NewzIntel.com

Category: US Senate

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lummis Celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wyoming Cynthia Lummis

    February 5, 2025

    Washington D.C. – Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released the following statement today celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. 

    Senator Lummis joined President Donald J. Trump and others at the White House for the signing of the Executive Order: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports

    “The far left’s attack on female athletes is the women’s rights issue of our time,” said Lummis. “Wyoming is home to a long list of trailblazers who have paved the way for women’s rights. On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, I celebrate our fearless female athletes and will continue to work to reverse the woke policies that threaten the safety of women and girls on the playing field.”

    Read Senator Lummis’ recent op-ed with Riley Gaines in Fox News discussing the importance of protecting women’s sports. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: King, Intel Colleagues Sound Alarm About “DOGE” Risk to National Security and American Privacy in Letter to White House

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
    WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI),  joined his committee colleagues to sound the alarm on the new national security risks that present themselves with the current operations of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Senators write about the risks to national security by allowing unvetted DOGE staff and representatives to access classified and sensitive government materials.
    The Committee members demanded that the administration provide details to Congress about how DOGE staff and representatives are being vetted, which systems, records and information are being shared, and what steps the administration is taking to safeguard them from misuse or disclosure.
    “According to press reports, DOGE inspectors already have gained access to classified materials, including intelligence reports, at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sensitive government payment systems, including for Social Security and Medicare, at the Treasury Department, and federal personnel data from the Office of Personnel Management. Further, as of today the scope of DOGE’s access only seems to be expanding, as reports indicate DOGE has now entered the Department of Labor and other agencies,” the Senators wrote. “No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.”
    The Senators added, “As you know, information is classified to protect the national security interests of the United States. Government employees and contractors only receive access to such information after they have undergone a rigorous background investigation and demonstrated a ‘need to know.’ Circumventing these requirements creates enormous counterintelligence and security risks. For example, improper access to facilities and systems containing security clearance files of Intelligence Community personnel puts at risk the safety of the men and women who serve this country. In addition, unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.”
    “Unclassified government systems also contain sensitive data, the unintended disclosure of which could result in significant harm to individuals or organizations, including financial loss, identity theft, and exposure of medical and other private personal information. The U.S. Treasury payment systems, in particular, are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year, and contain everyday Americans’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank accounts. Allowing DOGE access to this information raises unprecedented risks to Americans’ private personal and financial information,” the Senators continued.
    They concluded, “Such unregulated practices with our government’s most sensitive networks render Americans’ personal and financial information, and our classified national secrets, vulnerable to ransomware and cyber-attacks by criminals and foreign adversaries. The recent unprecedented Salt Typhoon and Change Healthcare attacks that affected tens of millions of Americans further underscore the importance of rigorously fortifying our government systems.”
    Joining King on the letter are Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
    The full text of the letter is available here and below.
    +++
    Dear Ms. Wiles,
    We write to express our grave concern with the illegal actions currently being undertaken by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which risk exposure of classified and other sensitive information that jeopardizes national security and violates Americans’ privacy. The January 20 Executive Order establishes DOGE under the Executive Office of the President with DOGE Teams established by Agency Heads within their respective agencies, and requires the Administrator of DOGE to report to the White House Chief of Staff. According to press reports, DOGE inspectors already have gained access to classified materials, including intelligence reports, at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sensitive government payment systems, including for Social Security and Medicare, at the Treasury Department, and federal personnel data from the Office of Personnel Management. Further, as of today the scope of DOGE’s access only seems to be expanding, as reports indicate DOGE has now entered the Department of Labor and other agencies.
    No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.
    As you know, information is classified to protect the national security interests of the United States. Government employees and contractors only receive access to such information after they have undergone a rigorous background investigation and demonstrated a “need to know.”  Circumventing these requirements creates enormous counterintelligence and security risks. For example, improper access to facilities and systems containing security clearance files of Intelligence Community personnel puts at risk the safety of the men and women who serve this country. In addition, unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners.If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.
    Unclassified government systems also contain sensitive data, the unintended disclosure of which could result in significant harm to individuals or organizations, including financial loss, identity theft, and exposure of medical and other private personal information. The U.S. Treasury payment systems, in particular, are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year, and contain everyday Americans’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and bank accounts. Allowing DOGE access to this information raises unprecedented risks to Americans’ private personal and financial information.
    Moreover, there are strict cybersecurity controls for accessing federal networks, which DOGE does not seem to be following, including by reportedly connecting personal devices to sensitive government systems. Such unregulated practices with our government’s most sensitive networks render Americans’ personal and financial information, and our classified national secrets, vulnerable to ransomware and cyber-attacks by criminals and foreign adversaries. The recent unprecedented Salt Typhoon and Change Healthcare attacks that affected tens of millions of Americans further underscore the importance of rigorously fortifying our government systems.
    The Executive Branch cannot operate without regard to rules, regulations, or Congressional oversight. The American people, and our intelligence officials, deserve to know that their information is being appropriately safeguarded. We therefore respectfully request written responses to the following questions by February 14, 2025:
    Provide a list of personnel operating under DOGE, their position or role, and their duties. 
    Pursuant to the Executive Order, DOGE teams are to be established by Agency Heads within their respective agencies. Provide a list of each agency that has established a DOGE team, and the agency personnel overseeing such team.
    Under what authorities is DOGE conducting its operations?
    Who is overseeing DOGE’s operations?
    Provide a list of each agency DOGE has requested information from.
    Provide a list of all unclassified systems, records, or other information DOGE has requested and/or gained access to. 
    Provide a list of all classified systems, records, or other information DOGE has requested and/or gained access to.
    Do DOGE staff or representatives have access to any Intelligence Community systems, networks, or other information? If so, please specify the extent of such access.
    Under what authority is DOGE requesting and/or gaining access to classified information?
    What security clearances have been provided to DOGE staff or representatives, and who has authorized such clearances?
    What processes have been followed prior to granting security clearances to DOGE staff or representatives?
    What vetting for potential conflicts of interest has been conducted prior to granting clearances or access to government systems, records, or other information to DOGE staff or representatives?
    Provide a list of each DOGE staff or representative who has requested and/or gained access to classified information, what clearance each such individual holds, and who authorized each security clearance. 
    Who is supervising and/or monitoring DOGE employee access to classified information?
    What processes have been followed prior to granting DOGE staff or representatives access to sensitive government systems and networks, and who has authorized such access?
    Who is supervising and/or monitoring DOGE employee access to sensitive government systems and networks?
    Has DOGE briefed you, the White House Chief of Staff, on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing classified and other sensitive information? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    Has DOGE briefed you, the White House Chief of Staff, on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing government networks and systems? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    Has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency been briefed on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing Treasury’s payment systems? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance. 
    Has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency been briefed on the counterintelligence and other risks of DOGE staff or representatives accessing USAID’s classified and other sensitive information, including security clearance files? If so, please specify the date of the briefing and those in attendance.
    What actions if any has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency taken to ensure DOGE employee access does not create counterintelligence risks?
    What actions if any has the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and/or the Central Intelligence Agency taken to ensure DOGE employee access does not compromise classified or other sensitive intelligence and/or personal information of intelligence community officials? 
    To underscore, DOGE seems to have unimpeded access to some of our nation’s most sensitive information, including classified materials and the private personal and financial information of everyday Americans. In light of such unprecedented risks to our national and economic security, we expect your immediate attention and prompt response.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto Joins Bicameral Legislation to Ensure Access to Counsel When Lawfully Entering the United States

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and 13 of her colleagues in introducing the Access to Counsel Act to ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status can consult with an attorney, relative, or other relevant party to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at a port of entry, including an airport. The bill was introduced in conjunction with the NO BAN Act, legislation to prevent another Muslim Ban.
    “During the first Trump administration, we saw hundreds of travelers with valid visas and legal documents be detained without any way to contact family members or their lawyers,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This legislation would ensure that citizens, students, green card holders, and other lawful immigrants aren’t denied their right to an attorney.”
    The previous Muslim Ban in Trump’s first term unleashed chaos at airports and ports of entry across the country. People from Muslim-majority countries, with lawful permission to enter, were detained for hours without food or water before being deported. These individuals were often pressured to sign documents that amounted to them giving up their legal status. In many cases, these individuals had no opportunity to see an attorney or call anyone for legal guidance. Since then, there have been numerous instances of individual lawfully entering the U.S. being denied access to legal counsel despite having valid visas.
    Specifically, the Access to Counsel Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that people with valid travel documents who present themselves at the border, airports, or other points of interaction can communicate with counsel and other interested parties if they are subjected to prolonged inspection by CBP. 
    The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling onboth administrations to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenshipfor Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers, and she’s pushed legislation to allow Dreamers and TPS holders to work in Congress.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Joins Colleagues in Holding Senate Floor All Night to Send Stark Warning Against Confirming Russ Vought to Lead OMB

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ***VIDEO HERE*** 
    Murray: “Why on earth would any one of us confirm someone whose entire game plan is to break the law and dare the world to stop him?”
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, helped lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech and her remarks below touch specifically on Vought’s long history of extremism and advocacy for illegally blocking enacted funds due to go out to communities across the country. She warned her colleagues that as OMB Director, Vought would not implement the laws they pass, and that it will be much harder to work in a bipartisan way if Senators cannot trust OMB to respect enacted law and get duly passed funds to states and to programs families rely on.
    Senator Murray has repeatedly warned of Vought’s extremism and the threat he poses. At a recent Senate Budget Committee hearing, she grilled him on his views and whether he would, as OMB Director, simply follow the law and ensure funding Congress passed makes it to the families and communities it intended. Vought repeatedly refused to commit to following the law despite admitting that no court in the land has ever found the Impoundment Control Act to be unconstitutional.
    “The Senate should not vote to confirm as the head of OMB—or to any important role for that matter—someone who does not respect the constitutional authority of the Senate and, thus, the people we represent.
    “We should not entrust someone to implement our laws who has made clear, time and again through his past actions in this same role during President Trump’s first term, through his work as head architect of Project 2025, and through his own words in hearings and meetings that he will not follow the laws—that he will not send our communities the funding that we all worked together to pass.”
    “We know if Russ Vought gets his way, and gets his hands on the nation’s funding again, he won’t just draw blood, he will cut programs families rely on to the bone: SNAP cuts that leave families hungry, policies to cut people off from their health care, cuts to disability benefits that veterans have earned through their service, thousands of public servants forced out of roles serving the American people—all while he works with Trump to dole out more tax breaks to billionaires and the biggest corporations.”
    Senator Murray concluded her hour long remarks by emphasizing, once again, that Vought would be a dangerous, lawless OMB Director.
    “Before us, right now, is a nominee who has made clear he will not respect the authority of Congress and the people who voted us in—nominated by a President who is not respecting the authority of Congress and the people who voted us in.
    “We have to say we will not stand for it. We have to say the law is the law. And one simple way we can send that message is by rejecting Russ Vought’s nomination outright. And so, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in doing just that.”
    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on Vought during her speech can be found below, and video can be found HERE.
    “M. President, I rise to urge all of my colleagues to vote against Russ Vought’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
    “The Senate should not vote to confirm as the head of OMB—or to any important role for that matter—someone who does not respect the constitutional authority of the Senate and, thus, the people we represent.
    “We should not entrust someone to implement our laws who has made clear, time and again through his past actions in this same role during President Trump’s first term, through his work as head architect of Project 2025, and through his own words in hearings and meetings that he will not follow the laws—that he will not send our communities the funding we pass!
    “Why on earth would any one of us confirm someone whose entire game plan is to break the law and dare the world to stop him?
    “That’s it—that is how Russ Vought plans to run the OMB. It is not a secret, it is a very public fact—he has put this on the record time and again.
    “Just look at what happened last time Russ Vought served as Director of the OMB. He tried to break the law to give President Trump unilateral authority he does not possess to hold up security assistance to Ukraine and override the spending decisions of Congress. And he has not given up on that idea! He has written about it many, many times in the years since.
    “As a chief architect of Project 2025, Vought doubled down on lawlessness and charted a blatantly unconstitutional plan for the President to ignore the will of Congress—which led him to being named in the first Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump.
    “He mapped out a lawless path that—as I will detail shortly—President Trump is already barreling down at full speed.
    “But if you still weren’t convinced that Russ Vought will trample all over the separation of powers, will ignore the authority of Congress, will hurt the American people by holding back funds they rely on—well, you’re in luck, because, at our hearing with him, I asked Vought directly, point blank: ‘Will you follow the law?’
    “That should not be a hard question. Even if you disagree with a law, you don’t ignore it. Maybe you don’t like the 25 mile-an-hour speed limit in a school zone, but unless it’s changed, or struck down, you still have to follow it. It’s true for speed limits—and it is certainly true for the Constitution.
    “That is something almost every single American understands—except, apparently, Russ Vought and Donald Trump. Because, today the Impoundment Control Act is the law of the land. Despite Vought’s own wishes and feelings—it has not been changed and it has not been struck down in court.
    “Despite what Vought pretends is true, the reality is the Constitution gives Congress—not the President—the power of the purse. And yet, Russ Vought will not say he will follow the law.
    “And look, Vought is not just lawless—he is extreme. Let me just drive this home for a second. Let’s take abortion for example. Project 2025 already calls for ripping away birth control, allowing states to deny women life-saving emergency care, and effectively banning all abortion nationwide.
    “That is already a dangerous Republican fever dream—far out of line, by the way, with the American people. But Vought wants to go further! On abortion, he is for, quote: ‘abolition.’ You know what that means?
    “It means a national abortion ban without any exemptions or exceptions—even in cases of rape or when a woman’s life is at risk. That is as far right as it gets!
    “And abortion is not the only issue where Vought has made statements that are deeply alarming. He has stated he believes the 2020 election was, quote: ‘rigged.’ That is not just out of touch with America—that is dangerously out of touch with reality.
    “He has said he wants to ‘traumatize’ our federal workers—that means all the people who work really hard to help in our communities inspecting food, reviewing the safety of drugs, or keeping travel safe, or strengthening our infrastructure, or fostering innovation and small business, or getting care to veterans, or supporting to tribes, and so much more.
    “Vought has even said we live in a, quote, ‘post-constitutional’ time. M. President, it really doesn’t get any clearer than that. A post-constitutional time. That’s what he believes we are in. Do my colleagues agree? Do they think it’s time to shred the Constitution? That’s what is at stake with this confirmation vote.
    “Because Vought has made all too clear that as OMB director, he will put everything on the chopping block—from programs people rely on to the checks and balances our democracy is founded on. Again, he has put it down on paper—in black and white.
    “We know he wants to cut Medicare, and in particular, Medicaid, by hundreds of billions of dollars.
    “We know he wants to find ‘significant savings’ from eligibility changes to veterans’ health care and disability benefits. We don’t even need Project 2025 to see that! He laid some of that out in his budgets from Trump’s first term!
    “Vought’s goals are not secret, nor are they subtle—we do not have to decipher anything here. There is no mystery. We know he is planning for cuts beyond anything this country has ever seen.
    “And we know if Russ Vought gets his way, and gets his hands on the nation’s funding again, he will not just draw blood, he will cut programs families rely on to the bone—SNAP cuts that leave families hungry, policies to cut people off from their health care, cuts to disability benefits that veterans have earned through their service to America, thousands of public servants forced out of roles serving the American people—all while he works with Trump to dole out more tax breaks to billionaires and the biggest corporations.
    “And here’s another thing—we don’t have to imagine just how painful and chaotic Vought’s lawless ideas would be in practice because Vought is actually already putting his agenda in place, which frankly raises another question: why should the Senate vote to confirm someone who is already secretly doing the job behind our backs?
    “Because guess what—those Executive Orders that Trump still has in effect? Those orders which are, right now, illegally blocking money our communities need? That is right out of the Project 2025 playbook.
    “Or the effort now to get rid of thousands of federal workers through illegal firings and now scam buyout offers that have no basis in law to carry out, or trying to illegally abolish entire agencies with the stroke of a pen? That has Project 2025 written all over it.
    “And it’s not just a parallel in ideas here—when OMB issued its blatantly illegal guidance and attempted to block trillions in federal dollars Congress, all of us, passed, there were digital fingerprints all over that document linking right back to Project 2025. And in the chaos that followed—do you know who reportedly met with OMB staffers about how to respond? Russ Vought. So, let’s not pretend we have no idea just how lawless this guy is. Let’s not pretend we have no idea what sort of damage he will cause if he is put back in power.”
    […]
    “Now, Mr. President, before I conclude, I just want to hit once more on what is at stake with Mr. Vought’s nomination—we are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending that Congress, us, passed, that our communities are counting on, and that Mr. Vought has made painfully clear he will not think twice about illegally blocking.
    “Giving this man the power to enact his illegal schemes will do real harm to folks back home. It will cut people off from help getting groceries and making rent. It will cut families off from child care and health care. It will cut veterans and their survivors off from disability and education benefits they earned through their service to our country. It will cut off breakthrough medical research, and help for people struggling with opioid addiction. It will cut off communities working to build bridges, improve roads, and strengthen their energy infrastructure.
    “That will have serious consequences we cannot overlook—we are here to fight for our families. But there is also another serious consequence here—one that cuts to the heart of what makes this Senate work, and that makes our democracy work.
    “Confirming Russ Vought to OMB makes it that much harder to negotiate our spending bills. It is much harder to reach a bipartisan deal with my colleagues, whom I respect and trust and have worked with for years, if that deal is going to be implemented by someone in whom I have zero trust—someone who has made clear that despite our laws, he is going to block any funding we pass.
    “And why should any Senator vote to confirm someone who has made it perfectly clear—he would undermine their authority to help their constituents.
    “M. President, as I’ve said, our system of checks and balances does not work on its own—we have to actually do our part here in Congress to be the check on Presidential abuse of power. And we have an opportunity—no, actually it’s an obligation—right now, to do just that.
    “Before us, right now, is a nominee who has made it very clear he will not respect the authority of Congress, of all of us, and all the people who voted us in—nominated by a President who is not respecting the authority of Congress and the people who voted us in.
    “We have to say we will not stand for it. We have to say the law is the law. And one simple way we can send that message is by rejecting Russ Vought’s nomination outright. And so, M. President, I am here today to strongly urge my colleagues to join me in doing just that.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Details Harm Caused By Trump’s Blanket Funding Freeze, Ongoing Chaos

