illegal gunrunners in our country.” In discussing your time as Florida Attorney General and mass shooting responses, you reiterated: “I am an advocate for the Second Amendment, but I will enforce the laws of the land.” To better understand how you intend to accomplish these goals, please promptly respond to the following questions:
Recently, we have seen notable success in curtailing gun violence. While the United States experienced a spike in gun-related crimes and deaths during the pandemic, through bipartisan congressional action and the previous Administration’s efforts, that trend has begun to reverse. Given ATF’s central role in curbing violent crime, it is of paramount importance that the agency be staffed by experienced leaders, agents, and others who support ATF’s core mission, without the appearance of or actual conflict, in order to continue this downward trend. By contrast, firearm-industry personnel advocate for gun companies’ bottom lines by pushing for the repeal of commonsense gun regulations in order to sell more weapons and weapons accessories. Hiring such individuals for critical public-safety positions at ATF would endanger the agency’s core mission and Americans’ safety while prioritizing increases in private company profits.
Will you place constraints on the hiring of firearm-industry personnel for ATF positions? If not, why?
ATF must comply with all existing legal obligations. This includes exercising statutorily-required regulatory authority over the firearms industry, fully implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and complying with the Administrative Procedures Act if changing existing ATF regulations. However, Acting Director Patel lacks experience with ATF’s core responsibilities, including ATF’s regulatory oversight of the gun industry. Moreover, Acting Director Patel was only temporarily appointed under the Vacancies Reform Act and has not been subject to the Senate’s advice and consent process for this role. It is therefore particularly important that you exercise your authority as Attorney General to give final approval of all actions ATF takes under Acting Director Patel’s stewardship, including all policy changes.
Will you commit to personally reviewing for approval all new or revised ATF policies and actions? If not, why?
Rural and remote Albertans play a crucial role in the province’s prosperity, from feeding the world to producing raw materials and adding to Alberta’s vibrant cultural landscape. They also face unique challenges when it comes to accessing affordable utilities and heating costs. By ensuring rural Albertans have affordable access to the utilities they need, Alberta’s government is helping keep lights on, homes warm and businesses in operation, powering both livelihoods and success.
Budget 2025 provides $8.5 million for the Rural Utilities Program – which consists of the Rural Electric Program, Rural Gas Program and Rural Water Program – and the Remote Area Heating Allowance. This will help communities access critical services like gas, power and water, as well as deliver direct financial relief to thousands of rural Albertans facing high utility bills so that they can continue their vital work.
“Farmers, ranchers and rural communities are the backbone of Alberta, working hard to support us all. In return, we must ensure they can keep doing what they do best, and these grants do just that by ensuring they can access the utilities they need – at a reasonable cost.”
“These grants are making a difference for Albertans across the province, ensuring that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to essential utilities. I’m proud of how this government continues to support and stand by the hard-working rural communities that help drive our province forward.”
A total of $700,000 is allocated to the Rural Electric Program, recognizing the increasing role electricity plays in modern farming and ranching. Under this program, grants are administered by the Alberta Federation of Electrification Associations and support the construction of electrical services for farms and ranches.
“Alberta’s Rural Electric Grant Program is helping rural Albertans access the power they need to continue putting food on tables around the world. We’re grateful for the government’s ongoing support and commitment to rural electrification.”
When it comes to home heating, Budget 2025 commits $5.7 million to the Natural Gas Program, to be administered by the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops, to expand and update natural gas infrastructure. This funding will help provide more rural Albertans with reliable and affordable home heating options as well as help communities attract new businesses, create jobs and diversify the local economy.
For those who are unable to access the natural gas system, Budget 2025 also commits $1.6 million for the Remote Area Heating Allowance program. Direct financial relief is provided to more than 2,000 households, the majority from Indigenous communities, to help with the high cost of alternative heating fuels, such as heating oil and propane.
“With this funding, gas co-operatives can continue the ongoing expansion of our natural gas distribution system so that we can connect even more rural communities to affordable gas heating.”
Equally as important as electricity and heat is access to safe, abundant water for residential, livestock and irrigation needs. Budget 2025 commits $500,000 for the Rural Water Program, first introduced in 2024, to ensure rural water co-ops across the province have access to modern water treatment and distribution systems. Grants are administered by the Alberta Federation of Rural Water Co-operatives.
“Access to clean water is non-negotiable for any home or farming operation. The Rural Water Program is providing support as we work to ensure rural Albertans have the modern water distribution systems they need. ”
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.
Quick facts:
The Rural Electric Program was established in 2013 and has provided more than $7 million in grants to rural Albertans who are actively farming and where the services are being used for a farming operation.
The Rural Gas Program was established in 2001 and has distributed more than $70 million to help build the largest rural gas distribution system in the world.
More than 18 per cent of Albertans live in rural and remote communities.
