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Category: US Senate

  • MIL-OSI USA: Tuberville Speaks with Crypto Stakeholders during Ag Hearing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke with Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, The Honorable Rostin Behnam, Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown University, and Tom Sexton, President and CEO of National Futures Association, during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (Ag) Committee hearing on federal oversight of digital commodities. During the hearing, they discussed the need for the U.S. to be a leader in digital assets.
    Read Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or on YouTube or Rumble.
    TUBERVILLE: “Mr. Kim, you touched on this very briefly in your opening statement. The E.U. and U.K. are moving quickly to attract blockchain-based innovation. What risk are we at in the United States? What are we gonna face if we don’t get more urgent about what’s going on?
    I recently talked to some exchanges and they’re freaking out basically about, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta do something or we’re gonna move out of the country.’ What [are] your thoughts?”
    KIM: “Thank you very much for your question, Senator. As I mentioned in my testimony, it is a global race to the top. So other jurisdictions have not been waiting for the U.S. to lead. You have the E.U., Singapore, Japan, U.K. [are] all looking into technology resources. I see block chain development and digital assets as the plumbing and infrastructure for the second half of the 21st Century. We need the U.S. to lead.
    That said, despite the progress in other jurisdictions, everyone is watching the U.S. now. They’re seeing the Senate having passed [the] GENIUS [Act], they’re seeing development on the market structure bill, including in this Committee. And even the U.K. is actually a really good example, Senator, where they had been taking a very modular, patient approach, but recently they announced an all-at-once approach. And I believe that there’s an opportunity for the U.S. to cement this leadership and make sure this innovation stays here in the U.S. — and that starts with a comprehensive incentive framework as I discussed, Senator.”
    TUBERVILLE: “Thank you. Mr. Sexton [do] you want to follow-up on that? You got anything on that — about us dragging our feet?”
    SEXTON: “Senator, I encourage this Committee and the House to continue to work on legislation in this area. I think it’s very important. I can tell you that from our perspective, we have, as I indicated, member firms are already engaged in this activity. And to the extent that the CFTC would be provided with not only anti-fraud, but also regulatory oversight over digital commodities, I think it’d be very helpful as far as our own regulatory structure here.”
    TUBERVILLE: “Thank you.
    Mr. Behnam, the U.S. model of having two regulators — and we touched on this briefly — only works if there are clear jurisdictions. You’re very familiar with that. Can you talk about the need to clear up, you know, this regulatory definition between CFTC and the SEC?”
    BEHNAM: “Senator, thanks for the question. It’s the first and most important step because from that point, the two agencies will be able to really start to develop rules either distinctly and uniquely or in a joint fashion. But this is certainly a new asset that has a lot of characteristics that are similar to other assets but also have a lot of characteristics that are novel and new and are gonna require a different way of thinking about it. So, I do think it’s critically important. I also think, putting myself in my old shoes, it is important that the agencies get a bit of a steer from this Committee in Congress because there are lines that I think this committee and the Congress can draw to help the agencies start to really define the landscape of what tokens are securities and what tokens are commodities.”
    TUBERVILLE: “Thank you. I yield back.”
    Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Urges DOJ to Swiftly Implement RECA for Radiation Survivors

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)
    Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), urging the Department to prioritize implementation of the expanded Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The Senator’s expansion provision revives RECA for survivors, allows tens of thousands of new claimants to receive life-saving assistance—including those across Missouri—and protects the program for years to come.
    “I write to ensure prompt implementation of the reauthorized and expanded Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (‘RECA’), as passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The Department of Justice plays a central role in administering RECA, and with the enactment of the expanded law, the Department is now responsible for receiving, evaluating, and processing a broader universe of claims. I urge you to devote sufficient manpower and departmental resources for this important work,” wrote Senator Hawley.
    He continued, “It is critical that the Department promptly renews its claims process and application, given that prospective claimants have until December 31, 2027, to submit their paperwork. Timely processing of new claims is both feasible and imperative under the law, especially given the age and health of many claimants. The current RECA statute also explicitly allows the Department to use existing funds and resources to process RECA claims. Congress included this provision to ensure that the Department has sufficient resources to implement RECA fully and without delay.”
    Senator Hawley offered his support in implementing the program, saying, “I will closely monitor the Department’s implementation of the law in the months ahead and respectfully request an update on the Department’s implementation progress by August 1, 2025. I stand ready to work with you and the Department to ensure a fair, efficient, and accessible claims process for new RECA claimants.”
    Read the full letter here or below.  
    Brett ShumateAssistant Attorney GeneralU.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20530
    Dear Assistant Attorney General Shumate:
    I write to ensure prompt implementation of the reauthorized and expanded Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (“RECA”), as passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The Department of Justice plays a central role in administering RECA, and with the enactment of the expanded law, the Department is now responsible for receiving, evaluating, and processing a broader universe of claims. I urge you to devote sufficient manpower and departmental resources for this important work.
    As you know, RECA compensates victims and their families who have been exposed to radiation from the federal government’s nuclear programs. Since Congress created the program in 1990, it has provided benefits to tens of thousands of Americans who have developed cancer or other specified diseases after being exposed to radiation from atomic weapons testing or uranium mining, milling, or transporting. Many harrowing tales have emerged for decades after the United States shuttered its test sites and uranium mines, as negligently stored waste continued infiltrating waterways and communities across the country. Now, President Trump and Congress have extended the program to cover more victims and geographic areas.
    It is critical that the Department promptly renews its claims process and application, given that prospective claimants have until December 31, 2027, to submit their paperwork. Timely processing of new claims is both feasible and imperative under the law, especially given the age and health of many claimants. The current RECA statute also explicitly allows the Department to use existing funds and resources to process RECA claim.[1]Congress included this provision to ensure that the Department has sufficient resources to implement RECA fully and without delay.
    I will closely monitor the Department’s implementation of the law in the months ahead, and respectfully request an update on the Department’s implementation progress by August 1, 2025. I stand ready to work with you and the Department to ensure a fair, efficient, and accessible claims process for new RECA claimants.
    Sincerely,
    Josh HawleyUnited States Senator

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Baldwin Demands USDA Safeguard Farmers’ Financial Information, Revoke DOGE’s Access to Payment System

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is demanding that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) safeguard Wisconsin farmers’ personal and financial information and rescind the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) unprecedented access to USDA’s payment systems. Recent reports exposed that DOGE has access to USDA databases containing farmers’ sensitive financial information. This intrusion not only breaches farmers’ privacy but also raises serious concerns about the future of USDA payments, our nation’s food security, and the consolidation of farmland and processing operations.

    “Wisconsin farmers share sensitive financial information with USDA when seeking federal loans or disaster assistance. Historically, only trained Farm Service Agency staff and senior USDA officials have had access to this data. However, reports indicate that DOGE has been granted sweeping access to the National Payment System that controls tens of billions of dollars in payments and loans to farmers and ranchers across the United States. There is no clear justification for this, and it raises serious concerns about data security, farmers’ privacy, and the potential misuse of confidential records,” wrote Senator Baldwin in a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

    “At a time when farmers and rural communities are facing volatile market conditions and increasingly severe weather, the accessibility and security of USDA resources is more important than ever,” Senator Baldwin continued. “I urge you to take immediate steps to restore the public’s confidence in the security of USDA’s payment systems. I request that you rescind DOGE’s access to farmers’ private data, as well as their involvement in payment and loan decisions. The agency must ensure that farmers are safeguarded from the unauthorized use of their data and that funds they have been promised are not unjustifiably blocked or delayed.”

    The full letter is available here and below:

    Dear Secretary Rollins:

    I am writing to you today on behalf of Wisconsin farmers who partner with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). When farmers utilize USDA services to produce the highest quality food and contribute to their rural economies, they must be able to trust their partners in Washington. For that reason, I am alarmed by recent reports that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has access to USDA databases containing farmers’ personal information—an intrusion that not only breaches their privacy, but also raises serious concerns about the future of USDA payments, our nation’s food security, and the consolidation of farmland and processing operations.

    Wisconsin farmers share sensitive financial information with USDA when seeking federal loans or disaster assistance. Historically, only trained Farm Service Agency staff and senior USDA officials have had access to this data. However, reports indicate that DOGE has been granted sweeping access to the National Payment System that controls tens of billions of dollars in payments and loans to farmers and ranchers across the United States. There is no clear justification for this, and it raises serious concerns about data security, farmers’ privacy, and the potential misuse of confidential records.

    DOGE has already been granted unprecedented access to sensitive data from other federal databases. While at the National Labor Relations Board, DOGE accessed and possibly exported sensitive and personally identifiable information regarding union members, lawsuits and corporate data. USDA systems and staff are charged with storing similarly sensitive information. Farmers deserve to know that their private information is protected and will not be exported for unauthorized, and potentially illegal, uses. In the wrong hands, sensitive data about our nation’s agricultural sector could be taken advantage of to exploit vulnerabilities in our food supply chains. It could also be used to further consolidate agricultural processing capacity and land ownership.

    I am also concerned by the reports that DOGE has the ability to approve or block USDA payments and loans. An unappointed and unelected group of Washington insiders with no accountability to farmers should not be in charge of delaying disaster relief checks or blocking contracts. At a time when farmers and rural communities are facing volatile market conditions and increasingly severe weather, the accessibility and security of USDA resources is more important than ever.

    I urge you to take immediate steps to restore the public’s confidence in the security of USDA’s payment systems. I request that you rescind DOGE’s access to farmers’ private data, as well as their involvement in payment and loan decisions. The agency must ensure that farmers are safeguarded from the unauthorized use of their data and that funds they have been promised are not unjustifiably blocked or delayed.

    Sincerely, 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators King, Collins, Smith Introduce Bill to Combat Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN) today introduced legislation to reauthorize the Kay Hagan Tick Act, their landmark legislation to improve research, prevention, diagnostics, and treatment for tick-borne diseases, which became law in 2019. Senator Angus King (I-ME) joins them as an original co-sponsor. The Kay Hagan Tick Act unites the effort to confront the alarming public health threat posed by Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Confirmed cases of Lyme disease reached a record number in Maine – 3,035 – last year. Senators Collins and Smith named their bill in honor of former Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) who passed away on October 28th, 2019, due to complications from the tick-borne disease known as the Powassan virus.

    “Our state has been battling diseases like Lyme for decades, so it is critical we continue to invest in our research and understanding of these vector-borne diseases to better protect Maine residents and visitors,” said Senator King. “The Kay Hagan Tick Act will further the prevention efforts that keep us safe by funding research, testing and diagnostics along with resources for improved data collection. I am proud to work on this critical bipartisan legislation that will help mitigate this long-term public health threat for the future safety and health of all Maine people.”

    “Last year, Maine reported over 3,000 cases of Lyme disease—a record in our state. The reauthorization of our Tick Act is urgently needed to continue to support those who struggle with Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses and keep improving research, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention for these terrible diseases,” said Senator Collins. “Resources from the Tick Act have led to exciting developments such as the first-ever clinical trial for a Lyme disease vaccine for people, which is underway right now at the MaineHealth Institute for Research.”

    “My home state of Minnesota is proud to have more than 10,000 lakes and thousands of rivers for us to enjoy, and we’re always especially eager to get outside after a long winter,” said Senator Smith. “Unfortunately, the number of Lyme disease cases in the state—and states across the country—is on the rise. This bill would empower regional centers to lead the response against these diseases and expanded the federal government’s role in researching, testing and treating these diseases. For the sake of Americans’ health and well-being, we need to keep moving this bill forward.”