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Murray shared many WA stories and concerns she heard following President Trump’s blanket funding freeze
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is helping lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech and her remarks below touch specifically on last week’s Monday night OMB budget memo that froze virtually all federal grants and how communities and organizations across America still cannot access funds that are meant to be unfrozen and fully accessible by now.
    “The calls just keep coming—even now that OMB reversed course. The chaos has not died down—the questions, the uncertainty, the fear from families and communities that Trump will pull the rug out from under them is still there. 
    “Because even though—after the intense outcry from the American people—Trump has now admitted this was a colossal mistake by rescinding the guidance, the threat, the chaos, the panic cannot just be wiped away. Especially while some funds are still being blocked!
    “No one feels any sense of calm after this. People aren’t feeling lasting relief—they are still wondering ‘how could something like this happen’ and ‘what in the world is going to happen next?’
    “The Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard for the law—caused, and is still causing, real harm and chaos for millions of people over the span of just a mere 48 hours.
    “But we did learn something extremely important: when the American people speak out with one voice, when regular people stand up, it makes a real difference. That victory belonged to everyone who raised their voice. But make no mistake, the fight is far from over.
    “As I said before, we still have a lot of work to do right now, to make sure all the funding actually does get moving again—this is not like turning on a light switch.
    “We just saw through the chaotic roll out—this is complicated stuff. So, I will be watching closely to make sure funds get where they belong ASAP. I already know that in many cases this has not been what is happening at all—so this is a serious concern.”
    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on the chaos because of Trump’s blanket funding freeze can be found below, and video can be found HERE.
    “The chaos Vought and Trump caused last week alone was unlike anything I can recall. M. President, never in my time in the Senate have I seen a President cause as much chaos, panic, and damage in 48 short hours—chaos, panic, and damage which continues even now!
    “President Trump inflicted serious harm when he implemented Vought’s reckless vision to brazenly and illegally freeze federal grants across the government and across the country.
    “My phone has been ringing off the hook—because unlike billionaires like Trump and Musk, unlike hyper partisans like Vought, the American people actually have a painfully clear sense of how this will hurt our communities. After all, they are the ones who would actually suffer the consequences of a reckless policy like this.
    “And, let’s remember, the Trump administration’s first half-hearted attempt to clean up the massive mess they made with a new guidance, essentially boiled down to: ‘We’ll let some funding go, but we’re still going to hold up everything else.’
    “And while later, they finally admitted they were disastrously wrong and revoked the entire guidance, they are now, still today, illegally holding up other funds—which I will say more about later.
    “And the chaos alone they caused, with their cruelty and incompetence is utterly unacceptable. The explanations the Trump Administration offered throughout that saga—freezing seemingly trillions of dollars that families rely on—created no clarity or certainty for so many panicked families, businesses, nonprofits, towns, and states. And nothing they said changes the basic fact that Trump was—and is still—holding up funding our communities need, funding that is the law.
    “But let’s talk about the effect—let’s talk about the chaos and alarm they caused, the damage done to communities and families that all of us represent, and the collision course we were on before Americans spoke out and forced Trump to retreat.
    “Because, in terms of chaos, the Trump Administration was trying to say a lot of programs were not affected even when we had firsthand accounts making clear that was not what organizations across the country were experiencing.
    “I’ll give you one example: Head Start providers were locked out of their reimbursement portal, meaning folks taking care of our youngest kids were suddenly not sure how they were going to keep their doors open or pay their teachers and staff. And some providers in my state are still locked out, not getting the funding.
    “Let’s talk about rental assistance! The payment system for housing providers was down for over a day—with rents that were due at the end of the week!
    “Seniors who count on Meals on Wheels were left wondering whether they’d have dinner last week.
    “Grant programs to combat the fentanyl crisis, to get families health care, and so much more were—in an instant— put at risk of evaporating into thin air.
    “I mean, M. President, the panic and confusion were absolutely widespread. Because there was a long, long, list of programs President Trump tried to put on the chopping block here—programs that, by the way, help red states and blue states alike.
    “Funding to address the opioid use epidemic could have been paused. This is a long-standing bipartisan priority and Trump wanted funding frozen for an indefinite period—that would absolutely upend prevention efforts and cut people off from treatment that is helping them beat addiction.
    “Or COPS hiring grants which help our states and communities hire career law enforcement officers—Trump was freezing those, too. These investments increase community policing capacity and they prevent crime. Without this money, our streets and neighborhoods would be less safe.
    “And let’s not forget about other crucial DOJ grants—funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, for Amber Alerts, and for safe havens that support victims of human trafficking.
    “Or, in my state, there are 25 child advocacy centers that were trying to figure out how they would be affected by the freeze. Think about that.
    “And funding for firefighters—you know what doesn’t stop when federal funding stops? Fires! And speaking of fires—Trump’s move also threw funding for recovery and relief efforts into uncertainty. In Eastern Washington, my state, $44 million was announced weeks ago to help Spokane County rebuild from wildfires—we were left with big questions about the future of that badly needed funding last week.
    “And while it was just two weeks ago that Trump visited communities in both North Carolina and California still reeling from disaster, the very next week, he sent them reeling himself—throwing funds they were counting on into limbo with his initial OMB guidance. Because, for a while there, the system that all of our states use to get disaster relief funding was shut down!
    “And let’s not forget grants from the Violence Against Women Act—I heard from organizations in Washington state that support survivors of violence, they were trying to figure out what to do because their federal payments site went down. Without that vital funding, survivors would be left with no way to access the legal aid and services they deserve. Like so many other organizations, they were ringing the alarm bells—because they were not going to be able to pay staff or pay their bills. This illegal freeze left domestic violence centers wondering how long they could keep their doors open and pay their staff.
    “And our Tribes were thrown into chaos as well. The Puyallup Tribe was told they couldn’t move forward with a critical road project. And our Tribes in general were all concerned that housing, health care, education, and so much else were getting caught up in this funding freeze. One told me they were left trying to determine if they were going to have to lay off 400 people because of this. Causing layoffs with an illegal funding freeze would be a profound breach of the federal trust responsibility to our Tribes.
    “Or here’s another alarming one: one of Trump’s executive orders was set to cut funding used to help detain nearly 10,000 ISIS militants in Syria. That funding was about to be cut off altogether—potentially leading to prison guards leaving the job and risking ISIS militants getting out of jail—until this administration was alerted to how reckless that would be and carved out that funding.
    “But trust me when I say: there are many other funding streams that help keep us safe that are still at risk—especially because of the illegal executive orders that are, today, still blocking foreign assistance, and the absolutely lawless effort to dismantle USAID, which does lifesaving relief work around the world.
    “I will have a lot more to say on that later. And, by the why, how does undermining health, which will mean diseases run rampant—particularly at a time when Bird Flu is on the uptick and impacting many producers, workers and states—how does that make any sense?
    “Because when it comes to health care—this attempted freeze posed a huge threat to our families. Set aside the fact the Medicaid payment portal went down in my state and every state—something that we were told was a coincidence—that doesn’t change the fact all federal health care grant reimbursements stopped.
    “It doesn’t change the fact that community health centers were blocked from getting the funds they need to pay staff and continue providing care in our communities—including rural areas where they are often the only option for miles.
    “It doesn’t change the fact that Title X providers—who support care like family planning services, cancer screenings, and more—couldn’t draw down their funds.
    “I also heard from HopeSparks, a health care provider in my state. They warned that without federal support, kids in the South Puget Sound would lose access to mental health care and crisis services. 
    “And, biomedical researchers were suddenly left dealing with questions—not about how to save lives, but about grant freezes, and how these vague, broad actions might stop research programs and clinical trials across the country.
    “Chaos alone presents a huge risk of derailing crucial studies. Scientists at the University of Washington and Washington State University have told my office they were deeply alarmed—a freeze like Trump ordered would have meant research projects collapsing and staff being furloughed or laid off!
    “The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center moved to bridge the gap to keep research from being derailed—but not getting this fixed would have meant putting them in the hole, to the tune of over $1 million a day. That sort of unexpected burden would have had a huge impact on lifesaving cancer research.
    “And agricultural research was faced with uncertainty as well! WSU is a national leader in this important work—research to help our farmers grow more crops, grow more resilient crops, and fight challenges like pests, and plant diseases. WSU was deeply concerned funding for that research could be cut off, undermining important work supporting our nation’s farmers.
    “And the threats didn’t stop there for those in food and agriculture. One organization, which works alongside local growers, told me losing funding would mean a reduced capacity to grow and distribute fresh, local food to communities. That would hurt both farmers and the families who rely on these programs to help put food on the table!
    “Meanwhile, a group in Washington addressing youth homelessness warned it would have to kick kids out if the funding issue was not resolved. Let me repeat that: a homeless youth group was pushed to the brink of having to kick kids onto the streets because of President Trump’s illegal freeze. 
    “I was also deeply concerned about how the freeze might halt the diaper pilot program.  As well as the reports I got from multiple housing providers in my state worried that tens of thousands of people would be at risk of homelessness thanks to this illegal freeze.
    “And don’t get me started on infrastructure! These are projects that take years to plan, build, and complete, and do a whole lot of good for our communities. In my state alone, there were big questions about what was going to happen to electrical grid upgrades happening in Okanogan and Pierce County, improvements planned at the Ports of Seattle, Everett, and Whitman County, or SeaTac Airport’s plans to deploy new trucks.
    “And some of these questions still remain! Because—as I will detail in a minute—there are still many other ways programs are being put at risk by Trump illegally blocking funds with his executive orders. I will continue fighting for the federal funding Congress already provided to keep all of these projects on track—but that can only get us so far if President Trump illegally blocks it all and our Republican colleagues help let it happen.
    “I mean the list goes on, and on, and on. The calls just keep coming—even now that OMB reversed course. The chaos has not died down—the questions, the uncertainty, the fear from families and communities that Trump will pull the rug out from under them is still there. 
    “Because even though—after the intense outcry from the American people—Trump has now admitted this was a colossal mistake by rescinding the guidance, the threat, the chaos, the panic cannot just be wiped away. Especially while some funds are still being blocked!
    “No one feels any sense of calm after this. People aren’t feeling lasting relief—they are still wondering ‘how could something like this happen’ and “what in the world is going to happen next?’
    “The Trump administration—through a combination of sheer incompetence, cruel intentions, and a willful disregard for the law—caused, and is still causing, real harm and chaos for millions of people over the span of just a mere 48 hours.
    “But we did learn something extremely important: when the American people speak out with one voice, when regular people stand up, it makes a real difference. That victory belonged to everyone who raised their voice. But make no mistake, the fight is far from over.
    “As I said before, we still have a lot of work to do right now, to make sure all the funding actually does get moving again—this is not like turning on a light switch.
    “We just saw through the chaotic roll out—this is complicated stuff. So, I want you to know, I will be watching closely to make sure funds get where they belong ASAP. I already know that in many cases this has not been what is happening at all—so this is a serious concern.
    “I actually spoke with a constituent last week, Mike from Edmonds–he runs a nonprofit supporting military families and helping servicemembers transition back to civilian life. And even days after the OMB guidance was reversed, they still couldn’t access federal funding. He’s using a personal line of credit to pay staff in the meantime. And if this doesn’t get fixed—his organization won’t be able to help military families or pay its employees.
    “The homeless shelter I mentioned at the top—short $5.1 million dollars because of Trump—also still has its funds frozen. It is still looking at reducing beds and facing layoffs.
    “And as I mentioned earlier, some Head Start programs are still not able to access their grant funding—so the chaos of this OMB saga is far, far from over.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Highlights Trump’s Illegal Spending Freeze on Billions via Day One Executive Orders, Putting Economies and Jobs at Risk