Related information
Farm fuel and rural utility programs
Utilities Consumer Advocate
Financial Assistance Resources (UCA)
Related news
Power up, costs down (March 25, 2025)
Don’t default to the Rate of Last Resort (Feb. 4, 2025)
Keeping Albertans’ lights on and homes warm (Oct. 21, 2024)
Introducing the Rate of Last Resort (Sept. 25, 2024)
Power rates slashed in half by new market rules (Sept. 5, 2024)
Power watchdog supports Alberta’s electricity market reforms (Aug. 6, 2024)
Preventing power price spikes (June 26, 2024)
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This image of the Helix Nebula, released on March 4, 2025, shows a potentially destructive white dwarf at the nebula’s center: this star may have destroyed a planet. This has never been seen before – and could explain a mysterious X-ray signal that astronomers have detected from the nebula for over 40 years. This view combines X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (magenta), optical light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (orange, light blue), infrared data from the European Southern Observatory VISTA telescope (gold, dark blue), and ultraviolet data from GALEX (purple) of the Helix Nebula. Data from Chandra indicates that this white dwarf has destroyed a very closely orbiting planet. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Univ Mexico/S. Estrada-Dorado et al.; Ultraviolet: NASA/JPL; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI (M. Meixner)/NRAO (T.A. Rector); Infrared: ESO/VISTA/J. Emerson; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand
NASA is seeking proposals for two new private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, targeted for 2026 and 2027, as the agency continues its commitment to expanding access to space. These private missions enable American commercial companies to further develop capabilities and support a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit. “We are in an incredible time for human spaceflight, with more opportunities to access space and grow a thriving commercial economy in low Earth orbit,” said Dana Weigel, program manager for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA remains committed to supporting this expansion by leveraging our decades of expertise to help industry gain the experience needed to train and manage crews, conduct research, and develop future destinations. Private astronaut missions are a key part of this effort, providing companies with hands-on opportunities to refine their capabilities and build partnerships that will shape the future of low Earth orbit.” The new flight opportunities will be the fifth and sixth private astronaut missions to the orbiting laboratory coordinated by NASA. The first three missions were accomplished by Axiom Space in April 2022, May 2023, and January 2024, with a fourth scheduled for no earlier than May 2025. Each of the new missions may be docked to the space station for up to 14 days. Specific dates depend on spacecraft traffic at the space station and in-orbit activity planning and constraints. Private astronaut missions must be brokered by a U.S. entity and use U.S. transportation spacecraft that meet NASA’s International Space Station visiting vehicle requirements, policies, and procedures. For additional details, refer to Focus Area 4A of NASA Research Announcement (NRA) NNJ13ZBG001N. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 30, 2025. For solicitation information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/pam For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon, where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars. Learn more about the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/station
NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional NASA Leaders Visit Representatives Blood Moon in South Mississippi
New beginnings feel a lot like the month of April. It is the heart of spring and the season that symbolizes growth and renewal. April is the perfect time to break free from old routines and try something new. If you have landed here in this website corner of our digital world, consider this your open invitation to continue ahead on the journey with NASA Stennis by following us on social media. It is time to say goodbye to the Lagniappe publication as we know it, but do not worry. All of the great news about the center and its frontline activities still will be available, just in a new way – via our social media platforms! Gator wants you to feel more connected than ever as we continue to help power space dreams in south Mississippi. Moving forward, join NASA Stennis in our digital playground for even more of that extra-something special. This playground is not limited to only fun, or making new friends, or learning new stuff. Whether you are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or X, there is a place, and space, for all of that and more. As we close out the website edition of NASA Stennis Lagniappe, we turn the page and look forward to new possibilities ahead. Let’s keep building one connection at a time because here at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site, it is more than just content. It is where the NASA Stennis team will continue building on its proven expertise in all areas of work, and where you will have a front row seat to experience it unfold. So, click the links below to become a NASA Stennis follower today. Then, invite your friends to become followers as well.
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NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional
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NASA Leaders Visit Representatives
NASA Space Flight Awareness Program Recognizes Stennis Employees NASA’s Stennis Space Center employees were recognized with Honoree Awards from NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program during a March 10 ceremony in Orlando, Florida, for outstanding support of human spaceflight.
Blood Moon in South Mississippi
U.S. Senator’s Staff Visit NASA Stennis
NASA Stennis Hosts Leadership Class
NASA Stennis Interns Tour Site
Rocket Test Group Visits NASA Stennis NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19. The group toured the south Mississippi NASA center on March 19, learning how NASA Stennis operates as NASA’s primary, and America’s largest, rocket propulsion test site to serve the nation and commercial sector with its unique capabilities and expertise.
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NASA’s Artemis II Orion Service Module Buttoned Up for Launch – NASA Welcome Home! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Back on Earth After Science Mission – NASA NASA Science Continues After Firefly’s First Moon Mission Concludes – NASA NASA Artemis II Core Stage Goes Horizontal Ahead of Final Integration – NASA
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A career path can unfold in unexpected ways. Ask NASA’s Rebecca Mataya. The journey to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, was not planned but “meant to be,” she said.
NASA’s Stennis Space Center employees were recognized with Honoree Awards from NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program during a March 10 ceremony in Orlando, Florida, for outstanding support of human spaceflight.
Melissa Wagner of Pass Christian, Mississippi, is a NASA contract specialist in the Office of Procurement at NASA Stennis. She received the honor for contributions to NASA’s Artemis campaign by identifying potential risks related to propulsion test efforts in support of the initiative, resulting in successful mitigation actions.
Samone Wilson of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is a NASA public affairs specialist in the Office of Communications at NASA Stennis. She received the honor for her work in telling others about NASA and NASA Stennis activities and missions. Timothy Miller of Pearl River, Louisiana, is a senior drafter for Syncom Space Services at NASA Stennis. Although unable to attend the ceremony, he received the honor for contributions supporting flight systems integration, facility readiness, and cost reduction with his use of Creo Parametric modeling, a powerful 3D software. Madison Monti of Kiln, Mississippi, is a security support specialist for Chenega Global Protection at NASA Stennis. Although unable to attend the ceremony, she received the honor for contributions supporting the badging office at NASA Stennis to ensure a consistent, efficient, and secure process. NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Space Operations Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Kenneth Bowersox, and Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Acting Associate Administrator Dr. Lori Glaze presented the awards. Bresnik, assistant-to-the-chief of the Astronaut Office for Exploration, was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004. He manages the development and testing of everything that will operate beyond low-Earth orbit on Artemis missions. Bresnik previously served as commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 53 and flight engineer for Expedition 52. In recognition of flight program contributions, honorees toured NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and viewed the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Endurance in conjunction with the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10. The spacecraft carried NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscomos cosmonaut Kirill Pesko to the International Space Station on March 14 as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program recognizes outstanding job performances and contributions by civil service and contract employees throughout the year and focuses on excellence in quality and safety in support of human spaceflight. The Honoree Award is one of the highest honors presented to employees for their dedication to quality work and flight safety. Recipients must have contributed beyond their normal work requirements toward achieving a particular human spaceflight program goal; contributed to a major cost savings; been instrumental in developing material that increases reliability, efficiency or performance; assisted in operational improvements; or been a key player in developing a beneficial process improvement. For information about Silver Snoopy and other Space Flight Awareness awards, visit: SFA Honoree Award – NASA For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit: Stennis Space Center – NASA
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.
The group toured the south Mississippi NASA center on March 19, learning how NASA Stennis operates as NASA’s primary, and America’s largest, rocket propulsion test site to serve the nation and commercial sector with its unique capabilities and expertise.
The day included tours of test stands and facilities hosted by NASA Stennis test complex personnel. Visits included the Fred Haise Test Stand, where NASA Stennis tests RS-25 engines to help power NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond; the Thad Cochran Test Stand, where NASA Stennis will test NASA’s exploration upper stage for future Artemis missions; the E Test Complex, where NASA Stennis supports agency and commercial propulsion test activity; and the L3Harris Technologies (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne) Engine Assembly Facility, where RS-25 engines are produced.
The group also received overviews from site personnel on the Rocket Propulsion Test Program Office located at NASA Stennis, on lessons learned from testing at the E Test Complex, and on the NASA Data Acquisition System developed onsite.
