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Category: US Senate

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Ensure Tax Parity for Tribes & Boost Economic Development in Indian Country

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that Tribes receive the same tax benefits and economic development tools as local and state governments. Specifically, this bill will help create good-paying jobs, foster local investment, and support businesses in Indian Country by updating the federal tax code and removing unfair tax burdens on Native American communities.

    “Tribes in Nevada and across the country deserve access to the same tools as state and local governments to strengthen their communities and support their local businesses and services like health, housing, and education,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Our bill makes commonsense updates to the tax code to ensure fairness, create more good paying jobs, and keep more money in Indian County.”

    “I’m pleased to join Senator Cortez Masto in introducing the Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act, which aims to fix unfair tax rules that have limited economic growth in Native communities for far too long. By allowing Tribal governments to make better use of housing tax credits, improve the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds and incentivize new investment incentives, we’re opening the door for them to finance more infrastructure projects and promote job growth,” said Senator Murkowski. “I appreciate Senator Cortez Masto’s leadership as we have worked to ensure more Native communities benefit from this bill. Together, we have an opportunity to empower Tribal nations to build stronger, more resilient economies.”

    This bipartisan legislation would create parity between Tribal and state and local governments in the federal tax code by:

    • Updating rules for issuing tax-exempt debt to ensure Tribal governments are treated the same as state and local governments;
    • Ensuring that essential pension and employment benefits are taxed in the same way as benefits from state governments;
    • Ensuring that Tribal General Welfare Benefits are not unfairly categorized as income related to Supplemental Social Income eligibility or benefit amounts;
    • Creating new business opportunities in low-income Tribal communities with a $175 New Markets Tax Credit;
    • Increasing the effectiveness of Tribal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in Indian Country;
    • Extending and updating the Indian Employment Tax Credit to better serve Tribal families;
    • Allowing Indian Health Service (IHS) professionals to access recruitment and retention tax incentives; and
    • Making it easier for Tribal families to adopt children and for Tribes to enforce child support.

    “Providing for parity and equity among States and Local Governments, and Tribes and ANCs, when it comes to Tax Exempt Bonding for governmental and economic development purposes, as this bill will do if enacted, is long overdue and will be a major stimulator for growth, economic development, and job creation in Indian Country, the areas of our Nation that desperately need it, and will productively use it,” said Old Harbor Native Corporation CEO, Kristina Woolston.

    “The introduction of the Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act in the Senate is a necessary and overdue effort to modernize the federal tax code in recognition of Tribal sovereignty. The bill reflects decades of Tribal efforts to secure tax parity. It guarantees Tribal governments have equitable access to financial tools, including tax credits and housing incentives, needed to build strong self-determined economies. NAFOA commends the bipartisan leadership behind the legislation, especially Senators Cortez Masto and Murkowski. We urge Congress to act swiftly to ensure that Indian Country is fully included in the nation’s tax and investment framework,” said NAFOA Board President Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

    “We thank Senators Cortez Masto and Murkowski for their consistent engagement with Tribal issues and for leading the bill’s introduction in the Senate. The Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act takes essential steps to align federal tax policy with Tribal sovereignty by addressing long-standing barriers to capital, workforce, and infrastructure development. As the legislation advances, NAFOA is committed to providing technical expertise that centers the realities of Tribal communities to support its passage,” said NAFOA Executive Director Cory Blankenship, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Member.

    You can read the text HERE and a summary of the legislation HERE.

    Senator Cortez Masto is one of the strongest champions for Native American communities in the Senate. In 2020, alongside Senator Murkowski, she passed the bipartisan Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act to help address the epidemic of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women. She has repeatedly called on the administration to do more to address the epidemic of violence against Native women and girls, including securing funding to protect Native communities. She is pushing bipartisan legislation to support Tribal law enforcement and improve public safety in Native communities—one of the recommendations of the Not Invisible commission. Cortez Masto has also helped secure $125 million in additional funding for Tribes and urban Indian health organizations within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to address the mental health needs of Native communities. She has also introduced legislation to help make it easier for IHS to recruit and retain doctors and to address health disparities for Native Americans in urban areas.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: On Senate Floor, Hagerty Implores Colleagues to Support GENIUS Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Tennessee Bill Hagerty

    WASHINGTON—Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, spoke on the Senate floor imploring his colleagues to support the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, a historic piece of legislation that establishes a clear regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.

    *Click the photo above or here to watch*

    Remarks as prepared for delivery:

    Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of my legislation, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act—the GENIUS Act.

    America urgently needs a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. For too long, the lack of any such framework has forced digital asset innovation beyond our borders and into foreign countries, jeopardizing our nation’s financial leadership and putting American consumers at risk.

    Meanwhile, our slow and outdated payment rails – developed in the 1970s and 1980s — have failed to keep pace with many overseas jurisdictions. To modernize our payment system and restore our nation’s competitive edge, we must act now.

    That is why I have introduced the GENIUS Act.

    This legislation takes a commonsense, bipartisan approach to regulating stablecoins. Allow me to concisely explain with the GENIUS Act does:

    It clearly defines a payment stablecoin: a digital asset pegged to a fixed value, backed by U.S. Treasuries, and used for transactions.

    It describes clear procedures for institutions to issue stablecoins.

    It establishes a regulatory regime that balances the responsibilities of federal and state authorities.

    It implements standards that ensure safety, stability, and consumer protection.

    And it provides rigorous safeguards to deter illicit activity, increase transparency, and aid the vital work of law enforcement.

    These provisions are pragmatic and forward-looking. They both protect consumers and promote innovation. And, crucially, they represent bipartisan agreement—reflecting that both Democrats and Republicans recognize the vast potential of this emerging technology.

    The benefits of stablecoin innovation are immense. By reducing friction in the payment process, they can improve the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments. Faster and cheaper transactions can unlock much-needed working capital for American businesses and provide individuals with more effective tools for making international payments.

    Moving aspects of our payment system to the blockchain has been shown to increase efficiencies in capital markets. Innovators are constantly uncovering transformative use cases, and the rapid pace of innovation will only increase with regulatory clarity.

    Stablecoins also advance a vital national interest by driving demand for U.S. Treasuries. A recent report forecasts that with a well-crafted U.S. regulatory framework, stablecoin issuers could become one of the top holders of U.S. Treasuries by the end of this decade – if not sooner. This would strengthen our fiscal position and cement the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. 

    If we fail to act now, not only will these benefits slip away—we will also fall behind in global competitiveness. Without a regulatory framework, stablecoin innovation will proliferate overseas—not in America!

    Americans using this new technology will be left with no choice but to rely on foreign stablecoins that lack vital consumer protections. And, critically, inaction would surrender our leadership to the Chinese Communist Party, which is aggressively advancing its own digital currency.

    We can avoid this outcome—but only if we unite behind this legislation.

    In this spirit of patriotic cooperation, I thank Senators Scott, Lummis, Gillibrand, and Alsobrooks, who co-sponsored an earlier iteration of this bill and who have worked hard to make this a bipartisan effort. And I also extend gratitude to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported this legislation in the Banking Committee and contributed to the consensus product now before the Senate.

    We have an opportunity to cement America’s financial dominance for decades to come and demonstrate that this body can come together and pass legislation that benefits our country and its citizens. I urge all my colleagues to join me in advancing the GENIUS Act.

    And I urge those watching from afar to view this critical vote for what it is: a statement of support for a vital, innovative technology, and a demonstration of our willingness to work together for America.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gillibrand Statement On Arrest of SEIU California President David Huerta

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Kirsten Gillibrand
    Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement following the arrest of SEIU California President David Huerta at a protest in Los Angeles.
    “The arrest of SEIU California President David Huerta in Los Angeles is yet another disturbing example of the Trump administration’s retaliation towards innocent Americans exercising their right to free speech. President Huerta has dedicated his life to advocating for American workers, from nurses to public service employees, who are the backbone of our nation. While I am pleased to know that President Huerta was released, I am nonetheless distraught and deeply concerned about the precedent this administration is setting.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Ernst Legislation to Stop Billions in Bogus Payments

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
    WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Senate DOGE Caucus Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is codifying one of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) largest cost savings actions to identify and stop fraudulent and improper payments after more than $160 billion occurred in Fiscal Year 2024.
    The Delivering On Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Spending Act enacts a strict anti-fraud process before the government is allowed to spend a dime to effectively eliminate improper payments and safeguard tax dollars. The bill also requires annual verifications of payment accuracy for ongoing transactions and increases transparency by requiring the public disclosure of every payment on the USASpending.gov website.
    Here is some of the coverage:
    New York Post | GOP senators push to cement core Musk-inspired DOGE savings at Treasury
    “A group of Republican lawmakers is pushing to cement some of the core reforms enacted at the Treasury by President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”
    Fox News | DOGE will go on: Hill pork hawk says rooting out government waste will continue after Elon
    “The bill’s name also signaled that the Senate, too, would continue its Musk-inspired work long after the mogul has left.”
    Politico | GOP senators look to codify DOGE operations of Treasury payment systems
    “Congressional DOGE Caucus Chairs Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) will introduce legislation next week to codify changes that the cost-cutting operation once led by Elon Musk made to the Treasury Department’s payments system.”
    Breitbart | Sen. Joni Ernst: Bureaucrats ‘Asleep at the Wheel,’ Let Fraudsters Take $79 Billion in Coronavirus Aid Without Using Basic Safeguard to Prevent Fraud
    “Following the release of the report, Ernst introduced a bill, the DOGE in Spending Act, on Friday that would require basic questions to be asked to eliminate improper payments government-wide.”
    Daily Wire | DOGE Caucus Introduces Bill Aimed At $162 Billion In ‘Improper Payments’
    “The bill comes the same week that the government’s COVID watchdog released a report titled “Pre-Award Vetting Using Data Analytics Could Have Prevented Over $79 Billion in Potentially Fraudulent Pandemic Relief Payments.’”
    Daily Caller | Joni Ernst Introduces First Major DOGE Bill That Could Save Taxpayers
    “The legislation, the Delivering On Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Spending Act, would mandate compliance provisions from a March 25 executive order by President Donald Trump that instituted new procedures to prevent fraudulent payments, including validating recipients of payments and also by coding the payments with information linking them to budget items.”
    Washington Examiner | Congressional DOGE Republicans move to codify protections against fraudulent payments
    “Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) introduced the Delivering On Government Efficiency in Spending Act, which would codify reforms by the DOGE, forcing the Treasury Department to implement a new system providing more information for payments.”
    Townhall | Ernst and Bean Unleash DOGE Spending Act to Crack Down on Waste, Support Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill
    “DOGE Caucus Chairs Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL) are teaming up to introduce a commonsense bill that would codify one of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) most significant cost-cutting measures.”
    National Review | Republican Lawmakers Introduce DOGE Legislation to Combat Billions in Wasteful Spending
    “Ernst and Bean’s legislation codifies sections three and four of President Trump’s executive order, “Protecting America’s Bank Account Against Waste, Fraud, and Abuse,” designed for Treasury to verify agency payment information and implement the verification process.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of Severe Weather Season, King and Colleagues Call on White House to Nominate an Experienced FEMA Administrator