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ***VIDEO HERE*** 
    Trump Administration is still blocking hundreds of billions of dollars passed by Congress
    ICYMI: Murray Hold Press Call With WA State Orgs About Jobs at Risk Due to Funding Freeze
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is helping lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech and her remarks below touch specifically on how the Trump Administration is still blocking hundreds of billions of dollars of approved funding under Trump’s executive orders, and what sort of pain this illegal funding freeze could mean for Washington state and the country:
    On infrastructure:
    “All of these projects, and many more have been thrown into complete uncertainty because of President Trump’s Executive Orders. It is just completely unclear when, or if these projects are going to get the funds they are counting on and owed—from the bills Congress passed.
    “And that is not just causing chaos, it is not just causing delays, it is causing harm and alarm—because it could mean construction grinds to a halt, and workers lose jobs. It could mean the work will go un-started—or perhaps in some cases—unfinished.
    “Plus, it will mean increasing costs for cities, counties, states, and Tribes for those projects that somehow make it through this. And while there are many more infrastructure projects in my state I still haven’t even touched on, not to mention the other projects across the country. There are so many other projects, organizations, and people who are being harmed right now by President Trump’s reckless funding freeze. “
    On foreign assistance:
    “When people are starving, you cannot just feed them money—you need to have already made the investments to grow food. When democracies are in crisis, you can’t just cut them a check—you need to have helped them build strong institutions. When a deadly disease outbreak strikes—you are going to learn very quickly that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
    “Freezing foreign assistance is not putting America first—it is guaranteeing America comes in last. Because every funding gap we leave is an opportunity for our adversaries to step in, fill the gap, and play the hero while casting us as the villain.”
    […]
    “And let’s be clear—it is not just U.S. leadership on the line here. There are U.S. jobs at stake here. That reality is hitting home hard this week. Back in Washington state, there are some world class organizations that I know may have to lay people off this week—hundreds of people—all because of President Trump’s funding freeze.
    “International aid organizations may make a difference around the world—but they support American jobs too. People who have a paycheck and family. People who work incredibly hard—and who are incredibly proud of the work they do to make the world a better place and reaffirm U.S. global leadership…
    “But they are being sent packing—not because they’ve done anything wrong, not because this work isn’t important. But because President Trump and Elon Musk are listening to whacko conspiracists and ultra-isolationists—while ignoring the experts, ignoring the obvious realities, and again ignoring the law. We should all stand against this”
    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on the funding still being frozen by President Trump can be found below, and video can be found HERE.
    “And let me make one thing perfectly clear—even before this latest whirl of chaos, President Trump was already illegally blocking billions of dollars. And even after the OMB guidance was reversed, he is still holding back all of those funds through his illegal executive orders.
    “You don’t have to take it from me. You can take it directly from the White House Press Secretary, quote: ‘This is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze… The President’s [Executive Orders] on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented’
    “So, now that was the chaos of last week, I want to talk about the chaos that remains—what we are still seeing this week, and what it means for folks back home, and across the country. Because there is still significant confusion, and the remaining freezes are still causing significant pain.
    “For example, I’ve heard from cities in my state, and from the Washington State Department of Transportation. Now, it is still hard to get a clear picture, given the chaotic roll out, roll back, and more. But they are telling me they are concerned about infrastructure projects all over my state that are already getting delayed now—and could get derailed entirely because President Trump is still illegally blocking funding we passed with his executive orders.
    “If this illegal freeze continues, people will lose jobs and communities will lose out on projects that have been in the works for years.
    “Trump is blocking money to repair electric chargers, to install heavy duty chargers for trucks, to make critical repairs to bridges in order to protect the safety of millions of drivers, and to install new chargers along major roads in my state like I-90, US-97, US-2, US-195, and US-395. Stopping these projects is just pointlessly hurting commuters and businesses, it is costing construction workers, it is killing jobs.
    “Trump is holding up road projects that make streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, like a safer streets project in Richland, Washington, and critical safety barriers in Spokane—not to mention the Liberty Park Land Bridge in Spokane, which would reconnect communities, and provide more green space for families to enjoy.
    “Or funds for the city of Lakewood’s plans to revitalize its downtown and bring in more retail space, and restaurants, and health care services, and financial services, make upgrades to roads, and provide a new festival area, park areas, and more.
    “Trump’s freeze is also a concern for the Samish Indian Nation as it works to improve safety and access to their land at the Campbell Lake Road intersection—which has seen growing traffic in recent years—and for a project led by the Tulalip Tribe to improve the interchanges along I-5 exits. The congestion on these ramps can get so bad it backs up to the main highway!
    “We want to get these projects done, we want to get them done—and the last thing we need is uncertainty about these stalled funds.
    “There’s also a project underway to upgrade the technology at our border with Canada—replacing and improving the outdated wait time system to improve accuracy and help our inspection and transportation agencies. This will help travelers headed to Canada avoid long wait times at the border and help fans from around the world, by the way, who are travelling between Seattle and Vancouver for next year’s World Cup move quickly—but not if Trump’s executive orders stop all of this funding!
    “Same for the efforts to update our state-wide planning with a new electronic system that would make the process for planning, and specifications, and estimates more efficient.
    “And, of course, in Washington state—we can never forget about fish, which are crucial to our culture, and our economy, in many ways. Trump’s ongoing funding freeze is putting projects to improve fish habitats on ice—replacing the culvert at Thornton Creek, replacing the failing culvert at Wapato Creek, which is right underneath the Pierce County Terminal at the Port of Tacoma, or removing the fish barrier culverts at Johnson Creek which will open up nearly 3,000 meters of upstream habitat.
    “Not to mention other wildlife preservation work, like an undercrossing structure and wildlife barriers east of Winthrop. And work on our waterways. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is still not restored today for some projects on the Lower Columbia River, projects like stormwater infrastructure that will help keep toxins out of water and restore wetlands and protect the ecosystems.
    “Our ports, our ports—so critical for not only Washington state’s economy, but for the whole country—are caught up in this too. There are port projects now on hold across my state, including for electrical infrastructure and shore power for vessels. These impacts are being felt from Anacortes to Port Angeles to Vancouver. Frozen funding is hurting working families in Washington and across the country, and it is making our economy less competitive.
    “And, we cannot forget our ferries—which are so crucial to many commuters in my state. Washington state ferries are looking to improve their data with a better system for collecting, analyzing, and reporting wait times at all of our terminals. This would give them useful information to improve efficiency and make life better for the people they serve. Losing that funding means more people will miss ferries and long waits in line for Washington state commuters crossing the water to work, to school, to medical appointments.
    “We also have absolutely essential electric transmission and distribution projects that are on hold now and in jeopardy. These are projects that are necessary, helping reduce our wildfire risks, ensure grid reliability, improve resilience to natural disasters, and lower costs for ratepayers across my state of Washington.
    “And these are funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—that is a law that Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass–it’s a program that Republicans thought was important enough to provide $10.5 billion. After what we have seen in recent months and years, I don’t know how you can say with a straight face that modernizing our grid isn’t absolutely vital to the future of our country. You don’t have to listen to me—Secretary Burgum and Secretary Wright said as much in their confirmation hearings.
    “But this project—all of these projects, and many more have been thrown into complete uncertainty because of President Trump’s Executive Orders. It is completely unclear when, or if these projects are going to get the funds they were counting on and they were owed—from bills Congress passed and were signed into law.
    “And that is not just causing chaos, it is not just causing delays, it is causing harm and alarm—because it could mean construction grinds to a halt, and workers lose jobs. It means the work will go un-started—or perhaps in some cases—unfinished.
    “Plus, it will mean increasing costs for cities, counties, states, and Tribes for those projects that somehow make it through all of this. And while there are many more infrastructure projects in my state I still haven’t even touched on, not to mention the other projects across the country. There are so many other projects, and organizations, and people who are being harmed right now by President Trump’s reckless funding freeze.
    “I know there are medical researchers, still worried their work will be considered ‘woke’ when in reality, it is actually pretty darn important we understand the roots of health disparities—things like why the maternal death rate is so much higher for Black or Native American women.
    “Yet, researchers are being told that their research is at risk of being defunded if they are examining issues of ‘equity,’ or ‘barriers to care,’ or even if they are specifically studying ‘females.’
    “And, there are hospitals in my state, and across the country, worried that some of these programs—which are appropriately focused on someone’s gender or race—are in jeopardy.
    “For example, we know pulse oximeters are less accurate for people with darker skin tones—making sure these clinical measurements are accurate will save lives, and can have life and death consequences for patients. And we know women have much higher rates of autoimmune disorders than men—we need to take a look at why that is.
    “We also need to invest in training the next generation of scientists, including from diverse backgrounds. Studies show that diversity in the scientific workforce leads to greater innovation and productivity. But there is a serious concern that lifesaving work is going to get caught up in President Trump’s sweeping illegal executive orders.
    “Another impact of Trump’s actions? The National Park Service has rescinded all of its employment offers for summer seasonal staff. Now that doesn’t just mean people will be facing longer wait lines and dirtier bathrooms—though they will. It could mean park closures throughout this entire summer, and it will mean delayed responses to emergencies—making people less safe.
    “And outside our national parks, Trump is also freezing regional clean up efforts. Things like stopping illegal dumping and improving air quality in our communities.
    “And M. President, let’s talk about foreign assistance, because, for decades now—there has been widespread, bipartisan understanding that promoting stability abroad, promoting democracy, improving health, strengthening trade, and building partnerships is crucial to US leadership.
    “But Trump’s executive orders put all of that at risk by illegally freezing funds. I have heard from organizations that operate all over the world about how they were unable to deliver the life-saving aid that millions of people rely on due to these stop-work orders. That meant millions of doses of lifesaving drugs sat un-used on shelves. Time-sensitive prevention methods against diseases like malaria were not carried out, putting millions at risk. Training for more than 64,000 health care workers were put on hold. Hundreds of millions of metric tons of U.S.-grown commodities sitting—and at the risk of spoiling—in transport, instead of reaching their final destinations across the world to feed people in need.
    “And despite a so-called ‘waiver’ from the U.S. State Department to resume work, much of this life-saving aid is still today on hold. Without a start-work order, those organizations fear they are taking on significant risk in continuing operations. Put simply: this was already unacceptable.
    “And now, over the weekend—President Trump and Elon Musk have decided against all reason, against all evidence, and against the law, mind you, to completely dismantle USAID. And that is on top of the illegal funding freeze that has already been pushing U.S. businesses, nonprofits, and international aid groups to make tough choices, for truly pointless reasons.
    “It should be obvious that these cuts will hurt people across the world. These cuts will mean people starve. These cuts will mean people don’t get clean water. These cuts will mean more disease outbreaks with higher death counts. These cuts will mean less help for victims of violence, and higher death rates for pregnant women.
    “And anyone with an ounce of humanity can see this freeze will get devastating, fast. And—it is important to note—it will get devastating in ways you cannot just make up for with more money later once the damage is done. That is just not how it works.
    “When people are starving, you cannot just feed them money—you need to have already made the investments to grow food.
    “When democracies are in crisis, you can’t just cut them a check—you need to have helped them build strong institutions.
    “When a deadly disease outbreak strikes—you are going to learn very quickly that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
    “These are not lessons we need to learn the hard way—by letting people die. We know it all, painfully well, right now. And so, to freeze this funding, is asking for disaster—and not just for other countries across the world, but for us, for the U.S. and for our families here at home.
    “Freezing foreign assistance is not putting America first—it is guaranteeing America comes in last.
    “Because every funding gap we leave is an opportunity for our adversaries to step in, fill that gap, and play the hero while casting us as the villain. How are we supposed to lead the world if we are unwilling to invest in it?
    “I will tell you right now—China is not holding back. They are investing constantly—because they know they aren’t just building infrastructure across the world, they are building stronger partnerships. And we just counted ourselves out of that competition.
    “You want to end U.S. global dominance? You want to tell the world the U.S. is done being a leader? You want to tell other countries—we cannot be trusted to keep our word?
    “Because that is exactly what we are doing if we let Trump get away with illegally cutting off global aid—with the stroke of a pen—and letting the richest man in the world cut off help for some of the poorest people in the world.
    “And let’s be clear—it is not just U.S. leadership on the line here. There are U.S. jobs at stake here. That reality is hitting home hard this week. Back in Washington state, there are some world class organizations that I know may have to lay people off this week—hundreds of people—all because of President Trump’s funding freeze.
    “It is a scene that is not isolated to Washington state—I know it is playing out across the country as well, with thousands of layoffs across 38 states and counting. And I know, so long as President Trump’s lawless war on foreign aid continues—so will these layoffs. We will see hundreds, if not thousands more every week.
    “International aid organizations may make a difference around the world—but they support American jobs, too. People who have a paycheck and family. People who work incredibly hard—and who are incredibly proud of the work they do to make the world a better place and reaffirm U.S. global leadership.
    “But they are being sent packing—not because they have done anything wrong, not because this work is not important. But because President Trump and Elon Musk are listening to whacko conspiracists and ultra isolationists—while ignoring the experts, ignoring the obvious realities, and again ignoring the law. We should all stand against this.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Blasts Musk Takeover of Treasury Payment Systems

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

     ***VIDEO HERE***

    Murray: “The richest man in the world is taking over the Treasury in the name of fighting corruption? The irony is almost as rich as Musk himself.”

