NewzIntel.com

Category: Trumpism

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Pat Fallon Statement on Passage of the Big Beautiful Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04)

    Congressman Pat Fallon Statement on Passage of the Big Beautiful Bill

    Washington, July 3, 2025

    WASHINGTON, DC — On the final passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, Representative Pat Fallon (TX-04) commented: 

    “I’m proud to vote to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill today and advance the America First agenda that the American people chose last November. By extending President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for working families and businesses, the American economy now has the increased certainty it needs to continue to grow.”

    Rep. Fallon continued, “With the bill’s dramatic increase in funding for Border Patrol and ICE, federal law enforcement now has the resources needed to fully secure our borders and continue to deport criminal illegal aliens. And with the bill’s huge investment in national defense, we can better deter China in the Indo-Pacific, restore our domestic defense industrial base, and move forward with President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense plan. These are all tremendous wins for hardworking Americans, our military, and US national security.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: July 03, 2025 Rep. Mullin Votes No on Big Ugly Budget – Responds to Republicans Making Largest Cuts to Medicaid in History I am utterly disgusted that House Republicans chose to bend a knee to Trump instead of voting in their constituents’ best interests. They are stripping health care from the sick, taking food off the plates of children, and saddling future… Read More

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Kevin Mullin California (15th District)

    I am utterly disgusted that House Republicans chose to bend a knee to Trump instead of voting in their constituents’ best interests. They are stripping health care from the sick, taking food off the plates of children, and saddling future generations with trillions of dollars in debt. All of this just so Trump can give tax breaks to billionaires.

    Republicans better be ready to look their constituents in the eye and explain to them why they voted to strip health care from 17 million people. If you or someone you know lives in a Republican district, tell them to call their members and demand an explanation. Demand they host town halls. Demand they stand up for the everyday Americans they represent.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Nadler Statement on Opposing Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill” and Its Cruel Betrayal of New Yorkers

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (10th District of New York)

    WASHINGTON, DC — This afternoon, after Republicans tried to hide the cruelty of their agenda by debating the bill in the dead of night, I proudly cast my vote against Donald Trump’s Big Ugly Bill—because no one should be forced to lose health care, go hungry, or see their child priced out of college in order to fund permanent tax cuts for Republican donors and the ultra-wealthy.

    This bill is a historic betrayal of working Americans. It delivers the largest transfer of wealth from low-income families to the ultra-rich in our nation’s history, slashing incomes for the bottom sixty percent of earners while adding $4 trillion to the deficit, the largest increase ever passed by Congress. Republicans claim this was their only chance to extend tax cuts for the middle class. That’s false. They could have done it without gutting health care and food aid, and without adding to the deficit, if they had the courage to ask billionaires to pay their fair share.

    It strips health care from over 17 million people, including 1.5 million New Yorkers, as part of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts nationwide. In New York alone, hospitals are projected to lose over $8 billion in funding, forcing closures, service reductions, and the elimination of programs for children, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses. Nursing homes and community health centers face similar threats. The bill also attacks reproductive freedom by blocking Medicaid patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers, cutting off cancer screenings, contraception, STI testing, and preventive care for millions who have nowhere else to turn. It also functions as a backdoor abortion ban, threatening to shut down one in four abortion providers nationwide. By some estimates, it could also result in more than $500 billion in cuts to Medicare.

    It slashes $2.1 billion a year from New York State and local governments by shifting SNAP costs onto them, gutting food aid for 300,000 households across our state. Families already struggling to afford groceries will see their benefits cut by an average of $220 per month, slashing support to less than $5 per day. One in seven New Yorkers relies on SNAP. And by stripping that funding, the bill threatens access to free and reduced-price school meals, forcing more children to learn on an empty stomach.

    It doesn’t stop there. The bill ends Pell Grants for 1.4 million students, eliminates income-driven repayment, and caps student borrowing, effectively slamming the door on higher education for students who can’t pay upfront. Medicaid cuts will also force states to raid education budgets just to keep health systems afloat. Campuses will close. Students will drop out. Our country needs more nurses, teachers, and engineers, not fewer. But this bill will shrink our skilled workforce and leave the U.S. less competitive in the global economy.

    It also decimates our clean energy economy, tearing up solar and wind projects, repealing tax credits, and eliminating key climate protections. It hands public lands back to Big Oil and halts progress toward energy independence. Experts warn it could cost 840,000 clean energy jobs in just five years. And families will pay the price. In New York alone, household energy bills will rise by $1.3 billion annually by 2030, $2.5 billion by 2035, and $12 billion over the life of the bill.

    Meanwhile, Republicans are spending $170 billion to ramp up family detention, mass deportations, and border militarization, giving ICE a bigger budget than the entire Canadian military. It’s unconscionable to spend billions expanding ICE’s surveillance and detention machine while slashing school lunches for children and ripping Medicaid away from cancer patients.

    Even the few crumbs Republicans offered to working families, like temporary SALT relief and short-term tax breaks on tips and overtime, expire after just four years. Yet the tax cuts for billionaires are permanent. Republicans continue to tout these short-term provisions as evidence they’re helping the middle class, but every so-called benefit for working Americans disappears quickly, while every giveaway to the ultra-wealthy is forever. And here’s the kicker: if Republicans had done nothing at all, the SALT cap would have expired this December. Instead, they passed a bill that leaves New Yorkers worse off.

    For months, I’ve been fighting this bill and listening to New Yorkers and people across the country who will suffer because of it. And behind these numbers are real lives. Patricia, 83 years old, lives in poverty in New York and relies on Medicaid just to get to her doctor. She told me, “I have no transportation other than help from Medicaid. I also live on only my Social Security and SNAP. If I lose this precious help, I will be homeless and surely die.” That’s the real cost of these cuts. I think of the father who told me he may have to sell his house to afford chemo for his child. I think of the senior who rationed insulin last winter to keep the heat on. This awful bill makes the rich richer and leaves everyone else behind.

    And to my Republican colleagues: come November 2026, you’ll have to answer for this vote. You’ll have to explain to the families who lost their health care, to the parents who lost child care, and to the students who lost their futures why you turned your backs when they needed you most. Because when hospitals close, when grocery bills spike, when classrooms empty and jobs disappear, your constituents will remember exactly who was responsible.

    I voted no because I came to Congress to fight for the people I serve, not to sell them out to further enrich the ultra-wealthy. And I will do everything in my power to shield New Yorkers from the harm this bill threatens to unleash, from pushing back against these cuts to working with local leaders to protect access to health care, food, education, and opportunity. New Yorkers deserve better. The American people deserve better. And I will never stop fighting to deliver for them.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Republican Megabill Betrays American Families

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (1st District of Washington)

    Republican Megabill Betrays American Families

    Bill raises health care, food, energy costs while increasing debt by $4 trillion

    Washington, D.C., July 3, 2025

    Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) released the following statement after voting against the Republican budget legislation.

    “Republicans made one fundamental promise to Americans – they would lower costs, and this big, ugly bill is the ultimate betrayal of that promise. It will make America more expensive by taking away health coverage, increasing hunger, and raising energy bills for millions of households. Lives and livelihoods will be put at risk because of the dangerous health care cuts in this legislation. The most outrageous and immoral part is that this is all so billionaires and large corporations can get yet another massive tax break.

    “It is clear who Republicans stand with, and it is not working families. Republicans know full well the consequences of this bill, but at every opportunity to show courage and stand up for their constituents, they always fall in line behind Donald Trump.”

    Impacts of Legislation

    • Medicaid and ACA Coverage: Nearly 17 million Americans would lose Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health coverage, including nearly 330,000 Washingtonians.
    • Medicare: Triggers over $500 billion in automatic Medicare cuts due to the huge cost of the bill.
    • Abortion: Prohibits funding for plans that cover abortion services on ACA health marketplaces, including state-based exchanges like the Washington Health Benefits Exchange. The bill also prohibits Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding, further limiting access to health services like cancer screenings and annual physicals.
    • Food Assistance: $300 billion would be cut from food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which covers over 880,000 Washingtonians.
    • Energy Bills: Increases energy bills by more than $110 per year on average by repealing cost-saving clean energy tax credits.
    • Child Tax Credit: 22 million children would be left out of receiving the full Child Tax Credit because of Republican income requirements, including over 400,000 kids in Washington, while wealthier families receive the full benefit.
    • Cost: Estimated to add over $4 trillion to the national debt.