The Rocket Test Group originally formed in response to a congressional demand for an ongoing working group crossing agency and company boundaries. It is a volunteer organization intended to allow rocket test facility operators to come together to recommend solutions for difficult testing problems; lower testing costs by reducing time spent on solving critical issues and eliminating duplicate programs; facilitate the activation of new facilities; learn from each other by viewing different methods and touring various facilities; provide a networking opportunity for testing advice and problem solving support; and allow test facility operators to stay informed on the newest developments.
Follow-up research on a 2023 image of the Sagittarius C stellar nursery in the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has revealed ejections from still-forming protostars and insights into the impact of strong magnetic fields on interstellar gas and the life cycle of stars. “A big question in the Central Molecular Zone of our galaxy has been, if there is so much dense gas and cosmic dust here, and we know that stars form in such clouds, why are so few stars born here?” said astrophysicist John Bally of the University of Colorado Boulder, one of the principal investigators. “Now, for the first time, we are seeing directly that strong magnetic fields may play an important role in suppressing star formation, even at small scales.” Detailed study of stars in this crowded, dusty region has been limited, but Webb’s advanced near-infrared instruments have allowed astronomers to see through the clouds to study young stars like never before. “The extreme environment of the galactic center is a fascinating place to put star formation theories to the test, and the infrared capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provide the opportunity to build on past important observations from ground-based telescopes like ALMA and MeerKAT,” said Samuel Crowe, another principal investigator on the research, a senior undergraduate at the University of Virginia and a 2025 Rhodes Scholar. Bally and Crowe each led a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.
In Sagittarius C’s brightest cluster, the researchers confirmed the tentative finding from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) that two massive stars are forming there. Along with infrared data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission, as well as the Herschel Space Observatory, they used Webb to determine that each of the massive protostars is already more than 20 times the mass of the Sun. Webb also revealed the bright outflows powered by each protostar. Even more challenging is finding low-mass protostars, still shrouded in cocoons of cosmic dust. Researchers compared Webb’s data with ALMA’s past observations to identify five likely low-mass protostar candidates. The team also identified 88 features that appear to be shocked hydrogen gas, where material being blasted out in jets from young stars impacts the surrounding gas cloud. Analysis of these features led to the discovery of a new star-forming cloud, distinct from the main Sagittarius C cloud, hosting at least two protostars powering their own jets. “Outflows from forming stars in Sagittarius C have been hinted at in past observations, but this is the first time we’ve been able to confirm them in infrared light. It’s very exciting to see, because there is still a lot we don’t know about star formation, especially in the Central Molecular Zone, and it’s so important to how the universe works,” said Crowe.
Webb’s 2023 image of Sagittarius C showed dozens of distinctive filaments in a region of hot hydrogen plasma surrounding the main star-forming cloud. New analysis by Bally and his team has led them to hypothesize that the filaments are shaped by magnetic fields, which have also been observed in the past by the ground-based observatories ALMA and MeerKAT (formerly the Karoo Array Telescope). “The motion of gas swirling in the extreme tidal forces of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, can stretch and amplify the surrounding magnetic fields. Those fields, in turn, are shaping the plasma in Sagittarius C,” said Bally. The researchers think that the magnetic forces in the galactic center may be strong enough to keep the plasma from spreading, instead confining it into the concentrated filaments seen in the Webb image. These strong magnetic fields may also resist the gravity that would typically cause dense clouds of gas and dust to collapse and forge stars, explaining Sagittarius C’s lower-than-expected star formation rate. “This is an exciting area for future research, as the influence of strong magnetic fields, in the center of our galaxy or other galaxies, on stellar ecology has not been fully considered,” said Crowe. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). Downloads Click any image to open a larger version. View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute. View/Download the science paper led by Bally from the The Astrophysical Journal. View/Download the science paper led by Crowe from the The Astrophysical Journal.
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Leah Ramsay – lramsay@stsci.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Read more: press releases about the center of the Milky Way NASA’s Universe of Learning: ViewSpace Interactive image tour of the center of the Milky Way Learn more about the Milky Way and Sagittarius Constellation More Webb News More Webb Images Webb Science Themes Webb Mission Page
What Is a Nebula? What Is a Galaxy? What is the Webb Telescope? SpacePlace for Kids En Español ¿Qué es una nebulosa? ¿Qué es una galaxia? Ciencia de la NASA NASA en español Space Place para niños
Headline: FEMA Assistance Now Available to More West Virginians
FEMA Assistance Now Available to More West Virginians
FEMA Assistance Now Available to More West VirginiansCHARLESTON, W
Va
— West Virginians in Raleigh County can now apply for FEMA assistance to help with costs from the Feb
15, 2025, winter flooding
FEMA assistance may be able to help you pay for temporary housing, home repairs and other needs due to the disaster
It is available to residents of Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming counties, and includes: Essential items such as water, food, first aid, prescriptions, infant formula, breastfeeding supplies, diapers, medical supplies and equipment, personal hygiene items and fuel for transportationRental assistance if you are displaced because of the disaster including financial assistance for the following: hotel stays, stays with family and friends, or other options while you look for a rental unitRepair or replacement of a vehicle, appliances, room furnishings, personal or family computerBooks, uniforms, tools, computers and other items required for school or work, including self-employmentMoving and storage fees and medical, childcare and funeral expenses There are multiple ways to apply: Call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362
Lines are open every day and help is available in most languages
If you use a relay service such as video relay service (VRS) or captioned telephone service, please provide FEMA your number for that service
Visit a Disaster Recovery Center for face-to-face assistance
At a recovery center, you can get help applying for federal assistance, update your application and learn about other resources available
FEMA’s locator for DRCs in West Virginia can help you find your nearest center, or you can check the FEMA app
Visit DisasterAssistance
gov
Download the FEMA AppDisaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) teams will soon be on the ground in Raleigh County, walking door to door to share information and help residents apply for FEMA assistance
If you have insurance, you should file a claim as soon as possible
FEMA can’t pay for losses your insurance will cover
In addition, communities in Raleigh and Boone counties are now eligible for FEMA’s Public Assistance
This program reimburses governments and certain nonprofits for expenses incurred from life-saving measures taken during the emergency, along with infrastructure repairs and other expenses
For more information on West Virginia’s disaster recovery, visit emd
wv
gov, West Virginia Emergency Management Division Facebook page, www
fema
gov/disaster/4861, and www
facebook
com/FEMA
###FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during and after disasters
FEMA is committed to ensuring disaster assistance is accomplished impartially, without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, English proficiency, or economic status
If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, ask for assistance on the FEMA Helpline 1-800-621-3362 (press 2 for Spanish and 3 for other languages)