    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is helping lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

    As Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech on the Senate floor, she also specifically discussed how Elon Musk, like Vought, is working to illegal block funds and cut programs families rely on—including by gaining alarming access to sensitive financial systems:

    “This is not Silicon Valley—where you can just ‘move fast and break things.’ When you break things here—people don’t get health care, people don’t get Social Security checks, people don’t get crucial warnings and lifesaving information.

    “And anyone who thinks—’well, that surely won’t happen’—has not been paying attention. Because just this week, Elon Musk and Donald Trump put Americans in danger.

    “We have citizens in dangerous corners of the world who were suddenly locked out of their emails and cut off from an app that is meant to help address threats like kidnapping—so no one should be shrugging this off and just saying ‘well what’s the worst that could happen.’ Because this can get really, really bad really, really fast.


    “And if anyone is thinking ‘well it’s okay, we have guardrails, we have laws’—make no mistake, even though Trump and Musk have absolutely zero legal authority to hold up any federal payments that are law, that has not stopped them so far.

    “As we’ve seen—they are already halting other funds illegally, they are already firing government watchdogs and officials left and right, regardless of our laws. They are already putting forward blatantly unconstitutional executive orders.

    “The fact of the matter is—Trump and Musk have yet to find a law they think applies to them. They think because they are rich and powerful, they get to call all the shots—regardless of the courts and Congress. But that’s just not how things work in this country. Billionaires are not above the law. Neither are Presidents.”

    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on Elon Musk can be found below, and video can be found HERE.

    “And, M. President, I know we are discussing the Vought nomination now, but I want to talk about someone who has not been nominated to anything, he’s not been elected to anything, and yet he is serving as de facto Co-President—Elon Musk. Arguably he is more important and more influential than the elected sitting President. And he has proven himself in lock-step with Russ Vought, who we are voting on tomorrow, when it comes to slashing programs that matter to American families and ignoring the laws of our nation.

    “In recent days, Musk has been busy illegally shuttering USAID and cutting off foreign assistance programs—which, as I’ve said, will lose jobs for Americans, lose lives in countries around the world, and lose leadership as adversaries like China fill the gap.


    “Shockingly, Musk has even had people fired for denying his lackeys classified resources that they had no authority to access. And last weekend, we all learned Elon Musk essentially commandeered access to the Treasury Department’s most sensitive payment system handling six trillion dollars every year and managing nearly all of our federal disbursements.

    “It’s a system that contains extremely sensitive personal and commercial information and I’ve been hearing from people across my state who are truly alarmed about what Musk and his associates having access to this system could mean for their data—and for funding that they count on.

    “Let’s not mince words here: an unelected, unaccountable billionaire—with expansive conflicts of interest, deep ties to China, and an indiscreet axe to grind against perceived enemies—is hijacking our nation’s most sensitive financial data system and its checkbook. So that he can illegally block funds to our constituents based on the slightest whim or wildest conspiracy. Funds—mind you—that Congress, on a bipartisan basis, passed.

    “Some Republicans are trying to suggest that Musk only has ‘viewing access’ to Treasury’s highly sensitive payment system as if that’s acceptable either! But why on earth should we believe that? Particularly when Musk himself is saying the exact opposite loudly and repeatedly for everyone to hear.

    “What funds will Elon target next—life saving medical research? Homelessness assistance? Food banks? We already know he is falsely attacking faith-based organizations that help folks—and promising to cut off funds based on conspiracy theories. In other words: the world’s richest man has vowed to cut off funding that helps the least among us. Think about that.

     “And next—think about how many dollars he himself makes from government contracts. I mean, seriously: the richest man in the world, with countless government contracts, and ties to our adversaries is taking over the Treasury in the name of fighting corruption? The irony is almost as rich as Musk himself.

    “And let me underscore, M. President, just how dangerous this is—because now that Trump has handed over Treasury’s checkbook—what if Elon decides he doesn’t like how Rivian is getting federal funds to build an EV manufacturing facility, so what next?

    “All Elon has to do is say they’re ‘woke,’ and he can convince Trump to illegally cut off those funds? Is that how this works now?

    “Maybe Elon will decide he doesn’t like that Blue Origin—and not SpaceX—gets a contract, so he wants to gum up the works on their payments. Is that how this works?

    “Maybe Elon decides he wants to get into electronic health systems—and maybe he wants to punish hospital systems that don’t take him up on whatever he’s selling. Private corporations and competitors need to take note—the potential for abuse and corruption by Elon, especially considering his track record, is pretty much limitless.

    “And it is not just Treasury—Musk and his henchman are launching a full-scale invasion of sensitive data systems across government. We are talking about the Small Business Administration. We are talking about NOAA. We are talking about Medicare. The reporting is now clear they are not just looking either—they are directly making changes to some of those critical systems.

    “This is not Silicon Valley—where you can just ‘move fast and break things.’ When you break things here—people don’t get their health care, they don’t get their Social Security checks, they don’t get crucial warnings and lifesaving information.

    “And anyone who thinks—’well, that surely won’t happen’—has not been paying attention. Because just this week, Elon Musk and Donald Trump put Americans in danger.

    “We have citizens in dangerous corners of the world who were suddenly locked out of their emails and they were cut off from an app that is meant to help address threats like kidnapping—so no one should be shrugging this off and just saying ‘well what’s the worst that could happen.’ Because this can get really, really bad really, really fast.

    “And if anyone is thinking ‘well it’s okay, we have guardrails, we have laws’—make no mistake, even though Trump and Musk have absolutely zero legal authority to hold up any federal payments that are law, this has not stopped them so far.

    “As we’ve seen—they are already halting other funds illegally, they are already firing government watchdogs and officials left and right, regardless of our laws. They are already putting forward blatantly unconstitutional executive orders.

    “The fact of the matter is—Trump and Musk have yet to find a law they think applies to them. They think because they are rich and powerful, they get to call all the shots—regardless of the courts, regardless of Congress. That is just not how things work in this country.

    “Billionaires are not above the law. Neither are Presidents. We do not have a monarchy, where a President is king. We do not have an oligarchy, where the richest people get the largest say. We, in this country, have a democracy—if we can keep it—where each citizen has a vote. We have checks and balances—where the President is accountable to the Congress and to the people, where he has to follow the laws we pass.

    “But some of my colleagues across the aisle seem to be forgetting that our democracy does not work by magic. We have to do our part, our part here to hold Presidents accountable. Our job is not to say ‘yes’ to everything the President does—no matter how lawless or harmful. Our job is not to shrug our shoulders or cover our eyes. It is to fight for the people who sent us here—and to defend the Constitution.

    “So Democrats will be pushing back with the tools we have—we will speak out, we will press this administration, we will open investigations, and we will demand accountability—but one tool we do not have is a majority in Congress. So that means, M. President, our Republican colleagues have to say ‘enough.’ We need them to join us. We need them to stand up to the corruption and lawlessness and stand up for the people they represent.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Stands Up For Federal Workers As Trump and Musk Try To Push Them Out

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ***VIDEO HERE*** 

    ICYMI: Murray sends newsletter on Trump Administration’s “fork in the road” email

    ICYMI: Murray, Colleagues send letter to OPM demanding answers on Trump’s deceptive, legally dubious “Deferred Resignation” scheme

    Murray: “You all deserve so much better than to have a billionaire with no real understanding of what you do, come in, belittle your work, suggest he can do it better, and try to push you out the door.”

    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is helping lead Senate Democrats in holding the Senate floor for a full 30 hours ahead of a final confirmation vote on Russell Vought to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

    As Senator Murray delivered an hour-long floor speech on the Senate floor, she also specifically discussed the Trump Administration’s, “fork in the road” email to federal workers, and shared the stories she was hearing from Hanford workers back in Washington state, who are at threat of being laid off for no good reason:

    “So here’s what is important for everyone to know: first, there is no guarantee workers who accept this offer will get paid through September 30 as promised. Not only is there no funding for that time frame right now, but I personally am deeply skeptical of any offer from a President like Donald Trump, who has so consistently shown he will try to stiff workers at every opportunity. 

    “Being given only nine days to decide something like this should already be setting off alarm bells. That is a short amount of time to consider all of the financial impacts of potentially accepting the offer—including if and where you’d be able to find a new job, how this would impact benefits like health insurance and retirement, and more—and we know scammers often pressure people to act immediately. “

    “Additionally, the information being provided continues to change, and includes a lot of caveats. It claims you can rescind your resignation if you change your mind but that your job may no longer exist. If that happens, then tough luck. It claims that you aren’t expected to work if you accept the offer—expect in cases determined by each individual agency. It claims that you can stay in your current role—however there’s no guarantee your position will be needed. 

    “The lack of clear information and resources about exactly what will be allowed is rightfully creating confusion for the more than 56,000 federal workers across Washington state. To me, this leaves far too many questions unanswered. 


    […]


    “Here is my message to our federal workers. You do so much for our communities. And you all deserve so much better—than to have a billionaire with no real understanding of what you do come in, belittle your work, suggest he can do it better, and try to push you out the door. So, I hope you all will keep up the good work for the American people—and I will keep fighting for all of you as well.”

    The full text of Senator Murray’s remarks on the Trump administration’s offer to push folks out can be found below, and video can be found HERE.

    “And M. President, while I’m on the subject—I want to talk a bit about another scheme Elon Musk has cooked up. We are approaching the deadline set in the Trump Administration’s ‘Fork in the Road’ message, which claims—and I have to emphasize it merely claims—to give federal workers the option of a ‘deferred resignation’ that would allegedly allow workers to ‘retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until September 30.’

    “I want to speak directly to all of our federal workers about this right now—because they deserve better than to be pushed out the door with a nine-day pressure tactic that comes with no clarity, no details, and a lot of questions left unanswered.

    “So here’s what is important for everyone to know: first, there is no guarantee workers who accept this offer will get paid through September 30 as promised. Not only is there no funding for that time frame right now, but I personally am deeply skeptical of any offer from a President like Donald Trump, who has so consistently shown he will try to stiff workers at every opportunity. 

    “Being given only nine days to decide something like this should already be setting off alarm bells. That is a short amount of time to consider all of the financial impacts of potentially accepting the offer—including if and where you’d be able to find a new job, how this would impact benefits like health insurance and retirement, and a lot more—and we all know scammers often pressure people to act immediately.

    “Additionally, the information being provided continues to change, and includes, by the way, a lot of caveats. It claims you can rescind your resignation if you change your mind but that your job may no longer exist. If that happens, then tough luck.

    “It claims that you aren’t expected to work if you accept the offer—except in cases determined by each individual agency.

    “It claims that you can stay in your current role—however there is no guarantee your position will be needed.
      

    “The lack of clear information and resources about exactly what will be allowed is rightfully creating confusion for the more than 56,000 federal workers in my state alone. To me, this leaves far too many questions unanswered.
     
     “Finally, I want to express a real gratitude for the federal workers who power so many essential services provided by our government. The American government is not Twitter—people rely on our federal workers and sometimes their work can be the difference between life and death.

    “Federal workers help inspect meat processing facilities, they make sure baby formula is safe, they approve lifesaving drugs and treatments, they manage our air traffic, help ensure clean drinking water, and there is so much more.

    “Where this administration continues to show outright hostility toward many of our federal workers, I want you to know, I will continue to fight for federal workers—everyone from Hanford workers, and the scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, to the people who are making sure you get your Social Security check.

    “M. President—I got a letter this week from a Hanford worker. They started last year—hoping it would be a stable job that would let them provide for their family while making a difference in their community.

    “This employee has already been recognized several times for hard work—and then Elon Musk tried to push them out the door with his scammy buy out, and now they are on the list of employees who are at threat of being terminated for no good reason.

    “That is an utter betrayal—it is a betrayal of a hard-working parent, who did nothing wrong, and a betrayal of my Hanford community where Trump is undermining important environmental cleanup work.

    “Because at Hanford alone—which is already understaffed—there are nearly 30 people now on the chopping block: they are nuclear safety engineers, they are facility safety representatives, they are procurement and contracting personnel, they are attorneys, they are labor relations staff, and they are accountants.

    “How is firing nuclear safety engineers supposed to make anyone safer? Or better off? M. President, there are so many more stories like this already happening—or just around the corner.

    “I have heard Musk and Trump plan to cut workers at the Department of Energy by half. These are federal employees who put in long hours to support their families and to strengthen our country.