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — With Maine facing a severe weather season, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) joined his colleagues calling on the White House to nominate an experienced Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator. In a letter to President Donald Trump, King and his colleagues expressed serious concern about the ongoing absence of a Senate-confirmed FEMA Administrator and steps his administration has taken to weaken and destabilize the agency, including the abrupt termination last month of Cameron Hamilton, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator.  
    To date, President Trump has failed to nominate an Administrator or appoint someone who satisfies the qualifications specified for the role. David Richardson — Mr. Hamilton’s replacement as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator — told agency staff last week that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season.
    “In recent months, your administration has reduced FEMA staff by roughly 30%, rescinded grant funding local communities rely on to recover from disasters and significantly scaled back emergency management training for state officials,” wrote the Senators. “Taken together, these actions have impeded ongoing recovery efforts and undermined the national response to future natural disasters.” 
    “We agree that FEMA can do better and needs reform. But dismantling the agency and weakening its leadership will only leave states and localities stranded when disaster strikes. To preserve the long-term integrity of FEMA and ensure our nation’s preparedness for future disasters, we urge you to nominate a qualified Administrator that will restore confidence in the agency as soon as possible,” the Senators concluded. 
    In addition to Senator King, the letter was cosigned by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). 
    The full text of the letter can be found here and below. 
    +++
    Dear President Trump,
    As peak disaster season approaches, we write with serious concern about the ongoing absence of a Senate-confirmed FEMA Administrator and steps your administration has taken to weaken and destabilize the agency.
    To date, you have failed to nominate an Administrator or, in the absence of such an official, appoint someone who satisfies the qualifications specified for that role in statute. The abrupt termination of Cameron Hamilton as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator last month injected further instability into an agency already struggling to navigate mass reductions in force.
    Mr. Hamilton’s termination came just one day after his appearance in front of the House Appropriations Committee, at which he testified, “I do not believe it is in the best interests of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
    We share Mr. Hamilton’s concerns. In recent months, your administration has reduced FEMA staff by roughly 30 percent, rescinded grant funding local communities rely on to recover from disasters, and significantly scaled back emergency management training for state officials. Taken together, these actions have impeded ongoing recovery efforts and undermined the national response to future natural disasters.
    Mr. Hamilton’s departure leaves a vacuum of leadership at FEMA. David Richardson — Mr. Hamilton’s replacement as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of FEMA Administrator— told agency staff last week that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season. Mr. Richardson will head the federal response to any hurricanes that hit our shores this season.
    We agree that FEMA can do better and needs reform. But dismantling the agency and weakening its leadership will only leave states and localities stranded when disaster strikes.
    To preserve the long-term integrity of FEMA and ensure our nation’s preparedness for future disasters, we urge you to nominate a qualified Administrator that will restore confidence in the agency as soon as possible.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper, Bennet, Colleagues Call Out Trump Admin Attacks on USGS, American Science

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado
    $564 million in proposed budget cuts to USGS will undermine science that helps fight avian flu, monitor droughts, track wildfires
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet joined 17 of their Senate colleagues to call out the Trump administration’s assault on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the agency’s key science programs. In their letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the senators warned that the President’s proposal to cut $564 million in USGS funding – along with plans to lay off hundreds of scientists and potentially close research centers nationwide – would jeopardize public safety and undermine crucial scientific research.
    “The proposed budget cuts are not about ‘efficiency’ – they represent a retreat from federal responsibility and a dismantling of the scientific infrastructure that communities, industries, and governments depend on every day,” wrote the senators. “These proposed budget cuts could mean abandoning research and monitoring that helps farmers guard against wildlife diseases like avian flu, delaying when real-time water and hazard data is provided for disaster response, and ending collaborations that monitor invasive species, harmful algal blooms and wildfire risks.”
    The USGS is a key science agency that monitors and analyzes the nation’s resources, including water, natural hazards, and energy. USGS’s scientific expertise and robust data collection efforts support protecting the public, safeguarding our environment, and strengthening our economy.
    The President’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposes a $564 million cut to USGS’s budget.
    Hickenlooper and Bennet previously raised alarm about initial reports that the Trump admin planned to terminate 17 leases for federal facilities in Colorado that support state wildlife efforts.
    Full text of the letter is available HERE and below.
    Dear Secretary Burgum,
    We write to express concern over recent and proposed actions by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and broader administrative decisions that together threaten the integrity and continuity of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Specifically, the potential termination of General Services Administration (GSA) leases supporting USGS centers across the country— alongside USGS’s proposed FY2026 budget cut of $564 million and the reported planned terminations of hundreds of scientists—represents a multi-front assault on the nation’s scientific infrastructure.
    The USGS is a premier science agency with a critical role in monitoring and analyzing the nation’s resources, including water, ecosystems, natural hazards, minerals, and energy. Its scientific expertise and robust data collection efforts support public safety, environmental stewardship, and national economic resilience. USGS’s work underpins the ability of federal, state, and local governments, Tribal nations, industry, and communities to make informed decisions—particularly in areas such as disaster preparedness, climate adaptation, water resource management, and ecosystem protection.
    The proposed budget cuts are not about “efficiency”— they represent a retreat from federal responsibility and a dismantling of the scientific infrastructure that communities, industries, and governments depend on every day. USGS supports work that directly protects public health, strengthens our economy, and informs disaster preparedness and response. These proposed budget cuts could mean abandoning research and monitoring that helps farmers guard against wildlife diseases like avian flu, delaying when real-time water and hazard data is provided for disaster response, and ending collaborations that monitor invasive species, harmful algal blooms and wildfire risks. While these impacts are not yet certain, they represent serious risks for communities, Tribes, state and local governments, and natural resource managers who depend on USGS science to make informed, often life-saving decisions. As demonstrated throughout its nearly 150 years of existence, USGS science is not optional; it is essential.
    The potential termination of USGS leases, many of which house Water Science Centers, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, and Ecosystems Research Centers, threatens regional scientific capacity at a time when local expertise and place-based science are most needed. These facilities provide critical support to states, local communities, and Tribal Nations as they confront unprecedented drought, wildfires, habitat loss, and other climate-related disruptions. Reliable Page 2 scientific information is essential to both our national economy and the safety of communities across the country.
    While DOGE’s actions are framed as efficiency measures, the potential impact of terminating these leases – without transparent criteria or coordination – as well as slashing $564 million from the budget and crippling of the scientific workforce raises serious questions about continuity of operations. If implemented, these changes to USGS would directly impair the federal government’s ability to assess and respond to threats in real time.
    Given this uncertainty and the far-reaching implications of these actions, we request immediate clarity on the following by June 19, 2025:
    1. What is the current status of all USGS leases and what facilities are at risk of lease termination?
    2. What criteria were used to select these leases for potential termination, and how was USGS consulted in this process?
    3. What plans are in place to ensure uninterrupted mission support—particularly for key activities under the Water Resources, Natural Hazards, and Ecosystems Mission Areas— if these facilities are closed?
    4. Where will affected employees be relocated, and how will critical field and lab operations be maintained in the interim?
    5. How will USGS ensure that existing commitments to state and local governments, tribal partners, and other stakeholders are honored, particularly for time-sensitive water data and hazard alerts?
    6. What USGS staff positions are on the list for termination (please include title and location)? When will the terminations be implemented?
    7. Do any of the USGS employees on the list for termination have salaries funded by reimbursable contracts with external partners? If so, how many such employees are affected, and what is the amount of federal savings that would be generated from their termination?
    8. Given the planned reduction in force, how will existing staff fill the gaps in order to fulfill the USGS mission?
    9. What programs will be eliminated by the $564 million proposed budget cut?
    The scientific integrity, public safety responsibilities, and operational continuity of the USGS must not be compromised by administrative actions taken without proper oversight or consultation. We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your prompt response.
    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Waters Introduce CLASS Act To Give Students Cheated By For-Profit Colleges Their Day In Court

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    June 11, 2025
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) today reintroduced bicameral legislation designed to strengthen students’ ability to hold for-profit colleges accountable in court for their misconduct.  The Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act would enhance accountability for for-profit colleges and safeguard taxpayer dollars by prohibiting an institution of higher education from receiving Title IV federal student aid if the school’s enrollment agreement requires mandatory arbitration or otherwise restricts students’ ability to pursue claims against the school in court.
      
    “For decades, for-profit colleges have used the fine print in student enrollment agreements to force students to give up their rights to go to court over the predatory behavior of these institutions,” said Durbin.  “Students should have the right to hold for-profit colleges responsible for defrauding them in court.  I’m reintroducing the CLASS Act with Congresswoman Waters to end the for-profit college industry’s ability to use this shady practice to evade accountability.”
    “I am proud to reintroduce the CLASS Act with Senator Durbin to hold predatory for-profit colleges accountable when they defraud students,” said Waters, the Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee.  “The for-profit college industry is rife with bad actors that lure potential students into expensive academic programs, while knowingly and fraudulently misrepresenting the quality of the programs.  These unscrupulous schools then use mandatory arbitration clauses to prevent students from taking them to court, thereby shielding themselves from being held responsible for wrongdoing.  Our legislation will ensure that defrauded students retain the right to sue predatory schools and have their day in court.”
    Specifically, the CLASS Act would enhance the accountability of for-profit colleges and safeguard taxpayer dollars by:
    Prohibiting an institution of higher education from receiving federal student aid if the school’s enrollment agreement requires mandatory arbitration or restricts students’ ability to pursue claims against the school in court;
    Ensuring that the Federal Arbitration Act, which governs the enforcement of arbitration proceedings, would not apply to student enrollment agreements;
    Taking effect one year after enactment to allow schools to make any necessary changes; and
    Exempting legitimate non-profit colleges and universities because these institutions do not include mandatory arbitration clauses in their enrollment agreements.  The CLASS Act thus squarely focuses on schools that might seek to profit off of students while hiding from accountability in a court of law.
    Along with Durbin, the CLASS Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Fetterman (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). 
    The bill has earned the endorsement of Consumer Action; The Institute for College Access and Success; National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients); National Association forCollege Admission Counseling; Veterans Education Success; National Association of Consumer Advocates; American Association for Justice; Center for Justice and Democracy; Woodstock Institute; Public Justice; Earthjustice; Public Citizen; The National Employment Lawyers Association; Americans for Financial Reform; National Consumers League; Consumer Federation of America; Young Invincibles; and Center for Responsible Lending.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin Delivers Opening Statement In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On The Privacy & National Security Implications Of The 23andMe Bankruptcy

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin
    June 11, 2025
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “23 and You: The Privacy and National Security Implications of the 23andMe Bankruptcy.” Today’s hearing will examine the bankruptcy of 23andMe, Inc., and the potential sale of the company’s database of customers’ personal genetic information. The hearing also will provide an opportunity to examine policy and ethical issues associated with the collection and use of personal genetic information, the need for a comprehensive federal data privacy law in the United States, and the treatment of consumer data privacy in the bankruptcy process.
    Key Quotes:
    “In short, 23andMe has access to deeply personal information about you and your health. Information that you would normally want to keep private—between you, your family, and your doctor. Yet no federal law—no federal law—prevents 23andMe from sharing this data with others, including insurance companies, future employers, and law enforcement. Rather, a patchwork of state laws and [23andMe’s] privacy policy are the only things protecting the genetic information of millions of Americans.”
    “If 23andMe’s customers are anything like [their] fellow Americans, they likely didn’t read this privacy policy. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans say they always, almost always, or often agree with privacy policies without ever reading them. Who can blame them?” 
    “When 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on March 23, a lot of people suddenly became interested in that privacy policy. Because, buried in the fine print of their privacy policy is the following, listen carefully: ‘If we are involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction.’”
    “So 23andMe’s 15 million customers were left wondering: Who is going to get access to my genetic information? What are they going to do with it? What rights do I have to stop it?”
    “Thankfully, 23andMe’s privacy policy gave its customers the right to delete their data upon request. And millions have done so—so many, in fact, that 23andMe’s website crashed with the traffic. But again, this wasn’t required by federal law.”
    “There are very few federal guardrails to protect your most sensitive data, including your DNA and who can share it. It’s time for Congress to put some protections in place for Americans.”
    “The American people deserve to have faith that their sensitive information will be in—and stay in—the right hands before they agree to share it. Yet, nearly 20 years after 23andMe came on the scene and at least that long since the surveillance industrial complex started taking over the Internet, America still lacks a comprehensive federal law to protect our privacy.”
    “There have been signs of hope, including in 2022 when the American Data Privacy and Protection Act passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a broad, bipartisan vote of 53-to-2. But the American people are still waiting.”
    Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
    Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
    Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.
    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Peters & Slotkin Advocate for Continued Investment at Selfridge to Support Basing of F-15EX and KC-46A Missions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Michigan Gary Peters

    WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Gary Peters (MI) and Elissa Slotkin (MI) are advocating for continued investment at Selfridge Air National Guard Base to support basing of the recently announced 21 F-15EX fighters, as well as the 12 KC-46A tankers the senators helped secure in January 2024. In a letter sent to the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, the senators underscored the strategic and economic importance of Selfridge and requested the full funding necessary to prepare for these new missions.  