    “Reauthorizing the Kay Hagan Tick Act will continue the nation’s coordinated framework for tick-borne disease surveillance, diagnostics, and prevention”, said Griffin Dill, Director of the University of Maine Tick Lab. Continued support means earlier detection, targeted interventions, and fewer families facing the physical and financial burden of Lyme disease and other emerging infections. Through this investment, Congress can ensure a proactive approach to safeguarding our communities from increasing threats related to ticks.”

    “With an estimated 500,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, it is critical that the United States is equipped to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to this growing public health threat,” said Bonnie Crater, co-founder and board member at Center for Lyme Action. “We applaud the foundation laid by the Kay Hagan Tick Act, which established the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in Humans and we are committed to working with Congress and federal agencies to ensure this strategy is fully implemented and strengthened.  We commend Senator Collins, Senator King, and Senator Smith for their bipartisan leadership in advancing the reauthorization of this vital legislation to protect the health and safety of Americans nationwide.”

    Using a three-pronged approach, the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act would:

    1. Require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to continue implementing and updating, as appropriate, its National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People.  This strategy has been integral in expanding research into tick-borne diseases, improving testing and diagnostics, and coordinating efforts across the federal government.
    1. Reauthorize Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease for five years. Funding for these centers, which was allotted in 2017, expires this year. These Centers have led the scientific response against tick-borne diseases, which now make up 75 percent of vector-borne diseases in the U.S.  There are four centers located at universities in California, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. 
    1. Reauthorize CDC Grants to State Health Departments to improve data collection and analysis, support early detection and diagnosis, improve treatment, and raise awareness.  These awards would help states continue to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other vector-borne diseases and amplify their initiatives through public-private partnerships.   

    In May, Senator Collins delivered the opening remarks at the Center for Lyme Action Congressional Series and spoke to the need for continued federal funding for tick-borne disease research. Click here to watch and here to download her remarks. Senator Collins has also urged leading health officials to continue to support the development of treatment for these illnesses, including the clinical trials currently ongoing in Maine for the first Lyme disease vaccine for people.

    Senator King is a longtime advocate for the elimination of vector-borne diseases. His SMASH Act, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize critical public health tools that support states and localities in their mosquito surveillance and control efforts, especially those linked to mosquitos that carry the Zika virus, and improve the nation’s preparedness for Zika and other mosquito-borne threats like West Nile virus, chikungunya, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (“triple-e”) virus was signed into law in 2019. A re-authorization of SMASH was introduced in 2023 and included in the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Following Senator Hassan’s Push, Manchester Wage and Hour Office to Stay Open After DOGE Targeted It for Closure

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
    WASHINGTON – Following advocacy by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the U.S. Department of Labor will keep open its Manchester Wage and Hour Division office, which recovers an average of nearly $2 million annually in back pay for New Hampshire workers. The office had previously been slated for closure by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). After learning of the planned closure, Senator Hassan pressed the U.S. Department of Labor about preserving the office, warning that closing this facility would jeopardize workers’ ability to get the wages that they are owed.
    “I am pleased that the Manchester Wage and Hour Division office will remain open to continue serving Granite Staters,” said Senator Hassan. “This office has delivered for New Hampshire workers by recovering wages that they have earned. We need to work together to eliminate waste and fraud in government in ways that help everyday people, not hurt them. DOGE’s arbitrary cuts to offices that are effectively serving constituents do not make our government more efficient and this closure would have threatened the ability of hardworking Granite Staters to recover wages that they are owed.”
    Senator Hassan has opposed the planned closure of the Manchester office, pressing Department of Labor officials on the issue in recent months. The office investigates reports of workers not receiving the full pay that they are entitled to, and it has recovered nearly $8 million for almost 5,600 New Hampshire workers over the last five years – more money per person than in 40 other states. Last month, Senator Hassan secured a commitment from Andrew Rogers, the nominee for Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor, to review DOGE’s decision to close the Manchester office. Senator Hassan later met with Rogers to personally underscore the importance of keeping the office open. The Department of Labor recently shared that the office will stay open and that the lease has been re-signed.
    Senator Hassan has also been speaking out against other DOGE targets, including Social Security offices. Following news that DOGE planned to close the Littleton Social Security office – the only Social Security field office accessible to Granite Staters in Northern New Hampshire – Senators Hassan and Shaheen called on the leaders of the General Services Administration and Social Security Administration to halt any efforts to close the Littleton office and stop broader attacks on Social Security services. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Collins, Smith, King Introduce Bill to Combat Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN) today introduced legislation to reauthorize the Kay Hagan Tick Act, their landmark legislation to improve research, prevention, diagnostics, and treatment for tick-borne diseases, which became law in 2019. Senator Angus King (I-ME) joins them as an original co-sponsor. The Kay Hagan Tick Act unites the effort to confront the alarming public health threat posed by Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. Confirmed cases of Lyme disease reached a record number in Maine – 3,035 – last year. Senators Collins and Smith named their bill in honor of former Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) who passed away on October 28th, 2019, due to complications from the tick-borne disease known as the Powassan virus.

    “Last year, Maine reported over 3,000 cases of Lyme disease—a record in our state. The reauthorization of our Tick Act is urgently needed to continue to support those who struggle with Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses and keep improving research, diagnostics, treatment, and prevention for these terrible diseases,” said Senator Collins. “Resources from the Tick Act have led to exciting developments such as the first-ever clinical trial for a Lyme disease vaccine for people, which is underway right now at the MaineHealth Institute for Research.”

    “My home state of Minnesota is proud to have more than 10,000 lakes and thousands of rivers for us to enjoy, and we’re always especially eager to get outside after a long winter,” said Senator Smith. “Unfortunately, the number of Lyme disease cases in the state—and states across the country—is on the rise. This bill would empower regional centers to lead the response against these diseases and expanded the federal government’s role in researching, testing and treating these diseases. For the sake of Americans’ health and well-being, we need to keep moving this bill forward.”

    “Our state has been battling diseases like Lyme for decades, so it is critical we continue to invest in our research and understanding of these vector-borne diseases to better protect Maine residents and visitors,” said Senator King. “The Kay Hagan Tick Act will further the prevention efforts that keep us safe by funding research, testing and diagnostics along with resources for improved data collection. I am proud to work on this critical bipartisan legislation that will help mitigate this long-term public health threat for the future safety and health of all Maine people.”

    “Reauthorizing the Kay Hagan Tick Act will continue the nation’s coordinated framework for tick-borne disease surveillance, diagnostics, and prevention”, said Griffin Dill, Director of the University of Maine Tick Lab. Continued support means earlier detection, targeted interventions, and fewer families facing the physical and financial burden of Lyme disease and other emerging infections. Through this investment, Congress can ensure a proactive approach to safeguarding our communities from increasing threats related to ticks.”

    “With an estimated 500,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, it is critical that the United States is equipped to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to this growing public health threat,” said Bonnie Crater, co-founder and board member at Center for Lyme Action. “We applaud the foundation laid by the Kay Hagan Tick Act, which established the National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in Humans and we are committed to working with Congress and federal agencies to ensure this strategy is fully implemented and strengthened.  We commend Senator Collins, Senator King, and Senator Smith for their bipartisan leadership in advancing the reauthorization of this vital legislation to protect the health and safety of Americans nationwide.”

    Using a three-pronged approach, the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act would:

    1. Require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to continue implementing and updating, as appropriate, its National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People.  This strategy has been integral in expanding research into tick-borne diseases, improving testing and diagnostics, and coordinating efforts across the federal government.
    1. Reauthorize Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease for five years. Funding for these centers, which was allotted in 2017, expires this year. These Centers have led the scientific response against tick-borne diseases, which now make up 75 percent of vector-borne diseases in the U.S.  There are four centers located at universities in California, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. 
    1. Reauthorize CDC Grants to State Health Departments to improve data collection and analysis, support early detection and diagnosis, improve treatment, and raise awareness.  These awards would help states continue to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other vector-borne diseases and amplify their initiatives through public-private partnerships.   

    In May, Senator Collins delivered the opening remarks at the Center for Lyme Action Congressional Series and spoke to the need for continued federal funding for tick-borne disease research. Click here to watch and here to download her remarks. Senator Collins has also urged leading health officials to continue to support the development of treatment for these illnesses, including the clinical trials currently ongoing in Maine for the first Lyme disease vaccine for people.

    Senator King is a longtime advocate for the elimination of vector-borne diseases. His SMASH Act, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize critical public health tools that support states and localities in their mosquito surveillance and control efforts, especially those linked to mosquitos that carry the Zika virus, and improve the nation’s preparedness for Zika and other mosquito-borne threats like West Nile virus, chikungunya, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (“triple-e”) virus was signed into law in 2019. A re-authorization of SMASH was introduced in 2023 and included in the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act Reauthorization.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto, Colleagues Press Administration on Conflicting Orders Fueling Uncertainty for Afghans Living in U.S.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Congressman Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-04) and 73 of their colleagues in pressing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for answers on the Trump Administration’s inconsistent policies regarding the legal status of Afghan refugees living in the U.S. – many of whom played important roles in supporting American service members during the war in Afghanistan over two decades. 

    In the letter, the lawmakers point out that the justifications for the decisions to implement a large-scale travel ban, which applies to Afghanistan, and terminate Temporary Protected Status conflict with one another. The lawmakers ask Secretary Rubio how the State Department arrived at these determinations and whether it can guarantee that Afghans who may be forced to leave the U.S. will not face danger upon their return to their home country – should the termination of Afghanistan’s TPS designation be upheld.

    The lawmakers quoted the determination that Secretary Rubio made upon consultation over the decision to include Afghanistan in the Administration’s travel ban proclamation, writing, “Specifically, the proclamation bans most entry into the United States from Afghanistan, stating the following as justification: ‘The Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, controls Afghanistan. Afghanistan lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures.’”

    The lawmakers’ concerns over the safety of Afghan nationals who may be forced to leave the U.S. stem from a recent State Department human rights report covering Afghanistan finding that the Taliban has increased restrictions on freedom of expression and significantly eroded women’s rights. Additionally, Afghanistan remains gripped by violence and instability; the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS), continues to launch attacks against ethnic and religious minorities and against the Taliban, leading to innocent civilian casualties.

    “As you are aware, many Afghan allies that received TPS stood shoulder to shoulder with American servicemembers for nearly two decades during the war in Afghanistan. Many fled to the United States out of fear of persecution by the Taliban or retaliation for such cooperation with the United States. It is unsafe for political targets of the Taliban to be forced to return against their will. TPS protections must be maintained for Afghan nationals in the United States,” the lawmakers concluded.

    Read the full letter here.