    “And for all their years of service, for all their sacrifice—Elon Musk is showing them the door and saying ‘don’t let it hit you on the way out.’ It’s wrong. It is ungrateful.

    “And for god’s sake—we’re talking about nuclear security here. Why on earth would anyone think it’s a good idea to cut corners!?

    “So here is my message to our federal workers. You do so much for our communities. And you all deserve so much better—than to have a billionaire with no real understanding of what you do come in, belittle your work, suggest he can do it better, and push you out the door. So, I hope you all will keep up the good work for the American people—and I want you to know, we will keep fighting for you as well.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Grassley Joins Fox News to Discuss Bondi, Patel and the Need to End FBI Political Weaponization

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today joined Fox News’ “America Reports” to discuss eliminating political weaponization at the FBI, expectations for Pam Bondi in her role as U.S. Attorney General and Kash Patel’s road to confirmation as FBI Director.
    Audio and excerpts of Grassley’s remarks follow.
    [embedded content]
    VIDEO
    On the Justice Department’s recent memo to FBI employees:
    “People that are at [a] lower level, not at the supervisory level, have to take orders from their bosses, and if they were told to work on a case, even if they disagreed with the case, they [had] to work on it. And I think that there ought to be some consideration to that.
    “…I’m not going to write to the White House now to get information, I’m going to wait until we get [Kash] Patel in place as head of the FBI and ask him the very same questions that we’re talking about here, because those that use the FBI for political weaponization…that’s not the role of the FBI.
    “…I’ve made very clear that the FBI shouldn’t be used for political weaponization. Their job is law enforcement, and anything beyond that has to be cleaned up. And I think Kash Patel is a person that can do that.”
    On the Grassley-Johnson release of FBI “Arctic Frost” emails:
    “My emails show – and also the regulations of the FBI show – that [FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge] Thibault was not in a position to [open the investigation into Trump]…
    “But see…the culture on the seventh floor of the FBI building is that it’s okay for FBI agents to promote challenges and positions against a former President of the United States because he’s a political threat. Well, the voters of Iowa [and] the voters of the United States on November the fifth did away with that and proved that [Trump] was wrongly condemned. The voters didn’t buy it.”
    On Attorney General Pam Bondi:
    “[Bondi] is totally a prosecutor by profession and she’s going to be the chief prosecutor of our government. She made very clear that she’s going to follow the Constitution and follow the laws and follow the evidence…
    “…[O]n the second day of [her] hearing…we had people in who knew her and worked for her, and we even had somebody that has never voted for Trump testify in favor of her, that she was a person who left politics out of the prosecution.”
    On Kash Patel’s road to confirmation:
    “I’ve got the votes to get him out of Committee, and I think that there’s going to be the votes to get him approved in the United States Senate, but I’m going to take it a step at a time.
    “A week from tomorrow, [the Judiciary Committee] will have that vote, and he’ll be on the floor of the United States Senate.”
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Releases Additional Records Demonstrating Success of Shuttered ATF Anti-Arms Trafficking Operation, Demands Explanation for its Closure

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is probing a Biden-era decision to shut down Project Thor, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) led program, that identified and dismantled Mexican cartel arms trafficking networks.

    “The government must be fully transparent to the American people about why it eliminated Project Thor, even though, based on the records obtained to-date, the program protected U.S. national security interests and helped to disrupt and dismantle criminal cartel networks’ access to firearms,” Grassley wrote. 

    In his letter, Grassley highlights new internal government records provided by legally protected whistleblower disclosures detailing Project Thor’s “Operation Nordic Giant.” These records reveal the first Trump administration successfully used Project Thor’s unique capabilities to disrupt and dismantle cartel arms trafficking networks operating in the U.S.

    “In this case, Andrew Scott Pierson, an American fugitive hiding in Mexico, was identified and prosecuted for operating a sophisticated, firearms trafficking network for years for the Cartel del Noreste (CDN) cartel,” Grassley continued. “The information gathered, analyzed and disseminated through Project Thor, as well as its efforts to coordinate several investigations across multiple law enforcement agencies, played a critical role in dismantling Pierson’s trafficking network and substantially reducing the CDN’s ability to obtain firearms.” 

    Grassley sent letters and enclosed records to ATF, the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection. 

    Background: 

    ATF’s Project Thor brought together over 16 executive branch agencies in a whole-of-government effort to stem the flow of firearms between the U.S. and cartels in Mexico. The operation received public and private accolades for its accomplishments, before being defunded by the Biden administration in 2022. 

    Grassley is continuing his extensive oversight of U.S. efforts to combat Mexican cartels on both sides of the border. Last Congress, he demanded the Biden administration’s ATF provide a full account of Project Thor’s work and the reasons for defunding the operation. He also pressed the previous administration on its lackluster policies to address the proliferation of cartel arms trafficking networks operating in the U.S.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley, Blackburn Introduce SHOW UP Act to Get Federal Employees Back in the Office, Prevent Future Lax Telework Policies

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
    WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in introducing the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act to return federal employees to in-person work.
    The legislation would require government agencies to reinstate their pre-COVID-19 telework policies and direct agency heads to submit to Congress a report on the adverse impacts of agencies’ expansion of telework policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. It would also prevent federal agencies from permanently expanding telework without submitting to Congress details on how its proposed remote work policies would bolster agency mission performance. 
    “Iowans show up for work every day, and federal agency staff need to be doing the same. The pandemic has passed, and now it’s high time to dismantle unacceptable post-COVID-19 telework policies that have led to insufficient service for the American people. We need to get the rest of the government back in the office and back to work now,” Grassley said.  
    Additional cosponsors are Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).
    Read the bill text HERE.
    Download video of Grassley discussing the legislation HERE.
    Background:  
    In 2022, Grassley joined Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) to introduce the Return Employees To Understaffed Worksites to Reopen Now (RETURN) Act. The bill directs federal agencies to submit a comprehensive plan to resume in-person operations and address constituents’ concerns about federal government services.
    In a letter to heads of the office of Personnel Management (OPM), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the senators demanded answers regarding plans to bring federal workers back to the office.
    At a Senate Finance Committee hearing last May, Grassley pressed Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley on how SSA’s persistent telework policies were impacting the agency’s ability to provide services for seniors.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Speaks Up for Family Famers’ Needs During Senate Hearing on Ag Economy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a lifelong family farmer, today discussed the need to secure year-round, nationwide E-15 and boost transparency among poultry producers during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the state of the ag economy. Grassley also highlighted farmers’ ongoing struggle with high input costs and low commodity prices, which were exacerbated by the Biden administration’s overregulation and unambitious approach to trade.

    Video and excerpts of Grassley’s questions for Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union, follow.

    [embedded content]

    VIDEO 

    E-15 Year-Round, Nationwide:

    “I hope you can work hard for E-15 year-round, nationwide, because that’s going to help commodity prices more than a lot of other things we can do here.” 

    Packers and Stockyards Transparency Initiatives:

    “I understand this hearing is focused mostly on crop commodities, but I’d like to take this opportunity to ask both of you about the Poultry Grower Payment System and Capital Improvement Systems rule that was finalized under Secretary Vilsack. 

    “This rule is meant to provide more transparency for poultry producers under the tournament system and give farmers a fair shake in contracts. 

    “Mr. Duvall, can you speak to how this rule may positively effect producers’ bottom lines? 

    “Mr. Larew, can you speak to how changing or removing pieces of this rule may negatively impact poultry producers? 

    Farm Profitability and New Markets:

    “Over the last four years, American crop farmers had a year or two of record high net cash farm income. 

    “Unfortunately, American farmers have also had to face years of record high inflation under an administration that was largely deaf to farmers’ needs. 

    “In 2023 and 2024, net cash farm income dropped dramatically. In other words, row crop farmers were losing money. 

    “The stagnant trade policies, lack of ambition to find new markets for commodities and overregulation of the Biden administration caught up to farmers. 

    “Many family farmers in Iowa have faced machinery and land payments with high interest rates farmers haven’t seen in decades, while dealing with a steep downturn in commodity prices. 

    “…[T]his trend will continue until new markets are created for agriculture products.” 

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand Demands Answers On Trump Plan That Would Put Social Security, Medicare, VA Benefits In Jeopardy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    Trump Executive Order Freezes Hiring For All Civilian Federal Workers In The Executive Branch; 

    Order Will Have Serious Consequences for Americans Who Rely On Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs To Get Their Benefits

    Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a virtual press conference highlighting the impact that President Trump’s hiring freeze for federal workers will have on Americans receiving Social Security, Medicare benefits, or veterans’ benefits. Last year, the number of Social Security Administration employees, who process Social Security and Medicareapplications, hit a 27-year low, and the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to face a severe shortage of doctors and nurses. Trump’s hiring freeze risks increasing application processing times, wait times for appointments, and hold times for phone calls. This executive order was followed by a January 28, 2025 email to two million federal employees offering them the option to resign, which would further cripple these agencies’ ability to serve the American people.

    “President Trump is playing games with Americans’ retirements,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Without enough staff to process enrollments at the SSA, seniors could be forced to wait months or longer to get their Social Security or Medicare benefits. This executive order will also have dire consequences for our veterans who have served our country and who rely on staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs to get health care, disability compensation, educational benefits, and more. It worsens an existing shortage of VA doctors and nurses and will hinder veterans’ ability to get care. It is an ill-conceived, short-sighted plan that will hurt New Yorkers. I am calling on President Trump to reverse course immediately.” 

    The full text of Senator Gillibrand’s letter to the White House demanding answers is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand, Schumer, Tenney Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill To Establish The Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    During WWII, Fort Ontario Was The Only Shelter In The United States for Jewish Refugees Fleeing The Holocaust;

    Legislation Would Keep Their Stories Alive For Generations To Come 

    U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are reintroducing the bipartisan Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act. The Fort Ontario military complex dates back to the early 1840s, and during World War II, it was the only emergency refugee camp in the country for those fleeing the Holocaust. From August 1944 until February 1946, Fort Ontario housed 982 mostly Jewish refugees from Europe, most of whom went on to become American citizens. Designating the Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter as a National Historic Park would give this important historical site permanent protection and help ensure that it is preserved for generations to come. Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) leads companion legislation in the House. 

    “The Holocaust Refugee Shelter at Fort Ontario was a place of safety and hope during a dark moment in history, and it deserves recognition in the National Park System,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I am proud to once again be introducing this legislation to achieve this goal and am determined to work across the aisle to get it done.” 

    “It’s only fitting to preserve the rich history of the Safe Haven Holocaust Refuge Shelter Museum and Fort Ontario by officially designating Safe Haven as a National Historical Park. Together, Safe Haven and Fort Ontario tell the powerful history of Central New York and Oswego County dating back to the earliest days of our nation, standing proudly as a beacon of hope for hundreds of Jewish and European refugees forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II,” said Senator Schumer. “I’ve been advocating for this designation in Congress for years and was proud to lead this legislation to passage in the Senate last year. Today, we’re taking a step closer to giving Americans from across the country the opportunity to learn about Safe Haven and the role it played in shaping Central New York. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to once again support this bill, and implore the House of Representatives to join us, so we can preserve the rich history of the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum, Fort Ontario and Oswego County for years to come.”

    “We must ensure that the historic importance of Fort Ontario is properly honored and preserved for future generations. Once an important site in the battles of the French and Indian War and the War of 1812, as well as a refugee camp for Holocaust survivors, it is crucial that we secure the recognition this significant historic site truly deserves. The Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act aims to safeguard this monument’s profound legacy for years to come and solidify its status as a National Monument,” said Congresswoman Tenney.

    Senator Gillibrand has been advocating for Fort Ontario for many years. In 2018, she passed a bill to require the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study (SRS) – the first step in the process to designate a site as a unit of the National Park System – of the Fort Ontario site. In 2024, the SRS was finalized and concluded that the two-acre portion of Fort Ontario representing the fort’s use as a World-War II European refugee shelter meets all necessary criteria. Last year, the bill passed the Senate but failed to become law.

    The full text of the legislation is available here.

    “We are honored to have the federal government recognize this important chapter, not only of our heritage, but in the pages of American history,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup, District 9. “This shelter was the only one of its kind in the U.S. The nearly 1,000 refugees who came to Oswego became part of the fabric of our community, and we are privileged to help share their stories.”

    “I want to thank Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Representative Tenney for their unwavering efforts to reintroduce the “Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act”. I strongly believe that the prominence and history that our fort holds are remarkably significant to the story of our country and deserves a national designation. Fort Ontario took in 982 refugees; men, women, and children, who were allowed into the United States during the Holocaust. These refugees were housed in Oswego, NY from August of 1944 until February of 1946. With Fort Ontario being the only refugee shelter for Holocaust victims in all of the United States during World War II, I think that speaks to the gravity and deservedness of this designation,” said Mayor Robert Corradino, City of Oswego. “Thank you again to our representatives working to achieve this legislation. I have great hope to see it be awarded and keep the story of these men, women, and children alive for years to come, with a reach far greater than the Oswego community.”

    “The NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Fort Ontario State Historic Site look forward to this potential partnership. The story of the 982 refugees who called Fort Ontario home from 1944-46 is indeed a national story and one we would be happy to assist the NPS, Safe Haven Museum and the City of Oswego to bring to greater national attention.”  said Matthew Macvittie, Historic Site Manager Fort Ontario NYS Historic Site.

    “I am thrilled that this long, bi-partisan effort to bring proper recognition to the truly unique and historically significant Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter is coming to fruition.  I want to thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Tenney for sponsoring this truly worthwhile bill and for working with me throughout the years to make this happen,” said Former Congressman John Katko.

    “The Jewish Federation of Central New York, strongly urges that Fort Ontario be established as a unit of the National Park System. As the only refugee camp in the United States during the Holocaust, the Fort represents a moment of national commitment to justice and freedom.  It would be a worthy addition to the United States’ National Park System. Thank you, Senator Gillibrand, for continuing to push this legislation forward,” said Barbara Davis, Interim President/CEO, Jewish Federation of CNY

    “We are all excited about the re-introduction of the bill to honor the memory of the 982 refugees from the Holocaust who were housed at Fort Ontario during WWII. I want to thank former Congressman John Katko, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney for their dedication to preserve this unique period in American history,” said Judy Coe Rapaport, Acting President, Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.