In addition, FEMA’s Civil Rights Office can be contacted at FEMA-OCR-ECRD@fema
Headline: Kentuckians: Prepare for Severe Weather Now
Kentuckians: Prepare for Severe Weather Now
FRANKFORT, Ky
– With another round of severe weather on the way here in Kentucky, you need to stay prepared
It’s critical to have multiple ways to receive emergency alerts—whether you’re at home, school, work, or out in the community
Stay alert, follow guidance from your local officials, and keep up with the latest forecasts by following your local National Weather Service office
Read more about emergency alerts here
Before a TornadoHave a pre-determined place to meet after a disaster
Increase your situational awareness by monitoring the weather on weather
gov, watching local TV, or listening to NOAA Weather Radio
Know the signs of a tornado: dark, greenish sky; large hail; dark, low clouds; and loud roaring sounds
When a tornado watch is issued, practice your drill and check your safety supplies
Flying debris is the greatest danger in tornadoes, so store protective coverings (e
g
, mattress, sleeping bags, thick blankets, etc
) in or next to your shelter space, ready to use on a few seconds’ notice
Tornado rule of thumb: Put as many walls and floors between you and the tornado as possible
In a mobile home: Get out! Go to a neighbors, underground shelter, or a nearby permanent structure
Most tornadoes can destroy even tied-down mobile homes
Read the Commonwealth of Kentucky Division of Emergency Management’s Tornado Safety List herePrepare for FloodingIf you are under a flood warning, find safe shelter right away
Remember, just six inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away
Follow instructions from local officials
If told, evacuate immediately
Never drive around barricades
Local responders use them to safely direct traffic out of flooded areas
Stay off bridges over fast-moving water
Fast-moving water can wash bridges away without warning
Avoid driving except in emergencies
Read the Commonwealth of Kentucky Division of Emergency Management’s Flood Safety List here
pdfBe Ready for a Power OutageLocate flashlights, radio and extra batteries now
Charge electronic devices now
Generators are helpful during power outages but can present serious health and safety risks
Only use a generator outdoors and far from open doors and windows to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning
Read the Commonwealth of Kentucky Division of Emergency Management’s Preparedness Checklist here
Source: US International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
Bon Secours Mercy Health has resolved an issue impacting Local 85 Boilermakers’ health care providers participating in the Cigna network. As of April 1, 2025, Bon Secours Mercy Health providers will remain in network with Cigna as part of a multi-year agreement.
“We are grateful to the Boilermakers National Funds for their work monitoring the situation and addressing the issue,” said L-85 BM-ST Tim Timmons. “We’re glad this is resolved and that members can continue using their health care providers in network.”
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
ALBUQUERQUE – A Thoreau man was sentenced to five years of supervised probation for the accidental shooting of his friend during a drunken altercation in 2022.
According to court documents, on August 20, 2022, Gerrick Mariano, 27, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, and John Doe were drinking and shooting Mariano’s recently purchased AR-15 at Doe’s home, located on the Navajo Nation. Mariano pointed his new rifle at one of Doe’s pets, which upset Doe, who demanded Mariano leave his home. This angered Mariano, who then pointed his rifle at Doe’s chest, intending to frighten Doe. Doe quickly pushed the barrel away, which resulted in Mariano inadvertently pulling the trigger once. The bullet struck John Doe in his upper-right shoulder.
Post-crime photo of the weapon on Doe’s bed.
Doe required an airlift to a hospital. Mariano initially said the shooting was accidental and alleged Doe had been attempting suicide. Interviewed later, Mariano admitted responsibility and apologized to Doe. Doe continues to experience pain and restricted movement because of the gunshot injury.
Mariano will be subject to five years of supervised probation. During this period, he cannot consume alcohol or drugs, he must maintain gainful employment or enroll in school, and he must not break any additional laws—federal, state, or tribal. Should he do so, Mariano will face the revocation of probation, which could result in a prison sentence. As a convicted felon, Mariano cannot possess any sort of gun.
Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Department of Investigation, New Mexico State Police, and New Mexico Park Rangers. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Jones is prosecuting the case.
The Union Government has been working towards establishing institutional mechanisms to foster the global mobility of Indian workers as well as students, academicians, researches, business persons etc. The Government has been proactively furthering the mobility for Indian workforce through diverse MoUs/agreements such as, Migration and Mobility Partnerships, Labour mobility and Labour Welfare Agreements, Skill Development and Vocational Education and Training with destination countries, which establish a robust framework for legal migration.
These agreements/MoUs seek to enhance global employment opportunities for Indian workers while protecting their labour rights, preventing irregular migration and supporting skill development.
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), under the aegis of MSDE, has trained a total of 23,254 candidates and certified 22,455 in the past 3 years (2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25) for international mobility.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has MoUs or Memoranda of Cooperation (MoCs) with seven countries, namely, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Qatar, Singapore and UAE, for cooperation in skill development and Vocational Education and Training. Focused on increased opportunities for Indian workforce, both domestic and global, these agreements facilitate technical exchanges, collaborative training programs, qualification recognition, and the sharing of best practices.
Further, with the efforts of MSDE, the New Delhi Leaders Declaration accepted by the leaders of G20 made a commitment towards developing an international reference classification of occupations by skills and qualification requirements to facilitate cross-country comparability and mutual recognition of skills and qualifications. The International Labour Organization (ILO) will be the agency undertaking this study.
It is the constant endeavour of MSDE to engage with different countries and facilitate gainful employment opportunities to the youth of the country. Accordingly, NSDC, under the aegis of MSDE, has undertaken a study of following 16 countries to understand their skill requirements:
Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Germany, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, United States of America, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.
Additionally, in line with the Budget announcement for the fiscal year 2023-24, MSDE has proposed establishment of 30 Skill India International Centres (SIICs) across various states. The SIICs are envisioned as centralized hubs for individuals seeking employment abroad. The overarching goal of SIICs is to establish a ‘Trusted Workforce Supply Chain’ ensuring fair and transparent skilled mobility from India. Currently, two SIICs have been established, one in Varanasi and another at SDI, Bhubaneswar and further 05 centres have been approved by Project Steering Committee (PSC).
This information was given by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Jayant Chaudhary, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on April 02, 2025.
Government has approved Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India. which provides:
Fiscal support of 50% of the project cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Silicon Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) based Semiconductor Fabs in India.
Fiscal support of 50% of Project Cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Display Fabs in India.
Fiscal support of 50% of the Capital Expenditure on pari-passu basis for setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics (SiPh) / Sensors (including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) Fab/ Discrete Semiconductor Fab and Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) / Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facilities in India.