    The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling on both administrations to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Last month, the Senator helped introduce the SECURE Act to provide qualified TPS and DED recipients a path to legal permanent residency. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: President Trump Solidifies U.S. Position as Leader in AI

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    President Donald J. Trump is making America the undisputed world leader in artificial intelligence — and today marked a massive leap forward with the announcement of over $90 billion in groundbreaking AI and energy investments in Pennsylvania.
    Joined by leaders of the nation’s premier tech and energy giants, administration officials, and lawmakers, President Trump showcased the investments this afternoon at the first-ever Energy and Innovation Summit — underscoring the Trump Administration’s unwavering commitment to innovation, job creation, and American dominance.
    The announcement covered tens of billions of dollars in AI and energy investment, including Google’s $25 billion investment in data centers and infrastructure, Blackstone’s $25 billion investment in data centers and natural gas plants, and CoreWeave’s $6 billion investment in data center expansion.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: President Trump Solidifies U.S. Position as Leader in AI

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    President Donald J. Trump is making America the undisputed world leader in artificial intelligence — and today marked a massive leap forward with the announcement of over $90 billion in groundbreaking AI and energy investments in Pennsylvania.
    Joined by leaders of the nation’s premier tech and energy giants, administration officials, and lawmakers, President Trump showcased the investments this afternoon at the first-ever Energy and Innovation Summit — underscoring the Trump Administration’s unwavering commitment to innovation, job creation, and American dominance.
    The announcement covered tens of billions of dollars in AI and energy investment, including Google’s $25 billion investment in data centers and infrastructure, Blackstone’s $25 billion investment in data centers and natural gas plants, and CoreWeave’s $6 billion investment in data center expansion.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ernst Calls on Senate to Make DOGE Cuts Permanent

    US Senate News:

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

    WASHINGTON – After exposing sweeping abuses at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) spoke on the Senate floor to urge her colleagues to pass President Trump’s rescissions bill to save taxpayer dollars and make Washington squeal.
    From funding fashion week to pickle makers, Ernst cited multiple wasteful USAID projects and taxpayer-subsidized partisan propaganda at National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) that she has uncovered.
    After being stonewalled, Ernst has been leading the fight to combat waste at USAID and sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio a letter detailing her experience with the rogue agency as it misled, lied, and deceived the American people about how their tax dollars are spent. She has continued her work exposing jaw-dropping waste at USAID.
    Last month, Ernst demanded transparency from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) over a $1.9 million grant it provided NPR last year.

    Watch Senator Ernst’s full remarks here.
    Ernst’s full remarks:
    “All Americans can take great pride in our nation’s generosity that has saved millions of people around the world from starvation and disease.
    “And, our government agencies coordinating aid efforts should be eager to share details about how their use of taxpayer money makes the world a better place.
    “Yet, over the past decade, USAID repeatedly rebuffed my requests for information, using intimidation and shell games to hide where money is going, how it’s being spent, and why.
    “As a result of my oversight, I learned that the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is a rogue bureaucracy, operating with little accountability and even, sometimes, at odds with our nation’s best interests.
    “What warranted such secrecy and stonewalling?
    “Here’s just some of USAID’s questionable spending that I uncovered:
    “Money intended to alleviate economic distress in war-torn Ukraine was spent:
    “Sending models and designers on junkets to New York City and Fashion Weeks in Paris and London, at a cost of more than $203,000;
    “$148,000 went to a pickle maker;
    “A dog collar manufacturer fetched $300,000; and
    “A custom carpet manufacturer collected $2 million.
    “Elsewhere, $20 million was awarded to Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, to create content for Iraq;
    “$2 million went toward promoting tourism to Lebanon, a nation that our very own State Department warns against traveling to due to the risks of terrorism and kidnapping.
    “Yes, folks, $2 million for tourism to Lebanon when we are saying, don’t travel there.
    “$67,000 was spent to feed edible insects to children in Madagascar.
    “Over $800,000 was sent to China’s notorious Wuhan Institute of Virology to collect coronaviruses.
    “What exactly was our international development agency developing at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology?
    “Well, if the CIA, FBI, and other experts are correct that the COVID virus likely originated from a lab leak, USAID may have had a hand in a once-in-a-century pandemic that claimed the lives of millions.
    “There’s no shortage of other questionable USAID projects, but President Trump is putting an end to this deep state operation.
    “The foreign assistance programs that do advance American interests are now being administered under the watchful eye of Secretary Marco Rubio.
    “This includes projects previously supported by USAID that were caring for orphans and people living with HIV.
    “Imagine how much more good work like this could be done with the dollars that instead financed fashion shows, supported Sesame Street programs in Iraq, or ended up in China’s Wuhan Institute.
    “Overseas projects without merit are being ended and the tax dollars that were paying for them will be refunded if the Senate passes the rescissions bill.
    “It also cancels taxpayer subsidies to public broadcasting.
    “Too often, these programs are partisan propaganda.
    “You don’t have to take my word for it.
    “A National Public Radio senior editor recently confessed ‘It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent.’
    “He admits the organization has ZERO Republicans in editorial positions.
    “Come on folks, even CNN has Scott Jennings to roast the looney liberal lunatics on that failing network.
    “NPR and PBS have a right to say whatever the heck they want, but they don’t have a right to force hardworking Americans to pay for their political propaganda being masked as a public service.
    “Defunding this nonsense is causing a lot of squealing from the big spenders around here.
    “Washington insiders are more upset at this effort to stop wasteful spending than at the misuse of taxpayer dollars.
    “In fact, saving tax money is such a crazy concept in Washington that Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government if this bill passes.
    “It says a lot about the other side’s priorities when they’re willing to take hostage funding for veterans and senior citizens to prevent $9 billion in unnecessary waste, fraud, and abuse from being trimmed from our $7 trillion annual budget.
    “The interest that we are paying on our debt alone is costing nearly $3 billion every single day.
    “If we are ever going to get serious about our debt crisis, Congress needs to pass a rescissions bill like this every single week.
    “Folks, the simple truth is if you can’t find waste in Washington, it’s because you simply are not looking.
    “With our national debt now exceeding $37 trillion, the real question we should be asking isn’t ‘why is government spending now being scrutinized?,’ but rather, ‘why did it take so long?’”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons statement on President Trump’s decision to allow the export of advanced AI chips to China

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement after the Trump administration announced it would allow Nvidia to resume selling its H20 advanced computer chips to Chinese customers:

    “President Trump’s decision today hands China cutting-edge technology that Beijing will use to erase our competitive advantage in artificial intelligence, undermine our military, and outpace our economy. Thanks to the efforts of the Biden administration and bipartisan work in Congress, the United States was better positioned at the beginning of the year than any other country on the planet to lead the way on artificial intelligence, from chip design to applications. Now, President Trump is throwing that all away, giving China a tool that will strengthen their economy and military, while, just today, China announced it will restrict American access to critical battery technology and equipment we need for our own economy and security. The administration must immediately reverse this harmful decision and take steps to make sure its actions on AI actually match its tough-on-China rhetoric.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Urges DHS Secretary Noem to Declassify Trump Butler Assassination Records

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

    U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, calling on the agency to declassify all documents related to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, PA.

    “I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024,” Senator Hawley wrote. 

    In September 2024, Senator Hawley released a 22-page whistleblower report detailing the failures of the United States Secret Service in connection with the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump.

    Read the full letter here or below. 

    The Honorable Kristi Noem
    Secretary
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
    Washington, D.C. 20528

    Dear Secretary Noem,

    I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024.

    As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life. And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government. Unfortunately, the Secret Service and DHS under your predecessor stonewalled numerous congressional investigations—including my own—and denied the American people basic facts. The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date.

    In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety.

    The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures. To that end, and to advance congressional oversight work, I request that you provide the following by July 30, 2025:

    1. A complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on President Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews, and coordination records with other agencies.

    2. A formal explanation for the continued classification of any materials you believe must remain restricted.

    3. A proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, with minimal redactions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hawley Urges DHS Secretary Noem to Declassify Trump Butler Assassination Records

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo)

    U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, calling on the agency to declassify all documents related to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, PA.

    “I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024,” Senator Hawley wrote. 

    In September 2024, Senator Hawley released a 22-page whistleblower report detailing the failures of the United States Secret Service in connection with the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump.

    Read the full letter here or below. 

    The Honorable Kristi Noem
    Secretary
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
    Washington, D.C. 20528

    Dear Secretary Noem,

    I write to you following the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump. This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis. To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024.

    As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life. And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government. Unfortunately, the Secret Service and DHS under your predecessor stonewalled numerous congressional investigations—including my own—and denied the American people basic facts. The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date.

    In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety.

    The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures. To that end, and to advance congressional oversight work, I request that you provide the following by July 30, 2025:

    1. A complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on President Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews, and coordination records with other agencies.

    2. A formal explanation for the continued classification of any materials you believe must remain restricted.

    3. A proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, with minimal redactions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, Scott, Colleagues Reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act—Democrats Advocate for Affordable Child Care While Trump & Republicans Blow Up Debt on Billionaire Tax Cuts and Attack Head Start and Federal Child Care Programs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care

    ***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, joined their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.

    Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 39 additional cosponsors in the Senate—the most in the bill’s history.

    House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 80 additional cosponsors in the House.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Patty Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.”

    “Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.”

    As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance, and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the child care crisis. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $15 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

    “Families should not have to break the bank to afford child care. Democrats are fighting to ensure working families can access the child care they need, and that hardworking child care workers get paid what they deserve,” said Leader Chuck Schumer. “Republicans have a different priority – giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, paid for by cutting health care and food assistance for millions of families. The contrast couldn’t be clearer and Republicans couldn’t be crueler. We hope Republicans will join us in moving forward legislation that will actually help working people and invest in kids and families.”

    “Child care enables parents to work and kids to thrive. But right now, it’s impossibly expensive,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “In the richest nation on earth, no parent should have to choose between groceries and child care. Under this bill, the typical family will pay no more than $15 a day for care. Ultimately, this bill is about giving every family a fair shot at the American Dream. I want my Republican colleagues to look parents in the eye and explain how they can oppose that.”

    “The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.”

    “Throughout our country, too many working and middle class families struggle to find access to high-quality, affordable child care, forcing parents to make tough sacrifices for their children,” said Senator Mazie Hirono. “Child care is essential to the strength of our communities, and every family should be able to access the affordable care they need and deserve. That’s why I am proud to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide a long-term investment in our children as an important step forward in tackling our country’s child care crisis.”

    “Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Andy Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.”

    “We are experiencing a child care crisis in this country. Child care—if folks can even find it—is pushing families into poverty, and Trump’s Big Ugly bill will only exacerbate the struggles our families are dealing with,” said Representative Summer Lee. “The Child Care for Working Families Act is a means to putting an end to this crisis. We have to make sure families have access to child care slots, that no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that all early childhood educators make a livable wage. I am grateful for Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Patty Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it over the finish line.”

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families.
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

    In the Senate, the bill is cosponsored by 44 Senators: Senators Murray, Kaine, Hirono, Kim, Schumer, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Blunt Rochester, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Kelly, King, Klobuchar, Lujan, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Peters, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schatz, Schiff, Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Welch, Whitehouse, Wyden.

    In the House, the bill is cosponsored by 83 lawmakers: Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), Summer Lee (PA-12), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Betty McCollum (MN-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Seth Moulton (MA-06), William R. Keating (MA-09), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Judy Chu (CA-28), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Adam Smith (WA-09), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Dina Titus (NV-01), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), and Sharice Davids (KS-03).

    A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE.

    Text of the legislation if available HERE.

    “As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care,” said Child Care Aware of America.

    “For far too long, children, families, and providers have borne the burden of a broken child care sector. The Child Care for Working Families Act would make access to child care more equitable and affordable for families across the country while also better valuing and compensating the child care workforce. Families need relief from untenable child care prices. Children need reliable education and care settings. Providers need increased education supports, consistent employment, and higher wages. This bill will deliver necessary improvements to America’s child care sector,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

    “Recognizing  and supporting child care as a true public good simply requires the political will from our elected leaders because the political will from families across the country is already there. Americans agree we should have equal opportunities to engage in the workforce regardless of gender and parental status and making that a reality shouldn’t break the bank for families. I want to thank Senator Murray, Rep. Scott and the child care champions leading the way on the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill builds on the excellent foundation of its previous iterations, incorporates lessons from the pandemic, ARPA, and the experience of nearly achieving historic child care and early learning policy during the Build Back Better debate. Children, families, and America’s economic growth cannot wait,” said TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice Julie Kashen.