    The bill now goes to President Trump to sign. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jayapal Statement on the Big Bad Budget Betrayal

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), a Member of the House Budget Committee, released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the Big Bad Betrayal Bill 218-214:

    “This is a cruel, horrific betrayal that will leave Americans poorer and sicker. It will throw 17 million Americans off health care and increase health care costs for everyone. It will shutter over 300 rural hospitals, close over 500 nursing homes, and defund Planned Parenthood clinics that provide cancer screenings and basic reproductive care. It will slash food assistance for millions of hungry families, the largest cut in the history of the SNAP nutrition program. It will make electric bills more expensive in every single state, make it harder to pay for college, and substantially weaken our public schools. It will kill over a million good-paying jobs and destroy our planet for future generations. It will supercharge ICE’s kidnapping and disappearing of people of all legal statuses, giving $45 billion more to ICE to pad the pockets of the for-profit industrial prison complex that is detaining immigrants without due process. It will explode the deficit by trillions of dollars—all so that Republicans can give $5 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest millionaires and billionaires.  

    “The Big Bad Betrayal Bill is the largest ever transfer of wealth from poor and working people to the richest, and every single district and state—red, blue, and purple—will feel the effects. Under this legislation, the poorest Americans are dealt the biggest blow. Policies that are supposedly going to help working people—labeled “no tax on tips or overtime”—are instead another betrayal, structured to give very little help to very few people and set to expire in two years. When you add in the massive Medicaid and SNAP cuts, poor and middle class Americans will go backwards, not forward.

    “Everything in this bill is structured to lift up the wealthiest millionaires, billionaires, and giant corporations. Those tax cuts are permanent, not temporary, and they amount to gold bars while poor and working Americans get breadcrumbs. Every Republican who voted for this bill in the House and the Senate sold out their constituents to make their billionaire donors richer and to bend the knee to Donald Trump. Thanks to Trump, Republicans, and this bill, people will die.

    “The role of government should be to even the playing field for ALL Americans, to help Americans thrive, not just survive, and to create genuine opportunity for poor and working people. This bill does the exact opposite. I voted HELL NO and will never give up the fight to stand up for my constituents who deserve so much better.”

    Jayapal voted no on the legislation when it first passed the House in May.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rutherford Statement on House Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Rutherford (4th District of Florida)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford (FL-05) released the following statement on the House passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

    “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will give Americans a much-needed tax break and refocus our country on delivering on the promises made by President Trump for the American people like permanently closing the Southern Border, boosting our economy, offering historic tax relief for seniors, and revolutionizing our national security. This legislation also strengthens Medicaid solvency by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse to help vulnerable Americans who need it most.

    “Contrary to what you may have heard, this is not a huge deficit bill. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has scored this bill incorrectly, just as they did in 2017 by underestimating revenues from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by over $100 billion. They were wrong then, so why would we trust them now?

    “It’s time to get our country back on track. That’s why I was proud to pass this historic legislation.”

    The bill includes Rutherford’s priorities to:

    • Boost our economy

    • Make President Trump’s tax cuts permanent

    • Focus resources on permanently closing the Southern Border

    • Provide funding to small, rural, and Medicare-dependent hospitals, rural health clinics, community mental health centers, opioid treatment programs, and more

    • Strengthen Medicaid solvency for those who truly need it

    • Incentivize Made-In-America cars and manufacturing

    • End taxes on tips and overtime pay

    • Slash taxes on Social Security, offering historic tax relief to seniors

    • Increase the Child Tax Credit

    • Secure more than a trillion dollars in mandatory savings

    • Cap SALT deductions

    • Modernize America’s Air Traffic Control systems to ensure safe and efficient air travel

    • Unleash American energy dominance

    • Cut Green New Deal policies

    • Revolutionize national security and America’s maritime dominance

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: DeGette Statement on Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01) released the following statement after she voted no on the Big, Ugly Bill in the House of Representatives. 

    “Today, Republicans in Congress jammed through the most cruel and fiscally irresponsible bill in modern history. It takes vital benefits away from the most vulnerable Americans to give billionaires and mega corporations massive tax breaks in the largest transfer of wealth we have ever seen. It includes the biggest cut in nutritional benefits in our history, it kicks nearly 17 million Americans off their health care, and it defunds Planned Parenthood causing even more Americans to lose health care.

    “Furthermore, it assaults our clean energy sector which will kill hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and harm our progress on tackling the climate crisis. If that’s not bad enough, this bill will add nearly $4 trillion to the debt and deepen the deficit even as my Republican colleagues endlessly preach about the need for ‘fiscal responsibility.’

    “The cruelty behind this bill is simply staggering, and it is all to appease the ego of Donald Trump and further his extreme and hateful agenda of mass deportations and his dangerous America Alone foreign policy. Our country is watching, and those who supported this horrific bill must justify taking Medicaid away from children, the disabled, our veterans, and senior citizens so that billionaires can get even more money in their pockets.

    “I am sickened this bill is even seeing the light of day, and my Republican colleagues who supported it should be ashamed of themselves.”

    The bill passed by a margin of 218-214 with every House Democrat voting no.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Scott Peters Votes NO on Disastrous Republican Tax Plan

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

    Washington, D.C – Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) voted against the Republican tax plan to cut healthcare and food assistance for millions of vulnerable Americans to pay for tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations that don’t need them. The Republican plan would kick 17 million people off their Medicaid and Affordable Care Act health plans, according to an analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office. The bill also cuts short programs that encourage clean energy development that would produce enough energy to power 227 million homes. This will increase electricity bills by up to 29% and cost millions of construction jobs. And the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has found that the bill could add more than $4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

    After the House voted 218-214 to pass the measure, Representative Peters released the following statement:

    “Today, Congressional Republicans put President Trump’s cruel, reckless agenda above the good of the American people. They will have to answer to the people they represent on how forcing millions off their health coverage will make America healthy again, how higher energy prices, fewer jobs, and more pollution will help our communities, and how they can support the biggest ever addition to the national debt.

    “All of this is to pay for tax cuts for people and corporations that don’t need them. We can all agree that to get our fiscal house in order, there should be compromise and shared sacrifice. But this partisan bill asks only those with the least to sacrifice while giving tax breaks to those with the most. It is obscene.

    “The fight for more affordable and accessible healthcare, a cleaner environment, and responsible fiscal policy is not over. I will continue to work to minimize the harm of this disastrous bill on San Diegans.”

    Read more about Rep. Peters’ opposition to the bill here.

    CA-50 Medicaid Facts: 

    • 156,100 people in the district rely on Medicaid for health coverage—that’s 20 percent of all district residents. 
      • 34,700 children in the district are covered by Medicaid. 
      • 17,700 seniors in the district are covered by Medicaid. 
      • 64,900 adults in the district have Medicaid coverage through Medicaid expansion—that includes pregnant women who are able to access prenatal care sooner because of Medicaid expansion, parents, caretakers, veterans, people with substance use disorder and mental health treatment needs, and people with chronic conditions and disabilities. 
    • At least five hospitals in the district had negative operating margins in 2022. These hospitals would be especially hard-hit by cuts to Medicaid. For example: 
      • Scripps Mercy Hospital had a negative 25.3 percent operating margin—and nearly 22 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
      • Sharp Coronado Hospital had a negative 3.5 percent operating margin—and over 36 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
      • University of California San Diego Medical Center had a negative 2.4 percent operating margin—and nearly 19 percent of its revenue came from Medicaid. 
    • There are 54 health center delivery sites in the district that serve 529,944 patients. 
    • Those health centers and patients rely on Medicaid—statewide, 69 percent of health center patients rely on Medicaid for coverage. 
    • Health centers will not be able to stay open and provide the same care that they do today, with more uninsured and underinsured patients. They are already operating on thin margins—in 2023, nationally, nearly half of health centers had negative operating margins. 
    • Medicaid cuts put health centers at risk, including: 
      • Family Health Centers of San Diego 
      • Neighborhood Healthcare 
      • North County Health Project 
      • San Diego American Indian Health Centers 
      • St. Vincent De Paul Village 

    Representative Peters is the co-author of the Fiscal Commission Act, legislation to create a bicameral and open-door commission to tackle our nation’s long-term debt, help us avoid automatic and across-the-board cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and secure a more prosperous future for our children. 