    “Selfridge Air National Guard Base is an essential and strategic location for northern border security and homeland defense. Selfridge is a joint military installation and home to many national security assets of the United States, including servicemembers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard,” wrote the senators. “Selfridge is also a pillar of both the local community in Macomb County and Michigan’s robust defense sector, supporting approximately 5,000 military and civilian jobs and generating an estimated $850 million in economic impact statewide.” 

    In the letter, the senators highlight improvements currently being made at Selfridge to properly outfit the base to receive the F-15EXs and KC-46As, including a $28 million investment secured by the Michigan congressional delegation to construct a new hangar capable of accommodating the new aircraft. However, additional funding is needed to ensure a seamless transition to the incoming aircraft.  

    The senators continued: “Given the incoming fighter and tanker missions and the importance of preparing Selfridge to continue to play a critical role in our national security, we respectfully request the full funding necessary for military construction to follow-through on the commitments made and fight to deliver federal investments at Selfridge.” 

    The full text of the letter can be found here.  

    Senators Peters and Slotkin have made supporting the future of Selfridge Air National Guard Base a top priority. Prior to the F-15EX basing announcement in April, Peters and Slotkin sent a letter urging the Air Force to base a new fighter mission at Selfridge. Earlier this year, the senators introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to preserve the U.S. Air Force’s fighter force structure and support the recapitalization of Air National Guard fighter missions, including at Selfridge. In March, they also led a bipartisan, bicameral resolution to honor the 108th anniversary of Selfridge Air National Guard Base and commemorate the thousands of men and women who have worked and trained at Selfridge since its inception. In January 2024, the senators helped announce that the U.S. Air Force selected Selfridge to host a new squadron of twelve KC-46A refueling tankers. This announcement came shortly after Peters led a bipartisan, bicameral group of Michigan delegation members, including Slotkin, in urging then-U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to select Selfridge for a new squadron of these next-generation tankers, which will be deployed by the U.S. Air Force for at least the next 50 years.  

    To further strengthen Selfridge’s role in U.S. national and homeland security efforts, Peters established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Northern Border Mission Center last year. Peters secured $3 million last March to operate this Center at Selfridge, where it is collocated with current DHS components. The Center, which DHS has already stood up, will coordinate with state, local, and Tribal governments, and other key stakeholders, to ensure DHS and its operational components are able to fulfill their security mission at the Northern Border.     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McConnell Opening Statement at SAC-D Hearing on FY 26 Budget Request for the Department of Defense

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, convened today’s hearing “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Defense”. Prepared text of his opening statement follows: 

    “Secretary Hegseth, General Caine, Ms. MacDonnell, welcome. My colleagues and I are looking forward to your candid testimony. 

    “There’s no doubt that the global threat environment demands from us an uncompromisingly lethal force. And your efforts over recent months to renew the Department’s focus on lethality – and your attention to the concerns of servicemembers at the tip of the spear – are worthwhile and appreciated. 

    “Of course, sustaining this shift requires a clear strategy and adequate investments in capabilities. So we’re looking forward to hearing, in detail: What, exactly, the Office of Management and Budget is requesting on behalf of the Department of Defense for the coming fiscal year…And whether this budget flows from a strategy or instead defines and limits a strategy. 

    “This hearing will be the first public demonstration of what we hope to be a productive relationship between the Subcommittee and the Department. In the past, this relationship has functioned best when it’s been based on timely and forthcoming communication. 

    “Last year, details from the Department and the services about their growing requirements informed the Subcommittee’s efforts to mark up a bill to provide the military with $18.8 billion in resources above President Biden’s FY25 request. But that didn’t become law. Regrettably, the CR we’re under right now was yet another missed opportunity that compounded the constraints facing the Department today. 

    “On this subcommittee, you’ll find plenty of support for the Department’s efforts to – for example – improve air and missile defense systems, grow the pipeline for unmanned technologies, modernize our nuclear triad, and expand shipbuilding capacity. But lumping reconciliation spending in with full-year appropriations risks conflating different objectives. Chairman Wicker and his House counterpart have pointed out already that even an important, one-time investment in military modernization is not a substitute for steady growth in the annual budget topline. In fact, it may well end up functioning as a shell-game to avoid making the most significant annual investments that we spent years urging the Biden Administration to make. 

    “I struggle to understand why the Administration would cut procurement funding in the base FY26 budget by $14.4B and move funding for programs that have strong bipartisan support to a simple-majority reconciliation bill. The FY26 annual request seems to do just this for Virginia class submarines, Arleigh Burke class destroyers, and B-21 bombers. Like with critical munitions, we should send the Services and industry a sustained demand signal by incorporating them into annual appropriations. 

    “If we’re really serious about making the sustained, long-term investments in our military, then let’s do more than a one-time injection of funding. If the Administration wants to request a trillion-dollar defense budget for FY26 and make a full-year investment in urgent priorities and new programs, they ought to do it. 

    “In the meantime, let’s not overstate the FY26 request. The Administration’s requested base defense budget is lower than fifteen of the last twenty annual requests…including President Biden’s request for FY25. In fact, FY26 extends your predecessors’ streak to five straight base budget requests that would fail to keep pace with inflation – let alone with the pacing threat of China. But say we do take reconciliation into account. Even then, this is hardly the largest funding request for the Department of Defense. 

    “In constant dollars, the FY26 Department of Defense budget request still falls short of the annual funding requests from FY08, FY09, FY10, and FY11. As a share of GDP, even including reconciliation, the FY26 request is still just around 3%. That’s not just half the level of the Reagan buildup that secured peace through strength… it’s even less than the 4.5% of GDP requested for defense under President Carter. 

    “Why should we expect our allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense if we’re investing barely half that share? The failure to spend more on defense is compounded by another dynamic. Every year, a greater share of the defense budget goes to cover costs other than modernizing and procuring new weapons and equipment for our fighting forces. 

    “Without additional resources, rising Personnel and Operations & Maintenance costs risk crowding out new capabilities. How we allocate taxpayer dollars is an expression of our political will. We can’t expect our adversaries to take American hard power seriously if we don’t put our money where our mouth is. But as I mentioned, we’re also interested in your articulation of the strategy that informs – or is informed by – the Administration’s budget. How does that strategy account for adversary alignment? How does it address not only the threat of conflict in the Indo-Pacific, but the reality of conflict and military threats to our interests in Europe and the Middle East? 

    “Most of us on this panel believe that Russia’s war in Ukraine, its alignment with the aims of other U.S. adversaries, and its eventual outcome are profoundly important to American interests and offer more than just a glimpse into the future of warfare. 

    “I’d like to hear your views on this conflict. Who is the aggressor? What are the stakes for America and the West? What is the return on investment of our assistance to Ukraine? I don’t see funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative in your budget request. Is it the Administration’s view that terminating security assistance to Ukraine will make lasting peace more or less likely? 

    “What lessons is the U.S. military learning from the conflict? How will the Department or industry continue to learn if we cut off our partnership with the world’s leading battlefield innovators? Why would Asian partners trust us if we abandon partners in Europe? What lessons are China, Iran, and North Korea learning? And how much more will they benefit if Russia prevails? 

    “I’d like to hear your views on the impact of war in Europe on other theaters. The Asian and Pacific allies you just met with recently are under no delusions about how unchecked Russian aggression influences the calculus of Xi Jinping. They understand that strategic alignment among adversaries is global. 

    “America must recognize, in turn, that the risk of simultaneous conflict on multiple fronts is real and growing. Your Undersecretary for Policy acknowledged this reality in his confirmation hearing this spring. But the capabilities America needs to prevail in such a conflict do not seem to be reflected in the request we’ve received from OMB. 

    “So, there’s a lot we need to cover today. We’ll invite you to make opening comments in just a moment. But first, I’ll recognize Ranking Member Coons.”

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Introduces Bicameral Bill to Reinstate and Modernize Bicycle Commuter Tax Benefit, Encourage Biking to Work 

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today joined U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and U.S. Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA-04) to introduce the Bicycle Commuter Act of 2025, bicameral legislation that would reinstate and expand the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program’s non-taxable bicycle commuter benefit to encourage more Americans to bike to work.  
    “The perks of biking to work are tenfold–saving commuters money, providing health benefits, and helping reduce emissions. An increasing number of Vermonters have recognized those benefits, with the number of cycling commuters doubling in the Green Mountain State in the past decade. But there’s more that we can do to strengthen biking infrastructure to help more folks around the country enjoy the advantages of cycling to work,” said Senator Welch. “Our bicameral legislation will reinstate and modernize the bicycling tax benefit to encourage more commuters around the country to get to work by riding a bicycle.” 
    “Biking to work is good for our planet, our health, and our wallets,” said Senator Padilla. “The Bicycle Commuter Act would allow cyclists to take advantage of the same tax benefits that incentivize hardworking Americans to commute via public transit or carpool, while also helping keep our air clean and reduce congestion on our roads. It would also expand these commuter tax benefits to e-bikes, bikeshares, and certain scooters, further encouraging bike ridership and putting money back in the pockets of workers.” 
    “Cycling is efficient, low-cost, and low-impact on our roads and the environment — in other words, it’s good for you and it’s good for our planet. Encouraging people to bike to work just makes sense,” said Rep. Thompson, Co-Chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus. “I’m glad to work with Senators Welch and Padilla on this bicameral legislation restoring and modernizing bike commuters’ tax benefits.” 
    Cities and towns across America are investing in bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure to create safer, greener, and more connected communities. In Vermont, nearly 6% of residents walk to work, ranking the Green Mountain State third-highest in the nation for its walk-to-work percentage. The amount of Chittenden County residents that bike to work has doubled since 2010, with the number of statewide cycling commuters in Vermont expected to increase as local trail associations spearhead initiatives that allow Vermonters to bike longer distances to work. According to recent studies, over 60% of Chittenden County residents would walk or bike to work more frequently if safety and accessibility improvements are made. 
    In 2009, Congress created the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program to encourage more workers to bike to their jobs by allowing employers to offer a non-taxable reimbursement of up to $20 per month for expenses related to bicycle commuting. However, employees who elected to participate in the program were forced to forfeit other commuter benefits, such as those provided for parking or transit. The non-taxable bicycle commuter benefit was suspended until 2026 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, eliminating this vital financial incentive for employees who bike to work.  
    The Bicycle Commuter Act of 2025 would modernize the Bicycle Benefit Subsidy Program to ensure cyclists can access pre-tax commuter benefits similar to those available for parking and public transit and allow recipients to claim the bicycle benefit in tandem with other commuter benefits. The bicameral legislation would also allow electric bicycles and bikeshare and scootershare services to be eligible for the benefit. 
    The Bicycle Commuter Act is supported by the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT), League of American Bicyclists, North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association, PeopleForBikes, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Safe Routes Partnership, and Sierra Club. 
    “The reintroduction of the Bicycle Commuter Act is an important step toward building a more balanced, multimodal transportation system that supports healthier, more accessible commutes. By recognizing and incentivizing active transportation, Congress is helping to reduce congestion and improve quality of life for millions of commuters. ACT applauds Senator Welch and Representative Thompson’s leadership and commitment to a future where every journey can be a better one,” said David Straus, Executive Director, Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT).  
    “The League of American Bicyclists applauds Senator Peter Welch and Representative Mike Thompson for their efforts to put money back in commuters’ pockets by introducing the Bicycle Commuter Act,” said Bill Nesper, Executive Director, League of American Bicyclists. “The Bicycle Commuter Act would give bike commuters the same tax benefit that drivers and transit riders already receive. Americans have the freedom to commute to work however we choose and we should all get the same tax benefits on our chosen commutes to work. By incentivizing bike commuting, Congress can help reduce traffic on the roads, give parity to our commuter tax system, and ensure everyone gets home safely.”    
    “We are thrilled to see the introduction of the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would include bikeshare and scootershare among the transportation-related benefits that employers can provide,” said Sam Herr, Executive Director, North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association. “We thank Senator Welch and Representative Thompson for their leadership on this important legislation that helps to support employee travel choices and options.” 
    “Americans deserve the choice to pick which way they want to get to work, and bike commuting saves money and gives access to jobs,” said Jenn Dice, President and CEO, PeopleForBikes. “The Bicycle Commuter Act expands choices and opportunities for everyone by giving people who commute by bike the same tax benefits that car and transit commuters already enjoy. More people are using bikes to get to work, which brings significant economic and health benefits to local communities.” 
    “We applaud and thank Senator Welch for his sponsorship of this important legislation to restore bicycle commuter benefits, demonstrating, alongside his longstanding support of the Recreational Trails Program, the importance of bicycling as a way for people across the country to get around their communities,” said Kevin Mills, Vice President for Policy, Rails to Trails Conservancy. “His leadership will bring meaningful financial benefit to those who commute by bike and have negligible impact on the tax revenue stream to the federal government.” 
    “Safe Routes Partnership applauds Senator Welch’s leadership in introducing the Bicycle Commuter Act. Any action that incentivizes people to get around via active transportation—like biking—helps build healthier, safer, and more connected communities. This legislation is an important step toward making it easier for more people to choose biking as a safe and convenient way to get to work,” said Marisa Jones, Managing Director, Safe Routes Partnership. 
    “While many employees enjoy a commuter tax benefit for parking and transit, this does not extend to biking. The Sierra Club is proud to support this legislation that would incentivize biking and help improve our health, curb pollution, and reduce dependency on cars,” said Katherine García, Clean Transportation for All Director, Sierra Club. 
    Learn more about the Bicycle Commuter Act. 
    Read and download the full text of the bill. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PASSED THE SENATE: Senators Hassan, Ernst, Slotkin, and Banks’s Bipartisan Legislation to Crack Down on Foreign Adversaries Directing Violent Crimes in the U.S.