    “Making child care more affordable isn’t just good for families—it’s essential for a thriving economy, strong businesses, and vibrant communities,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “Instead of working to pass legislation that will increase costs for families while giving tax breaks to billionaires, Congress should pass the Child Care for Working Families Act. This billwould lower costs for families, raise wages for early educators, and tackle the child care crisis head on.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, Scott, Colleagues Reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act—Democrats Advocate for Affordable Child Care While Trump & Republicans Blow Up Debt on Billionaire Tax Cuts and Attack Head Start and Federal Child Care Programs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care

    ***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE***

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, joined their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.

    Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) joined Senator Murray in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 39 additional cosponsors in the Senate—the most in the bill’s history.

    House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) joined Representative Scott in leading reintroduction of the legislation alongside 80 additional cosponsors in the House.

    “Right now, the cost of child care and other essentials is weighing millions of families down, but instead of tackling the affordability crisis, President Trump and Republicans have chosen to shower their billionaire donors with trillions of dollars in new tax breaks and kick 17 million Americans off their health care,” said Senator Patty Murray. “It’s an outrageous betrayal, and instead of wasting billions on handouts for the richest people on earth, Democrats are going to keep fighting to help working families afford the basics and get ahead—including by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act to ensure every family can find and afford the child care they need. Just about everyone now recognizes how urgent an issue the child care crisis is—and how badly it hurts families and our economy—so I invite my Republican colleagues to join us to finally deliver the actual reform we need to address this crisis. This is an ambitious and commonsense plan to build child care centers, hire and retain more early childhood educators, and make sure every family can afford child care—with the typical family paying less than $15 a day. Not only that, we’d finally set this country on the path to universal Pre-K. People actually want Congress to do this—don’t tell me we can’t afford to invest in child care and bring down costs for every family after Republicans just blew up the national debt to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them.”

    “Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.”

    As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, kick Americans off their health care, cut kids off from nutrition assistance, and raise costs on everyday essentials for working families, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet—including by tackling the child care crisis. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In 49 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent—and in 41 states and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. Nonetheless, President Trump has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—which may well force states to pare back on their own investments in child care. While two-thirds of Americans oppose Republicans’ Big Beautiful Betrayal that President Trump signed into law earlier this month, over three-quarters of Americans support increased investment to help families afford child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, which Murray and Scott have introduced every Congress since 2017, the typical family in America will pay no more than $15 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

    “Families should not have to break the bank to afford child care. Democrats are fighting to ensure working families can access the child care they need, and that hardworking child care workers get paid what they deserve,” said Leader Chuck Schumer. “Republicans have a different priority – giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, paid for by cutting health care and food assistance for millions of families. The contrast couldn’t be clearer and Republicans couldn’t be crueler. We hope Republicans will join us in moving forward legislation that will actually help working people and invest in kids and families.”

    “Child care enables parents to work and kids to thrive. But right now, it’s impossibly expensive,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “In the richest nation on earth, no parent should have to choose between groceries and child care. Under this bill, the typical family will pay no more than $15 a day for care. Ultimately, this bill is about giving every family a fair shot at the American Dream. I want my Republican colleagues to look parents in the eye and explain how they can oppose that.”

    “The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.”

    “Throughout our country, too many working and middle class families struggle to find access to high-quality, affordable child care, forcing parents to make tough sacrifices for their children,” said Senator Mazie Hirono. “Child care is essential to the strength of our communities, and every family should be able to access the affordable care they need and deserve. That’s why I am proud to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide a long-term investment in our children as an important step forward in tackling our country’s child care crisis.”

    “Parents and working families are struggling under an affordability crisis being made worse by the Trump administration — many without any childcare options they can afford or reasonably get their kids to every day,” said Senator Andy Kim. “This bill is the comprehensive reform we need to tackle the childcare shortage, deliver families immediate relief, and make sure we better support the workers who go above and beyond to deliver this high-quality care.”

    “We are experiencing a child care crisis in this country. Child care—if folks can even find it—is pushing families into poverty, and Trump’s Big Ugly bill will only exacerbate the struggles our families are dealing with,” said Representative Summer Lee. “The Child Care for Working Families Act is a means to putting an end to this crisis. We have to make sure families have access to child care slots, that no family spends more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that all early childhood educators make a livable wage. I am grateful for Ranking Member Bobby Scott and Senator Patty Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to seeing it over the finish line.”

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families.
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay less than $15 a day for child care.
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

    In the Senate, the bill is cosponsored by 44 Senators: Senators Murray, Kaine, Hirono, Kim, Schumer, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Blunt Rochester, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Kelly, King, Klobuchar, Lujan, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Peters, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schatz, Schiff, Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Welch, Whitehouse, Wyden.

    In the House, the bill is cosponsored by 83 lawmakers: Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05), Summer Lee (PA-12), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Betty McCollum (MN-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Seth Moulton (MA-06), William R. Keating (MA-09), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Judy Chu (CA-28), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Adam Smith (WA-09), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Dina Titus (NV-01), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), and Sharice Davids (KS-03).

    A fact sheet on the legislation is available HERE.

    Text of the legislation if available HERE.

    “As Child Care Aware of America’s report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply shows, in every region of the country, there are far too many families that do not have access to affordable and high-quality child care. The high price of child care is often one of the largest household expenses for families. And yet, our educators and programs struggle to make ends meet. Current federal investment in child care is not meeting the needs faced by families across the country. The Child Care for Working Families Act would help ensure more families have access to high-quality and affordable child care,” said Child Care Aware of America.

    “For far too long, children, families, and providers have borne the burden of a broken child care sector. The Child Care for Working Families Act would make access to child care more equitable and affordable for families across the country while also better valuing and compensating the child care workforce. Families need relief from untenable child care prices. Children need reliable education and care settings. Providers need increased education supports, consistent employment, and higher wages. This bill will deliver necessary improvements to America’s child care sector,” said Wendy Chun-Hoon, President and Executive Director, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

    “Recognizing  and supporting child care as a true public good simply requires the political will from our elected leaders because the political will from families across the country is already there. Americans agree we should have equal opportunities to engage in the workforce regardless of gender and parental status and making that a reality shouldn’t break the bank for families. I want to thank Senator Murray, Rep. Scott and the child care champions leading the way on the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill builds on the excellent foundation of its previous iterations, incorporates lessons from the pandemic, ARPA, and the experience of nearly achieving historic child care and early learning policy during the Build Back Better debate. Children, families, and America’s economic growth cannot wait,” said TCF Senior Fellow and Director of Women’s Economic Justice Julie Kashen.

    “Making child care more affordable isn’t just good for families—it’s essential for a thriving economy, strong businesses, and vibrant communities,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. “Instead of working to pass legislation that will increase costs for families while giving tax breaks to billionaires, Congress should pass the Child Care for Working Families Act. This billwould lower costs for families, raise wages for early educators, and tackle the child care crisis head on.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Statement on Federal Arrests of Spokane Residents for Protests Against ICE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ICYMI from June: Senator Murray Statement on Protests in Response to Immigration Arrests in Spokane

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the news, reported by the Spokesman-Review, that federal agents arrested and searched the homes of Spokane residents who took part in a protests in Spokane on June 11th. The protests in June were sparked by the sudden detention of two asylum-seekers whose work visas were abruptly revoked days before.

    “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice.

    “If you are as angry as I am about Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel assault on immigrants, we need to speak out peacefully against inhumane policies. We lose our democracy when our voices fall silent.

    “Let’s be perfectly clear about Trump’s unconstitutional immigration crackdown: he is diverting limited federal resources away from pursuing violent criminals to instead round up individuals with no criminal record—and now, apparently, he’s going after peaceful protestors as well. We cannot be silent and I will be contacting DOJ directly regarding this gross abuse of federal resources.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Statement on Federal Arrests of Spokane Residents for Protests Against ICE

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    ICYMI from June: Senator Murray Statement on Protests in Response to Immigration Arrests in Spokane

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the news, reported by the Spokesman-Review, that federal agents arrested and searched the homes of Spokane residents who took part in a protests in Spokane on June 11th. The protests in June were sparked by the sudden detention of two asylum-seekers whose work visas were abruptly revoked days before.

    “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights—whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice.

    “If you are as angry as I am about Trump’s unconstitutional and cruel assault on immigrants, we need to speak out peacefully against inhumane policies. We lose our democracy when our voices fall silent.

    “Let’s be perfectly clear about Trump’s unconstitutional immigration crackdown: he is diverting limited federal resources away from pursuing violent criminals to instead round up individuals with no criminal record—and now, apparently, he’s going after peaceful protestors as well. We cannot be silent and I will be contacting DOJ directly regarding this gross abuse of federal resources.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Peters, Merkley Sound Alarm on Potential Purging of Eligible Voters Through DHS Database

    US Senate News:

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

    Padilla, Peters, Merkley Sound Alarm on Potential Purging of Eligible Voters Through DHS Database

    Senators to DHS Secretary Noem: “As Secretary, you have a responsibility to assure the public that the Department is acting appropriately to protect citizens’ rights and personally identifiable data.”

    Senators criticize DHS for briefing election denier groups, but not Congress on uses of database on voting records

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) expressed serious concerns that recent changes to and the expanded use of the insufficiently tested Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program could purge eligible citizens from state voter rolls.

    In addition to President Trump’s attempts to create obstacles to the ballot box through his anti-voter “election integrity” executive order earlier this year, DHS overhauled the program to verify the citizenship of voters on state voter rolls over false concerns of noncitizen voting. However, the Administration’s political agenda and data quality issues could lead to the erroneous disenfranchisement of eligible voters. The Senators warned that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not conducted sufficient testing to root out errors and false positives that could make the SAVE program ready for widespread use by states to determine voter eligibility, independent of other databases.

    They also criticized DHS’ lack of transparency surrounding the program’s operations and safeguards. More than 9 million records have already been run through the new SAVE program with little to no transparency.

    “States and nonpartisan voter advocacy organizations have expressed concerns with using the SAVE program as a standalone tool to determine voter eligibility without adequate safeguards,” wrote the Senators. “In particular, there are concerns that data quality issues may cause state and local officials who rely on the program to receive false positives or incomplete results. This means state and local officials must take on additional burdens to verify SAVE’s results and to ensure that eligible Americans are not denied their right to cast a ballot.”

    “Public transparency and assurances that the Department is appropriately protecting citizens’ rights, including privacy, is extremely important,” continued the Senators. “Unfortunately, DHS has not issued any of the routine and required documentation about the program’s operations and safeguards or issued any public notice or notice to Congress. … It has been reported that the Department is apparently preparing to urge all state election officials to use this program but has not provided these officials with any briefings about its capabilities or safeguards.”

    The Senators expressed particular concern with the fact that DHS briefed the Election Integrity Network — an organization founded by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election — on the changes to the SAVE program before providing information to lawmakers or the public. They requested that the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and HSGAC receive any materials shared with external organizations as well as a briefing on these changes to the SAVE program.

    Additionally, the Senators reiterated a series of questions for the record that Padilla previously asked USCIS Director nominee Joseph Edlow about the SAVE program. After receiving no substantive response from Edlow, the Senators asked Secretary Noem to respond to the same questions by July 29, 2025.

    Senator Padilla led 11 Senators in introducing the Defending America’s Future Elections Act to repeal Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order and prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive voter registration data and state records. Padilla previously led 14 Democratic Senators in calling on Trump to revoke his illegal anti-voter executive order and issued a statement slamming the order when it was announced.