     

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Brownley Statement on Final Passage of Republican Tax Scam

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Julia Brownley (D-CA)

    Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) issued the following statement following final passage of H.R. 1, Republicans’ sweeping tax reconciliation bill, which enacts the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in American history.

    “Today, Republicans in Congress turned their backs on the people they were elected to serve, ramming through a reckless budget package that will leave America hungrier, sicker, and poorer. This wasn’t about policy or the public good. It was about appeasing Donald Trump and checking a political box, no matter the human cost.

    “Instead of course-correcting after the Senate returned an even more extreme version of the bill, House Republicans caved without remorse. They pushed through the largest cuts to Medicaid in our nation’s history, ripping away health care coverage from more than 17 million Americans, with millions more having to pay higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. They gutted food assistance with the largest cuts in American history, jeopardizing SNAP for 40 million people, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, 4 million people with disabilities, and 1.2 million veterans. They increased the national debt by $3.4 trillion over ten years, all to deliver a massive unearned tax cut to billionaires.

    “Now, after gutting the social safety net and mortgaging our children’s future, they’re heading home to celebrate the Fourth of July. Meanwhile, working families are left to suffer the consequences.

    “By passing this egregious and outright awful bill, Republicans made one thing unmistakably clear: their loyalty lies with Donald Trump, not the American people. They have abandoned their duty to govern. They chose blind allegiance over responsibility, compassion, and common sense.

    “Every single House Democrat voted no on this cruel and despicable bill because the American people deserve better. This bill may be headed to Donald Trump’s desk, but our fight is far from over. I will keep fighting tooth and nail to push back against the cruelty, extremism, and misplaced priorities of Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, and to fight for a future where every family has a fair shot.”

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    Issues: 119th Congress, Budget

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Carbajal Slams Republican Passage of Trump’s Extreme Budget Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Salud Carbajal (CA-24)

    U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) released the statement below following the final passage of the Republican reconciliation bill. Carbajal voted against the bill because it contains extreme and unprecedented cuts to essential programs like Medicaid and food assistance. The bill now heads to the President’s desk.

    “Republicans in Congress passed Donald Trump’s disastrous budget bill that puts billionaires first and working families last,” said Rep. Carbajal. “This bill is a betrayal of the millions of children, seniors, and veterans who will lose their health care and food assistance. It’s a betrayal of the young people who will now shoulder the massive national debt burden this bill creates. It’s a betrayal of rural communities who will face unprecedented funding cuts to their hospitals and nursing homes. Donald Trump and congressional Republicans promised to lower the cost of living and make life easier, but this bill will do the exact opposite. Their agenda is shameful, and I’ll continue to fight back.”

    In California’s 24th Congressional District, 119,000 residents benefit from food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Over 236,000 people rely on Medicaid (also known in California as Medi-Cal).

    While Republican leaders claim their bill won’t cut Medicaid benefits, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the Republican budget would result in the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history (see fact sheet here). The Republican bill slashes $900 billion from Medicaid, a critical program that provides essential health care to nearly one in three Americans.

    The Republican bill also makes unprecedented cuts to SNAP, which helps over 42 million Americans afford groceries. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley Condemns Passage of Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill: “This is Unforgivable”

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

    Pressley Implored Colleagues to Reject Cruel Legislation and Helped Stall a Vote on the House Floor

    Press Conference Video (YouTube)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the final passage of Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill that will rip healthcare and food assistance away from millions of people, including in Massachusetts, push reproductive healthcare further out of reach nationwide, and fuel Trump’s unlawful mass deportation agenda.

    Yesterday, Rep. Pressley joined colleagues at a press conference imploring the House to reject this cruel, harmful legislation, and the Congresswoman also joined the Congressional Black Caucus and over 100 colleagues in stalling a vote on the House floor. Rep. Pressley also filed an amendment to the bill this week with Rep. Diana DeGette to protect and expand reproductive healthcare.

    “Republicans have passed a bill that will be a death sentence—denying millions medical care, denying children food, and violently deporting immigrant families to destabilized countries,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “This is unforgivable. I remain yours in service to every family who calls the Massachusetts 7th home, and I will never stop fighting for you.”

    In Massachusetts, this bill is estimated to cause:

    • Over 320,000 people to lose health insurance
    • At least 103,000 to lose food assistance
    • 63,334 students to lose their Pell grants
    • 11,000 manufacturing and energy jobs to be cut
    • $1,400 in yearly premium increases for people covered by the ACA in the MA-07
    • $290 more per year in increased energy bills

    Congresswoman Pressley has been an outspoken critic of this harmful legislation since its inception.

    • Rep. Pressley joined colleagues at a press conference imploring the House to reject the cruel and harmful legislation.
    • Rep. Pressley joined the Congressional Black Caucus and over 100 colleagues in stalling a vote on the Big, Ugly Bill.  
    • Rep. Pressley and Rep. Diana DeGette, Co-Chairs of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, filed an amendment to the bill to protect and expand reproductive healthcare.
    • Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Senate’s passage of the Big, Ugly Bill and vowing to continue fighting it using every tool available.
    • Ahead of the third anniversary if the Dobbs decision, Rep. Pressley and her colleagues stood in solidarity with Planned Parenthood and condemned the proposed cuts to reproductive healthcare under Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill.
    • Rep. Pressley and author Darrick Hamilton authored a Washington Post op-ed in which they discussed the regressive, ineffective “Trump Accounts” provision of Republicans’ reconciliation bill and urged Congress to instead embrace Baby Bonds to advance economic justice.
    • Rep. Pressley rallied with advocates from Caring Across Generations, Care Can’t Wait, and partner organizations to protest Trump’s and Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill that proposes disastrous cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs and would leave communities sicker, poorer, and more vulnerable.
    • Ahead of the House’s vote on the bill, Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor in which she made a direct appeal to her Republican colleagues to oppose this cruel and harmful bill.
    • Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she slammed the bill’s proposed Medicaid cuts, which would decimate reproductive healthcare in America and worsen maternal health outcomes.
    • Rep. Pressley co-hosted a press conference with Color of Change to oppose the Republicans’ cruel and harmful budget reconciliation package, which would gut critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
    • Rep. Pressley rallied with caregivers, advocates, and fellow lawmakers at a 24-hour vigil to protect Medicaid from Republicans’ cruel budget cuts that would devastate communities across this country.
    • In the House Oversight Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley demanded Republicans answer to the families who would go hungry by way of this reconciliation bill – and she was met with silence.
    • In the House Financial Services Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley condemned the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and shared the story of Mary Marinelli, a 70-year-old hospice nurse from a Republican district in Michigan whose family depends on Medicaid to care for their autistic son.
    • In an impassioned speech on the House floor, Rep. Pressley slammed Republicans’ cruel and callous budget resolution that would slash Medicaid and other critical government services to pay for trillions of dollars in tax giveaways for Donald Trump’s billionaire donors.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Baird Supports the One Big Beautiful Bill, Votes for Largest Tax Cut in American History

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04)

    Congressman Baird Supports the One Big Beautiful Bill, Votes for Largest Tax Cut in American History

    Washington, July 3, 2025

    Today, Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:
     
    “After months of hard work and thoughtful deliberation, I was proud to vote for the One Big, Beautiful Bill and help send it to President Trump’s desk. This includes much-needed tax relief for the American people. This bill delivers the largest tax cut in American history for workers, families, and seniors by ending taxes on tips and overtime for millions of workers and slashing taxes on Social Security. It also makes a generational investment in Rural America by expanding crop insurance, strengthening biosecurity measures, and boosting investment in the farm safety net, and it prevents a Death Tax increase that would devastate thousands of family farms in Indiana’s Fourth Congressional District. On top of these monumental wins, the One Big Beautiful Bill invests in our border security to deliver the most secure border on record and delivers on President Trump’s successful foreign policy of peace through strength.
     
    “There has been a lot of misleading information on this bill. This legislation strengthens federal programs for those who truly need them and enacts common-sense work requirements that a majority of Americans support. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score assumes an incorrect baseline that simply does not reflect current policy. In reality, the One Big Beautiful Bill reduces the deficit, marking a long-overdue return to fiscal sanity in Washington.
     
    “This bill ultimately fulfills many of the promises made to the American people. As we celebrate Independence Day and the birth of our nation, I am pleased to deliver these significant wins that ensure America truly remains the greatest country in history.”
     