Product Design Linked Incentive of up to 50% of the eligible expenditure subject to a ceiling of ₹15 Crore per application and also “Deployment Linked Incentive” of 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over 5 years subject to a ceiling of ₹30 Crore per application for incentivising chip design.
Government has also approved modernisation of Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali to enhance efficiency and cycle time.
Government has approved five semiconductor manufacturing projects that includes One Semiconductor Fabrication facility and four Semiconductor ATMP/OSAT facilities under Semicon India Program with cumulative investment of around Rs. 1,52,000 crore. The approved projects are under various phases of implementation and are expected to be completed in 4–6-year timeframe.
Further, to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing and creating a semiconductor ecosystem in the country, Government has entered in Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with USA, European Union, Japan and Singapore.
Semiconductor manufacturing is very complex and Technology intensive sector which requires specialized skilled manpower. To address this, the following measures have been taken by the Government:
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched the new curriculum for B. Tech in Electronics Engineering (Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) Design and Technology), Diploma in Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing and Minor Degree in Electronics Engineering (VLSI Design and Technology), as a step towards creation of Talent pool in Semiconductor domain.
Government has launched the Chips to Startup (‘C2S’) programme which plans to train 85,000 industry ready workforce at about 113 participating institutions in VLSI and Embedded System Design. More than 43,000 engineering students have been onboarded for training at 113 organizations under C2S Programme till date.
A Skilled Manpower Advanced Research and Training (SMART) Lab has been setup in NIELIT Calicut in 2022 with an aim to train one lakh engineers nation-wide within 5 years in VLSI and Embedded System design. More than 42,000 engineers have been trained nationwide using the SMART Lab.
Further, the following collaborations/ partnerships have been entered into by India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to encourage skill development:
MoU between ISM with IISc and Lam Research: To train about 60,000 Indian engineers in the upcoming 10 years through Lam Research’s Semiverse platform.
MoU between ISM and IBM: To facilitate Indian students/professionals to build a broad skill base by gaining access to laboratories and research focal centers and establishing internship and fellowship programs.
MoU between ISM with Purdue University: To promote the cutting-edge research and development and commercialization thereof, curating skilled talent pool and investment opportunities in India enabling the Indian professionals to explore their potential in the semiconductor and display space.
Government is focused on its objective of building the overall semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem with an emphasis on fostering R&D in semiconductor area in the country. MeitY supports R&D projects in the area of semiconductors at academic institutions, research organizations, and startup companies through a dedicated R&D Scheme. Some of them includes but not limited to the following- nanotechnology, semiconductor materials, semiconductor processes, chip design, semiconductor IP Cores etc
This information was given by the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Shri Jitin Prasada in Lok Sabha today.
Several parts of the country, including States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, are likely to be severely impacted by heat, and as per the recent report by the World Bank, the rising temperatures are expected to cause India to lose up to 5% of its Gross Domestic Product by 2030. Heat is recognized as a severe threat, and the State Disaster Management Agencies of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have prepared State heat action plans in 2016 and 2019, respectively, to manage the heat stress. Also, the State Planning Commission has set up the heat action network to advance efforts for inter-departmental and intersectoral engagement toward heat mitigation.
As per the State-wise statement of Climate Report-2023 published by, (https://imdpune.gov.in/Reports/Statewise%20annual%20climate/statewise_annualclimate.html) the India Meteorological Department (IMD) a significant increasing trend of +0.68°C/100 years is observed in the Tamil Nadu State averaged annual mean temperature series for the period 1901-2023. The increasing trend is relatively higher in the case of maximum temperature (+0.84°C/100 years) compared to that in the case of minimum temperature (+0.51°C/100 years). The five warmest years on record for the state of Tamil Nadu are 2019 (temperature anomaly of +0.848°C), 2016(+0.837°C), 2017(+0.624°C), 2020(+0.493°C) and 2023(+0.432°C). Under the changing climate, various parts of the country, including Tamil Nadu, are projected to experience increased heatwaves.
Due to climate change, annual temperatures are increasing globally and the impact of the same is reflected in the rising frequency and intensity of heatwaves in various parts of the globe, including India. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also reflects the same observations (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf). Addressing the root causes of global climate change is essential to mitigate the impact of heat waves. This involves international cooperation to reduce green house gas emissions, transition to renewable energy sources, and implement sustainable practices across all sectors. Various initiatives have been undertaken by the Government of India with the help of States to reduce the impact of heatwaves in the coming years. The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) are one of the major initiatives in this direction. Additionally, India has taken a proactive role in fostering international collaborations through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure. India is committed to pursuing low-carbon strategies for development and is actively pursuing them, as per national circumstances.
The India Meteorological Department, in coordination with various research centers across the country, has taken multiple steps to improve monitoring and early warning systems, which has helped minimize loss of life and property during extreme weather events, including heat waves. These include:
Issuing seasonal and monthly outlooks, followed by extended-range forecasts of temperature and heatwave conditions. The early warning and forecast information are disseminated through the website, various social media,etc., for timely public outreach.
District-wise heatwave vulnerability Atlas over India to help State Government authorities and disaster management agencies for timely planning.
The hot weather hazard analysis map over India includes daily temperature, winds, and humidity conditions.
Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in 23 States that are prone to heatwave conditions were jointly implemented by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with the State Governments.
A series of National and State-level heatwave preparedness meetings are conducted much before the start of the summer season, with regular review meetings from time to time during the season.
IMD has launched seven of its services (Current Weather, Nowcast, City Forecast, Rainfall Information, Tourism Forecast, Warnings, and Cyclone) with the ‘UMANG’ Mobile App for use by the Public. Moreover, IMD has developed a mobile App, ‘MAUSAM’ for weather forecasting, ‘Meghdoot’ for Agromet advisory dissemination, and ‘Damini’ for lightning alerts. The common Alert Protocol (CAP) developed by the NDMA is also being implemented to disseminate extreme weather warnings by the IMD.
This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Don Davis (NC-01) and U.S. Representative August Pfluger (TX-11) introduced the bipartisan H.R. 2542, theOld Drugs, New Cures Act,legislation to improve access to innovative, affordable medication and tackle health disparities in rural and low-income communities across America.
“To ensure every patient, no matter their income, no matter where they live, has access to the best treatments possible, Congress must pass legislation to encourage the development of new, affordable drugs,” said Congressman Don Davis. “Eastern North Carolina communities face the greatest health care disparities of any region in the state. Without an incentive for innovation, patients will not have access to affordable, quality health care.”