    Full text of the letter is available here and below:

    We are seeking information regarding the recent overhaul of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which the Department has apparently undertaken with the goal of expanding the program to verify citizenship of voters on state voter rolls. 

    States and nonpartisan voter advocacy organizations have expressed concerns with using the SAVE program as a standalone tool to determine voter eligibility without adequate safeguards. In particular, there are concerns that data quality issues may cause state and local officials who rely on the program to receive false positives or incomplete results. This means state and local officials must take on additional burdens to verify SAVE’s results and to ensure that eligible Americans are not denied their right to cast a ballot. 

    Public transparency and assurances that the Department is appropriately protecting citizens’ rights, including privacy, is extremely important. Unfortunately, DHS has not issued any of the routine and required documentation about the program’s operations and safeguards or issued any public notice or notice to Congress. Recent reports indicate that the Department of Homeland Security has run more than 9 million voter records through the new SAVE system. It has been reported that the Department is apparently preparing to urge all state election officials to use this program but has not provided these officials with any briefings about its capabilities or safeguards.

    We are also gravely concerned that the Department has not shared information with lawmakers and the public, but did reportedly provide a private advance briefing about the changes to the database to the Election Integrity Network, an organization founded by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

    We request that USCIS brief the staff of the Senate Committees on Rules and Administration and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and provide any other materials that have been shared with external organizations like EIN about the updates to the SAVE program.

    Further, Ranking Member Padilla previously posed a series of nomination hearing questions for the record to Joseph Edlow, the nominee to be Director of USCIS about the SAVE program but received no substantive responses in his reply. Given Mr. Edlow’s lack of response and the impact the use of this program will have on the American people, we are once again seeking complete and substantive answers to similar questions from you. As the program continues to be in use, we respectfully seek responses no later than July 29, 2025.

    1) What level of access to the SAVE program and the underlying data that feeds into it was provided to staff of the Department of Government Efficiency?

    a) What precautions, if any, were taken to ensure the integrity of the SAVE program and the data it accesses were not compromised?

    b) In initiating your changes, what if any notice did you provide to the public on data privacy?

    c) Will you commit that going forward USCIS will review and monitor all the user access, usage, and other relevant data related by all personnel to the SAVE program to ensure that individuals’ data is not compromised and compliance with the Privacy Act? 

    2) USCIS has announced that users can search the program using an individual’s Social Security Number, name, and date of birth. What categories of information are being shared by USCIS with the Social Security Administration, and vice versa?

    a) Does USCIS plan to segregate that data from searches that are conducted using a Department-issued identification number?

    b) Can you describe the testing USCIS has done to confirm accuracy of this expanded program? What is your accuracy rate? Is it possible to determine what percentage of US citizens could be falsely identified as non-citizens in the SAVE program?

    c) How will USCIS work to educate state and local election officials on the potential for falsely identifying individuals as noncitizens or providing inconclusive findings that can occur when using the system in the context of verifying voter eligibility?

    3) How does the Department plan to fund the SAVE program now that it is free to government agencies at the federal, state, and local level?

    a) What steps will be taken to ensure the program has the infrastructure to support this level of use, including hiring additional staff that may be needed for manual verifications to reconcile contradictory information? 

    4) Does the Department have memoranda of agreement (MOA) with each state or local agency that uses the SAVE program?

    a) If not, which agencies are using SAVE without an MOA? 

    b) Existing MOAs between USCIS and states on voting require remediation steps before a state may remove a voter from their rolls following a SAVE program’s non-confirmation of citizenship. How is USCIS actively seeking to ensure that states are in compliance with this provision of the MOA? 

    c) Will you make the MOAs public?

    5) Is the expansion of this program covered by the SAVE System of Records Notice published in 2020?

    a) If so, please provide a copy of the SAVE MOA or Computer Matching Agreement.

    b) If not, please provide any relevant interagency data-sharing or data-matching agreements between the Department and the Social Security Administration.

    6) Have you completed an updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the SAVE program. If so, please provide a copy. If not, please address:

    a) Data quality requirements and procedures

    b) Data retention and information sharing policies

    7) Does SAVE retain data from voter rolls? If so:

    a) What data elements are saved?

    b) Who within the Department has access to any saved data?

    c) How long is this data retained?

    As Secretary, you have a responsibility to assure the public that the Department is acting appropriately to protect citizens’ rights and personally identifiable data. We look forward to your prompt attention to these important questions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Peters, Merkley Sound Alarm on Potential Purging of Eligible Voters Through DHS Database

    US Senate News:

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

    Padilla, Peters, Merkley Sound Alarm on Potential Purging of Eligible Voters Through DHS Database

    Senators to DHS Secretary Noem: “As Secretary, you have a responsibility to assure the public that the Department is acting appropriately to protect citizens’ rights and personally identifiable data.”

    Senators criticize DHS for briefing election denier groups, but not Congress on uses of database on voting records

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) expressed serious concerns that recent changes to and the expanded use of the insufficiently tested Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program could purge eligible citizens from state voter rolls.

    In addition to President Trump’s attempts to create obstacles to the ballot box through his anti-voter “election integrity” executive order earlier this year, DHS overhauled the program to verify the citizenship of voters on state voter rolls over false concerns of noncitizen voting. However, the Administration’s political agenda and data quality issues could lead to the erroneous disenfranchisement of eligible voters. The Senators warned that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not conducted sufficient testing to root out errors and false positives that could make the SAVE program ready for widespread use by states to determine voter eligibility, independent of other databases.

    They also criticized DHS’ lack of transparency surrounding the program’s operations and safeguards. More than 9 million records have already been run through the new SAVE program with little to no transparency.

    “States and nonpartisan voter advocacy organizations have expressed concerns with using the SAVE program as a standalone tool to determine voter eligibility without adequate safeguards,” wrote the Senators. “In particular, there are concerns that data quality issues may cause state and local officials who rely on the program to receive false positives or incomplete results. This means state and local officials must take on additional burdens to verify SAVE’s results and to ensure that eligible Americans are not denied their right to cast a ballot.”

    “Public transparency and assurances that the Department is appropriately protecting citizens’ rights, including privacy, is extremely important,” continued the Senators. “Unfortunately, DHS has not issued any of the routine and required documentation about the program’s operations and safeguards or issued any public notice or notice to Congress. … It has been reported that the Department is apparently preparing to urge all state election officials to use this program but has not provided these officials with any briefings about its capabilities or safeguards.”

    The Senators expressed particular concern with the fact that DHS briefed the Election Integrity Network — an organization founded by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election — on the changes to the SAVE program before providing information to lawmakers or the public. They requested that the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and HSGAC receive any materials shared with external organizations as well as a briefing on these changes to the SAVE program.

    Additionally, the Senators reiterated a series of questions for the record that Padilla previously asked USCIS Director nominee Joseph Edlow about the SAVE program. After receiving no substantive response from Edlow, the Senators asked Secretary Noem to respond to the same questions by July 29, 2025.

    Senator Padilla led 11 Senators in introducing the Defending America’s Future Elections Act to repeal Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order and prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive voter registration data and state records. Padilla previously led 14 Democratic Senators in calling on Trump to revoke his illegal anti-voter executive order and issued a statement slamming the order when it was announced.

    Full text of the letter is available here and below:

    We are seeking information regarding the recent overhaul of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which the Department has apparently undertaken with the goal of expanding the program to verify citizenship of voters on state voter rolls. 

    States and nonpartisan voter advocacy organizations have expressed concerns with using the SAVE program as a standalone tool to determine voter eligibility without adequate safeguards. In particular, there are concerns that data quality issues may cause state and local officials who rely on the program to receive false positives or incomplete results. This means state and local officials must take on additional burdens to verify SAVE’s results and to ensure that eligible Americans are not denied their right to cast a ballot. 

    Public transparency and assurances that the Department is appropriately protecting citizens’ rights, including privacy, is extremely important. Unfortunately, DHS has not issued any of the routine and required documentation about the program’s operations and safeguards or issued any public notice or notice to Congress. Recent reports indicate that the Department of Homeland Security has run more than 9 million voter records through the new SAVE system. It has been reported that the Department is apparently preparing to urge all state election officials to use this program but has not provided these officials with any briefings about its capabilities or safeguards.

    We are also gravely concerned that the Department has not shared information with lawmakers and the public, but did reportedly provide a private advance briefing about the changes to the database to the Election Integrity Network, an organization founded by Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

    We request that USCIS brief the staff of the Senate Committees on Rules and Administration and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and provide any other materials that have been shared with external organizations like EIN about the updates to the SAVE program.

    Further, Ranking Member Padilla previously posed a series of nomination hearing questions for the record to Joseph Edlow, the nominee to be Director of USCIS about the SAVE program but received no substantive responses in his reply. Given Mr. Edlow’s lack of response and the impact the use of this program will have on the American people, we are once again seeking complete and substantive answers to similar questions from you. As the program continues to be in use, we respectfully seek responses no later than July 29, 2025.

    1) What level of access to the SAVE program and the underlying data that feeds into it was provided to staff of the Department of Government Efficiency?

    a) What precautions, if any, were taken to ensure the integrity of the SAVE program and the data it accesses were not compromised?

    b) In initiating your changes, what if any notice did you provide to the public on data privacy?

    c) Will you commit that going forward USCIS will review and monitor all the user access, usage, and other relevant data related by all personnel to the SAVE program to ensure that individuals’ data is not compromised and compliance with the Privacy Act? 

    2) USCIS has announced that users can search the program using an individual’s Social Security Number, name, and date of birth. What categories of information are being shared by USCIS with the Social Security Administration, and vice versa?

    a) Does USCIS plan to segregate that data from searches that are conducted using a Department-issued identification number?

    b) Can you describe the testing USCIS has done to confirm accuracy of this expanded program? What is your accuracy rate? Is it possible to determine what percentage of US citizens could be falsely identified as non-citizens in the SAVE program?

    c) How will USCIS work to educate state and local election officials on the potential for falsely identifying individuals as noncitizens or providing inconclusive findings that can occur when using the system in the context of verifying voter eligibility?

    3) How does the Department plan to fund the SAVE program now that it is free to government agencies at the federal, state, and local level?

    a) What steps will be taken to ensure the program has the infrastructure to support this level of use, including hiring additional staff that may be needed for manual verifications to reconcile contradictory information? 

    4) Does the Department have memoranda of agreement (MOA) with each state or local agency that uses the SAVE program?

    a) If not, which agencies are using SAVE without an MOA? 

    b) Existing MOAs between USCIS and states on voting require remediation steps before a state may remove a voter from their rolls following a SAVE program’s non-confirmation of citizenship. How is USCIS actively seeking to ensure that states are in compliance with this provision of the MOA? 

    c) Will you make the MOAs public?

    5) Is the expansion of this program covered by the SAVE System of Records Notice published in 2020?

    a) If so, please provide a copy of the SAVE MOA or Computer Matching Agreement.

    b) If not, please provide any relevant interagency data-sharing or data-matching agreements between the Department and the Social Security Administration.

    6) Have you completed an updated Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the SAVE program. If so, please provide a copy. If not, please address:

    a) Data quality requirements and procedures

    b) Data retention and information sharing policies

    7) Does SAVE retain data from voter rolls? If so:

    a) What data elements are saved?

    b) Who within the Department has access to any saved data?

    c) How long is this data retained?