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Jimmy Gomez Denounces Passage of Trump’s Billionaire Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)

    Rep. Jimmy Gomez Denounces Passage of Trump’s Billionaire Bill

    Washington, July 3, 2025

    WASHINGTON, DC – Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) released the following statement after House Republicans passed their tax bill:  

    “Through the dead of night, I stood side by side with House Democrats at the Capitol fighting Trump’s all-out assault on the American people. I am proud to have just voted NO on his disastrous Big Billionaire Bill, written to steal from working families, shower trillions on the billionaire establishment that owns the Republican Party, and drown our country in debt.

    It guts Medicaid, ACA subsidies, and food assistance for millions of families, students, seniors, and workers just trying to get by. It raises costs, slashes services, and funds Trump’s deportation and immigrant detention machine. It buries a generation in poverty, all to give massive handouts to the ultra-wealthy, while ballooning the national debt to record highs. This isn’t policy, it’s economic sabotage. 

    That debt will drive up interest rates, hike borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to car loans to credit cards. It will choke off investment in jobs and growth, making life even more expensive for everyone except the ultra-wealthy. 

    This bill will deepen inequality and hollow out what is left of the American promise. But I didn’t fight through the night just to give up in the daylight. The stakes are too high. The damage to our neighbors is too real. And I remain laser-focused on turning outrage into action and this betrayal into accountability come Election Day.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Warner & Kaine Statement on Trump Administration Illegally Withholding $108 Million From Virginia Schools

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement after the Trump Administration missed a key deadline to distribute $6.2 billion in federal K-12 funding, including $108 million for Virginia schools, to support teacher training, after school programming, mental health resources, and more:
    “Virginians know that high-quality public schools and the well-being of our children are critical to the Commonwealth’s future and economic success. The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold over $6 billion in funding that Congress appropriated for schools across the country, while pushing for a disastrous megabill that slashes programs Virginians rely on to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, tells you everything you need to know about their priorities. This move will devastate our students, especially those in our rural communities. We demand that the Administration immediately provide Virginia schools with the $108 million in funding we voted to secure, and urge all of Virginia’s leaders to do the same.”
    The $108 million being withheld from Virginia represents over 12 percent of the Commonwealth’s total K-12 funding.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff, Colleagues Demand Accountability for President Trump’s Discriminatory Travel Ban

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

    Padilla, Schiff, Colleagues Demand Accountability for President Trump’s Discriminatory Travel Ban

    Lawmakers: “We write to express our strong opposition to President Trump’s recent decision to issue a sweeping travel ban that will deny entry to thousands of individuals from 19 different countries.”
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined 68 Democratic lawmakers in urging President Trump to rescind his discriminatory travel ban that will keep families apart and devastate the U.S. economy. The members demanded transparency into President Trump’s decision-making process and answers about how the travel ban will impact communities across the United States.  
    In a letter addressed to President Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawmakers outlined the disastrous consequences that President Trump’s travel ban will have on families and the American economy. U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28) led the letter.
    “The effects of President Trump’s discriminatory travel ban will be devastating. In the last year alone over 126,000 visas have been issued to nationals from just the twelve countries on the fully restricted list. These are individuals who are looking to come to the United States to reunite with family, support our economy, or otherwise enrich our country in innumerable ways,” wrote the lawmakers.
    During his first term, President Trump enacted extreme travel bans that disrupted thousands of lives and weakened our nation’s economy and global standing. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden rescinded these bans, but President Trump enacted another sweeping, discriminatory travel ban last month.
    President Trump is imposing full restrictions on entry into the United States from nationals of Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, as well as partial restrictions on entry from nationals of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela — meaning individuals from these countries cannot come to the United States permanently or apply for certain visas. President Trump is also reportedly considering imposing travel restrictions on an additional 36 countries.
    “President Trump’s actions once again disgrace the founding principles of our nation and enshrine cruelty into our immigration system,” continued the lawmakers. “Additionally, this travel ban will harm our economy by depriving the United States of workers in key fields experiencing labor shortages like medicine and agriculture and further devastating our domestic tourism industry which is already expected to decline by $12.5 billion in 2025.”
    The members demanded accountability and answers from the Trump Administration, pushing the President to immediately rescind his cruel travel ban.
    Senator Padilla helped introduce a pair of bills earlier this year aimed at combating the chaos caused by Trump’s Muslim Ban in his first term. To prevent some of the most egregious violations from Trump’s first travel ban, Padilla is leading the Access to Counsel Act, which would ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status can consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. Padilla is also cosponsoring Coons and Chu’s NO BAN Act, legislation to prevent any president from implementing a discriminatory travel ban by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill would also require that any suspension of entry into the United States be narrowly tailored, backed by credible evidence, and subject to appropriate consultation with Congress.
    Full text of the letter is available here and below:
    Dear President Trump, Secretary Noem, Secretary Rubio, and Attorney General Bondi:
    We write to express our strong opposition to President Trump’s recent decision to issue a sweeping travel ban that will deny entry to thousands of individuals from 19 different countries. This discriminatory ban will not improve our country’s national security, but it will needlessly rip families apart. We urge President Trump to rescind it immediately.
    During President Trump’s first term, his administration implemented a range of travel restrictions on nationals from several countries, many of which were majority-Muslim countries. These travel bans faced continual legal challenges because of their blatantly discriminatory designs. President Biden terminated the latest version of President Trump’s travel ban when he took office in 2021, but the damage had already been done. The first Muslim Ban wreaked havoc on families, forcing over forty thousand people who had cleared one of the most exhaustive immigration vetting systems in the world to miss weddings, funerals, graduations, and births. What’s more, there is no evidence that this ban or any further iteration did anything to improve national security or prevent terrorism.
    Despite the failure of the original Muslim and travel bans, President Trump has now issued an even broader travel ban. This new extreme travel ban will prevent nationals from twelve countries (Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen) from entering the United States, with seven other countries (Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela) facing partial restrictions, meaning individuals from these countries cannot come to the U.S. permanently or apply for certain visas. The administration is reportedly considering imposing restrictions on an additional 36 countries.
    The effects of this discriminatory travel ban will be devastating. In the last year alone over 126,000 visas have been issued to nationals from just the twelve countries on the fully restricted list. These are individuals who are looking to come to the United States to reunite with family, support our economy, or otherwise enrich our country in innumerable ways. President Trump’s actions once again disgrace the founding principles of our nation and enshrine cruelty into our immigration system.
    Additionally, this travel ban will harm our economy by depriving the United States of workers in key fields experiencing labor shortages like medicine and agriculture and further devastating our domestic tourism industry which is already expected to decline by $12.5 billion in 2025.
    Given these severe impacts, we condemn this proclamation and urge President Trump to rescind it immediately. We also seek transparency into President Trump’s decision-making process and, accordingly, request answers to the following questions by July 3rd, 2025:
    1. President Trump’s proclamation banned travel from countries based on a report that “identified countries for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a full suspension of admissions and countries that warrant a partial suspension of admission,” as well as considered “various factors, including each country’s screening and vetting capabilities, information sharing policies, and country-specific risk factors — including whether each country has a significant terrorist presence within its territory, its visa-overstay rate, and its cooperation with accepting back its removable nationals.”
    a. Will your administration release this report in full to Congress and the public?
    b. How are screening and vetting processes determined to be “deficient?”
    c. What are the specific criteria by which your administration will continuously evaluate a country’s “conditions and vetting standards?” What are the parameters for a country to have a system that is considered sufficient?
    2. What is the status of your administration’s deliberations to add more countries to the travel ban?
    3. What is the estimate of the economic impacts on tourism, jobs, and foreign direct investment as a result of this travel ban?
    4. What metrics will your administration use to evaluate the effectiveness of the travel ban in protecting national security?
    5. Section 4(c) and (d) of the proclamation contemplates exceptions when in the national interest.
    a. What procedures and guidelines will your administration use to determine who receives an exemption from your travel ban?
    b. Will your administration make these procedures and guidelines public, and will your administration allow individuals to apply for exceptions?
    6. President Trump’s proclamation identifies insufficient vetting as a reason to bar immigrant visas from certain suspended countries. However, his proclamation exempts immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who can show “clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship (e.g. DNA).”
    a. Given that your administration accept DNA tests as a valid form of identification and evidence of familial relationship, why has your administration categorically suspended the entry of all other family-based immigrant visa applicants, including those who could also prove their identity in that manner?
    7. For several countries (Burundi, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Togo, and Turkmenistan), President Trump’s proclamation lists no reason for a suspension of visas other than the visa overstay rates of individuals on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas, which are nonimmigrant visas. However, President Trump’s proclamation fully suspends all immigrant visas for those countries, including all family and employment-based visas.
    a. How does your administration justify suspending all immigrant visas on the basis of an unrelated nonimmigrant visa overstay rate?
    b. Did your administration conduct individualized analyses for all nonimmigrant visa types, or rely solely on the B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visa overstay rates?
    We thank you for your attention to this important manner.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney

    Izabela23/Shutterstock

    The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896.