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
    WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and Jim Banks (R-IN) to increase criminal penalties for individuals who commit, or attempt to commit, violent crimes in the United States on behalf of foreign adversaries. The DETERRENCE Act would both hold offenders accountable and deter criminals, including criminal organizations, from taking money from foreign adversaries in exchange for committing crimes on American soil. 
    “It is a direct assault on our national security when foreign adversaries recruit criminals to commit violence on American soil,” said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation will strengthen criminal penalties on gangs and criminals who engage in violent behavior on behalf of a foreign government. The Senate has sent a clear message that such behavior will be met with severe consequences, and I urge my colleagues in the House to quickly pass this bill to strengthen our national security.” 
    “America will not allow foreign adversaries, like Iran, to finance violent crimes on our soil,” said Senator Ernst. “Peace through strength is back and that includes right here at home. I look forward to the House swiftly passing this commonsense bill to create severe consequences for those who wish to harm our citizens.”
    “If you commit crimes in America on behalf of foreign adversaries, you must face serious consequences,” said Senator Slotkin. “The bipartisan Deterrence Act helps strengthen penalties for these crimes and sends a clear message about how seriously we take our national security and how we will hold accountable those who commit crimes against our nation.”
    Under the DETERRENCE Act, criminals working for foreign adversaries can be sentenced to longer prison sentences. The bill specifically increases criminal penalties for the following federal crimes when the crimes are committed under U.S. jurisdiction on behalf of foreign governments: 
    Engaging in a murder-for-hire scheme 
    Murdering or attempting to murder certain federal officials, including the President
    Murdering or attempting to murder certain former federal officials, or their families, because of their official actions 
    Assaulting certain former federal officials, or their families, because of their official actions 
    Kidnapping or attempted kidnapping 
    Threats of violence using a dangerous weapon against certain current and former federal officials, as well as their families, because of their official actions 
    Stalking 
    This legislation follows reports that foreign adversaries are increasingly turning to criminals to commit violent crimes against their critics, including those who reside in the United States. In November, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged an Iranian asset and two members of his criminal network for their alleged involvement in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen who has spoken out against the Iranian regime. Senators Hassan, Ernst, and a bipartisan group of colleagues previously wrote to DOJ calling for more information – and discussing the need for increased criminal penalties – to address this troubling trend of foreign-directed violence. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: “For the first time in decades, the US-Mexico border is silent”

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    gure data-wp-context=”{“imageId”:”68499d6bddf6f”}” data-wp-interactive=”core/image” class=”wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized wp-lightbox-container”>
    From the Arizona Republic:
    “Across the entire span of the U.S.-Mexico border, the change is stark — and it happened nearly overnight. Where Border Patrol agents encountered well over 100,000 migrants and asylum seekers every month just a year ago, they now see fewer than 10,000.
    More than four months into President Trump’s second term, one of his signature campaign promises — shutting down the flow of migrants across the border — seems fulfilled. Reporters with the USA TODAY Network traveled to 15 sites along the border from the Pacific to the Gulf, from California to Arizona and Texas, and found much of the same situation in each: few migrants were attempting to cross; once bustling shelters for migrants were ghost towns; local officials expressed relief for no longer having to assist with the flood of people. […]
    But as the border itself has gone quiet, Trump maintains that it remains in a state of crisis while touting the success of his efforts. The recently passed spending bill by the U.S. House of Representatives includes $150 billion in new money for immigration enforcement, including tens of billions for wall construction and facilities along the border along with tens of billions more for deportation efforts.”
    Click here to read the full story.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEWS: Sanders, Democratic HELP Members Call for Hearings on Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and Its Impact on Americans’ Health

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

    WASHINGTON, June 11 – As President Trump and Senate Republicans rush forward with their budget reconciliation bill – which would throw 16 million people off of their health insurance – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside every Democratic member of the HELP Committee, today sent a letter to committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) urging him to schedule hearings with patients and health care providers to hear about the legislation’s disastrous impact on the health and well-being of the American people and markup this bill before it reaches the Senate floor for consideration. 

    “We are deeply concerned that if these policies were signed into law they would create a national health care emergency,” wrote Sanders and the senators. “Not only would millions of Americans lose their health insurance and tens of thousands of our constituents die as a result of the House-passed reconciliation bill, the cost of prescription drugs would go up for seniors, hospitals and community health centers in rural and underserved areas would close or shut down access to services that patients rely on, and nursing homes would be made less safe.” 

    Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the House-passed budget reconciliation bill would slash more than $1 trillion from federal health care programs. The bill, coupled with the expiration of health care premium tax credits that Republicans have refused to extend, would lead to 16 million Americans losing the health insurance they currently have according to CBO. New research from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania found that more than 51,000 additional Americans will die each year if Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” becomes law. The bill would also defund Planned Parenthood, slash funding for women’s health care, and restrict reproductive health care coverage across the country. 

    “Regardless of your views on the merits of these policies, we hope you would agree with us that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has a solemn responsibility to hold extensive hearings on the impact these policies would have on the health and well-being of the American people and our entire health care system,” conclude Sanders and the senators. “Failure to hold hearings and a markup on this reconciliation bill before it is considered on the Senate floor would be an abdication of our duty to the American people.” 

    Joining Sanders as cosigners on this letter are Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). 

    Read the letter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: June 10th, 2025 Ranking Member Martin Heinrich Statement on Trump Administration’s Attack on America’s National Monuments, Undermining the Law

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement in response to an opinion issued by the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice asserting that Presidents can modify or revoke national monument designations made using the Antiquities Act of 1906. This position contradicts long-held views of the Justice Department dating back to 1938. 

    “At Donald Trump’s order, his Justice Department is attempting to clear a path to erase national monuments.   

    “Here’s what they don’t understand: Our national monuments are about who we are. They tell the story of our ancestors, support jobs and our rural economies, and connect Americans to our history and the land itself. No president can erase that. 

    “I will oppose any attempt by President Trump or Congressional Republicans to rip away our national monuments, using this outrageous path or otherwise. We’re ready to fight back — and we won’t back down.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Under President Trump, America is Defeating Inflation

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Whitehouse
    America is beating inflation as President Donald J. Trump leads the country into the new Golden Age with lower costs, higher pay, and economic opportunity for all.
    Here’s what you need to know from the latest Consumer Price Index:
    In May, inflation came in lighter than expected for yet another month.
    Since President Trump took office, inflation has come in below economists’ expectations every single month.

    Core inflation held steady and remains at the lowest level since March 2021.
    Under President Trump, core inflation has tracked at just 2.0% on an annual basis — levels not seen since the first Trump Administration, when prices were low and stable.

    Wage growth remains strong under President Trump.
    In May, real wages for production and nonsupervisory workers saw the highest monthly increase in nearly a year — rising each month since President Trump took office and up nearly 2% over last year.
    The average private sector worker is on track to see their real earnings increase by around $1,200, adjusted for inflation.

    Prices for everyday Americans continue to fall.
    Energy prices fell by 1.0% over the last month — down 3.5% over the past year.
    Gasoline prices have fallen each month since President Trump took office, down 2.6% over the past month and down 12% over the past year.
    Prices in key areas — such as meats, poultry, eggs, airfares, used and new cars, and apparel — all went down over the past month.

    Here’s what they’re saying:
    CNN’s Matt Egan: “We got ANOTHER month of positive inflation news. Despite these historic tariffs, the latest numbers do show that inflation remained relatively tame in May … This was better than expected … We did see a drop in energy prices. In particular, gas prices were low.”
    CNBC’s Mike Santoli: “There’s no way to look at these numbers and say they’re not welcome news.”
    CNBC’s Steve Liesman: “Not only did we get a decline in inflation expectations earlier this week from the important New York Fed report … I do not see broader impacts on inflation from the tariffs.”
    CNBC’s Rick Santelli: “Inflation certainly looks like it is cooling.”
    Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo: “That is much better than expected.”
    Commentator Adam Johnson: “Now we’re talking about numbers that are down in the low twos — under 2.5% — and we’re seeing that now for three months in a row, so this is wonderful news.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy, King Introduce Resolution Establishing “Vets Get Outside Day” to Improve Veterans’ Mental Health