    As Secretary, you have a responsibility to assure the public that the Department is acting appropriately to protect citizens’ rights and personally identifiable data. We look forward to your prompt attention to these important questions.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: VIDEO: During Nomination Hearing, Rosen Exposes UN Ambassador Nominee Mike Waltz for Continuing to Receive White House Salary Months After Being Removed from Role

    US Senate News:

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

    Watch the full exchange HERE.
    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, during a confirmation hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) slammed UN Ambassador nominee Mike Waltz for continuing to receive his White House salary months after being removed from his position as National Security Advisor. According to recent public reporting, Waltz was still included in the White House payroll earning an annual salary of $195,200 after his removal from the role in May.
    Below is an excerpt from the interaction:
    Senator Rosen: Congressman, I want to start with you because this morning it was reported that, despite being removed from your role as National Security Advisor in May, surprisingly you have been on the White House payroll for the last few months. Throughout this hearing, you’ve made assertions that, if confirmed, you would root out waste and unnecessary overhead at the UN. So can you confirm for us whether you have been receiving a salary from the White House since being let go at the NSA?
    Waltz: Thank you, Senator. I was not fired, the President never said that nor did the Vice President, I was kept on as an advisor, transitioning in a number of important activities and now I hope to be confirmed.
    Senator Rosen: You’re saying you were not dismissed from your role as was publicly reported? Because it’s also been publicly reported that you’ve been receiving almost $200,000 of taxpayer money since you were dismissed from being the national security advisor.
    Waltz: Uh the reporting, Senator, is fake news which shouldn’t surprise anyone, you know the President was clear he said I will nominate Mr. Waltz and the Vice President was quite clear–
    Senator Rosen: Fake news can’t be the answer to everything.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 07.15.2025 ICYMI: Sen. Cruz Secures Historic School Choice Wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Texas Ted Cruz

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, National Review spotlighted Senator Cruz’s leadership in securing two landmark school choice provisions in the One Big, Beautiful Bill, which together make the bill the most significant federal school choice legislation ever signed into law. One measure expands previous language drafted and written into law by Sen. Cruz in 2017, and dramatically expands the ability of parents to use 529 accounts for their children’s education. The other measure allows eligible taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit for contributions up to $1,700 per year to scholarship-granting nonprofits.

    From National Review: Inside Ted Cruz’s Reconciliation Fight for School-Choice Tax Credits
    In the lead-up to the July 4 holiday, Ted Cruz found himself in a rare position for a sitting U.S. senator: Arguing his case directly to the Senate parliamentarian. A school-choice provision Cruz proposed was on the verge of being cut from this year’s reconciliation package.
    Up until that point the Texas senator had been a reliable “yes” vote on reconciliation. But he made clear to Senate Majority Leader John Thune that if the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) was removed from the package, he would “burn the whole bill down.”
    After a mad dash of rewrites, Cruz and his legislative team secured the passage of the national school-choice provision — a legislative victory he described to National Review in a wide-ranging interview as one of the most consequential, legacy-defining additions to Congress’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
    The ECCA will allow eligible taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit for contributions up to $1,700 per year to scholarship-granting nonprofits. Following parliamentarian pushback on the original legislative language that applied the tax credit to all fifty states, the final version of the bill lifts the cap on tax credits but allows states to opt out of the scholarship program.
    …
    But Cruz’s team worked into the bill an important distinction: states can opt out of receiving scholarships from the nonprofits, but they can’t opt out of the tax credit, which Republicans made a permanent part of the tax code in this year’s reconciliation legislation.
    …
    Until this year’s bill, Cruz’s biggest school-choice legislative achievement was the amendment he authored and passed through Congress’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The amendment allowed parents to pay for K–12 education expenses up to $10,000 per year by expanding Section 529 college-savings plans, and was at the time the most “far-reaching” piece of federal legislation on school choice, Cruz said.
    …
    Once the bill hit the Senate, Cruz had two goals for the school-choice provision: Keep it in the package, and make it more consequential.
    Read more here.
    BACKGROUND
    Sen. Cruz is the leading voice in the Senate on school choice and for parental rights in education.

    Sen. Cruz introduced the Student Empowerment Act to enhance 529 College Savings Plans to help public, private, religious, and homeschool students and families and the Universal School Choice Act to allow for up to $10 billion annually in dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits for individuals and businesses that contribute to nonprofit scholarship granting organizations supporting students’ educational opportunities.

    Sen. Cruz authored and passed into law the Student Opportunity Amendment as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This amendment expanded 529 College Savings Plans to include K-12 elementary and secondary school tuition for public, private, and religious schools. It was at the time the most far-reaching federal school choice legislation ever passed.

    Sen. Cruz filed the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The bill creates a federal tax credit for taxpayers who donate to scholarship organizations supporting post-secondary workforce education, including trade schools and apprenticeship programs, and K-12 education.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine, Scott and Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Make Child Care More Affordable

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in introducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need. The average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29 percent increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers.

    “The child care crisis is holding our families, businesses, and economy back,” said Kaine. “I’ve heard from parents in every corner of Virginia about how they’re being locked out of the workforce because they can’t find affordable care for their kids, and from passionate child care workers who are pressured to leave their field because of low wages. Especially as we contend with the economic chaos and uncertainty caused by President Trump, Congress can and must do more to address this issue and put affordable care within reach. By raising salaries for low-wage child care employees and capping child care costs at seven percent of working families’ incomes, we can make child care more accessible and affordable, support passionate workers in the field, and strengthen our economy.”

    “Our economy forces too many workers to choose between their jobs and caring for their children. Without investments in the care economy, jobs will remain unfilled because too many workers, especially women, will have to remain at home and our economy will never reach its full potential,” said Ranking Member Scott. “Let’s be clear. The child care crisis cannot be solved without sustained public funding. The Child Care for Working Families Act makes the investments we need to turn our child care system around and meet the needs of children, parents, and child care workers. We must finally pass this bill and expand access to affordable, quality early learning opportunities, provide child care workers with the support they deserve, and give parents the freedom to pursue rewarding careers and contribute to our economic growth.”

    In 49 states—including Virginia—and the District of Columbia, the average annual costs of child care for two children exceeds median rent. And in 41 states, including Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the cost of care for one infant exceeds in-state university tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year. This crisis could worsen as the Trump Administration has gutted oversight of and support for the federal child care office, held up child care funding to states, held up Head Start funding, and now created massive holes in states’ budgets with the GOP partisan megabill’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. These cuts could force states to pare back on their own investments in child care.

    The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

    • Make child care affordable for working families.
      • The typical family earning the state median income will pay about $10 a day for child care. 
      • No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
      • Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
      • Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
      • Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
      • Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
      • Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
    • Support higher wages for child care workers.
      • Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
      • Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.
    • Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
      • States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
      • States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
      • If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.
    • Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

    Kaine has long pushed to expand access to child care. Earlier this year, he introduced the bipartisan Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act—bipartisan, bicameral legislation that form a bold proposal to make child care more affordable and accessible by strengthening existing tax credits to lower child care costs and increase the supply of child care providers. Provisions from the legislation were signed into law by President Trump in July 2025. In 2023, Kaine introduced the Child Care Stabilization Act to expand vital child care funding to help providers keep their doors open. He has also introduced bipartisan legislation to develop, administer, and evaluate early childhood education apprenticeships.

    In addition to Kaine and Murray, the legislation is co-led in the Senate by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) and cosponsored by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).

    In addition to Scott, the legislation is co-led in the House by Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA-05) and Representative Summer Lee (D-PA-12) and is cosponsored by Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Melanie A. Stansbury (NM-01), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), André Carson (IN-07), Kathy Castor (FL-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Katherine M. Clark (MA-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Hillary J. Scholten (MI-03), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Troy A. Carter (LA-02), Mark Pocan (WI-02), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Betty McCollum (MN-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Jill N. Tokuda (HI-02), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Seth Moulton (MA-06), William R. Keating (MA-09), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Judy Chu (CA-28), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Adam Smith (WA-09), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Dina Titus (NV-01), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Sean Casten (IL-06), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (VA-08), and Sharice Davids (KS-03).

    A fact sheet on the legislation is available here.

    Text of the legislation if available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall Hosts HHS Secretary Kennedy & USDA Secretary Rollins for First ‘MAHA’ Roundtable

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
    Washington – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) hosted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, alongside farmers from across the country and agriculture experts, for the inaugural Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) roundtable on Capitol Hill. The conversation centered on how agriculture aligns with the MAHA movement, emphasizing the critical role of soil health in producing nutrient-dense food.
    “As a fifth-generation Kansas farm kid and a physician, I recognize that producing nutrient-dense foods for a healthier America starts with healthy soil,” said Senator Marshall. “Today, I was privileged to welcome Secretary Kennedy, Secretary Rollins, farmers, and agriculture experts from across the country to Capitol Hill for the first MAHA roundtable. Focused on soil health, I believe healthy soil leads to healthy food and healthy people, fostering a healthier America. MAHA will thrive due to the dedication, collaboration, and partnership of those who joined us today.”
    “America’s farmers and ranchers are not just stakeholders in this fight—they are the foundation of it,” Secretary Kennedy said. “I was proud to join Senator Marshall and Secretary Rollins today to meet directly with ranchers, farmers, and agricultural experts who are driving our shared mission to Make America Healthy Again.”
    “Farmers are at the heart of the Trump Administration’s mission to Make America Healthy Again. Thank you to Senator Marshall for gathering our great farmers and ranchers to discuss the role soil health plays in growing healthy foods. I look forward to continuing to support American agriculture as producers work towards healthier, more fertile soil,” said Secretary Rollins.
    Click HERE for additional photos.
    Background:
    As chair of the Senate Agriculture subcommittee on Conservation, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology, Senator Marshall has long fought for better agriculture practices and healthier foods in America. He is also the founder of both the MAHA Caucus and the Food is Medicine Caucus.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kennedy ahead of vote on rescissions: “You either believe in reducing spending, or you don’t”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)

    Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

    WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor: 

    “I think most people—most adults anyway—understand that, in life, what you say doesn’t really matter. It’s what you do that demonstrates what you believe, and that’s certainly true in politics, and that’s certainly true in Washington, D.C. . . .

    “Now, President Trump—whether you voted for him or not, whether you like him or not—ran on a platform of reducing the size of government, and the people elected him. And since day one, the president has been—if you paid attention to the news—he’s been working very hard to reduce government spending. And he’s reduced a lot. He started out with a [Department of Government Efficiency] program with Mr. Elon Musk. Mr. Musk, of course, has left. But the quest to reduce government spending, wasteful government spending, which I call spending porn, continues.

    “Every Republican in the U.S. Senate has voiced approval of what the president has done. Every Republican—every one of my colleagues, myself included—has said to the president, ‘Atta boy, Mr. President. Go get them. Keep issuing those executive orders. Reduce the spending. We’re spending too much money. We’ve got a $37 trillion debt. Keep going, Mr. President.’

    “And the president has, but he’s been doing it through executive order. There’s only so much you can do through executive order. . . .  And now my colleagues and I have an opportunity to really support the president.

    “I don’t know if this bill is going to pass. . . . But I want to put this in context: After all of us on my side of the aisle telling the world that we need to reduce spending, if we vote against this rescission package and refuse to reduce spending by one-tenth of one percent of the budget, we ought to hide our heads in a bag. . . . 

    “I’m going to read you some of the appropriations that the president is asking us to eliminate from the current budget, and you be the judge. Let the American people decide. 

    “The president is asking us to eliminate $5.1 million of taxpayer money in the American budget and the federal budget that is there to ‘strengthen the resilience of queer global movements.’ . . . $3 million for circumcision, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia. I didn’t make this stuff up. It’s in the budget. . . . $3.6 million for pastry cooking classes, cybercafes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti.