Current Medicaid regulations inhibit the research of certain conditions that disproportionately affect rural and low-income communities, like sickle cell disease or other chronic illnesses. TheOld Drugs, New Cures Actwould carve out an exemption for “priority research” drugs in existing law, allowing for a smoother path from drug development to patient access. To ensure equal access to lifesaving cures, a drug designated as a “priority research drug,” would be excluded from the definition of a “line extension,” therefore making it more accessible to all patients and encouraging innovation at the same time.
“The federal government should be fostering medical innovation, not standing in its way,” said Congressman August Pfluger. “Unfortunately, current HHS regulations create unnecessary barriers to researching new applications for existing medications, preventing potentially life-changing treatments from reaching the patients who need them most. I’m proud to join Congressman Don Davis once again in introducing the Old Drugs, New Cures Act, which will clear these obstacles and create a smoother pathway for breakthrough treatments to reach the market, particularly for conditions that disproportionately affect rural and underserved communities.”
“As a global diversified pharmaceutical company enriching lives through a relentless drive to deliver better health outcomes, new legislation allowing manufacturers the ability to study and bring forward new treatments based on existing FDA-approved products just makes sense for patients,” said Jeff Hartness, Executive Vice President, Market Access, Commercial Operations, Neurology, Generics and Government Affairs. “We believe the introduction of the Old Drugs New Cures Act legislation has the potential to positively impact patient lives in a way that otherwise will not be feasible.”
“Here at Bausch Health, we are focused on our core R&D platforms, but we are also continuously looking across our existing portfolio to identify underserved, unmet diseases and therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Tage Ramakrishna, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, President, R&D at Bausch Health. As knowledge of disease states and pharmaceutical products increase, manufacturers like Bausch Health need the ability to study all molecules, new and old, for future medical breakthroughs.”
“Reformulating existing drugs is an opportunity for innovation to address unmet needs in an efficient and timely manner,” said Donna R. Cryer, JD, founder and CEO of Global Liver Institute. “New uses for existing drugs have long been supported by the rare disease community, for whom treatment options are highly limited. This bill presents an opportunity to advance health equity by driving innovation to Medicaid-eligible patients who experience high unmet medical needs.”
“GLI strongly supports innovation that addresses unmet needs in an efficient and timely manner,” said Larry Holden, CEO of Global Liver Institute.“Only about 5% of rare disease patients have a treatment approved by the FDA, making any policy to incentivize new uses for existing drugs especially valuable for vulnerable populations, particularly patients whose care is largely provided by Medicaid.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Andrew Garbarino (R-NY)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today,Congressman Andrew R. Garbarno (R-NY-02)joined withCongesswoman Grace Meng (D-NY-06) and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), along with Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05), and Zach Nunn (R-IA-03),to announce the introduction of their bipartisan, bicameralHot Foods Act, which would permit the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to cover hot food purchases.
Currently, SNAP contains an outdated provision that limits purchases to food that needs to be prepared at home before it is consumed or specifically cold prepared foods. The Hot Foods Act would remove this prohibition and allow SNAP recipients to use their benefits to buy hot foods like prepared rotisserie chickens, hot sandwiches, soups and more.
“A working mom trying to put food on the table for her kids can use SNAP to buy a cold sandwich—but not a hot bowl of soup or a rotisserie chicken. That just doesn’t make sense,” said Rep. Garbarino.“Outdated restrictions like this ignore the reality many families face. The Hot Foods Act is a commonsense reform that would give families more flexibility to purchase nutritious, ready-to-eat meals. I’m proud to co-lead this effort to ensure children have access to the healthy, hot meals they need.”
“Millions of American families rely on SNAP daily to put food on the table. It simply doesn’t make sense to restrict them from using their benefits to buy hot meals while allowing them to buy the exact same type of meal cold or frozen,” said Rep. Meng.“The Hot Foods Act removes this dated rule preventing people from purchasing hot foods with SNAP, giving flexibility to working parents, people with disabilities, and the many hard-working Americans who need to put food on the table every day. I am proud to work across the aisle to make this commonsense change.”
“SNAP is one of the most effective tools for reducing food insecurity and combating poverty. It’s past time that Congress cuts unnecessary red tape in the program that prevents Americans from using their SNAP benefits to buy prepared and hot foods to feed their families,” said Senator Bennet.“This billwill make it easier for working families, single parents, people with disabilities, and seniors to put nutritious food on the table.”
Of the more than 42 million SNAP participants, including 2.8 million New Yorkers, nearly 70 percent of them are children, elderly, or those with disabilities. The ability to purchase hot and ready-to-eat foods would provide much-needed flexibility to those who rely on this program to supplement their nutrition and dietary needs.
“Millions of Americans rely on SNAP to help put healthy, nutritious food on the table — and they deserve the flexibility to use those benefits in ways that reflect real-life needs. For workers and families constantly on-the-go, prepared hot foods are often the most practical and accessible option. The Hot Foods Act is a commonsense, bipartisan solution that expands food choice, respects individual circumstances, and strengthens the impact of SNAP for those facing food insecurity every day. I’m proud to work across the aisle to deliver this long-overdue reform,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick.
“Right now, a person receiving SNAP benefits cannot purchase hot foods, meaning if you are unhoused, living at a shelter, do not have adequate cooking faculties, or just don’t have time because of a nontraditional work schedule, then your benefits are no good to you for making healthy food choices like hot soup or a rotisserie chicken,” saidRep. Hayes.“SNAP should reflect modern grocery options instead of creating unnecessary barriers for recipients.”
“No family should have to choose between hunger and dignity,” saidRep. Nunn. “Iowans deserve the flexibility to use their nutrition benefits on warm, ready-to-eat meals that make life a little easier – especially for working parents.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22)
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today reintroduced legislation aimed at addressing reductions in Medicare Advantage (MA) access and benefits. The bill addresses reimbursement shortfalls to local MA plans from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Specifically, the bill allows CMS to adjust benchmark amounts based on local wage indices that have increased by 20 percent or more to ensure enrollees continue to receive comprehensive benefits and quality care.
Rep Tenney was joined in introducing this legislation by Representatives Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Nick Langworthy (NY-23), and Mike Lawler (NY-17).
In 2023, CMS made a needed adjustment to the wage index for Upstate New York hospitals, treating geographically rural and rural reclassified hospitals equally. This change led to wage index increases of 20-40% across Upstate New York. While this provided significant relief for hospitals that had been severely underpaid by the fee-for-service program, it inadvertently placed substantial financial pressure on regional MA plans, which are predominantly non-profit organizations. Because CMS did not account for these new costs in their benchmark rates for 2024, MA plans have experienced significant financial challenges that jeopardize plans’ ability to provide affordable, quality coverage to their beneficiaries. Without relief, health plans will be forced to cut benefits and increase premiums for seniors who can least afford it.