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced a resolution establishing June 14th as “Vets Get Outside Day” to support veterans struggling with mental health challenges. Over 460,000 veterans were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries between 2020 and 2024, and there were 6,146 veteran suicide deaths in 2020. This is the third year that Cassidy has led the introduction.
    “Resuming civilian life can be isolating. When veterans stay active and connected with their community, their mental health and quality of life improve. That is what today is all about,” said Dr. Cassidy.
    “From beach walks on the rocky coast to a challenging hike in the woods, Maine’s extraordinary outdoor spaces can bring moments of calm during the most difficult times,” said Senator King. “I hope that ‘Vets Get Outside Day’ will encourage Maine veterans to find a relaxing outdoor space that helps them process their daily stressors. It’s a simple way to promote two of Maine’s greatest treasures — the great outdoors and our brave veterans.”
    Veterans in crisis can dial 9-8-8 and then press 1 to be connected with the Veterans Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
    Background
    As a member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Cassidy is a champion of veteran issues. In February, Cassidy introduced the VetPAC Act and the Veterans Mental Health and Addiction Therapy Quality of Care Act to improve health care for veterans. In January, Cassidy reintroduced the Restore VA Accountability Act to strengthen accountability by unlocking expedited disciplinary processes for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs employees who fail to adequately serve veterans.
    In December 2024, the Senate passed Cassidy’s Veteran Service Organization (VSO) Equal Tax Treatment (VETT) Act, sending the bill to the president’s desk. The bill would expand the deductibility of charitable contributions to all federally chartered tax-exempt organizations serving current and former members of the Armed Forces. The Senate also unanimously passed Cassidy’s Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act. The legislation increases access to job counseling services for spouses of members of the Armed Forces who died while on active duty through the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program at the U.S. Department of Labor.
    In August 2024, Cassidy penned an op-ed in the American Press highlighting federal resources that support American veterans’ physical and mental health. The op-ed came on the heels of the 43rd National Veteran Wheelchair Games, which were hosted in New Orleans.
    In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed Cassidy’s Solid Start Act to strengthen the VA’s Solid Start program to contact every veteran three times by phone in the first year after they leave active duty. The program helps connect veterans with VA programs and benefits, including mental health resources.
    Cassidy also introduced the Mental Health Reform Reauthorization Act of 2022 to reauthorize and improve Cassidy’s historic 2016 mental health reform package.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Salinas, Dexter, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Repeal Gun Industry’s Legal Liability Shield

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    June 11, 2025

    Legislation would give victims of gun violence legal avenues to hold manufacturers accountable for negligence in court

    Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas and Maxine Dexter, said today they have joined colleagues in introducing legislation that would ensure victims of gun violence have their day in court and that negligent gun companies and gun sellers are not shielded from liability when they disregard public safety.

    The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act—co-sponsored by the Oregon lawmakers—would repeal a 2005 federal law that gives gun manufacturers a unique and unjustifiable legal liability shield that protects them from lawsuits. 

    “It is absolutely unacceptable that this industry is absolutely immune from any accountability,” Wyden said. “Other industries are subject to scrutiny for the safety and use of their products, and I believe Congress should enact common-sense gun safety regulations like the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act.”

    “As we continue to face a nationwide gun violence crisis, we must ensure that gun companies and gun sellers are held accountable when their negligence costs lives,” Merkley said. “For the sake of all those who have lost loved ones to this tragic epidemic, we must take our pain and grief and turn it into real action, with the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act and other common-sense gun safety reforms.”

    “Gun violence is a leading cause of death in the country, yet unscrupulous gun companies and gun sellers continue to evade accountability because of a legal shield passed two decades ago. I am grateful to join my colleagues in this long-overdue effort to overturn this misguided law and allow gun violence victims to seek justice,” Bonamici said.

    “Current laws give negligent gun makers unprecedented special treatment that shields them from accountability for malpractice, leaving victims of gun violence without recourse in the courts. The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act is a way for Congress to stand up for victims of gun violence through our judicial system,” Salinas said.

    “As a mother, I’ll never forget the terror of not being able to reach my daughter while she was in lockdown for over 12 hours during a mass shooting at the University of Virginia. As a physician, I’ve held the hands of patients and families devastated by gun violence. And as someone who has volunteered with Moms Demand Action and served on gun violence prevention task forces, I know this crisis demands urgent action. No other industry gets a free pass when their negligence leads to death. Repealing PLCAA is a necessary step to give survivors and families their day in court and to finally hold the gun industry accountable—just like every other industry. I’m proud to support the Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act,” said Dexter.

    When Congress in 2005 passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) giving the gun industry legal liability, its supporters argued it was necessary to protect the gun industry from frivolous lawsuits, and that victims of gun violence would not be shut out of the courts. In reality, numerous cases around the nation have been dismissed based on this law, even when the gun dealers and manufacturers acted in a fashion that would qualify as negligent if it involved any other product. Victims in these cases were denied the right to even discover or introduce evidence. This Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act allows civil cases to go forward against irresponsible bad actors.

     In 2005, the National Rifle Association identified PLCAA as its “number one” legislative priority, and celebrated its passage by calling it the “most significant piece of pro-gun legislation in twenty years.” Letting courts hear these cases would provide justice to victims and their families, while creating incentives for responsible business practices that would reduce injuries and deaths. Effectively, the gun industry would once again be subject to the same laws as every other industry, just as it was prior to 2005.

    The legislation is endorsed by Brady, GIFFORDS Law Center, Everytown for Gun Safety, March for Our Lives, Guns Down America, Newtown Action Alliance, and Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund.

    The legislation was led in the Senate by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the legislation is also co-sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Chris Coons, D-Del., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Peter Welch, D-Conn., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

    The legislation was led in the House by U.S. Representatives Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Jason Crow, D-Colo., Dwight Evans, D-Pa., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif. In addition to Bonamici, Salinas and Dexter, the legislation is also cosponsored by U.S. Representatives Gabe Amo, D-R.I., Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., Wesley Bell, D-Mo., Don Beyer, D-Va., Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, Julia Brownley, D-Calif., Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., Sean Casten, D-Ill., Judy Chu, D-Calif., Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., Danny Davis, D-Ill., Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., John Garamendi, D-Calif., Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Hank Johnson, D-Ga., Robin Kelly, D-Ill., Timothy Kennedy, D-N.Y., Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., Betty McCollum, D-Minn., LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., Kelly Morrison, D-Minn., Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Scott Peters, D-Calif., Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Brad Schneider, D-Ill., David Scott, D-Ga., Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., Dina Titus, D-Nev., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii.

    The full text of the bill is here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden Announces Town Halls in Eastern Oregon, Columbia Gorge

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
    June 11, 2025
    Senator’s upcoming open-to-all town halls June 19-21 will be in Malheur, Baker, Union and Hood River counties
    Portland – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today announced he will hold open-to-all town halls next week in Malheur, Baker, Union and Hood River counties.
    Heading into these four open-to-all town halls from June 19-21, Wyden has held 1,120 open-to-all town halls in keeping his promise to hold at least one town hall each year in each of Oregon’s 36 counties. 
    “Oregonians throughout our state count on elected officials to be available in their communities to answer questions and hear their views and concerns,”  “Wyden said. “That expectation has always been a vital part of the ‘Oregon Way.” And in these unprecedented times with our country facing unprecedented challenges, these in-person conversations in every nook and cranny of Oregon are more important than ever.”
    The schedule for the upcoming town halls is as follows:
    Thursday, June 19
    Malheur County, 6:30 pm MT, Four Rivers Cultural Center, Meyer McLean Performing Arts Theater, 676 SW 5th Ave., Ontario
    Friday, June 20
    Baker County, 1:30 pm PT, Baker City Armory, 1640 Campbell St., Baker City
    Union County, 5:30 pm PT, La Grande High School Auditorium, 708 K Ave., La Grande
    Saturday, June 21
    Hood River County, Noon PT, Hood River Valley High School, Bowe Theater, 1220 Indian Creek Road, Hood River
    Doors will open one hour before the town hall start times for attendees. For everyone’s security, backpacks and large bags will not be allowed in the town hall.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy, Blumenthal, 27 Colleagues Slam Republican Plan to Rescind Over $1 Billion in Federal Funding for Local Public Broadcasting Stations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

    June 10, 2025

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 27 of their U.S. Senate colleagues in slamming a Republican attempt to rescind $1.07 billion in already-allocated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds local public broadcasting stations across the country.  The $1.07 billion represents 100% of CPB’s funding through September 2027. This move follows President Trump’s executive order directing cuts to federal funding for PBS and NPR.
    “Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio,” the senators wrote. “This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country. Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB.”
    The Corporation for Public Broadcasting supports over 1,500 local public television and radio stations that provide free, high-quality programming to millions of households across America. It provides young children who don’t get the chance to attend preschool with educational content that helps them learn to read; airs highly trusted nightly news programming; and shares critical public safety information during emergencies. Local public television stations also provide extensive coverage of local government and elections and host candidate debates, helping Americans stay connected with their elected leaders. Because public television and radio relies heavily on federal funding to operate, particularly in rural communities, losing this funding would force many of these stations to reduce much of their programming or, in some cases, close their doors.
    U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also signed the letter.
    Full text of the letter is available HERE and below:
    Dear Majority Leader Thune,
    Federal investment in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supports over 1,500 local and regional public television and radio stations that provide free, high-quality programming to millions of households across the country. Following the White House’s request to rescind $1.07 billion in federal funding for CPB, we write to express our strong opposition to any rescission of funding for public broadcasting and prohibitions of direct and indirect funding to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, as outlined in the Executive Order titled, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media” released on May 1, 2025. This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve, and any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans across the country.
    Our public broadcasting system is a unique American institution that is deeply embedded in our communities and a critical source of lifesaving public safety services, accurate information, and educational programming. The vast majority of the federal funding CPB receives is allocated to local radio and television stations across the country. These cuts will have an immediate and significant impact for stations in rural communities that heavily rely on CPB funding to provide critical services and could likely result in the elimination of programming or outright closure of stations in areas already faced with limited connectivity.
    According to Northwestern University, 55 million people in the United States have no or only one source of local news, and rural counties are far more likely to lose their local news outlets. This number could increase if the two-year advance appropriation for public media is not upheld, resulting in the drastic reduction or complete elimination of free, high-quality local programming. This is especially concerning given the importance of public broadcasting during public emergencies, such as natural disasters, transportation accidents, national security threats, or public safety matters. CPB funds are essential to ensuring that the broadcast infrastructure remains robust and operational in disaster situations, especially scenarios in which local public broadcasters serve as the only source of information for those who need a lifeline. Any cuts in funding will have drastic consequences for communities in need.
    And there is much more to their public safety services in addition to the critical local information they broadcast. Public television’s interconnection technology, which connects local public television stations to PBS, is also one of the backbone pathways for the delivery of our nation’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) services – enabling cell phone subscribers to receive geotargeted emergency text alerts no matter where they are in the country. A cut to public broadcasting funding would put this lifesaving service and its nationwide footprint at risk.
    Public television has also pioneered cutting edge technology that helps first responders communicate with each other over the broadcast spectrum without the need for mobile service or broadband. This datacasting technology and public television’s public safety partnerships is already helping with early earthquake warning and has been proven effective in a wide range of scenarios where broadband or cellular service are limited, including rural search and rescue, overwater communications, large event crowd control and more. But this is only possible if stations serving rural and remote areas with limited broadband are healthy and continue operating as they are today.
    On the education front, public television’s early childhood education services ensure that every family has access to high-quality, non-commercial educational content regardless of their ability to pay for such services. This is essential for over 50 percent of three and four-year old children who do not attend formal preschool.
    If funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is eliminated or rescinded, the impact would be devastating. Millions of people across the country whose stations rely on CPB funding for a significant percentage of their budget would be at risk of losing access to public television’s services. These are services that nobody else in the media world is providing, but it’s exactly the work for which public broadcasting was created, and they are delivering to our communities every day. 
    Public broadcasting is an essential service that should be protected, not decimated. For this reason, we request that you prioritize maintaining and continuing funding for CPB. We appreciate your consideration of this request and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: June 10th, 2025 VIDEO: Heinrich Joins Press Conference Blasting Republicans’ ‘Big Beautiful Betrayal’ for Raising Energy Prices

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
    WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in a press conference on how Trump and Republicans’ reconciliation bill will raise energy costs for working families, all to pay for tax handouts for their billionaire donors.