    “How many Americans, Mr. President, do you think we should be spending their money to fund male prostitutes in Haiti? But there it is in our budget, bigger than Dallas. And the president is saying cut it out. $6.2 million for Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. $500,000 to buy Rwanda electric buses. 

    “I love Rwanda. If they want electric buses, they have got a budget. $300,000 for a pride parade in Lesotho. $300,000 for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex advocacy in Uganda. $500,000 for biodiversity in Peru. 

    “I could keep going. I could go the rest of the day and the night. Now I know what you’re thinking: How in God’s name, on God’s green earth did this spending porn get in the federal budget? Why would Congress put it there? I’m going to tell you why: We didn’t.

    “When we pass a budget, we pass budgets based on programs or agendas or line items. . . . Congress didn’t vote to spend $3 million on sexual reproductive health in Venezuela. We voted for a program that the bureaucrats took and spent on sexual health and reproductive health in Venezuela.

    “That’s not an excuse, but I get that question all the time. Why did Congress vote to do this? We didn’t. The bureaucracy did. It’s a giant rogue beast. But the point is: Trump caught it, and his people caught it, and the president is saying, ‘Get rid of it.’

    “We’d be better off taking all of this money that I just talked about and spending it on scratch tickets and blackjack. At least taxpayers might have a chance of getting a return. That’s how out of control this is. But if you listen to some of my colleagues, ‘Oh my God. If we cut this spending porn, civilization is going to melt.’

    “Now, there’s one other thing in our budget that the president is asking us to cut: He’s asking us to cut a little over $1 billion for what I will call public broadcasting. . . . The president and CEO of NPR thinks that America is ‘addicted to white supremacy.’ She has denounced the use of the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl.’ She said that is ‘erasing language’ for nonbinary people. She contends that the U.S. was founded on the basis of ‘black plunder and white democracy’ That’s who’s running the show over there. . . .

    “NPR and PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are entitled to publish and broadcast what they publish, but not on the taxpayer’s dime. . . . We don’t fund CNN. We don’t fund Fox News. We don’t fund newspapers. Why are we funding PBS and NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?

    “And all the president is saying, ‘I don’t want you to do that anymore, Congress. I don’t want you to fund any form of media. PBS, for example, is right to publish what they want, but Congress shouldn’t give them taxpayer money to do it. Let them go raise money in the private sector.’ And the president’s right. 

    “The president is absolutely right, and that’s all this rescission bill is going to do, Mr. President. It’s going to bring a little bit of sanity back to our appropriations process. . . . What you do is what you believe, and everything else is just cottage cheese. . . . I listened to all of my Republican colleagues encourage the president and say, ‘That’s great. We’ve got to reduce spending.’

    “Well, here’s your chance. It’s gut-check time. You either believe in reducing spending, or you don’t. You either support spending porn or you don’t. We’re going to find out who does and who doesn’t here in about three or four hours.”

    Watch Kennedy’s speech here.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senate Intelligence Committee Passes Intelligence Authorization Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Arkansas Tom Cotton
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    July 15, 2025
    CONTACT:     
    Caroline Tabler (Cotton) 202 224-2353Patrick McCann (Cotton) 202 224-2353Rachel Cohen (Warner) 202 228-6884
    Senate Intelligence Committee Passes Intelligence Authorization Act
    Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statements after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (IAA) today on a bipartisan 15-2 vote. The bill authorizes funding, provides legal authorities, and enhances oversight of national security threats and our United States Intelligence Community.
    “I’d like to thank my colleagues for their tireless work on this bill that will go a long way towards keeping America safer and making the intelligence agencies charged with doing so more transparent and efficient. I am pleased this bill includes needed reforms and restructuring to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, restricts the travel of adversarial diplomats inside the United States, and protects Intelligence Community installations by adding further reviews to nearby land purchases which safeguards them against drone threats. This bill passed out of committee on a bipartisan basis and I hope my colleagues will support its passage by the full Senate,” said Senator Cotton.
    “This bipartisan bill provides the Intelligence Community the resources it needs to do its mission while ensuring that we maintain rigorous oversight of the IC’s activities. This year’s IAA responds to important concerns, including by enhancing protections for whistleblowers, and also safeguards our Nation’s critical infrastructure in the wake of the Salt Typhoon compromises.  At the same time, it readies the IC for the future by promoting IC energy resiliency through the deployment of nuclear technologies and enhancing the IC’s ability to detect and counter threats relating to biotechnologies and bioweapons,” said Senator Warner. 
    The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 will:
    Significantly reform and improve efficiencies and effectiveness within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the broader Intelligence Community;
    Require that visas be denied to certain nationals applying to work at the United Nations if they are known or suspected of being foreign intelligence officers or committing intelligence or espionage activities;
    Prohibit the Intelligence Community from contracting with Chinese military companies engaged in biotechnology research, development, or manufacturing;
    Codify tour and travel restrictions for Chinese, Russian Iranian and North Korean diplomats in the United States;
    Improve the Intelligence Community’s artificial intelligence capabilities and capacity and establish guidelines for the IC’s procurement and use of artificial intelligence;
    Shores up counter-intelligence risks posed by Salt Typhoon compromises of U.S. telecommunications infrastructure by leveraging IC procurement power;
    Strengthen the security of telecommunications networks by establish baseline cybersecurity requirements for vendors of telecommunications services to the IC;
    Establish authorities for protecting Central Intelligence Agency facilities from unmanned aircraft systems;
    Require the Intelligence Community to develop a policy for sharing biotechnological threats with U.S. agencies, allies, and private-sector partners, including on PRC efforts to acquire genomic data;
    Require the Director of National Intelligence to identify sites for deployment of advanced nuclear technologies;
    Establish a fund to support IC efforts to acquire and integrate emerging technologies proven to meet mission needs;
    Prohibit Intelligence Community contractors from collecting or selling Intelligence Community personnel location data;
    Support the Intelligence Community workforce by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to issue standard guidelines for Intelligence Community personnel to document and report Anomalous Health Incidents; 
    Enhance protections for, and congressional oversight of, Intelligence Community whistleblowers;
    Require the Director of National Intelligence to enhance efforts to counter narcotics trafficking with the Government of Mexico;
    Promote transparency by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a declassification review and publish intelligence relating to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic;
    Streamline the construction of Intelligence Community facilities;
    Amend the Spectrum Relocation Fund authorization to clarify eligibility for Title 50 agencies that utilize spectrum and whose usage could be impacted by future reallocation decisions;
    Protect Americans’ privacy by statutorily requiring procedures governing the dissemination of U.S. identities and corresponding reporting requirements, as well as prohibits the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis from collecting intelligence on Americans; and
    Provide additional reviews for foreign purchases of land near IC facilities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reed Helps Introduce Consumer OPT-IN Act Designed to Ease Unsubscribing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
    WASHINGTON, DC – When it comes to companies offering ‘free trials’ for subscription services, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says they should actually be free.  And when it comes time to cancel unwanted recurring subscriptions, Senator Reed says it should be just as simple to cancel as it was to sign up.
    Today, Reed joined U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in introducing the Consumer Online Payment Transparency and Integrity (Consumer OPT-IN) Act to halt the use of unfair and deceptive practices in ‘negative option marketing’ (where consumers enroll in subscription plans that automatically renew unless consumers actively opt out before a given renewal).  This legislation would help protect consumers from online ‘free trial’ scams and hard-to-cancel recurring-payment programs by requiring companies with customers on recurring payment programs to offer easy online cancellation.
    The bill puts the onus on companies, not consumers, when it comes to extending subscriptions and memberships, including requiring a shift from “opt-out” conditions to “opt-in.” 
    The lawmakers say Congress must act in the wake of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruling last week that vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 2023 ‘click to cancel’ rule, which would have taken effect today and complemented this legislation by making it easier to get out of unwanted subscriptions. As a result of this ruling, businesses are free to continue using deceitful practices that trap consumers into making recurring payments that they never intended to make – underscoring the need to codify into law the “opt-in” requirements in this legislation.
    “While companies have made it easier than ever to sign up for subscription-based services, too many Americans know the frustration of jumping through endless hoops to get out of them. Corporate special interests are pushing to preserve the status quo so they can pad their profits by keeping consumers locked into unwanted subscriptions, but we will keep fighting back. Our legislation puts consumers in control – offering them an easy way out of subscription traps and holding companies accountable for these deceptive practices,” said Senator Van Hollen.
    “This legislation will make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions they don’t want. The process of enrolling and cancelling should be equally simple: If one click can sign you up, then you should be able to cancel with one click too,” said Senator Reed. “Simplifying the process for ending ‘free trials’ or unwanted subscriptions will save consumers real money.  This bill will get rid of needless cancellation hurdles, hold corporations accountable, and save consumers time, money, and peace of mind.”
    Companies increasingly use free trial offers and unclear terms and conditions to trap consumers into subscriptions. Additionally, companies often use software and interfaces that subtly trick users, called dark patterns, making it harder for consumers to end these subscriptions and stop unwanted charges. While the FTC has dedicated significant resources to combatting the worst of these business practices, resulting in at least $110 million worth of refunds returned to consumers over the past five years, more action is needed. To more effectively deter companies from employing these practices and better protect and inform consumers, the Consumer OPT-IN Act would limit the use of deceptive tactics and impose stricter notification requirements on companies.
    To better protect and inform consumers, the Consumer OPT-IN Act would limit the use of deceptive tactics and impose stricter notification requirements on companies. It will protect consumers from deceptive free trials and marketing tactics by:
    •           Requiring companies to get express informed consent from consumers before converting free trials into automatically renewing contracts and charging consumers;
    •           Requiring companies to notify consumers of the first automatic renewal and obtain express informed consent from consumers before automatically renewing long term contracts;
    •           Requiring that companies offering contracts that automatically renew on a short-term basis get express informed consent from consumers annually;
    •           Requiring companies that have knowledge that a consumer isn’t using their products or service for 6 months to get the consumer’s express informed consent to continue billing, and allowing consumers to request a refund for the remaining portion of the contract;
    •           Providing consumers with refunds when violations occur;
    •           Giving the FTC rulemaking authority over negative option contracts, automatic renewals, and dark patterns.
    In addition to Van Hollen and Reed, the bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
    The Consumer OPT-IN Act has been endorsed by Public Citizen, National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Action, Americans for Financial Reform, and American Economic Liberties Project.
    Consumers who feel they have been unfairly charged for an unwanted subscription or if a company used deceptive tactics to prevent them from cancelling may report it to the FTC: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
    Companion legislation is being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz fights Trump-backed NOAA staffing cuts