    “We are very excited to hear the news that Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Tenney will be reintroducing to Congress the Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act,” said Daniel Laird, President of Friends of Fort Ontario. “Fort Ontario is singularly unique in that it served as the only refugee camp or shelter for mostly Jewish Holocaust refugees in the United States during WWII. It is where the Holocaust came to America; where every day Americans first met the victims of Nazi persecution and heard their personal stories of survival first-hand. It is where the press finally found a Holocaust story they deemed worthy of feature coverage, and it resulted in the Holocaust moving from the back to the front pages of American newspapers after over eleven years of Hitler’s reign of terror. Furthermore, Fort Ontario is where the first group of refugees entered the United States outside the immigration quota system and were granted asylum. It is, therefore, the birthplace of American Refugee Policy. For these reasons and a list of many more too long to go into, Fort Ontario is well worthy of becoming a National Historical Park.”

    “After touring Ohrdurf Concentration Camp in Germany, Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower warned that someday some may deny that the Holocaust ever happened. In order for them to bear witness to Nazi atrocities, Eisenhower ordered troops in theatre including my father to tour Nazi concentration camps. With the last of the greatest generation and Holocaust survivors and Shelter Refugees passing on, and with Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denials on the rise, Eisenhower’s dire prediction has come true. As a National Historical Park, dedicated to interpreting the unique history and significance of the WWII Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, Fort Ontario will forever prove to Americans and others that the Holocaust actually happened. I am deeply grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Tenney for making this great effort to establish the Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park,” said Paul Lear, Historian, Member of the Board of the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.

    “I am deeply grateful to the Senator Gillibrand, Senator Schumer and Representative Tenny for their unwavering advocacy in ensuring that the stories of refugees are never forgotten. These stories serve as a powerful reminder of how a single, symbolic gesture by the United States not only saved countless lives but also demonstrated the resilience and strength of the human spirit, inspiring us all to work towards a better, more compassionate world,” said Treasurer- Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum and Friends of Fort Ontario.

    “One of my proudest accomplishments during my tenure as President of the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum, was developing a 2022 Grand Reopening that introduced the public to our 32 new exhibits!  Each exhibit celebrates the 987 survivors who were able to flee from the genocide and inhumane madness that was the Holocaust and be sheltered by the United States at Fort Ontario from 1944-1946.  This small group of Holocaust survivors’ harrowing stories of suffering, loss and resilience are the narratives of the Museum’s exhibits.  And with the support of the bipartisan Fort Ontario Holocaust Refugee Shelter National Historical Park Establishment Act, we will be able to ensure our beloved refugees and their descendants that the Museum’s precious historical artifacts and narratives will be nationally preserved, protected and administered on the same grounds where the echoes of hope and healing can still be heard!” said Audrey S. Hurley, Emeriti President, Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum.

    “The Fort Ontario Refugee Shelter holds an indelible place in our nation’s history and is part of the fabric of this region. I appreciate the work of our federal representatives to help ensure this sacred place earns its rightful designation as a National Historic Park,” said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand, Bipartisan Group Of Senators Introduce Legislation To Establish Stablecoin Regulatory Framework

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand

    Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, together with Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), introduced the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, legislation to establish a clear regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.

    “The bipartisan Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act protects consumers by requiring stablecoin issuers to maintain one-to-one reserves, prohibiting algorithmic stablecoins, and requiring issuers to comply with U.S. anti-money-laundering and sanctions rules,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Importantly, it will empower responsible innovation, maintain U.S. leadership in digital assets and blockchain technology, and keep crypto companies and jobs onshore. The future of stablecoins and cryptocurrency has strong bipartisan support. I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senators Hagerty, Lummis and Scott, and I look forward to working together to pass this important legislation.”

    Dollar-denominated payment stablecoins are digital assets pegged to the U.S. dollar. They can improve transaction efficiency, expand financial inclusion, and strengthen the dollar’s supremacy as the world reserve currency by driving demand for U.S. Treasuries.

     The GENIUS Act:

    1. Defines a payment stablecoin as a digital asset used for payment or settlement that is pegged to a fixed monetary value;
    2. Establishes clear procedures for institutions seeking licenses to issue stablecoins;
    3. Implements reserve requirements and light-touch, tailored regulatory standards for stablecoin issuers;
    4. For issuers of more than $10 billion of stablecoins, applies the Federal Reserve’s regulatory framework to depository institutions and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s framework for nonbank issuers;
    5. Allows for state regulation of issuers under $10 billion in market capitalization and provides a waiver process for issuers exceeding the threshold to remain state-regulated; and
    6. Establishes supervisory, examination, and enforcement regimes with clear limitations.

    Full text of the GENIUS Act can be found here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rosen’s Bipartisan Bill to Help Lower Child Care Costs, Expand Availability Advances Out of Committee

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)

    A Recent Report Labels Entire State Of Nevada As A “Child Care Desert”
    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that her bipartisan Small Business Child Care Investment Act has advanced out of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. This bipartisan legislation will help lower child care costs by increasing the availability of affordable, high-quality child care for Nevada families. It allows non-profit child care providers that otherwise qualify as small businesses to access larger and more flexible loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. 
    A recent report labeled the entire state of Nevada as a “child care desert,” and found that nearly 75 percent of children below the age of five don’t have access to a licensed child care provider. The report deemed the cost of child care a “huge concern” in Nevada and found it often to be more expensive than college tuition. It also attributed the lack of affordable and accessible child care to the worker shortage that Nevada businesses report experiencing.
    “The lack of affordable, quality child care options is hurting hardworking Nevada families and forcing them to make tough financial choices,” said Senator Rosen. “That’s why I’ve been working across the aisle to pass my bipartisan bill to help lower costs by increasing access to affordable child care in our state. This legislation will help nonprofits, community organizations, churches, synagogues, and others to set up or expand child care centers, and I’m glad to see it advance out of committee today.”
    Senator Rosen continues working to lower child care costs for Nevada’s hardworking families. Last year, she joined a bipartisan bill to provide child care services for police officers and support law enforcement families. Senator Rosen also joined in helping to introduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, legislation that would help lower child care costs for an average American family to no more than $10-a-day. During a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Rosen secured a commitment from General David Allvin, Air Force Chief of Staff, to cut red tape in a program designed to make child care available for military families like Airmen at Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases who work overnight shifts.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 02.05.2025 Cruz, Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Supreme Court Justices from Intimidation

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act. The bill increases the maximum term of imprisonment for those who attempt to intimidate and influence the decision-making process of a judge.
    Upon introduction, Sen. Cruz said, “The integrity of our judicial system is dependent on justices being able to interpret the law freely and impartially. I am proud to join my colleagues in re-introducing the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act to ensure that those who attempt to coerce or intimidate Supreme Court justices face penalties for interfering in the administration of justice. No member of the Court should fear for their or their family’s safety while carrying out their constitutional duty.”
    Sen. Blackburn said, “Supreme Court Justices must be able to do their jobs without fear of intimidation, harm, or violence against them or their families. The Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act will deter intimidation of our Justices and send a clear message that anyone who attempts to harm them will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
    Sen. Lee said, “Supreme Court Justices have faced a disturbing number of threats seeking to change the outcomes of cases for political ends. This assault on the rule of law and an independent judiciary cannot stand. Congress must be crystal clear: attempting to intimidate justices and their families will land you in prison for a long time.”
    Sen. Hyde-Smith said, “It is essential that the judicial branch be able to perform its duties free from threats, fear, intimidation, or coercion. Threats and protests against Supreme Court justices and federal judges are blatant attempts to undermine their independence. I’m proud to once again support this legislation that sends a crystal clear message that these actions will not be tolerated and those responsible will face serious legal consequences.”
    Sen. Cotton said, “Supreme Court Justices continue to be a target of politically motivated violence and threats of violence. This bill makes clear that anyone who engages in this unlawful activity will face the full extent of the law.”
    Read the bill text here.
    BACKGROUND
    Introduction of this bill follows a recent report detailing new and concerning information about a suspect who hatched a plan to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Prior to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attempted to intimidate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh by name on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.
    In the aftermath of the unprecedented May 2022 leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, far-left protesters immediately began demonstrating outside of the private residences of Supreme Court Justices. Subsequently, a map with the home addresses of five Republican-appointed Justices—Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett—was posted online.
    Federal law explicitly prohibits attempts at influencing the decision-making process of a judge. Specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 1507 states that any individual who, “with the intent of influencing any judge . . . in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades . . . in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge” is subject to criminal monetary penalties or a maximum of one year of imprisonment, or both. Section 1507 was intended to enable our judges to carry out their duty to uphold the rule of law, without fear of intimidation or retribution for doing so.
    Under President Biden and Attorney General Garland, following the Dobbs leak, zero protesters outside of Supreme Court Justices’ homes were arrested for violating Section 1507. Just as troubling, the Biden Department of Justice did not issue any guidance on enforcing this statute. The Supreme Court Marshal, as well as Virginia Governor Youngkin and then-Maryland Governor Hogan, implored Attorney General Garland to enforce Section 1507.
    With President Trump back at the helm, the Justice Department will finally return to focusing on law and order and enforcing our criminal laws. Nevertheless, it’s still critical that Congress act to deter this intimidation of our federal judiciary.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Baldwin on Trump’s Executive Order That Tramples Local Sports Leagues’ and Schools’ Decision-Making Power

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on transgender kids that tramples on local school districts and sports associations’ ability to make the best decisions for their student athletes, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) released the following statement:

    “This all comes down to who you trust to make these decisions. I trust our parents, schools, and sports associations to make these decisions, not the President or politicians in Washington. I’ve heard directly from Wisconsin sports associations and parents who are thoughtfully managing this on their own, and they don’t need the federal government butting in. While Republicans are laser-focused on playing politics with kids’ sports leagues, I’m focused on the issues I hear about from Wisconsinites – lowering costs at the pharmacy and grocery store, getting people good, affordable health care, and keeping the Badger State safe.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: On Senate Floor, Warren Underscores Danger of Budget Director Nominee Russ Vought

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    February 05, 2025

    Russ Vought is the architect of Project 2025 and responsible for last week’s government shutdown

    Video of Remarks (YouTube)

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took to the Senate floor as part of a 30-hour hold by Senate Democrats to delay the confirmation of Mr. Russell Vought, nominee to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Senator Warren called out the serious consequences of Mr. Vought’s leadership, including the impacts of a government shutdown last week, on Massachusetts communities and families. Senator Warren also underscored the dangers of hundreds of executive orders President Trump has signed in his first few weeks. 

    Transcript: Senator Warren’s Floor Speech on the Nomination of Russ Vought
    U.S. Senate Floor
    February 5, 2025
    As Delivered

    Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. President. I’d like to thank Senator Murray for her extraordinary leadership. She’s been a stalwart in the Senate for many, many years, and now is the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, and knows firsthand the importance of the process by which we make a law in the United States, and that includes that we pass those laws in Congress, we fund them in Congress, it’s signed by the president of the United States, and people across this nation can know, through that process those are what the laws are. And if you don’t like those laws, then elect different people who will come up with different versions of the law. But everyone, Democrat or Republican, sticks to the same version, and that is: a law is a law. 

    The President of the United States, or his Co-President Elon Musk, do not have the right, simply, to go back on the laws and say, “Oh, we pick that one, that one, and that one to enforce, and that one, no, that one, no, and maybe that one half-time.” That is not how the process works. And Senator Murray has been a leading voice in fighting back against this and I just want to say how much I appreciate all that she has done.

    So, I want to talk for just a minute about Project 2025. During the 2024 election, the American people became familiar with this Republican document called Project 2025. The document laid out Republican plans to reshape our country, if they gained control. Now, Americans, a little at a time, got a chance to see the plan. People started to read it, and they were shocked. In no time, people from across the political spectrum, not just Democrats – Democrats, Republicans, independents, made clear how much they hated Project 2025, and that they wanted no part of it. So, what was in Project 2025 that made it so widely hated across the political spectrum? A few things – firing civil servants, weaponizing the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, unleashing force onto protestors, and targeting political opponents, restricting abortion nationwide, ripping retirement and health care benefits from seniors, dismantling public education, and, biggest and best, funding tax cuts for the rich by raising taxes on America’s middle class. And, I want to be clear – it’s a big document. Those are just the top lines. 

    So Donald Trump’s response was to swear over and over and over again that he had nothing to do with those plans. Didn’t know about them, didn’t endorse them, didn’t want anything to do with them. Here are some of the things that Donald Trump said about Project 2025 back in 2024: “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have nothing to do with Project 2025. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.” And, my personal favorite, “They’ve been told, officially, legally, in every way, that we have nothing to do with Project 2025.” 

    So, think about that. During the 2024 election, Donald Trump claimed he didn’t know anything about Project 2025, but he lied. Shortly after the election, he nominated one of the chief architects of Project 2025 in a key role with the government. Now, Donald Trump has named the lead architect of Project 2025, Russ Vought, to oversee the federal government’s entire budget office. That’s right, listen to this one, he is putting the head writer of the plans that you had only read about in nightmares in a key government position. Russ Vought wrote Project 2025, and now Donald Trump is rewarding him by inviting him into the government in order to carry out the Republican blueprint to make our government force people to live in the image that Russ Vought and other extremist Republicans approve of. And he plans to rework our economy to benefit the wealthiest among us and make everybody else pay for it. 

    Here are just a few of the things that Russ Vought has called for –- Russ Vought has called on Congress to outlaw medication abortion nationwide, restricting women’s reproductive rights even in states that protect abortion. Russ Vought has encouraged discrimination against transgender people in the workplace and in health care. In his first stint as OMB Director, Russ Vought decried the use of federal funding for diversity and equity training in a letter to federal agencies. The Project 2025 playbook calls for eliminating almost every civil rights office in the federal government. And Russ Vought has said he intends to put federal workers “in trauma” and destroy the merit-based system for civil servants so that he can fill the government with right wing extremists. 