    VIDEO: U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) hosts a press conference blasting Trump and Republicans’ reconciliation bill for raising energy costs, June 10, 2025.
    Heinrich’s remarks as delivered are below:
    As Senator Schatz said, the conundrum we’re in with electricity right now is that we haven’t been in this supply demand space since air conditioners became a widely available technology.
    That was the last time we saw the kind of growth in demand that we’re experiencing right now. On the supply side, the place we find ourselves in right now is one where, if you want to order a combined cycle of natural gas turbine, if you ordered it yesterday, you’re going to get it in 2030 or 2031.
    If you want to build a new API, 1000 Nuclear Generating Station, as the President has said he does, it’s going to take you 5 to 10 years to actually build that.
    If you want to do the geothermal stuff that’s taking off in Utah, to some extent in New Mexico, that’s scaling slow: It’s going to be 5 to 10 years before that stuff is at scale.
    So if you look at this incredibly increased demand from artificial intelligence, from electrification, from the surge we’ve seen in manufacturing, and you look at the supply that’s coming onto the grid in 2024 and what’s coming on in 2025 well over 90% of that is actually renewables plus storage.
    And that’s the case because it’s the cheapest, fastest to permit and fastest to build.
    So if you start throttling back 90% of your supply at a time when demand is going through the roof, what’s the impact of that?
    And I’m here to tell you, the impact is electricity bills are going up.
    They are going up all across the country.
    And Republicans are going to own that because there is no world in which we throttle supply like they are doing right now, especially with this reconciliation bill, but in 5 or 10 other different ways as well, and you don’t see those electric bills go through the roof.
    IRA tax credits are the biggest piece of that but it’s not the only one.
    They basically eviscerated the agencies that finance or permit many of these things.
    They said they wanted to build nuclear.
    The only nuclear that’s been built in the last 30 years is what we just saw happen in Georgia, and that happened because the loan program office — where they’ve lost half the staff and defunded it in the president’s budget.
    If you want to produce oil and gas, you need somebody at the Bureau of Land Management who can actually pick up the phone about a permit.
    They have chased people out of the Bureau of Land Management.
    You add that to the kind of permitting abuse that we’ve seen with Empire Wind, a fully permitted multi-gigawatt project, and then you throw in some steel and aluminum tariffs just to make the natural gas projects that are in the books even more expensive.
    This is a perfect storm of higher electricity rates, and if they pass this reconciliation bill without changes, they’re going to own every bit of it.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall Applauds General Motors’ $4 Billion Investment in America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall
    Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) applauded today’s announcement from General Motors that they will be investing $4 billion into U.S. manufacturing plants, including in Kansas City, Kansas.
    “General Motors’ announcement to expand production in Kansas is a clear sign that President Trump’s policies are working and bringing back good-paying manufacturing jobs,” said Senator Marshall. “This investment will be a huge boon for the hard-working men and women in the area, and I look forward to seeing what developments come next under this White House.”
    Under President Trump’s leadership, Made-in-America is being incentivized again, giving companies more reasons than ever to invest in America.
    Additionally, the President’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ will lower the tax rate for those producing products, like vehicles, in the United States, and those who purchase American-made cars will receive Made-in-America Auto Tax breaks.
    Background:
    Senator Marshall previously introduced the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act to counter the Biden Administration’s radical environmental agenda and executive overreach by preventing the implementation of a proposed rule and other regulations that essentially seek to eliminate the internal combustion engine.
    Senator Marshall also previously led calls for the withdrawal of the Biden Administration’s proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks, which would have effectively mandated the mass production of electric vehicles (EVs) and a phase-out of gas-powered cars and trucks.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SCHUMER STATEMENT ON TRUMP RENAMING FORT HENRY JOHNSON BACK TO FORT POLK

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today released the following statement on President Trump announcing the Army would be renaming Fort Johnson, named in honor of the Medal of Honor recipient, Albany Resident, Harlem Hellfighter, and New York Army National Guard Sgt. William Henry Johnson, back to Fort Polk:
    “This is a vile insult to the memory and heroic patriotism of Sgt. Henry Johnson, a Medal of Honor recipient and Albany resident who Theodore Roosevelt called ‘one of the five bravest Americans’ to have served in World War I. Allied Commander Gen. John Pershing singled out Johnson for his valor in repelling a German raider party of at least 12 men, and Johnson protected his fellow soldiers under heavy fire and repelled the raiding party resulting in several enemy casualties, engaging in hand to hand combat. For this he received no American military honor because of a racist and segregated military,” said Senator Schumer. “For nearly a century, the nation for which he was willing to give his life shamefully failed to recognize Henry Johnson’s heroics, simply because of the color of his skin, and now they are disgracefully removing his name from an honor he unquestionably earned via superhuman heroism on the battlefield. Henry Johnson loved America when America did not love him back. Yet he still willingly put his life on the line for our great nation. Some might call that the warrior spirit. I call it patriotism of the very highest order.”
    Schumer continued, “Sgt. Johnson is a true American hero who displayed the most profound bravery on the battlefield, and returning this fort to its former name, and taking this honor away from a medal of honor recipient is a disgusting new low for the Trump administration. It is utterly indefensible. All of America should be outraged at this slap in the face of a war hero. The Trump administration should be ashamed and should immediately reverse this decision.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Booker Commends Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and NJ TRANSIT After Successful Contract Negotiations

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker

    NEWARK, N.J. – This afternoon, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) voted 398 to 21 to ratify their contract with NJ TRANSIT. In response, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) commended both parties, saying:

    “The labor of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen moves our entire region. This afternoon, BLET members ratified their contract with NJ TRANSIT, affirming a deal that sets workers, their families, hundreds of thousands of commuters, and our state’s economy up for the future. I applaud the efforts of both parties to ensure the operation of our public transportation system and support the well-being of New Jersey families.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WICKER, HYDE-SMITH DEMAND AN END TO BIDEN-ERA FLOOD INSURANCE PREMIUMS

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Mississippi Roger Wicker

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) have joined colleagues in demanding the Federal Emergency Management Agency end Risk Rating 2.0, the Biden-era flood insurance policy that has caused premiums to skyrocket and thousands of homeowners to abandon their policies.

    Wicker and Hyde-Smith signed a letter, led by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), that calls for halting further Risk Rating 2.0 premium increases and demanding greater transparency from FEMA.  The lawmakers have long questioned the pricing methodology used by FEMA in setting Risk Rating 2.0 premiums, which have increased for an estimated 84 percent of Mississippi flood insurance policyholders.

    “Since the Biden Administration’s rollout of Risk Rating 2.0, premiums under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) increased in every state.  By FEMA’s own estimates, 77 percent of all NFIP policies now pay more than under the old system,” the Senators wrote.

    “The lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0 is beyond troubling.  FEMA has never allowed for meaningful public comment nor has it published the underlying data or assumptions used to justify the steep premium increases and refuses to disclose its actuarial model.  Without transparency, communities cannot plan mitigation projects, lenders cannot accurately underwrite mortgages, and citizens cannot appeal punitive rate increases.  Worse still, rising costs encourage policy lapses—shifting risk back to taxpayers when disasters strike,” the Senators continued.

    “Time is of the essence.  Each month that Risk Rating 2.0 continues unchecked, more families are forced to abandon their insurance coverage, neighborhoods face economic strain, and entire communities risk collapse after the next disaster.  We respectfully urge you to act now—before further harm is done—to protect vulnerable Americans, preserve homeownership, and ensure the NFIP fulfills its mission as Congress intended,” the Senators concluded.

    The letter sent to FEMA Acting Administrator David Richardson was also signed by U.S. Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

    Read the full letter here or below.

    Dear Acting Administrator Richardson,

     

    We write to draw your urgent attention to the increasingly untenable flood insurance premiums paid by American homeowners as a result of the Biden-era policy, Risk Rating 2.0, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  We respectfully ask for your leadership to halt further premium increases under Risk Rating 2.0 and implement much needed transparency from FEMA.

     

    On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 13990, directing every federal agency to target and modify Trump-era regulations under the auspice of combating climate change.  A few months later, Biden signed EO 14030, requiring agencies to integrate up-to-date flood risk considerations into federal actions.  Collectively, both of these EOs laid the groundwork for FEMA’s implementation of a new rating system known as Risk Rating 2.0, which was enacted on October 1, 2021.

     

    Since the Biden Administration’s rollout of Risk Rating 2.0, premiums under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) increased in every state.  By FEMA’s own estimates, 77 percent of all NFIP policies now pay more than under the old system.  According to a 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, premiums on primary residences under Risk Rating 2.0 are subject to a maximum 18 percent increase each year until such premiums reflect “the full risk loss of the insured property,” as determined by FEMA.

     

    Families in the following Republican states are especially hard-hit.

     

    Louisiana:

    • It is estimated that 80% of Louisiana NFIP policyholders experienced monthly premium increases in 2025 as a result of Risk Rating 2.0.
    • In 2023 alone, the average flood insurance premium in our state jumped by 234%, forcing more than 52,000 Louisianans—many of them seniors on fixed incomes—out of the program.
    • Coastal parishes, which depend on flood insurance to secure mortgages and rebuild after storms, are now facing premiums that exceed 2% of median household income—a threshold that federal guidance deems “cost prohibitive.”

     

    West Virginia:

    • It is estimated that 83% of West Virginia NFIP policyholders experienced monthly premium increases in 2025 as a result of Risk Rating 2.0.
    • As of August 2023 (the latest available FEMA data), Risk Rating 2.0 would increase annual NFIP premiums for homeowners in West Virginia by ~176%
    • Over the last 12 months, ~600 West Virginians have left the NFIP as a result of premium increases.

     

    Texas:

    • It is estimated that 86% of Texas NFIP policyholders experienced monthly premium increases in 2025 as a result of Risk Rating 2.0.
    • As of August 2023 (the latest available FEMA data), Risk Rating 2.0 would increase annual NFIP premiums for homeowners in Texas by ~53%.
    • Over the last 12 months, ~26,300 Texans have left the NFIP as a result of premium increases.

     

    Alabama:

    • It is estimated that 79% of Alabama NFIP policyholders experienced monthly premium increases in 2025 as a result of Risk Rating 2.0.
    • As of August 2023 (the latest available FEMA data), Risk Rating 2.0 would increase annual NFIP premiums for homeowners in Alabama by ~106%.
    • Over the last 12 months, ~1,200 Alabamians have left the NFIP as a result of premium increases.

     

    Mississippi:

    • It is estimated that 84% of Mississippi NFIP policyholders experienced monthly premium increases in 2025 as a result of Risk Rating 2.0.
    • As of August 2023 (the latest available FEMA data), Risk Rating 2.0 would increase annual NFIP premiums for homeowners in Mississippi by ~103%.
    • Over the last 12 months, ~2,200 Mississippians have left the NFIP as a result of premium increases.

     

    Rural and low-income homeowners, along with high-risk coastal areas, are being priced out at far higher rates than urban or wealthier communities.  In ten states, full risk NFIP premiums today exceed 2 percent of median household income.  This undermines home values, depresses property tax revenues, and ultimately inflates federal disaster assistance costs when uninsured homeowners cannot rebuild.

     

    The lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0 is beyond troubling. FEMA has never allowed for meaningful public comment nor has it published the underlying data or assumptions used to justify the steep premium increases and refuses to disclose its actuarial model.  Without transparency, communities cannot plan mitigation projects, lenders cannot accurately underwrite mortgages, and citizens cannot appeal punitive rate increases.  Worse still, rising costs encourage policy lapses—shifting risk back to taxpayers when disasters strike.

     

    The President has long championed policies that reduce federal overreach and protect everyday Americans from burdensome costs.  To limit the damage caused by this harmful Biden era policy, we urge you to:

     

    1. Direct FEMA to terminate the Risk Rating 2.0 pricing methodology.
    2. Require FEMA to publish all actuarial inputs and outputs of future flood insurance premium increases exceeding the 5% statutory minimum so stakeholders can verify fairness and accuracy.
    3. Restore targeted affordability measures for coastal, low income, and historically underinsured communities—ensuring NFIP remains accessible to those who need it most.