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
    WASHINGTON >> Members of Congress are expressing renewed support for the nation’s weather forecasting system after deadly flooding in Texas and elsewhere put the focus on cuts within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
    The Trump administration proposed cutting NOAA’s fiscal 2026 budget to $4.5 billion — a 27%, nearly $1.7 billion reduction from the estimated fiscal 2025 spending.
    But Senate appropriators from both parties highlighted the importance of NOAA, and particularly the National Weather Service housed within it, in a meeting last week.
    During the Senate Appropriations Committee’s markup of its draft fiscal 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science bill on July 10, Subcommittee Chair Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said the bill would spare the NWS from the proposed cuts.
    “NOAA, and particularly the National Weather Service, is a hugely important component of what this bill funds, and this bill recognizes that importance,” said Moran, adding that the “bill fully funds the (NWS) for purposes of employing people who work” and eliminates any reduction in the workforce.
    Moran said the language would require the Trump administration to maintain staffing at levels necessary to fill statutory obligations and would increase the appropriation by $10 million to accomplish that goal. Moran didn’t provide a topline figure and the committee hasn’t yet released its draft text or bill summary.
    Sen Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, expressed concern that the bill still gave too much discretion to the Office of Management and Budget to determine whether the agency has too many employees. He offered an amendment that would require the administration to maintain staffing at the same levels as they were on Sept. 30, 2024. The panel rejected the amendment along party lines.
    “It’s clear to me that this administration has already made the judgment that the National Weather Service has too many human beings,” said Schatz.
    The committee ultimately didn’t complete work on the bill last week due to an unrelated disagreement over the future of a proposed FBI campus in Maryland.
    House Republicans, meanwhile, released their version of the fiscal 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill on Monday. The bill includes a cut of $387 million, or 6%, for NOAA, taking its budget to $5.8 billion in fiscal 2026, according to the GOP summary.
    The House C-J-S Appropriations Subcommittee approved the measure for full committee consideration on a 9-6 vote today.
    Staffing ‘a top priority’
    The issue of staffing at NOAA also came up in the confirmation hearing for Neil Jacobs, Trump’s nominee to lead NOAA, in the Senate Commerce Committee on July 10. Ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said NOAA has lost nearly 1,900 employees, with 3,000 vacancies due to firings of probationary employees and buyouts, since Trump took office.
    “If confirmed, I will ensure that staffing the weather service offices is a top priority,” said Jacobs. “It’s really important for the people to be there because they have relationships with the people in the local community. They’re a trusted source.”
    Jacobs said he supported the administration’s proposal to cut NOAA’s budget by 27% in fiscal 2026, adding the cuts could be implemented by shifting work from the research to operations without impacting “mission essential functions” at the NWS.
    Monica Medina, principal deputy secretary for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA during the Obama administration and now a distinguished fellow with the environmental group Conservation International, said cuts to research would have significant implications for operations.
    “Artificial intelligence is only as good as the data you put in it,” Medina said in an interview. “We need science and research and data to inform our weather forecasts now and in the future, and what we’re doing is taking apart a system that was getting better and better and better, and putting ourselves at greater risk. And the impact on people is real and the forecast will be less accurate.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz grills Hegseth, calls on Republicans to kill the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
    U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, upped his criticism of the Trump administration Wednesday, grilling Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine about the deployment of National Guard and U.S. Marine personnel to quell protests in Los Angeles during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing. He called on Republicans to kill the president’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” in a speech from the Senate floor. 
    At the subcommittee hearing, Schatz asked Caine if, in fact, the United States was being invaded by a foreign nation or if a rebellion was occurring, to which Caine responded: “I do not see any state-sponsored folks invading. There’s definitely some frustrated folks out there.” 
    Turning to Hegseth, Schatz asked, “Did you just potentially mobilize every Guard everywhere and every service member everywhere? I mean, create the framework for that?” 
    Hegseth, a frequent target of Schatz’s criticism dating back to his initial appointment, responded that the deployments were a preemptive move should protests expand to other areas.
    Schatz was more direct in his condemnation of the deployments in his Senate speech, repeating earlier accusations that the real purpose of the military intervention is to shift public attention away from a Republican legislative package he said would gut Medicaid and cut off food assistance for children and families while delivering a $600 billion tax cut for large corporations and the nation’s wealthiest 1%.
    “Trump does what he always does. He creates a spectacle out of nowhere in order to distract people from what is actually happening,” Schatz said. “They are cutting Medicaid. They are slashing nutritional assistance for children and families. They are jacking up everyone’s health insurance premiums and energy bills.”
    The Trump administration has maintained that the bill would in fact benefit nearly all Americans.
    In “50 Wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” an overview of benefits posted to the White House website, the administration claimed the legislation would deliver the largest tax cut in American history, with Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 paying about 15% less in taxes.
    And as the bill would make tax cuts initiated during Trump’s first term in office permanent, Americans would also be spared what the administration claimed would be “the largest tax increase in history.”
    Schatz pushed back at the administration’s claims.
    “Here’s what’s going to happen if Republicans pass this bill,” he said. “Anyone making $4 million a year or more will get a very nice tax break, and the more you make, the more you’ll get. So, if you’re a millionaire, you get close to $70,000. But if you’re a billionaire, you’re looking at $300,000. 
    “Now, if you’re wondering, ‘Well, what about me? I’m not a billionaire or a millionaire. What do I get?’” he continued. “Well, next to nothing. Worse than that, you’re going to be subsidizing these enormous tax cuts with cuts to your benefits and services 16 million Americans, including 60,000 people in the state of Hawaii, will lose coverage through Medicaid because of these cuts, meaning even when people get really sick, they’re going to avoid going to the hospital and buying medication because they cannot afford it. And then they’re going to turn to emergency care because they have no choice.”
    Schatz also noted controversial provisions tucked into the bill, including one that would prevent judges from taking action against people for violating court orders and another that would establish a tax credit for the purchase of gun silencers.
    “We’re going to fight as hard as we can,” Schatz told his Senate colleagues. “We’ve only got 47 votes. We need four Republicans to say ‘enough is enough.’”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Experts Agree: Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Have Been Obliterated

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    From nuclear regulators to foreign policy experts to members of the intelligence community, every knowledgeable person is in agreement that President Donald J. Trump obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities.
    International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi: “Given the power of these devices and the technical characteristics of a centrifuge, we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational, because they are fairly precise machines: there are rotors, and the vibrations [from the bombs] have completely destroyed them.”
    CIA Director John Ratcliffe: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes. This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years.”
    Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: “New intelligence confirms what @POTUS has stated numerous times: Iran’s nuclear facilities have been destroyed. If the Iranians chose to rebuild, they would have to rebuild all three facilities (Natanz, Fordow, Esfahan) entirely, which would likely take years to do. The propaganda media has deployed their usual tactic: selectively release portions of illegally leaked classified intelligence assessments (intentionally leaving out the fact that the assessment was written with “low confidence”) to try to undermine President Trump’s decisive leadership and the brave servicemen and women who flawlessly executed a truly historic mission to keep the American people safe and secure.”
    Former ODNI National Intelligence Manager for Iran Norman Roule: “I am confident that Iran has suffered a catastrophic — catastrophic — blow … and that this has set them back for a very, very long time.”
    Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove (Ret.): “It went off magnificently … They did it perfectly, so we should have … an expectation that there was significant damage.”
    Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright: “Iran can’t make centrifuges and can’t produce, in a sense, the equivalent of the gas … so their program is severely damaged.”
    President Trump: “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”
    Israel Atomic Energy Commission: “The devastating US strike on Fordo destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable. We assess that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran’s military nuclear program, has set back Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years. The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material.”
    IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir: “I can say here that the assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can also say that we set it back by years, I repeat, years.”
    Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei: “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”
    Vice President JD Vance: “I can say to the American people with great confidence that they are much further away from a nuclear program today than they were 24 hours ago. That was the objective of the mission, to destroy that Fordow nuclear site, and of course, do some damage to the other sites as well, but we feel very confident that the Fordow nuclear site was substantially set back, and that was our goal.”
    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: “Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons. Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission.”
    Secretary Hegseth: “Given the 30,000 pounds of explosions and the capability of those munitions, it was DEVASTATION underneath Fordow … Any assessment that tells you otherwise is speculating with other motives.”
    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan “Razin” Caine: “Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction. More than 125 US aircraft participated in this mission, including B2 stealth bombers, multiple flights of fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds of maintenance and operational professionals.”
    Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “The Iranian program — the nuclear program — today looks nothing like it did just a week ago … That story is a false story and it’s one that really shouldn’t be re-reported because it doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happening.”
    Secretary Rubio: “Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape … There’s no way Iran comes to the table if somehow nothing had happened. This was complete and total obliteration. They are in bad shape. They are way behind today compared to where they were just seven days ago because of what President Trump did.”
    Special Envoy Steve Witkoff: “We put 12 bunker buster bombs on Fordow. There’s no doubt that it breached the canopy, there’s no doubt that it was well within reach of the depth that these bunker buster bombs go to, and there’s no doubt that it was obliterated — so the reporting out there that in some way suggests that we did not achieve the objective is just completely preposterous.”
    Director Gabbard: “The operation was a resounding success. Our missiles were delivered precisely and accurately, obliterating key Iranian capabilities needed to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.”
    Director General Grossi: “Given the explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred. At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process. Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit. At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant was hit, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.”
    Mr. Albright: “Overall, Israel’s and U.S. attacks have effectively destroyed Iran’s centrifuge enrichment program. It will be a long time before Iran comes anywhere near the capability it had before the attack.”
    Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director Andrea Stricker: “I think that because of the massive damage and the shock wave that would have been sent by 12 Massive Ordnance Penetrators at the Fordow site, that it likely would render its centrifuges damaged or inoperable.”
    American Enterprise Institute Middle East Portfolio Manager Brian Carter: “There is no question that the bombing campaign ‘badly, badly damaged’ the three sites.”
    Institute for Science and International Security Senior Research Fellow Spencer Faragasso: “Overall, it may possibly take years for Iran to reconstitute the capabilities it lost at these facilities.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SUNDAY SHOWS: Send the One Big Beautiful Bill to President Trump’s Desk

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    This morning, Members of Congress joined President Donald J. Trump on the Sunday shows to discuss the overwhelmingly positive impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill — which will deliver unprecedented tax relief, generational welfare reform, and historic spending cuts for the American people.
    Here’s what you missed:
    President Trump on Sunday Morning Futures
    “We’re cutting $1.7 trillion … We’re going to have growth like we’ve never seen before.” (Watch)
    “It takes care of the border. There’s also No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Social Security, No Tax on Overtime.” (Watch)
    Senator Markwayne Mullin on Meet the Press
    “This cuts spending. It’s the largest deficit cut by any Congress ever in history. It makes tax cuts permanent — which, instead of taxes going up January 1 by $4 trillion, it actually restores the tax cuts and the average household of four is going to bring home pay over $10,000 more a year.” (Watch)
    “What we’re doing is cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of the Medicaid system and make sure it’s for the people that it was originally intended for.” (Watch)
    Senator Jim Banks on Fox News Sunday
    “This is the biggest spending cut in American history — a $1.6 trillion spending cut, getting rid of the Green New Deal scams from the Biden Administration, and it’s the biggest tax cut in American history for working class families.” (Watch)
    “Everyone in my family is blue collar, working class. They’re all going to get socked by another $2,000, on average, every year. They already tell me they can’t keep up right now, and the Democrats want them to pay more in taxes? … Democrats are focused on screwing the working class with higher taxes … President Trump and Republicans are serious about cutting taxes on the people who need it the most.” (Watch)
    Senator Katie Britt on State of the Union
    “We’re going to make sure that hardworking people can keep more of their money. We’re going to make sure that we have secure borders — not just now, but for generations to come. We’re going to make sure that we have a strong national defense so that our warfighter is the best trained, equipped, and ready across the planet. We’re going to unleash American energy … We want to make sure that these programs are available for the people who need them and we want to make sure that people who are working know that we see them and that they have a great opportunity to achieve the American Dream — and that’s what this bill does.” (Watch)
    “The reforms in this bill are necessary and we’re going to deliver actual solutions to the American people … This bill does No Tax on Tips, it does No Tax on Overtime. Real, hardworking Americans are going to see results from this.” (Watch)

    MIL OSI USA News –