    But it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists could definitively detect the effect of human activities on the Earth’s atmosphere.

    In 1956, United States scientist Charles Keeling chose Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano for the site of a new atmospheric measuring station. It was ideal, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at high altitude away from the confounding influence of population centres.

    Data collected by Mauna Loa from 1958 onward let us clearly see the evidence of climate change for the first time. The station samples the air and measures global CO₂ levels. Charles Keeling and his successors used this data to produce the famous Keeling curve – a graph showing carbon dioxide levels increasing year after year.

    But this precious record is in peril. US President Donald Trump has decided to defund the observatory recording the data, as well as the widespread US greenhouse gas monitoring network and other climate measuring sites.

    We can’t solve the existential problem of climate change if we can’t track the changes. Losing Mauna Loa would be a huge loss to climate science. If it shuts, other observatories such as Australia’s Kennaook/Cape Grim will become even more vital.

    The Keeling Curve tracking steadily rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere came from data gathered at Mauna Loa.
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, CC BY-NC-ND

    What did Mauna Loa show us?

    The first year of measurements at Mauna Loa revealed something incredible. For the first time, the clear annual cycle in atmospheric CO₂ was visible. As plants grow in summer, they absorb CO₂ and draw it out of the atmosphere. As they die and decay in winter, the CO₂ returns to the atmosphere. It’s like Earth is breathing.

    Most land on Earth is in the Northern Hemisphere, which means this cycle is largely influenced by the northern summer and winter.

    The annual cycle of carbon dioxide is largely due to plant growth and decay in the northern hemisphere.

    It only took a few years of measurements before an even more profound pattern emerged.

    Year on year, CO₂ levels in the atmosphere were relentlessly rising. The natural in-out cycle continued, but against a steady increase.

    Scientists would later figure out that the ocean and land together were absorbing almost half of the CO₂ produced by humans. But the rest was building up in the atmosphere.

    Crucially, isotopic measurements meant scientists could be crystal clear about the origin of the extra carbon dioxide. It was coming from humans, largely through burning fossil fuels.

    Mauna Loa has now been collecting data for more than 65 years. The resulting Keeling curve graph is the most iconic demonstration of how human activities are collectively affecting the planet.

    When the last of the Baby Boomer generation were being born in the 1960s, CO₂ levels were around 320 parts per million. Now they’re over 420 ppm. That’s a level unseen for at least three million years. The rate of increase far exceeds any natural change in the past 50 million years.

    The reason carbon dioxide is so important is that this molecule has special properties. Its ability to trap heat alongside other greenhouse gases means Earth isn’t a frozen rock. If there were no greenhouse gases, Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C, rather than the balmy 14°C under which human civilisation emerged.

    The greenhouse effect is essential to life. But if there are too many gases, the planet becomes dangerously hot. That’s what’s happening now – a very sharp increase in gases exceptionally good at trapping heat even at low concentrations.

    Greenhouse gases are the reason Earth isn’t an icebox. But the rate humans are emitting them is leading to very rapid changes.
    Reid Wiseman/NASA, CC BY-NC-ND

    Keeping our eyes open

    It’s not enough to know CO₂ is climbing. Monitoring is essential. That’s because as the planet warms, both the ocean and the land are expected to take up less and less of humanity’s emissions, letting still more carbon accumulate in the air.

    Continuous, high-precision monitoring is the only way to spot if and when that happens.

    This monitoring provides the vital means to verify whether new climate policies are genuinely influencing the atmospheric CO₂ curve rather than just being touted as effective. Monitoring will also be vital to capture the moment many have been working towards when government policies and new technologies finally slow and eventually stop the increase in CO₂.

    The US administration’s plans to defund key climate monitoring systems and roll back green energy initiatives presents a global challenge.

    Without these systems, it will be harder to forecast the weather and give seasonal updates. It will also be harder to forecast dangerous extreme weather events.

    Scientists in the US and globally have sounded the alarm about what the closure would do to science. This is understandable. Stopping data climate collection is like breaking a thermometer because you don’t like knowing you’ve got a fever.

    If the US follows through, other countries will need to carefully reconsider their commitments to gathering and sharing climate data.

    Australia has a long record of direct atmospheric CO₂ measurement, which began in 1976 at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in north-west Tasmania. This and other climate observations will only become more valuable if Mauna Loa is lost.

    It remains to be seen how Australia’s leaders respond to the US retreat from climate monitoring. Ideally, Australia would not only maintain but strategically expand its monitoring systems of atmosphere, land and oceans.

    Alex Sen Gupta receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Katrin Meissner receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation and has received funding from the Australian Research Council in the past.

    Timothy Raupach receives funding from QBE Insurance, Guy Carpenter, and the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down – https://theconversation.com/mauna-loa-observatory-captured-the-reality-of-climate-change-the-us-plans-to-shut-it-down-260403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Sen Gupta, Associate Professor in Climate Science, UNSW Sydney

    Izabela23/Shutterstock

    The greenhouse effect was discovered more than 150 years ago and the first scientific paper linking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere with climate change was published in 1896.

    But it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists could definitively detect the effect of human activities on the Earth’s atmosphere.

    In 1956, United States scientist Charles Keeling chose Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano for the site of a new atmospheric measuring station. It was ideal, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at high altitude away from the confounding influence of population centres.

    Data collected by Mauna Loa from 1958 onward let us clearly see the evidence of climate change for the first time. The station samples the air and measures global CO₂ levels. Charles Keeling and his successors used this data to produce the famous Keeling curve – a graph showing carbon dioxide levels increasing year after year.

    But this precious record is in peril. US President Donald Trump has decided to defund the observatory recording the data, as well as the widespread US greenhouse gas monitoring network and other climate measuring sites.

    We can’t solve the existential problem of climate change if we can’t track the changes. Losing Mauna Loa would be a huge loss to climate science. If it shuts, other observatories such as Australia’s Kennaook/Cape Grim will become even more vital.

    The Keeling Curve tracking steadily rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere came from data gathered at Mauna Loa.
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, CC BY-NC-ND

    What did Mauna Loa show us?

    The first year of measurements at Mauna Loa revealed something incredible. For the first time, the clear annual cycle in atmospheric CO₂ was visible. As plants grow in summer, they absorb CO₂ and draw it out of the atmosphere. As they die and decay in winter, the CO₂ returns to the atmosphere. It’s like Earth is breathing.

    Most land on Earth is in the Northern Hemisphere, which means this cycle is largely influenced by the northern summer and winter.

    The annual cycle of carbon dioxide is largely due to plant growth and decay in the northern hemisphere.

    It only took a few years of measurements before an even more profound pattern emerged.

    Year on year, CO₂ levels in the atmosphere were relentlessly rising. The natural in-out cycle continued, but against a steady increase.

    Scientists would later figure out that the ocean and land together were absorbing almost half of the CO₂ produced by humans. But the rest was building up in the atmosphere.

    Crucially, isotopic measurements meant scientists could be crystal clear about the origin of the extra carbon dioxide. It was coming from humans, largely through burning fossil fuels.

    Mauna Loa has now been collecting data for more than 65 years. The resulting Keeling curve graph is the most iconic demonstration of how human activities are collectively affecting the planet.

    When the last of the Baby Boomer generation were being born in the 1960s, CO₂ levels were around 320 parts per million. Now they’re over 420 ppm. That’s a level unseen for at least three million years. The rate of increase far exceeds any natural change in the past 50 million years.