Last week, Rep. Tenney sent a letter to CMS urging the agency to reassess the ongoing misalignment between hospital wage index increases and MA benchmark adjustments in Upstate New York.
“Our community’s seniors deserve continued access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. Unfortunately, the payment disparity has already affected local plans’ offerings and limited seniors’ coverage choices. By adjusting the benchmark rates to reflect the increased costs faced by our regional plans, we can restore MA options for our seniors and protect them from higher premiums in the future. This bill will ensure that Medicare Advantage plans continue to provide the robust benefits that so many members of our community rely on,” said Congresswoman Tenney.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As first reported in Fox News, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) and Congressman Tracey Mann (KS-01) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum urging him to reverse the listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and the Lesser Prairie Chicken from the threatened and endangered species list. Doing so would unleash American energy, highlight the success of local conservation efforts, and restore regulatory certainty for rural communities.
Under the Biden Administration, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and the Lesser Prairie Chicken were listed as endangered species, ignoring the conservation efforts already being made by Texas and Kansas farmers, ranchers, and agricultural and energy producers. The efforts resulted in net acreage conservation gains for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizards’ habitat and increased the Lesser Prairie Chicken population. In the letter to Secretary Burgum, the Members stress that the Trump Administration has the opportunity to correct these misguided listings and ensure America can maintain its energy dominance.
In the letter, the members write in part,“Empowering states, landowners, and private partners to continue leading species management ensures we can protect wildlife without sacrificing economic growth, energy production, or the livelihoods of hardworking Americans. Striking this balance is critical to maintaining our environmental stewardship and America’s energy dominance. With the right approach, we can achieve lasting conservation results without burdening the very communities that have been instrumental in protecting these species… The Trump Administration can correct these misguided policies by directing FWS to delist both the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Doing so will restore balance to our conservation efforts—allowing local stakeholders to continue their successful work while safeguarding American energy production, protecting jobs, and supporting rural economies,”
In addition, the Representatives reintroduced theLimiting Incredulous Zealots Against Restricting Drilling (LIZARD) Act to strike the Biden Administration’s designation of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This listing directly threatens the production of oil, natural gas, wind, and solar energy developed in the Permian Basin and across America.
“Former President Biden spent four years fulfilling his promise to kill the fossil fuel industry one horrible policy at a time – including listing the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard under the Endangered Species Act, a direct attack on our hardworking men and women in the energy sector,”said Rep. Pfluger.“This listing, along with many others, was completely misguided and repudiates significant private conservation efforts in West Texas. I am proud to lead the charge alongside my good friend and colleague Rep. Tracey Mann to continue undoing the Biden Administration’s nonsensical policies and protect American energy production and jobs.”
“From day one, President Biden used every tool in his toolbox to trample on the livelihoods of America’s energy and agricultural producers,”said Rep. Mann. “His administration continuously ignored the facts on the ground and decided federal bureaucrats were better equipped to manage these populations than local citizens. Our bill restores power back to the local communities most impacted by these decisions and removes the regulatory handcuffs put on them by the Biden Administration. We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Burgum to reverse these ill-informed listings and unleash the American energy dominance 77 million Americans voted for this past November.”
Read the full text of the legislation here.
This legislation is supported by several associations in the energy industry, including the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA).
IPAA President & CEO Jeff Eshelman said,“IPAA has serious concerns with the final rule to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Unfortunately, the Fish and Wildlife Service continues to disregard the large amount of conservation work already done to protect the species and the successes of these programs. This listing is an affront to the oil and natural gas industry employees who live and work in the Permian Basin in both Texas and New Mexico. IPAA believes that the decision to list the DSL is unwarranted and thanks Congressman Pfluger for his efforts to stop this misguided listing decision.”
PBPA President Ben Shepperd said,“The Permian Basin Petroleum Association strongly supports Congressman Pfluger’s reintroduction of the LIZARD Act and his continued efforts to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s unjustified listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act. The Service’s arbitrary decision ignores sound science and disregards the extensive, state-led conservation initiatives that have successfully protected the species—initiatives that have resulted in the enrollment of hundreds of thousands of acres and the commitment of millions of dollars in both Texas and New Mexico. Rather than imposing burdensome federal regulations, Congressman Pfluger is standing behind proven, effective conservation efforts that prioritize real results over bureaucratic red tape. PBPA members have long demonstrated their commitment to responsible stewardship of our natural resources through voluntary conservation programs, and we greatly appreciate Congressman Pfluger’s leadership in recognizing and supporting these efforts.”
Background:
In recent years, through state and private conservation efforts in New Mexico alone, 1,905,120 acres have been enrolled in a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) by the ranching community and 2,230,066 acres have been enrolled in the CCA and CCAA by the oil and gas industry to protect the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.
These enrollments have resulted in a net acreage conservation gain for the species’ habitat and the associated financial contributions have helped fund dozens of reclamation and conservation programs to support the species while still allowing for the development of natural resources and human existence in the region.
Read the full letterhereor below:
We write to urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reverse the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard listings under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These designations have imposed unnecessary regulatory burdens on our rural communities, threatening the vital work of hardworking farmers, ranchers, and energy producers while disregarding the proven success of the state and privately led conservation efforts.
For over a decade, voluntary public-private conservation partnerships have remarkably succeeded in stabilizing and increasing the Lesser Prairie Chicken population. In fact, since 2013, the population has more than doubled due to the dedication of local officials and companies who have implemented targeted conservation strategies. Instead of recognizing these efforts, the prior administration’s disastrous listing decision disregarded measurable progress and subjected key industries to regulatory overreach that weakened our energy independence and agricultural production.
Similarly, the designation of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as endangered threatens responsible energy development and economic prosperity in the Permian Basin, a critical region in ensuring America’s energy security. Industry leaders and conservationists have invested significant resources in habitat protection and species management programs, successfully maintaining the lizard’s habitat while allowing for responsible land use.
Reversing these listings would recognize the success of local conservation efforts and restore regulatory certainty for the communities and industries that depend on access to these lands. Empowering states, landowners, and private partners to continue leading species management ensures we can protect wildlife without sacrificing economic growth, energy production, or the livelihoods of hardworking Americans. Striking this balance is critical to maintaining our environmental stewardship and America’s energy dominance. With the right approach, we can achieve lasting conservation results without burdening the very communities that have been instrumental in protecting these species.
The Trump Administration can correct these misguided policies by directing FWS to delist both the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Doing so will restore balance to our conservation efforts—allowing local stakeholders to continue their successful work while safeguarding American energy production, protecting jobs, and supporting rural economies.
We appreciate your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to your prompt response.
Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
VIDEO: Sen. Reed joins Sen. Booker on floor
WASHINGTON, DC — For over 25 hours, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) stood on the Senate floor and delivered a marathon speech to protest the national cost-of-living and constitutional crisis caused by President Donald Trump and special government agent Elon Musk, including massive job cuts and sweeping tariffs.
“Unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds, and institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly — and I would say even unconstitutionally — affected, attacked and even shattered,” said Booker during the record-breaking speech, which began at 7 p.m. on Monday evening and continued through the night into Tuesday evening.
According to Senate rules, Booker has had to remain standing on the Senate floor and could not sit at his desk or pause for a bathroom break during his entire speech or else he would lose control of the Senate floor.
At one point during the speech Senator Booker held up a copy of the Constitution, stating: “Twelve hours now I’m standing, and I’m still going strong because this president is wrong, and he’s violating principles that we hold dear and principles in this document that are so clear and plain.”
During the marathon speech, U.S. Senators were able to go to the floor to briefly ask questions while Booker retained control of the floor and had a chance to rest his voice.
On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Booker to ask about LIHEAP cuts, indiscriminate mass-firings of federal employees, and the gutting of agencies that provide critical support for American families and protect workers’ rights; as well as the degradation of democracy. The Senators criticized the Trump Administration and discussed the negative impacts President Donald Trump’s policies have had so far, including the economic drag President Trump has created.
“Our economy should be doing better right now, but President Trump’s erratic policies are creating an economic drag. Instead of helping to lower prices for everyday Americans, he is raising them. And he’s creating real economic hardships for families, communities, and states. We have the opportunity, tools, and conditions to build a stronger economy that works for all Americans, but instead President Trump is leading our country in the wrong direction. I applaud Senator Booker for using this opportunity to draw attention to the changes that are needed and I am proud to support these efforts,” said Senator Reed.
Senator Whitehouse said: “Senator Booker has always been a relentless fighter in the pursuit of justice. With heroic stamina, he has called the nation’s attention to the looters and polluters who President Trump is allowing to ravage our democracy at the expense of working people.”
Prior to Senator Booker’s record-breaking speech today, the previous record for the longest Senate filibuster was held by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have introduced legislation to eliminate food deserts and expand access to affordable and nutritious food by incentivizing food providers to expand access to healthy food options in underserved communities. The Healthy Food Access for All Americans (HFAAA) Act was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Jennifer McLellan (VA-04).
“Fresh and nutritious foods are a cornerstone of health and wellbeing, but too many families in Virginia and across America live in places where these foods are out of reach,” said Sen. Warner. “This legislation will help us fight food deserts by incentivizing grocery stores to come to communities that have the hardest time accessing fresh produce.”
“Even while living in the breadbasket of our nation, food insecurity affects far too many Kansans, particularly those living in rural communities far from a grocery store,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation, which would incentivize food providers to establish and renovate grocery stores, food banks and farmers markets in communities that traditionally lack affordable, healthy and convenient food options, would help provide those who are hungry with access to nutritious food.”
“Many West Virginians struggle to access fresh, nutritious food to keep their families and communities well fed. I’m proud to reintroduce the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act, which will expand access to healthy foods through food banks and local grocery stores in rural communities across West Virginia and the nation,” said Sen. Capito.
“Access to nutritious food is essential for every family’s health and well-being, but it remains out of reach for far too many communities. This bipartisan legislation offers a key solution to eliminating food deserts in Maryland and across the country – ensuring every American can buy fresh, affordable, healthy food in their neighborhood, regardless of where they live,” said Sen. Van Hollen.
According to recent data, an estimated 18.8 million Americans live in what the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies as a “food desert.” Urban areas designated as food deserts lack a grocery store within one or more miles. Rural areas designated as food deserts lack a grocery store within ten or more miles. Studies have shown that Americans who live in communities with low-access to healthy food options are at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Specifically, the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act – which defines a grocery market as a retail sales store with at least 35 percent of its selection (or forecasted selection) dedicated to selling fresh produce, poultry, dairy, and deli items – would encourage investment in food deserts across the country that have a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or a median family income of less than 80 percent of the median for the state or metro area.
It would grant tax credits or grants to food providers who service low-access communities and attain a “Special Access Food Provider” (SAFP) certification through the Treasury Department. Incentives would be awarded based on the following structure:
New Store Construction – Companies that construct new grocery stores in a food desert will receive a one-time 15 percent tax credit after receiving certification.
Retrofitting Existing Structures – Companies that make retrofits to an existing store’s healthy food sections can receive a one-time 10 percent tax credit after the repairs certify the store as an SAFP.
Food Banks – Certified food banks that build new (permanent) structures in food deserts will be eligible to receive a one-time grant for 15 percent of their construction costs.
Temporary Access Merchants – Certified temporary access merchants (i.e. mobile markets, farmers markets, and some food banks) that are 501(c)(3)s will receive grants for 10 percent of their annual operating costs.
The Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act boasts the support of numerous organizations, including Feeding America, the National Grocers Association, and Share Our Strength.
“Feeding America commends Senator Warner for confronting the unfortunate fact that for the 47 million Americans living with hunger, access to affordable nutritious food is significantly harder for those who live in food deserts. The Feeding America network of more than 200 food banks understands that areas without affordable, healthy food options have higher rates of food insecurity. Rural communities in particular lack access to adequate transportation to the nearest grocery store or food pantry. Feeding America supports the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act as a critical step to give nonprofits and retailers support to increase food access in underserved areas,” said Vince Hall, Chief Government Relations Officer at Feeding America.
“The National Grocers Association applauds Senator Warner and Representatives McClellan and Sykes for their leadership on this important legislation focused on eliminating the challenges confronting grocers seeking to expand access to nutritious food in underserved rural and urban areas alike. Independent grocers are the backbone of the communities they serve and have a long-standing tradition of leading efforts to provide improved food options for those most in need. Enhanced access to healthy food bolsters both the physical well-being and economic vitality of local communities everywhere, and we look forward to working with Congress to pass this important bipartisan legislation,” said Stephanie Johnson, Vice President, Government Relations, National Grocers Association.
“To end childhood hunger in America, we must ensure that low-income families have access to healthy, affordable food options no matter their zip code or circumstances. Ending food deserts will help more families put food on the table and help children get the nutrition they need to grow up healthy and strong. Share Our Strength supports The Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act and thanks Sens. Warner, Capito, Van Hollen, and Moran for their leadership on this issue,” said Jason Gromley, Senior Director of Share Our Strength.
Bill text for the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act can be found here. A summary of the bill can be found here.