     

    Time is of the essence.  Each month that Risk Rating 2.0 continues unchecked, more families are forced to abandon their insurance coverage, neighborhoods face economic strain, and entire communities risk collapse after the next disaster.  We respectfully urge you to act now—before further harm is done—to protect vulnerable Americans, preserve homeownership, and ensure the NFIP fulfills its mission as Congress intended.

     

    Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Baldwin Presses NIH Director on Trump Administration’s Deep Cuts to Lifesaving Research

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS), led a hearing on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget and questioned NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya about why the Trump administration is ripping away NIH funding that supports lifesaving research into cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. Baldwin pressed Dr. Bhattacharya on both why he has effectively delayed or cut thousands of NIH grants in the first few months of 2025, and also how his proposal for next year would slash the NIH budget and lifesaving research by 40%. Senator Baldwin also specifically pressed Dr. Bhattacharya on a new policy scheme that the administration is implementing right now that hides even deeper cuts to research.

    “If Donald Trump gets his way, billions in funding for lifesaving research will be ripped away to fund tax breaks for the rich, and it’s American families that will pay the price with their health,” said Senator Baldwin. “It’s not just wrong – it’s cruel. I won’t stop fighting on behalf of the millions of families who are holding out hope their loved one battling cancer, ALS, or Alzheimer’s disease has a fighting chance.”

    Dr. Bhattacharya testified in front of the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee today to defend President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal for the NIH, which would rip away $18 billion – a 40% cut – in NIH funding for lifesaving breakthroughs. The budget request shows that it plans to cut the number of grants NIH awards by 4,000 this year and 15,000 next year, which would be a devastating blow for research institutions, scientists, and patients nationwide. A recent report found that nearly 2,500 NIH grants have been ended or delayed. In addition to terminating $4.9 billion in active research grants, the NIH has awarded 3,288 fewer disease studies and research projects compared to the same time period last year. Senator Baldwin pressed Director Bhattacharya specifically about the disastrous new forward funding policy that would dramatically reduce the number of grants NIH awards next year, and the need for Congress to step in and stop NIH from implementing it.

    Senator Baldwin led a forum earlier this year to spotlight how cuts are impacting researchers and Americans in clinical trials. Senator Baldwin also sent a letter, together with Senator Murray and Representative DeLauro, to Director Bhattacharya pressing him for information about the thousands of NIH grants that have been terminated under his watch.

    A full recording of Senator Baldwin’s opening remarks is available here.

    A full recording of Senator Baldwin’s questions is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff Demand Answers From Trump Administration on Reckless Decision to Deploy Hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles

    US Senate News:

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

    Padilla, Schiff Demand Answers From Trump Administration on Reckless Decision to Deploy Hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles

    Senators: “We strongly oppose this deployment and request you clarify the legal authority that purports to grant the President and you the ability to deploy active-duty personnel on American streets under these circumstances.”

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) demanded answers regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to deploy approximately 700 Marines to Los Angeles. In their letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, the Senators requested that the Administration clarify and provide the legal authority that purports to grant the President and the Department of Defense the ability to deploy active-duty military personnel on American streets.  

    “The presence of the Marines was not requested by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, or California Governor Gavin Newsom. Moreover, local and state law enforcement officers are carrying out their missions to protect the public amid ongoing immigration raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel. We strongly oppose this deployment and request you clarify the legal authority that purports to grant the President and you the ability to deploy active-duty personnel on American streets under these circumstances,” wrote the Senators.  

    “A decision to deploy active-duty military personnel within the United States should only be undertaken during the most extreme circumstances, and these are not them. That this deployment was made over the objections of state authorities is all the more unjustifiable. In this instance, this extraordinary action was also irresponsibly rushed and lacked clear communication to government officials or the U.S. public. The notification from NORTHCOM did not provide critical information to understand the legal authority, mission, or rules of engagement for Marines involved in this domestic deployment,” continued the Senators.  

    Senator Padilla has been outspoken in slamming the Los Angeles ICE raids and Trump’s misguided mobilization of the National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps. Earlier today, Padilla spoke on the Senate floor to blast President Trump for manufacturing a crisis by launching indiscriminate ICE raids across Los Angeles and deploying the National Guard and active-duty servicemembers to the region. Yesterday, Padilla, Schiff, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanded answers from top Trump Administration officials regarding the arrest and detention of David Huerta, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West. Padilla has joined national and local TV and radio broadcasts in the past few days to condemn the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and across the country.

    Full text of the letter is available here and below: 

    Dear Secretary Hegseth,

    According to a U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) notification to Congress on June 9, 2025, approximately 700 Marines have been deployed in support of Task Force 51, the unit comprised of National Guard troops called into federal service by President Trump and operating in Los Angeles. You explained subsequently that these “… active-duty U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton are being deployed to Los Angeles to restore order.”

    The presence of the Marines was not requested by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, or California Governor Gavin Newsom. Moreover, local and state law enforcement officers are carrying out their missions to protect the public amid ongoing immigration raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel. We strongly oppose this deployment and request you clarify the legal authority that purports to grant the President and you the ability to deploy active-duty personnel on American streets under these circumstances.

    A decision to deploy active-duty military personnel within the United States should only be undertaken during the most extreme circumstances, and these are not them. That this deployment was made over the objections of state authorities is all the more unjustifiable. In this instance, this extraordinary action was also irresponsibly rushed and lacked clear communication to government officials or the U.S. public. The notification from NORTHCOM did not provide critical information to understand the legal authority, mission, or rules of engagement for Marines involved in this domestic deployment. As such, we ask that you provide immediate answers to the following questions:

    What is the legal authority for the Marine deployment and any activity they will be authorized to undertake? Please provide any Department of Defense analysis on the legal authority for this action. What is the specific mission for the Marine deployment and how has that mission been communicated to the Marines?

    Will the Marines engage in, and have legal authority to engage in, law enforcement activities?

    Please also clarify any requests made of the Department of Defense by other federal entities, such as the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, regarding the scope of the Marines’ mission and duties.

    What are the rules of engagement for the Marines while deployed to Los Angeles? The NORTHCOM notification indicates that “Task Force 51 forces have been trained in de-escalation, crowd control, and standing rules for the use of force.” How much training was provided to the Marines involved and at what time? What crowd control equipment was issued to the Marines prior to or during their deployment, and what training have they received on proper use of that equipment? Given that the Marines, who are trained to be among the most lethal forces in the U.S. military, may have direct contact with U.S. civilians as part of the domestic deployment, please clarify the precise rules of engagement that have been provided to them or under which they are expected to operate.

    Given the significant questions about the role of the Marines as part of this operation, we respectfully request answers to these questions within 48 hours or a stand down of their mobilization.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: WATCH: Padilla Slams Trump’s Unprecedented Mobilization of Marines and National Guard in LA, Pushes for Permanent DACA Protections

    US Senate News:

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

    WATCH: Padilla Slams Trump’s Unprecedented Mobilization of Marines and National Guard in LA, Pushes for Permanent DACA Protections

    WATCH: Padilla: “Immigrants are not political pawns for his agenda. Just as servicemembers … are not political pawns for his agenda.”

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, spoke on the Senate floor to condemn President Trump’s move to federalize the California National Guard and mobilize U.S. Marine Corps elements, sending 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles. Padilla delivered remarks ahead of the 13th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, pushing for permanent protections for Dreamers rather than indiscriminate Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.

    Padilla called out President Trump for trying to scapegoat immigrants to distract from Republicans’ unpopular billionaire-first budget bill, which would deliver tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working families. As part of this manufactured crisis, Trump has caused a chaotic escalation of the conflict in Los Angeles while ignoring fundamental due process rights.

    • “Time and time again, we’ve seen one of the most frequently called plays out of the Trump playbook. When everything else is going wrong, shift the narrative, scapegoat immigrants, blame immigrants for whatever your failure is at the moment.”
    • “Well today, between his failing trade wars that are raising the cost of living on working families across the country, to his losses in federal court and delays in Congress on their efforts to give billionaires even bigger tax breaks, and even the embarrassing breakup recently with his former BBFF, billionaire best friend forever, Elon Musk, it’s safe to say that Donald Trump is grasping for anything he can do to change the narrative, to distract us of the damage that his political agenda is going on.”
    • “In order to distract the country from his failures and his efforts to ‘flood the zone,’ Donald Trump is expanding his deportation agenda far beyond the focus and targeting of violent and dangerous criminals that he claimed would be the strategy.”
    • “He’s so desperate to show quick results that he’s even throwing due process rights out the window for so many. The due process rights, by the way, that I know most of you, if not all of you, should agree are paramount, foundational to our democracy.”

    Padilla emphasized that the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration enforcement in Los Angeles is deeply personal for him, and that he would keep fighting against Trump’s mass deportation agenda and demonizing of immigrant communities.

    • “It’s personal for me not just because Los Angeles is home — I was born and raised in Los Angeles — but as a proud son of immigrants, I know the true story of the vast majority of immigrants and immigrant families in Los Angeles, throughout California and throughout the country.”
    • “But instead of honoring those contributions … Donald Trump is manufacturing a crisis to once again, not just distract us, but divide us. And just as he’s always done, he’s using immigrants to do it.”
    • “So I can’t help but speak up and remind us, immigrants are not political pawns for his agenda. Just as servicemembers — women and men — are not political pawns for his agenda.”

    As the nation approaches the 13th anniversary of the DACA program, Padilla pushed his Republican colleagues to finally pass permanent protections for DACA recipients, including over 160,000 in California alone. He highlighted that most Dreamers have been contributing to our communities and economy for years, and underlined that if DACA ended, it could cost the country nearly $650 billion while potentially cutting over 400,000 workers.

    • “As we should be celebrating the 13th anniversary of DACA this week, hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and Dreamers are actually now worried that they are at risk, at further risk. That they could be next as President Trump struggles to find enough violent criminals to detain and deport to meet a campaign promise. Since he can’t get his numbers there, he’ll look elsewhere. So I want to take this moment to make very clear: Dreamers are our neighbors. Dreamers are our loved ones.”
    • “These are young people who are Americans in every sense of the word, except for one important piece of paperwork. … Yet because of Congressional Republicans’ refusal to act, Dreamers live at a minimum in a constant state of uncertainty, but oftentimes in a constant state of fear. They deserve better. Mr. President, they deserve permanent protections.”
    • “If through the President or through Republicans’ actions in Congress, you were to take away work authorization for hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, that’s reducing our workforce at a time when we’re trying to grow the workforce and grow the economy.”
    • “I’m talking about Dreamers who work as teachers, as caregivers, as nurses and doctors, as construction workers, as food service workers, and so many other key industries for our economy. And they’re hardworking community members who pay taxes just like the rest of us and just want a chance to work hard and raise a family in the country that they love. They deserve peace of mind, the piece of mind to know that they are safe here at home.”

    Padilla concluded by pushing his colleagues to pass the DREAM Act to finally provide permanent protections for Dreamers who have long contributed to our economy and communities, yet are forced to live in uncertainty.

    • “For my Republican colleagues who may be caught up in the heat of the moment and trapped in this anti-immigrant rhetoric in our current political climate on the right, I’ll say this: Dreamers make our communities better. Dreamers make our economy stronger. And Dreamers make our nation stronger.”
    • “The DREAM Act is a commonsense bill that has enjoyed bipartisan support. So I urge you to join me in supporting the DREAM Act now and giving these young people the certainty and the protections that they deserve, and strengthen our nation in the process.”

    Video of Padilla’s full remarks is available here.