    The reason carbon dioxide is so important is that this molecule has special properties. Its ability to trap heat alongside other greenhouse gases means Earth isn’t a frozen rock. If there were no greenhouse gases, Earth would have an average temperature of -18°C, rather than the balmy 14°C under which human civilisation emerged.

    The greenhouse effect is essential to life. But if there are too many gases, the planet becomes dangerously hot. That’s what’s happening now – a very sharp increase in gases exceptionally good at trapping heat even at low concentrations.

    Greenhouse gases are the reason Earth isn’t an icebox. But the rate humans are emitting them is leading to very rapid changes.
    Reid Wiseman/NASA, CC BY-NC-ND

    Keeping our eyes open

    It’s not enough to know CO₂ is climbing. Monitoring is essential. That’s because as the planet warms, both the ocean and the land are expected to take up less and less of humanity’s emissions, letting still more carbon accumulate in the air.

    Continuous, high-precision monitoring is the only way to spot if and when that happens.

    This monitoring provides the vital means to verify whether new climate policies are genuinely influencing the atmospheric CO₂ curve rather than just being touted as effective. Monitoring will also be vital to capture the moment many have been working towards when government policies and new technologies finally slow and eventually stop the increase in CO₂.

    The US administration’s plans to defund key climate monitoring systems and roll back green energy initiatives presents a global challenge.

    Without these systems, it will be harder to forecast the weather and give seasonal updates. It will also be harder to forecast dangerous extreme weather events.

    Scientists in the US and globally have sounded the alarm about what the closure would do to science. This is understandable. Stopping data climate collection is like breaking a thermometer because you don’t like knowing you’ve got a fever.

    If the US follows through, other countries will need to carefully reconsider their commitments to gathering and sharing climate data.

    Australia has a long record of direct atmospheric CO₂ measurement, which began in 1976 at the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station in north-west Tasmania. This and other climate observations will only become more valuable if Mauna Loa is lost.

    It remains to be seen how Australia’s leaders respond to the US retreat from climate monitoring. Ideally, Australia would not only maintain but strategically expand its monitoring systems of atmosphere, land and oceans.

    Alex Sen Gupta receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

    Katrin Meissner receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation and has received funding from the Australian Research Council in the past.

    Timothy Raupach receives funding from QBE Insurance, Guy Carpenter, and the Australian Research Council.

    – ref. Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down – https://theconversation.com/mauna-loa-observatory-captured-the-reality-of-climate-change-the-us-plans-to-shut-it-down-260403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Estes Delivers Remarks On House Floor In Support Of The One Big, Beautiful Bill

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas)

    Rep. Estes Delivers Remarks On House Floor In Support Of The One Big, Beautiful Bill

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) delivered remarks on the House floor in support of H.R. 1 – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Read the full remarks below. Watch on YouTube and Rumble.

    Remarks as delivered:

    Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Kansas families, workers, and small businesses who will benefit from the One Big Beautiful Bill.

    By extending and improving the TCJA, working-class families in my district will pay $10,900 less in taxes and see increased wages of $7,200 on average. It contains my bipartisan legislation to make research and development expensing permanent – a jobs provision ensuring America continues to lead the world entirely on innovation. It eliminates fraud and waste in Obamacare, and it builds on President Trump’s successes at securing the border.

    Despite the misleading spin from my colleagues on the left, this bill delivers on what Americans voted for in November – it’s time to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill.

    With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta Opposes Trump Administration Effort to Roll Back Fair Housing Protections

    Source: US State of California

    Regulations developed to prevent discriminatory housing practices, racially segregated neighborhoods 

    OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 21 attorneys general in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opposing a proposed rule that would rollback critical fair housing regulations that prohibit discrimination in the marketing of affordable housing. The Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing (AFHM) regulations require owners of federally assisted housing to target advertising and outreach regarding their properties to communities that otherwise might not have learned about the opportunity to live there. The proposed rule would repeal these regulations, which are designed to ensure that federally assisted housing providers do not market available housing to only certain groups as had been done in the past to maintain racially segregated neighborhoods.

    “The Trump Administration is working to roll back critical fair housing regulations that prohibit discrimination — protections put in place in the 70’s to combat the insidious persistence of segregated neighborhoods — protections that are essential today to ensure that housing opportunities for underserved communities remain accessible,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The national housing crisis is driven by a shortage of housing supply and unaffordability that disproportionately affects communities of color. Today I urge the Administration to look closely at the mandate they inherited in the Fair Housing Act and understand that letting a broader range of buyers know about affordable housing opportunities that are available to them is necessary to ensure that these opportunities remain accessible for all Americans.” 

    Historically, government at all levels throughout the United States, along with private developers and mortgage lending institutions, played an active role in creating segregated living patterns, which perpetuated inequalities in access to opportunity. The Fair Housing Act, through AFHM regulations, requires HUD and recipients of federal funds from HUD to administer their programs in a manner to affirmatively further fair housing by ensuring that the agency and its program participants take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, eliminate disparities in opportunities, and foster inclusive communities. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including gender and sexual orientation), familial status, and disability. 

    AFHM requirements require that owners and developers of HUD-subsidized housing have marketing programs in place to reach groups that are protected from discrimination by the Fair Housing Act and are not as likely to apply for such housing. Housing providers must then select methods of outreach and advertising, that are designed to reach those communities. Too often, the populations that are the least likely to apply are those that are underrepresented in the area where the property is located, especially affordable properties in high opportunity areas — areas that offer residents enhanced access to economic mobility and improved living conditions. The AFHM regulations do not dictate which tenants an owner must select for a unit, and nothing prohibits landlords from advertising through other media that reach different populations as well.

    In the letter, the attorneys general argue that the proposed repeal of these longstanding regulations is in direct contradiction with the mandate of the Fair Housing Act — to affirmatively further fair housing through ensuring non-discriminatory marketing practices — especially so given the lack of: 

    • a replacement rule; 
    • an explanation of how HUD will affirmatively ensure that covered program participants are not engaging in discriminatory and unlawful housing marketing practices in violation of federal law; and 
    • legally sufficient or evidence-based justifications for this total reversal of over 50 years of federal housing policy and law.

    The attorneys general hold a vested interest in ensuring equal access to housing and eradicating discrimination in communities nationwide. The national housing crisis is driven by a shortage of housing supply and skyrocketing unaffordability that disproportionately affects communities of color. The highest disparities are experienced by Black households — a byproduct of systemic racism and policies that targeted Black people and neighborhoods home to primarily Black people. Data on fair housing complaints confirm that proactive fair housing measures, including in advertising, are as vital as ever. In 2023, record high levels of fair housing complaints were submitted to HUD, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other fair housing organizations; the annual number of complaints has consistently risen. 

    In sending today’s letter Attorney General Bonta and the attorneys general from Maryland and New York lead the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.   

    A copy of the letter can be found here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Files Motion to Prevent Construction Delays for “Alligator Alcatraz” Immigration Detention Center in Florida

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) today filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to prevent unnecessary construction delays for Florida’s temporary immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades.

    “The Department of Justice has defended President Trump’s immigration agenda in court since day one and we are proud to protect ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ from baseless, politically motivated legal schemes,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

    “Delaying the construction of Florida’s temporary detention center, as plaintiffs request, would imperil critical immigration enforcement efforts and endanger detainees in overcrowded detention facilities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “We are proud to defend against these unfounded claims and to help the administration fulfill its fundamental obligation to prioritize the safety and security of Americans.” 

    On June 27, two political advocacy organizations — Friends of the Everglades Inc. and Center for Biological Diversity — filed a lawsuit to halt the construction and operation of the detention center, alleging failure to analyze the environmental effects of the project as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The plaintiffs asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.  

    In today’s filing, the Justice Department vigorously opposed the request for emergency and injunctive relief. Among other things, the filing highlights that there is no federal final agency action, that the Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to state agency decisions, that any claims related to potential federal funding are unripe, and that the plaintiffs failed to show irreparable harm.  

    Attorneys in ENRD’s Natural Resources Section are handling the case. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Files Motion to Prevent Construction Delays for “Alligator Alcatraz” Immigration Detention Center in Florida

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) today filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to prevent unnecessary construction delays for Florida’s temporary immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades.