    I’m going to pause here for a minute to see if Senator Gillibrand wants to speak. 

    Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: Thank you, Senator Warren, for your unbelievable tenacity and clear-eyed and thoughtful remarks. I yield the balance of my post-cloture debate time on the vote nomination to Senator Schumer. 

    Presiding Officer: Duly noted. 

    Senator Gillibrand: Thank you again, Senator Warren. 

    Senator Warren: Let’s keep in mind, Russ Vought has called for outlawing abortion, medication abortion nationwide. Doesn’t matter whether or not you live in the state that says, “No, we’re going to protect abortion,” Russ Vought wants to find a way to make sure it’s shut down everywhere. He wants to encourage discrimination against transgender people. He thinks getting rid of civil rights is the way to go for the American government. And he says he wants to put federal workers “in trauma” and destroy the merit-based system for civil servants so he can fill up our government with right wing extremists. 

    Now, we are already seeing firsthand the devastating effects of Russ Vought’s plan for America. Russ Vought was the puppet master behind the funding shutdown that threw this country into chaos last week. I saw this in Massachusetts. Parents didn’t know if their toddlers’ day care would be open. Seniors didn’t know if the hot meal that they were expecting from Meals on Wheels would grind to a halt. No one knew if the nursing homes funded by Medicaid would be able to pay their workers. And that was just the tip of the iceberg for Russ Vought. 

    If he is confirmed, you can absolutely bet on Russ Vought pulling out the rug from working people over and over and over again. And, quite frankly, we don’t know where he will stop. This is where they started – three weeks in and this is where they’ve started. 

    So will Russ Vought, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump stop when they’ve ripped abortion rights away from every single woman in America? Will he stop when he’s abolished the Department of Education and fired 180,000 teachers from their jobs? Will he stop when he has privatized Medicare and when seniors can’t afford to go see the doctor? Will he stop when he’s done stealing from middle-class families in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest households? Yep, by the way, that is in his blueprint, too. Tax hikes for the middle class, tax breaks for the rich. Or will he stop when he crashes the economy? And take it from me, with these kinds of plans, crashing the economy is no longer a stretch. 

    Russ Vought’s Project 2025 proposals will lead to higher inflation, higher interest rates, and weaker economic growth. Project 2025 would seriously threaten another recession. Look, already families all across this country are feeling the pressure from high grocery prices while Donald Trump and his administration just turn their backs on working families. American families cannot afford for Russ Vought to be in charge. We don’t know how far Russ Vought’s extremism will go, but we can’t afford to wait and find out. 

    Americans voted for each and every one of us right here in the United States Senate to fight for them, and they do not expect us to roll over and play dead. It is our sworn duty to stop dangerous people like Russ Vought before he destroys our freedom, our economy, and the stability of every working family in this nation. And so I urge every senator to vote no on his nomination. 

    Video of Senator Warren’s full remarks can be found here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Confirms Scott Turner as Secretary of HUD

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate confirmed Scott Turner to serve as the 19th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a vote of 54 to 44 today. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, issued the following statement after voting in favor of Turner’s nomination.

    “Scott Turner is first and foremost a leader, and he will be an excellent Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,” said Cramer. “He has a fundamental understanding of supply-side policies, and he knows what landlords need to provide affordable housing options where they’re needed most. Local and tribal communities across North Dakota will benefit from his expertise as a builder and developer.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Banking Committee Hearing Examines Impacts of Debanking

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Banking) Committee held a hearing today to ensure banks and financial institutions make lending and services decisions based on impartial, risk-based analysis, not political or reputational favoritism. In recent years, prominent American banks have engaged in a discriminatory practice, referred to as debanking. Banks and financial institutions have used their economic standing to categorically exclude law-abiding industries by refusing to lend or provide services to them. This includes industries such as firearms, ammunition, crypto, federal prison contractors, and energy producers. 

    Prior to the hearing, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, reintroduced his Fair Access to Banking Act, which protects fair access to financial services and ensures banks operate in a safe and sound manner. The legislation requires lending and services decisions to be based on impartial, risk-based analysis, not political or reputational favoritism.

    Cramer explained his legislation does not require banks to take specific actions, but rather prohibits them from categorically discriminating against legal industries. Cramer noted that the reason “some of the bank presidents, who have never dared say it out loud, tell me they support [the Fair Access to Banking Act] is because they want this burden removed from them. They want this political pressure from their 30-year-old staff or the regulator they fear, or the political movement of the day, or the activist investors trying to impose their values, they want that removed from them.”

    [embedded content]

    “What’s your sense of a bill like a Fair Access to Banking Act that again, it’s not saying you have to bank this industry,” asked Cramer. “It says you’re prohibited from discriminating against. Does this seem like a radical idea?”

    “I think the regulators have pushed debanking of industries, which is what you talking about,” replied Mike Ring, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Old Glory Bank. “I think mid-level executives push debanking of individuals for political causes.”

    “What needs to be done, consistent with the Act that you have introduced, is simply that there’s more transparency and there’s more notice when these kinds of [regulatory] decisions are made,” responded Stephen Gannon, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, a financial services expert.“There’s been a long sort of volume of executive orders coming out of the [Trump] White House, but one of them revived an executive order from 2019 called 13892. That executive order gives more due process to folks who wish to contest the actions of regulators than the due process clause itself allows.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cotton, Kaine Reintroduce Bill to Study Effects of Cellphones in Schools

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas Tom Cotton

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Contact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353
    February 5, 2025

    Cotton, Kaine Reintroduce Bill to Study Effects of Cellphones in Schools

    Washington, D.C. — Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) today reintroduced the Focus on Learning Act, legislation that would require the Surgeon General to complete a study on the effects of cellphone use in K-12 classrooms on students’ mental health and academic performance. The bill is cosponsored by Senators Katie Britt (R-Alabama) and Mark Kelly (D-Arizona). Companion legislation is being led in the House by Congressman Bruce Westerman (Arkansas-4).

    “Widespread use of cell phones in schools are at best a distraction for young Americans; at worst, they expose schoolchildren to content that is harmful and addictive. Our legislation will make schools remain centers of learning,” said Senator Cotton.

    “We need to do more to ensure students can excel in the classroom, and part of this means digging into how cellphone use in schools is impacting students’ mental health and their ability to learn and form relationships with their peers. I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan legislation to provide us with more information on cellphone use, so schools and parents can make the best decisions to set kids up for success. I’m also glad that our work on this issue has already generated interest at the state and local level around the nation,” said Senator Kaine, who serves on the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee.

    Text of the legislation may be found here. 

    Background:

    • The study would include insights from a pilot program, also established by the legislation, to provide schools with secure containers for students to store phones during school hours.
    • The bill authorizes $5 million annually for the next five years for the pilot program.
    • The pilot program will allow exceptions for students with health conditions, disabilities, and non-English speakers.
    • Schools participating in the pilot program will have a communication system in place that allows teachers, administrators, and staff to communicate with local emergency responders.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Boozman Welcomes Arkansas Farmers at Senate Ag Committee Hearing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) welcomed Arkansas farmers to share their perspectives on the agricultural economy during a Senate hearing examining the challenges facing rural communities

    Marianna farmer Nathan Reed and Newport farmer Jennifer James detailed the difficulties they are experiencing in the industry.

    “The last couple years have been the most difficult of my life. Despite record yields, my operation has endured steep losses due to a sharp increase in input costs and low commodity prices,” Reed told committee members. 

    Reed and his wife along with their four children grow cotton, rice, corn and soybeans. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Cotton Council and is an executive officer of the Arkansas Ag Council as well as a member of the Arkansas Plant Board.

    He expressed appreciation for the natural disaster and market assistance funds provided by Congress late last year but called for an improved farm bill to prevent farms from failing throughout rural America.

    James grows rice, corn and soybeans with her husband, father and son. She is an active member of USA Rice in addition to serving on the Farmers Board of Directors and the Farm Policy Task Force. Her many accolades include the 2019 USA Rice Farmer of the Year, the first-ever woman elected to serve on the Riceland Board of Directors, and 2023-24 Outstanding Alumna at the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

    “Last year, I completed my 30th full-time crop. I can say without a doubt that it was the most difficult year financially that we have endured so far. This year, I’m even more worried about what is to come. Just last week, my husband, dad, son and I sat down to have one of the hardest business conversations we’ve ever had to have – is it worth it? What scares me is I know we’re one farm family of thousands having these same conversations,” James said in her testimony.

    James called on Congress to pass a new, stronger farm bill to help improve the financial outlook for agricultural producers.

    In December, Boozman led Senate efforts to secure market assistance for the agriculture community and remains committed to delivering the certainty and predictability farmers, ranchers and producers need in an updated farm bill.

    “My highest priority for the next farm bill is to improve the farm safety net, whereby every farmer in every region of the country will have access to modernized risk management tools regardless of the commodity they grow. If we fail to modernize the safety net, agriculture will see further consolidation as farm families leave the business, and the ripple effects to our country will be profound,” Boozman said in his opening statement.

    Watch Boozman’s questions to Arkansas witnesses: 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Pushes to Keep Iowans in the Loop

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is supporting the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act to protect Iowans’ access to news by requiring automakers to maintain AM radio in their vehicles. This legislation also protects consumers from a separate or additional charge for this technology. 
    “Iowans rely on our AM radio stations to receive updates on weather, business, government, and commodity prices, which is why it is so important that we continue this important avenue of communication,” said Ernst. “I’m working to ensure folks across our state can stay in the loop through this resource that delivers timely information.”
    During national emergencies, such as the 2020 derecho that devastated large portions of Iowa, AM radio remains a key communication service to relay life-saving information and updates.
    Read the bill text here. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper Statement on Metro Denver ICE Raids

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement in response to reports of ICE arrests and activity across Denver and Aurora. 

    “Reports that ICE was blocking school buses picking up kids and preventing families from leaving their homes are deeply troubling.

    “We all want criminals off of our streets. Securing our border doesn’t require targeting children and families who have committed no crimes.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fischer Legislation to Improve Passenger Vehicle Safety Passes Commerce Committee

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer

    U.S. Senator Deb Fischer’s (R-Neb.) legislation to improve passenger vehicle safety passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee today. The She Develops Regulations In Vehicle Equality and Safety (She DRIVES) Act passed unanimously and is now eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.

    If signed into law, the She DRIVES Act would enhance passenger safety by updating U.S. crashworthiness testing procedures. Today, the dummies used during crash testing are modeled after the average height and weight of an adult male. This bill would require the use of a female crash test dummy in addition to the male dummy, a reform that will save thousands of lives and prevent tens of thousands of serious injuries. In addition to Senator Fischer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

    “Today, women are 17 percent more likely to be killed in auto crashes than men. That tragic statistic is a preventable one. Our bill will update crash test dummy standards to reflect the diversity of drivers on our roads, ensuring protection and safety for more Americans. I’m grateful a bipartisan group of my colleagues voted yes on this commonsense legislation, and I look forward to getting it passed soon,” said Senator Fischer.  

    “Women are far more vulnerable than men to sustaining serious injuries from a car crash,” said Senator Blackburn. “The She DRIVES Act would help keep our mothers and daughters safer on the road by ensuring that women are finally represented in crash testing.”

    “We can be doing so much more to improve roadway safety and make sure visiting a family member or a routine trip to the grocery store doesn’t end in tragedy,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’m proud our bipartisan legislation passed through committee and is now that much closer to helping us save lives by ensuring our crash test standards better represent the safety needs of all Americans. I’ll continue to work with Senator Fischer as we push for the full Senate to pass this bipartisan bill—because all Americans deserve safer roadways.”

    “We applaud Senator Fischer for her steadfast leadership in advancing the She DRIVES Act and ensuring that vehicle safety standards account for all drivers and passengers,” said Women Drive Too Co-Chairs Susan Molinari and Beth Brooke. “This bill is a critical step toward modernizing crash testing to reflect the real-world experiences of women on the road. We are grateful for the bipartisan support from the Commerce Committee and look forward to working with Congress to see this life-saving legislation become law.”

    “For far too long, vehicle safety testing standards have failed American women. Today, with the advancement of the bipartisan She DRIVES Act, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to end this fatal discrimination. While this victory is a testament to the power of collaboration across the aisle and country, the fight is not over yet. Now, it’s up to the full Senate get this across the finish line,” said Drive US Forward President and Founder Maria Weston Kuhn.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ricketts: We’re Overcoming Democrat Obstruction and Confirming President Trump’s Nominees

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Pete Ricketts (Nebraska)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) celebrated the rate of Senate confirmations for President Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Ricketts made the comments in a conference call with Nebraska media.

    “We are quickly confirming President Trump’s Cabinet,” Ricketts said. “In the first two weeks of the administration, we confirmed nine Cabinet officials. Eight of those votes were bipartisan. That’s 50% more than were confirmed in the first two weeks of the [first] Trump administration or the Biden administration for that matter. We’ve accomplished that while overcoming historic Democratic obstruction.”

    “Americans deserve a president empowered to do the job they elected him to do,” Ricketts closed. “We’re going to keep doing what it takes to get President Trump’s qualified nominees confirmed. We’re not going to stop until we get the job done.”

    [embedded content]

    TRANSCRIPT:

    Senator Ricketts: “My colleagues and I have been hard at work confirming President Trump’s nominees.

    “In the first days of the Trump administration, we focused on the president’s national security team. 

    “We unanimously confirmed Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State. 

    “We confirmed John Ratcliffe to be the CIA Director in a bipartisan manner – with 74 votes. 

    “We confirmed Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense. 

    “We confirmed Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security – again in a bipartisan vote. 

    “And we confirmed Scott Bessent to be Secretary of the Treasury with 68 votes – also, bipartisan. 