    “The Department of Justice has defended President Trump’s immigration agenda in court since day one and we are proud to protect ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ from baseless, politically motivated legal schemes,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

    “Delaying the construction of Florida’s temporary detention center, as plaintiffs request, would imperil critical immigration enforcement efforts and endanger detainees in overcrowded detention facilities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “We are proud to defend against these unfounded claims and to help the administration fulfill its fundamental obligation to prioritize the safety and security of Americans.” 

    On June 27, two political advocacy organizations — Friends of the Everglades Inc. and Center for Biological Diversity — filed a lawsuit to halt the construction and operation of the detention center, alleging failure to analyze the environmental effects of the project as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The plaintiffs asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.  

    In today’s filing, the Justice Department vigorously opposed the request for emergency and injunctive relief. Among other things, the filing highlights that there is no federal final agency action, that the Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to state agency decisions, that any claims related to potential federal funding are unripe, and that the plaintiffs failed to show irreparable harm.  

    Attorneys in ENRD’s Natural Resources Section are handling the case. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Sanders Calls Out Trump’s ‘Illegal and Unconstitutional’ Withholding of Nearly $7 Billion for Public Schools

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders
    BURLINGTON, Vt., July 3 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today wrote to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to immediately reverse their illegal and unconstitutional decision this week to abruptly withhold nearly $7 billion in funding for public education nationwide, including $26.1 million for Vermont schools.
    This funding supports more than 10,000 summer and afterschool programs for 1.4 million students throughout the country, including nearly 100 afterschool and summer programs in Vermont that serve 11,000 students. Schools expected to receive this critical funding by July 1st, but were informed it was being withheld less than a day in advance.
    “Your decision to withhold $6.88 billion in vital funding that Congress appropriated for our nation’s public schools — including $26.1 million for Vermont — is not only horrific public policy, it is blatantly illegal and unconstitutional. Your unexpected and cruel decision has sent shockwaves, distress and heartbreak in local communities all over America who now may be forced to cancel or substantially delay summer school activities that had been planned for months,” Sanders wrote. “Further, your illegal actions have denied teachers the funding they rely on for professional development. Important services for English learners have been halted. Thousands of school principals, superintendents, and school board members may be forced to lay off dedicated staff. And school district budgets in every State and community have been negatively impacted. That is beyond unacceptable.”
    During her confirmation hearing, Secretary McMahon committed to delivering congressionally-appropriated funds to schools, districts and states as required. These actions not only violate the law passed by Congress and signed by the president, but they also violate her stated commitments.
    “Congress clearly and unambiguously passed this $6.88 billion in education funding. The President signed it into law. The Trump Administration has no right to withhold or impound it,” Sanders concluded. “I urge you to immediately reverse your decision to illegally withhold Federal education funding appropriated by Congress and release this funding to the States, school districts, and students as soon as possible.”
    Read the letter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Meets with Vermonters in Killington, Ludlow, and Weston to Discuss His New Bill to Reform FEMA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    KILLINGTON, VT — This week in Killington, Ludlow, and Weston, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) unveiled his new bill, the Disaster Assistance Improvement and Decentralization (AID) Act, and met with flood-impacted Vermonters and community members to discuss the importance of reforming FEMA’s long-term recovery process, supporting hazard mitigation, and protecting recovery funding. 
    “The Disaster AID Act was inspired by towns and cities in Vermont that are still recovering from the 2023 and 2024 floods. These folks know firsthand the strengths and weaknesses of FEMA. I’m determined to help improve the long-term recovery process—both for Vermonters, and for communities across America hurt by climate disasters,” said Senator Peter Welch. “I am always thankful to hear how Washington can work better for Vermont, and I use these stories and experiences to shape the legislation I introduce.”  
    The Disaster AID Act will cut red tape and empower state and local governments, make the delivery of disaster aid more efficient and effective, provide assistance to small towns and communities impacted by natural disasters, and block the White House from withholding funding for disaster recovery. Senator Welch will officially introduce the Disaster AID Act next week, coinciding with the anniversary of the floods. 
    Killington: In Killington, Senator Welch joined town officials to tour view East Mountain Road, which was heavily damaged in July 2023 and has since been rebuilt. The Senator also held a Listening Session with flood-impacted Vermonters and community leaders to discuss the state’s long-term recovery from the July 2023 and July 2024 floods, and ways the Disaster AID Act will small and rural communities across the state. 
    Photo Caption: Abbie Sherman, Public Works Director for Killington (middle) and Will Austin, Assistant Town Planner for Killington (right) show Senator Peter Welch (left) a map with flood damage in Killington. 
    Photo Caption: Senator Peter Welch views a photo of the flood damage on East Mountain Road. Left to right: Senator Peter Welch; Rebecca Ellis, State Director for Senator Peter Welch; Will Austin, Assistant Town Planner for Killington; Abbie Sherman, Public Works Director for Killington. 
    Photo Caption: Senator Peter Welch discusses flood recovery and other issues with Vermonters at the Killington Welcome Center.   
    Photo Caption: Senator Peter Welch discusses flood recovery with  Joseph Gaudiana, Brendan McNamara, and Justin Hyjek at Ludlow’s wastewater treatment facility, which is located near the Black River. 
    Ludlow: Senator Welch joined Ludlow town officials to view flooding damage to the village wastewater treatment facility, located on the Black River, and discuss progress on relocating the facility out of the flood plain. The Senator highlighted how the Disaster AID Act would help to simplify and expedite the relocation of critical infrastructure out of flood-prone areas. 
    Photo Caption: Senator Peter Welch discusses flood recovery and other issues with Vermonters in Weston. 
    Weston: In Weston, Senator Welch joined community leaders to view and discuss the Weston Mill Dam removal project, which will substantially lower the flood elevation level in the village. Senator Welch nominated for the project for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS). Senator Welch also met with town officials to discuss the importance and need for municipal technical assistance in flood recovery and mitigation planning. He was joined by members of the Weston Playhouse on the Green, which still requires major repairs following the floods. 
    Senator Welch has been outspoken in opposing any attempt by the Trump Administration to dismantle FEMA. Earlier this year, Senator Welch published a guest essay in The New York Times entitled: “Don’t Kill FEMA. Fix It.” In his piece, Senator Welch outlined why President Trump’s actions to undermine and potentially dissolve FEMA are misguided—but also committed to working with the President on good faith efforts to reform the agency’s long-term recovery process.   
    In December 2024, Senator Welch helped shape and pass a comprehensive disaster aid package, which delivered more than $100.4 billion of relief for states like Vermont recovering from climate disasters. The disaster aid package contained many of Senator Welch’s top priorities for the State: dedicated help for Vermont’s flood-impacted farmers, flexible spending through the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief fund, money for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, and support for businesses, among many other important provisions.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • Trump, Putin reiterate positions on Ukraine war in phone call, Kremlin aide says

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    U.S. President Donald Trump pushed for a quick halt to the Ukraine war in a Thursday phone call with Vladimir Putin, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”

    The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hour-long call, according to a readout provided by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meanwhile, told reporters in Denmark that he hopes to speak to Trump as soon as Friday about the ongoing pause in some weapons shipments, which was first disclosed earlier this week.

    Trump did not immediately comment on the conversation with Putin, but he said on social media beforehand that he would speak to the Russian leader.

    “Root causes” has become Russian shorthand for issue of NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine, including the rejection of any notion of Ukraine joining the NATO alliance. Russian leaders are also angling to establish greater control over political decisions made in Kyiv and other eastern European capitals, NATO leaders have said.

    The diplomatic back-and-forth comes as the U.S. has paused shipments of certain critical weapons to Ukraine due to low stockpiles, sources earlier told Reuters.

    That decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting U.S. envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington, and caution that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.

    The Pentagon’s move led in part to a cut in deliveries of Patriot air defence missiles that Ukraine relies on to destroy fast-moving ballistic missiles, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

    Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said the issue of weapons deliveries to Ukraine did not come up during the Trump-Putin phone call.

    Ushakov added that while Russia was open to continuing to speak with the U.S., any peace negotiations needed to occur between Moscow and Kyiv.

    That comment comes amid some indications that Moscow is trying to avoid a trilateral format for any peace negotiations. The Russians asked American diplomats to leave the room during such a meeting in Istanbul in early June, Ukrainian officials have said.

    Trump and Putin did not talk about a face-to-face meeting, Ushakov said.

    -Reuters

  • MIL-OSI Security: Justice Department Files Motion to Prevent Construction Delays for “Alligator Alcatraz” Immigration Detention Center in Florida

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) today filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to prevent unnecessary construction delays for Florida’s temporary immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Everglades.

    “The Department of Justice has defended President Trump’s immigration agenda in court since day one and we are proud to protect ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ from baseless, politically motivated legal schemes,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

    “Delaying the construction of Florida’s temporary detention center, as plaintiffs request, would imperil critical immigration enforcement efforts and endanger detainees in overcrowded detention facilities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of ENRD. “We are proud to defend against these unfounded claims and to help the administration fulfill its fundamental obligation to prioritize the safety and security of Americans.” 

    On June 27, two political advocacy organizations — Friends of the Everglades Inc. and Center for Biological Diversity — filed a lawsuit to halt the construction and operation of the detention center, alleging failure to analyze the environmental effects of the project as required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The plaintiffs asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.  

    In today’s filing, the Justice Department vigorously opposed the request for emergency and injunctive relief. Among other things, the filing highlights that there is no federal final agency action, that the Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to state agency decisions, that any claims related to potential federal funding are unripe, and that the plaintiffs failed to show irreparable harm.  

    Attorneys in ENRD’s Natural Resources Section are handling the case. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: United States Seeks Recovery of $40,300 in Cryptoscheme That Impersonated Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee

    Source: US FBI

                WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced today that her office filed a complaint against 40,353 USDT.ETH cryptocurrency stolen in the commission of a  Business Email Compromise Scheme.

                According to the complaint, one or more perpetrators impersonated the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, fraudulently stole $250,300 worth of crypocurrency from an intended donor, and then laundered the funds through other wallets. The FBI was able to trace and recover $40,300 from this transaction. The complaint seeks recovery of these funds to compensate the victim.

                “All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcmeent to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain,” said U.S. Attoney Pirro. “Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners stand ready to go toe-to-toe with criminals and make victims whole.”

                “Impersonation scams take many forms and cost Americans billions in losses each year,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen, of the FBI Washington Field Office, which is investigating the case. “To avoid becoming a victim, carefully review email addresses, website URLs, and spelling in any messages you receive. Scammers often use subtle differences to deceive you and gain your trust. Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know personally or have only interacted with online or over the phone. Report suspected scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.”

                According to the complaint, on Dec. 24, 2024, the victims received an email from someone purporting to be Steve Witkoff, Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. Legitimate emails from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee are @t47inaugural.com;  the email received by victim was from @t47lnaugural.com with the lowercase “I” was replaced by a lowercase “L.” Depending on the font, the lowercase “L” can look like the uppercase “I.”

                The imposter Steve Witkoff, a scammer located in Nigeria, instructed the victims to deposit funds into a cryptocurrency wallet ending in 58c52. On Dec. 26, 2024, the victim sent 250,300 USDT.ETH to the crypto wallet believing the funds were going to the Inaugural Committee. Within two hours after receiving the funds from the victim, the funds moved from the 58c52 cryptowallet to other cryptocurrency addresses. Through blockchain analysis, the FBI identified and recovered 40,300 USDT.ETH, which is the property subject to forfeiture in this civil action.

                Members of the public who believe they are victims of a cybercrime – including business email compromise, cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment scams, and “pig butchering” fraud scams – should contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov. For more information on business email compromise schemes, please visit: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/business-email-compromise.

                The Department of Justice would like to acknowledge Tether for its assistance in effectuating the transfer of these assets.

                FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the Washington Field Office joined in the announcement. This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office- Criminal and Cyber Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock, Jr.

    25cv2116

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Markey, Booker, Duckworth Condemn Republican Cuts to Environmental Justice Grants, Slam GOP Weakening of Key Environmental Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Washington (July 2, 2025) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), co-chairs of the Environmental Justice Caucus, today issued the following statement after Senate Republicans rammed through Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which would rescind funds already appropriated by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act for environmental and climate justice block grants, and undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The co-chairs filed two amendments that would have saved these funds and removed “pay-for-play” permits. Republicans blocked both amendments.
    “Senate Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is a direct attack on communities that have long been last in line for federal investments and is a part of a broader campaign to shield polluters from accountability,” said the co-chairs. “Cutting funds for projects that would deliver clean air, safe water, healthy land, and basic human dignity for all—along with efforts to defund air pollution monitoring and rubberstamp polluting infrastructure—will further harm communities already suffering devastating health consequences from living next door to our nation’s most polluting industries. As the House considers this Big Ugly Bill, we urge our colleagues to reject GOP efforts to claw back these funds and permit projects that jeopardize the health of millions of Americans. All Americans deserve a government that enacts—not eliminates—policies that protect public health, lower costs, and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.”
    The co-chairs were joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in cosponsoring the environmental justice grants amendment.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Markey, Booker, Duckworth Condemn Republican Cuts to Environmental Justice Grants, Slam GOP Weakening of Key Environmental Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Washington (July 2, 2025) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), co-chairs of the Environmental Justice Caucus, today issued the following statement after Senate Republicans rammed through Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which would rescind funds already appropriated by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act for environmental and climate justice block grants, and undermine the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The co-chairs filed two amendments that would have saved these funds and removed “pay-for-play” permits. Republicans blocked both amendments.
    “Senate Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is a direct attack on communities that have long been last in line for federal investments and is a part of a broader campaign to shield polluters from accountability,” said the co-chairs. “Cutting funds for projects that would deliver clean air, safe water, healthy land, and basic human dignity for all—along with efforts to defund air pollution monitoring and rubberstamp polluting infrastructure—will further harm communities already suffering devastating health consequences from living next door to our nation’s most polluting industries. As the House considers this Big Ugly Bill, we urge our colleagues to reject GOP efforts to claw back these funds and permit projects that jeopardize the health of millions of Americans. All Americans deserve a government that enacts—not eliminates—policies that protect public health, lower costs, and hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.”
    The co-chairs were joined by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in cosponsoring the environmental justice grants amendment.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Castro Slams Republicans on House Floor: “This Is a Choice Between Your Career and Saving People’s Lives”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

    July 03, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, ahead of the final vote on Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to stand up for the dignity of the American people and call on House Republicans to vote against the bill.

    Congressman Castro speaks on the House floor.

    Congressman Castro’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

    Three years ago today, I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. That day, my youngest child, my daughter, turned 2 months old. There’s a drug I have to take every month, every 28 days. The first time I saw the bill for that, the list price on that drug was $24,000 per injection. For people that don’t have insurance or Medicaid or aren’t covered, they’re not getting that shot. They’re not going to survive, some of them.

    This is a choice, for some of you, between your career and saving people’s lives. There are so many folks who have reached out over the last several months panicking about their disabled children, about their senior citizen parents who are in nursing homes, people struggling with cancer or Alzheimer’s, dementia, sickle cell, diabetes, all these illnesses.

    You have the power today to make sure that they can live with dignity and stay alive or you can choose your career. That is your choice. We choose to keep people alive. We choose to have healthcare in this country. We refuse to cut healthcare for 17 million people and 1.6 million people in Texas because it’s wrong and it’s immoral and we can take a different course.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Castro Slams Republicans on House Floor: “This Is a Choice Between Your Career and Saving People’s Lives”

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joaquin Castro (20th District of Texas)

    July 03, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, ahead of the final vote on Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to stand up for the dignity of the American people and call on House Republicans to vote against the bill.

    Congressman Castro speaks on the House floor.

    Congressman Castro’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

    Three years ago today, I was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. That day, my youngest child, my daughter, turned 2 months old. There’s a drug I have to take every month, every 28 days. The first time I saw the bill for that, the list price on that drug was $24,000 per injection. For people that don’t have insurance or Medicaid or aren’t covered, they’re not getting that shot. They’re not going to survive, some of them.

    This is a choice, for some of you, between your career and saving people’s lives. There are so many folks who have reached out over the last several months panicking about their disabled children, about their senior citizen parents who are in nursing homes, people struggling with cancer or Alzheimer’s, dementia, sickle cell, diabetes, all these illnesses.

    You have the power today to make sure that they can live with dignity and stay alive or you can choose your career. That is your choice. We choose to keep people alive. We choose to have healthcare in this country. We refuse to cut healthcare for 17 million people and 1.6 million people in Texas because it’s wrong and it’s immoral and we can take a different course.

    MIL OSI USA News –