    “Over the last week, we completed President Trump’s energy team. 

    “We confirmed Lee Zeldin to be EPA Administrator in a bipartisan vote. 

    “And we confirmed Doug Burgum to be Secretary of Interior – with 79 votes. Again, bipartisan.  

    “And on Monday, we confirmed Chris Wright to be Secretary of Energy in a bipartisan vote.  

    “Plus, we confirmed Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation – with 77 votes. 

    “We are quickly confirming President Trump’s Cabinet.

    “In the first two weeks of the administration, we confirmed 9 Cabinet officials. 

    “8 of those votes were bipartisan. 

    “That’s 50% more than were confirmed in the first two weeks of the [first] Trump administration or the Biden administration for that matter. 

    “We’ve accomplished that while overcoming historic Democratic obstruction. 

    “Democrats have refused to speed up the process to allow President Trump to get his Cabinet. 

    “They’ve insisted on wasting time with extra, unnecessary votes. 

    “Even though all but one of these Cabinet nominees so far have received bipartisan support! 

    “Under President Bush and President Obama, not a single Cabinet nominee had to endure a cloture vote – or a vote to end debate. 

    “Yet Democrats have insisted on cloture votes for every Cabinet nominee except Marco Rubio. 

    “That means Democrats have voted for a nominee in Committee and then insisted on unnecessary floor votes. 

    “They know these qualified nominees will be confirmed, yet they insist upon obstructing them anyway. 

    “That’s an unserious approach. 

    “Americans deserve a president empowered to do the job they elected him to do. 

    “We’re going to keep doing what it takes to get President Trump’s qualified nominees confirmed. 

    “We’re not going to stop until we get the job done.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ricketts, Foreign Relations Committee Republicans Call for Sanctions on Communist China for Transferring Missile Propellants to Iran

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Pete Ricketts (Nebraska)

    February 5, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and six other Senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio encouraging the sanctioning of Chinese entities involved in transferring missile propellant ingredients to Iran. The letter comes in response to multiple reports that two Iranian cargo ships are set to deliver 1,000 tons of missile propellant ingredients from Communist China to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The critical ingredients would enable the IRGC to produce hundreds of midrange missiles.

    “Reimposing maximum pressure on the Iranian regime requires imposing costs on Communist China,” the senators wrote. “We encourage the administration to identify and sanction any entities involved in transferring missile propellants to Iran, including any Chinese companies sourcing the propellants and any Chinese ports that allow sanctioned Iranian ships to dock. Additionally, if the press reports referenced above are accurate, we urge you to work with our global partners to intercept and stop the shipments currently underway. Finally, the administration should pressure Beijing to reverse its decision to green light Iran’s drawdown of stored oil or face severe consequences.”

    In addition to Ricketts and Risch, other signatories include Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Curtis (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Rick Scott (R-FL). All are members of the Foreign Relations Committee. 

    Read the full letter here or below:

    Dear Secretary Rubio,

    We write to express our growing concern over recent reports that two Iranian cargo ships are set to deliver 1,000 tons of a critical ingredient for missile propellant – sodium perchlorate – from Communist China to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This amount of sodium perchlorate would enable the IRGC to produce hundreds of midrange missiles and bolster its efforts to sow discord, promote terrorism, and even directly attack our ally, Israel, once again.

    According to the Financial Times, the first Iranian vessel, the Golbon, departed from Communist China on January 21 and the second, the Jairan, is expected to leave in early February.[1] Both of these vessels are linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), which is sanctioned by the U.S.

    The last 15 months have clearly shown that Tehran’s missile program poses a direct threat to the United States, Israel and other allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe. Since October 7, 2023, the Houthis in Yemen have launched hundreds of missiles at Israel and at commercial cargo vessels and U.S. Navy warships in and around the Red Sea.[2] Hezbollah has fired over 8,000 missiles at Israel.[3] Most concerning, on April 13, Iran directly attacked Israel for the very first time firing over 120 ballistic missiles.[4] On October 1, Iran was even more belligerent, firing 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in the largest ballistic missile attack in history.[5]

    Today, however, Iran is weakened and vulnerable. Its missile inventories are depleted from its aforementioned attacks against Israel, its shipment of ballistic missiles to Russia, and Israeli Defense Force airstrikes that have degraded its missile production facilities. As a result, Tehran has turned to the partner that it has relied on for supplying solid-propellant for its missiles for decades—Communist China.[6]

    Communist China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea continue to increase their coordination as part of a growing axis of authoritarians. Not only is Communist China propping up Iran’s missile program, it also recently gave Tehran the go-ahead to begin drawing down and selling millions of barrels of Iranian oil that have been stored in onshore facilities in Chinese ports for years. Alarmingly, the revenue from these oil sales has already been earmarked for the IRGC.[7]

    Reimposing maximum pressure on the Iranian regime requires imposing costs on Communist China. We encourage the administration to identify and sanction any entities involved in transferring missile propellants to Iran, including any Chinese companies sourcing the propellants and any Chinese ports that allow sanctioned Iranian ships to dock. Additionally, if the press reports referenced above are accurate, we urge you to work with our global partners to intercept and stop the shipments currently underway. Finally, the administration should pressure Beijing to reverse its decision to green light Iran’s drawdown of stored oil or face severe consequences.

    We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. We stand ready to work with the administration to thwart Iran’s missile program and protect our allies.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Scott Applauds Scott Turner’s Confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Tim Scott

    Senator Scott: “As HUD Secretary, Scott will make himself known. He will create access to quality, affordability housing…he will work to reverse decades of failed housing policies and make targeted reforms across all segments of the U.S. housing market.” 

    WASHINGTON — Today, the Senate voted to confirm Scott Turner as President Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a vote of 55-44. Following the vote, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, spoke on the Senate floor to highlight Secretary Turner’s life story, qualifications to lead HUD, and their share goal of addressing the housing crisis and increasing access to quality, affordable housing opportunities for Americans across the country. 

    During Secretary Turner’s hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Scott highlighted Mr. Turner’s record and leadership directing investments in Opportunity Zones, Senator Scott’s initiative under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to increase development in economically distressed communities. Senator Scott noted he looks forward to working with Secretary Turner to cut bureaucratic red tape, advance commonsense housing solutions, and put more Americans on the path to homeownership.

    Click here to watch Senator Scott’s remarks.

    Senator Scott’s full remarks as delivered: 

    Thank you, Mr. President.

    The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s mission is to create strong, sustainable communities and support affordable homes.

    Yet, under President Biden and his administration, the department failed to serve our nation’s most vulnerable.

    Here is the truth: we are facing a homelessness crisis in America.

    The latest homelessness survey found an 18 percent increase in homelessness year-over-year, increasing the number of homelessness in our country to nearly 772,000 Americans not able to find a place to lay their head.

    This is unacceptable!

    On top of that, we are facing an affordability crisis in our country as well.

    During President Biden’s tenure, mortgage rates ballooned 150 percent, and rents 20 percent.

    Over the last four years, far-left housing policies and burdensome regulations have put the American Dream out of reach for millions and millions of hardworking, dedicated patriots throughout our nation.

    It’s no secret that HUD is in serious need of new leadership.

    Fortunately, there is good news: help is right over there. And it’s on its way.

    My good friend Scott Turner has a remarkable life story – tremendous life story.

    Scott is a native Texan who has had an exceptional journey from professional athlete to public servant.

    Scott came from humble beginnings, but he never let those circumstances define who he is. Actually, Scott in high school – I believe it was – worked at a barbecue shop. What I love about Scott is he has an affection for the truth – he told me himself – he conceded that South Carolina barbecue is better than Texas. I’m glad he has no microphone to say anything right now I’m just you that is a man I can appreciate.

    He went on and had a successful career in the NFL, nine seasons as a cornerback, playing for the Denver Broncos, the San Diego Chargers, and yes, the Washington Redskins. And I note that he did not play for America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys.

    Everybody, nobody, can be perfect.

    After hanging up his cleats, Scott served two terms in the Texas State Legislature and then went to work in the Trump administration.

    As the Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, Scott helped implement the Opportunity Zones initiative I that created, directing over $50 billion in private sector capital into hard-hit, typically majority minority communities – breathing hope and opportunity not only into the neighborhoods of the people desperately, passionately praying for hope. And with less than a 5 percent gentrification rate. That’s what I call success.

    His story and his perspective are essential tools that he will bring to the table to fight the increase of homelessness, to fight the 150 percent ballooning of our mortgages, and to fight back against a 20 percent increase in rents.

    As HUD Secretary, Scott will make himself known. He will create access to quality, affordability housing…he will work to reverse decades of failed housing policies and make targeted reforms across all segments of the U.S. housing market.

    It’s time to make America’s economy work working class Americans.

    It is time for a blue-collar comeback. And I’m so thankful that we have a man prepared to put in 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if necessary, so more people – not 772,000 Americans but more Americans will have a place to lay their head because they’re no longer homeless. More Americans will be able to afford a home because interest rates will come down, the housing supply will increase, and we will thank God Almighty that we live in a land where opportunity is more available because the right person, at the right time, in the right place, says yes.

    Mr. President, I’m very thankful that Scott Turner is the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. But I’m more thankful that we have a president making good decisions to put America back on the right track.

    I yield back the balance of my time.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sen. Scott Shines Light on Debanking of Americans, Pledges Solutions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Tim Scott

    WASHINGTON — At today’s Senate Banking Committee hearing focused on debanking, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) highlighted the importance of access to financial services, citing his own story of obtaining a loan to start his small business. Senator Scott called out the Biden administration’s financial regulators who exploited their power and pressured financial institutions to cut off services to individuals and businesses. Senator Scott pledged that the committee will work to find solutions to address this issue, and he reiterated that no regulator, and no bank, is above the principles of fairness and market access.

    Senator Scott’s opening remarks as delivered:  

    Good morning and thank you all for being with us today.

    We’re here to address an issue that strikes at the core of what it means to live in a free and fair society: access to financial services. 

    Every federally legal business and law-abiding citizen deserves to be treated equally, regardless of political views or ideological leanings.  

    This is an issue that is deeply personal to me.

    When my grandfather was growing up in the Jim Crow South, banks did business with people they felt looked the right way – based on the color of their skin. 

    One’s ability to get a loan to finance their home or state a business was based primarily on the color of their skin. And in the 1940s, my mother experienced the same redlining that has been persistent, pervasive, and unfortunate for decades.

    Thankfully, our nation continues to evolve in the right direction.

    And in the 1990s, when I was starting my small business, I went to a bank and looked for an opportunity to get a loan. I’ll say, without any question, at that time as a kid growing up in poverty in a single parent household my best asset – Mr. Ricketts – was a 1990, ten-year old car with 253,000 miles. One would not consider that an asset, perhaps a liability, but it was my only means of transportation. And I will tell you, without a doubt, for me, it was an asset.

    The bank, however, helped me completely understand it was not. However, in those days someone could get a character loan, because of your time in a community, because of your relationships with local and community banks. Because of that, not only was my financial life changed, not only did my American Dream become a reality, but more importantly, my mother’s American Dream became a reality.

    We saw the strengthening confidence in our banking system, because things had changed in the right direction.

    With that loan everything seemed to get better.

    Had I not gotten that line of credit, I may not be here chairing this committee today.

    You see my story is so consistent with so many other Americans story that really reflects positively on the American Dream.

    In this country, access to credit is one of the cornerstones of building your American Dream.

    Owning a home and starting a business are challenging journeys filled with complexities, and achieving success is never a guarantee, nor should it be. 

    That’s why access to financial services is so important.

    The United States is home to a vast competitive network of banks and payment providers, creating one of the most robust and diverse financial services ecosystems on the planet. 

    It is this incredible landscape that offers countless opportunities for homeowners and entrepreneurs to build a healthy foundation and make strides toward achieving their version of the American Dream. 

    However, it is incredibly alarming and disheartening to hear stories about financial institutions cutting off services to digital asset firms, political figures, and conservative-aligned businesses and individuals.

    Under the Biden administration, we’ve seen the rise of what many are calling Operation Chokepoint 2.0, where federal regulators exploited their power, pressuring banks to cut off services to individuals and businesses with conservative disposition, or folks aligned with industries they just didn’t like – like the color of one’s skin in my family’s history.

    I wholeheartedly believe that debanking someone over their political ideology is un-American and goes against the core values that our nation was founded on. 

    Today, we’ll have an opportunity to hear from Anchorage Digital’s CEO, whose OCC-chartered bank was debanked, Old Glory Bank’s CEO, who started a bank to serve those who had been debanked, and from a legal expert with extensive experience navigating these regulatory abuses, and from a policy expert at the Brookings Institution. 

    This hearing will also examine how practices similar to the original Operation Chokepoint have persisted, despite assurances that they would end. 

    We’ll investigate the role both regulators and financial institutions have played in these harmful practices, which hurt not just businesses but also consumers and our entire economy.

    This issue should concern every American, regardless of political affiliation and that’s why I am committed a bipartisan solution to stop this form of discrimination. 

    This hearing is just the beginning.

    We are here to shine a bright light on these unacceptable practices and to hold those responsible accountable. The message is crystal clear: no regulator, and no bank, is above the principles of fairness and market access. 

    Speaking of shining a light, I was so glad to see that just a couple of hours ago, the FDIC under President Trump’s leadership released a fresh set of never-before-seen supervisory documents, which further prove that Chokepoint 2.0 was real.

    I will be going through the documents in greater detail, but rest assured for those in this room, and those watching at home, they paint a disgusting and disheartening picture of abuse. 

    As Acting Chair Hill characterized them, “these and other actions sent the message to banks that it would be extraordinarily difficult—if not impossible—to move forward [with crypto related activities].” 

    I commend the new FDIC leadership for its commitment to transparency, but it is a shame that it took an election – an election – for the agency to begin following the laws of our country.

    Thank you. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stop debanking and protect every American’s right to participate fully in the economy.

    MIL OSI USA News –