    Senator Padilla has been outspoken in calling out the Los Angeles ICE raids and Trump’s misguided mobilization of the National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps. Earlier today, Padilla and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) demanded answers regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to deploy approximately 700 Marines to Los Angeles. Padilla also spoke on the Senate floor today to blast President Trump for manufacturing a crisis by launching indiscriminate ICE raids across Los Angeles and deploying the National Guard and active-duty servicemembers to the region. Yesterday, Padilla, Schiff, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanded answers from top Trump Administration officials regarding the arrest and detention of David Huerta, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West. Padilla has joined national and local TV and radio broadcasts in the past few days to condemn the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and across the country.

    Senator Padilla is a leading voice in Congress for immigration reform. To commemorate the 12th anniversary of DACA, Padilla joined immigration advocates, DACA recipients, and other lawmakers to urge Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and call on former President Biden to protect Dreamers and long-term undocumented communities through executive action. He previously joined his Senate colleagues and directly impacted immigrant youth leaders for a press conference calling on Republicans in Congress to work with Democrats to pass permanent protections for DACA recipients after the 5th Circuit’s 2022 ruling left these recipients in limbo.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy on Trump Selling Off U.S. Foreign Policy: This Corruption Has No Precedent in American History

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
    [embedded content]  
    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Monday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to call on his Senate colleagues to stand up to President Trump’s brazen corruption of U.S. foreign policy. Murphy will force a vote as early as this week on two joint resolutions of disapproval to block multi-billion-dollar weapons sales to Qatar and the UAE after Trump demanded billions of dollars in luxury gifts and business deals from the two countries, including a $400 million dollar luxury plane that he intends to keep for personal use. 
    Murphy exposed the historic nature of Trump’s corruption and the danger it poses to national security: “The blatant exchange of U.S. national security secrets, our most sensitive drone technology and our most sensitive chip technology, in exchange for cash into Donald Trump’s pocket, is perhaps the most brazenly corrupt act in the history of the American presidency. And we cannot normalize it just because he is doing it out in the open, in public.
    On Trump demanding Qatar gift him a luxury jet for his own personal use, Murphy said: “Now, this kind of gift, a $400 million luxury jet, it has no precedent in American history. No President has ever asked for, never mind been given, a $400 million gift from a foreign nation. Why? Well, because presidents know that that’s crossing a line. That is a massive abuse of their power. The leverage that presidents have over other countries, that they could use to ask for millions of dollars in gifts, it’s supposed to be used to benefit the nation’s security, not to enrich themselves. But also, it’s just illegal. There is a very specific clause in the Constitution that forbids this kind of gift from a foreign government to a president. And this body is supposed to be in charge of helping to enforce the Constitution. Our founders wrote that clause into the Constitution because they worried about this exact situation, where a president is using his authority like a monarch or a king to make himself the richest person in the world.
    Murphy stressed that Republicans and Democrats must unite to protect the U.S. Constitution and preserve a foreign policy rooted in furthering American interests: “Donald Trump is using the power of his office not to help or protect us, but to enrich himself and his family. He is doing it publicly, brazenly, out in the open. He is, in effect, daring us – specifically daring the legislative branch, the co-equal branch – to stop him…Republicans can’t ignore this just because the president is their party’s leader. We have that independent obligation to protect the Constitution, which clearly says that these gifts are illegal, whether they’re going to a Democratic president or a Republican president. We have a responsibility to our taxpayers to stop a president from immorally enriching himself, using the power we give him to help himself instead of helping us. 
    He concluded: “The net result is an American public that is poorer, and weaker, and less secure. And a president who is richer. It’s corrupt. It’s corrupt. We’ve never, ever, in the history of this country, allowed for a president to do this. Never in the 250 years that our republic has been on the Earth has a president ever asked another nation to enrich himself in this way, in exchange for preferential treatment from the U.S. taxpayers. If you are a Republican or a Democratic senator, you have to see this as unprecedented, as terrible for our nation, as corruption. American foreign policy should not be for sale. If we let these arms sales go through, we are greasing the wheels of that corruption. If we vote for these resolutions of disapproval, at least we have a shot to stop it.” 
    Murphy filed these joint resolutions of disapproval last month. 
    A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:
    MURPHY: “The U.S. Constitution and the American people give the American president vast power: the power to decide how billions of dollars are spent; the power to oversee the entire federal criminal justice system; the power to sell arms around the world; to deploy millions of American soldiers; to negotiate peace treaties. We give him these powers – the Constitution gives the president these powers – so that he uses them on our behalf: to deploy that vast power of the American presidency; to increase our quality of life; to protect the American people. We place immense trust in the president not to abuse these incredible authorities that are given to him. But Donald Trump is abusing that authority in ways that honestly shock the conscience.
    “Donald Trump is using the power of his office not to help or protect us, but to enrich himself and his family. He is doing it publicly, brazenly, out in the open. He is, in effect, daring us – specifically daring the legislative branch, the co-equal branch – to stop him.
    “Nearly three weeks ago, news broke that the White House had dialed up one of our key allies in the Middle East, the government of Qatar, and it asked that the Qataris give the president a luxury jet that is reportedly worth upwards of $400 million. 
    “Now, the nicest jet that I have ever been on is Air Force One, and it’s really nice. But the jet that Trump wants to make Air Force One, that he’s asking for from the Qataris, makes Air Force One, the current version, look like a tenement house. The Qatari jet that he is asking for, its interior is designed by a famed French designer, complete with a flowing grand staircase, sculpted ceilings, plush carpeting, leather couches, gold furnishings. The plane has been called the world’s most luxurious private jet. It includes nine bathrooms, five kitchens, swanky lounges, and a master bedroom suite. The arrangement that Trump proposed to the Qataris would briefly pass the jet through U.S. government hands, but only, as reported, for just a year or two before it would end up belonging personally to Donald Trump. The U.S. Government would essentially be a straw purchaser. The real owner of the jet, for all practical purposes, would be Donald Trump. 
    “Now, this kind of gift, a $400 million luxury jet, it has no precedent in American history. No President has ever asked for, never mind been given, a $400 million gift from a foreign nation. Why? Well, because presidents know that that’s crossing a line. That is a massive abuse of their power. The leverage that presidents have over other countries, that they could use to ask for millions of dollars in gifts, it’s supposed to be used to benefit the nation’s security, not to enrich themselves. But also, it’s just illegal. There is a very specific clause in the Constitution that forbids this kind of gift from a foreign government to a president. And this body is supposed to be in charge of helping to enforce the Constitution. Our founders wrote that clause into the Constitution because they worried about this exact situation, where a president is using his authority like a monarch or a king to make himself the richest person in the world. 
    “Now, the Qatar government feels like it had little choice but to say yes when asked for this $400 million gift – again, briefly to the U.S. Government – but really, for all practical purposes, to the president. They felt like they had no choice precisely because an American president has so much power. They have so much leverage, especially over a vulnerable country in the Middle East. In this case, Qatar really needs to keep the United States on its side. Middle East politics, they shift really quickly, and during Trump’s first term, when the Qataris were not close to Trump, they paid a price. They found themselves badly and dangerously isolated in the region. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, if you remember, effectively ganged up to blockade Qatar, and Trump gave that move implicit consent. Qatar, frankly, is willing to pay a very high price to avoid that fate again. 
    “But Qatar also has things that it wants from the United States. No Middle East country has ever been allowed to buy MQ-9 Reaper drones. These are the most lethal armed drone that America makes. We have previously judged that the region is just too volatile to allow any nation to possess the Reaper, and arguably there’s an arms control regime that doesn’t allow us to transfer that technology, but Qatar wanted to break that precedent. Of course they did. They wanted to be the first nation to have the Reaper technology, and Trump seemed willing to go along. So, a $400 million gift to the president, again, that the president was asking for, it’s a relatively small price to pay for that kind of military edge over your rivals in the region. 
    “But there was one more reason that Qatar had no choice but to give Trump, or at least they felt they had no choice but to give Trump, this wildly illegal gift: because Trump had made it clear to the whole region, to the whole of the Gulf region in the Middle East, that he was for sale and that preferential American treatment was for sale. And if Qatar didn’t pay, another country would. Qatar wasn’t going to be protected, frankly, by a collective refusal of Trump’s extortion in the region. And they had only to look next door to the United Arab Emirates to see how high the price was getting to win Trump’s affection. 
    “At the exact moment that Trump was leaning on Qatar to give him the luxury plane, he was also leaning on UAE to give him not a $400 million gift, but a $2 billion gift. And he didn’t have to lean hard. Just before the Qataris committed to give Trump the plane, an investment firm, backed by the Emirati government and chaired by Emirati government’s national security advisor, shocked the world and announced that it would use Trump’s brand-new stablecoin, this is a form of cryptocurrency, in a $2 billion investment deal that this investment fund, essentially an arm of the UAE government, was doing. And because of that $2 billion deal, overnight Trump’s stablecoin became one of the five largest stablecoins in the world, massively inflating the president’s wealth due to this one single investment. Now this wasn’t an ordinary investment decision. Out of all the stablecoin companies in the world, the Emiratis chose what at the time was a brand-new, relatively small crypto company, run by two people who had very little background in the industry. Why? To put money directly into the pocket of Donald Trump. On the website of World Liberty Financial – that’s the company that is issuing the Trump coin – they don’t hide the fact that this isn’t the Trump kids that own the business. On the website, it states 60% of this company, World Liberty Financial, is owned by an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump.
    “But it gets even more corrupt because World Liberty Financial’s other cofounder is a guy named Zach Witkoff, who, not coincidentally, is the son of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s top Middle East advisor. The Trumps could have picked anybody in the world to run this stablecoin business with but they chose the son of the Middle East envoy, just so that when they were going around asking for money in the region, it was crystal clear that if you were doing business with World Liberty Financial, you were doing business with the people in the Trump administration who make all the decisions about the Middle East. So, in one fell swoop, the Emiratis can put money into the family that controls the White House and the family that deploys and decides Middle East policy. 
    “Now, just like the Qataris, the Emiratis want something in return, too. Their ask was for the U.S. to remove restrictions on selling the most advanced American-made computer chips to the UAE. The restrictions have been in place under Republican and Democratic administrations for a really good reason. The UAE has a very close, too close, relationship with China. And the U.S. is always rightly worried that if we gave advanced technology to UAE, it would pretty quickly, potentially, fall into the hands of the Chinese. Now, this would be really bad – especially regarding these microchips, these computer chips – because these chips power the most advanced and proprietary American A.I. systems. Losing these chips to China could cost us the lead to China on the global A.I. race. The UAE also wanted the United States to look the other way while they helped fund a death-spiral civil war in Sudan. The UAE is the main supplier of weapons to the worst of the two parties that are involved in the brutal, catastrophic, deadly, civil war in Sudan. And they want the United States to keep giving them weapons, most recently asking for a resupply of Chinook helicopters, even as they use their military prowess to destroy Sudan. 
    “Now, the end of this chapter of the story will not shock you. In coordination with the $400 million luxury plane and the $2 billion investment in Trump crypto, Qatar got sign-off on buying the Reaper drones. And Steve Witkoff, father of the co-owner of World Liberty Financial, marched over to UAE, right before the president was showing up himself, and announced that the United States would, in fact, magically lift those restrictions on the microchips. And just as unsurprisingly, Trump announced that he’ll sell the Chinooks to Abu Dhabi, with no requirement that they stop fueling the war in Sudan. 
    “The blatant exchange of U.S. national security secrets, our most sensitive drone technology and our most sensitive chip technology, in exchange for cash into Donald Trump’s pocket, is perhaps the most brazenly corrupt act in the history of the American presidency. And we cannot normalize it just because he is doing it out in the open, in public.
    “The Senate, which is given the responsibility by the Constitution to be a coequal branch with the president, we have independent responsibility to uphold and protect the Constitution, to set American foreign policy. We cannot pretend this is not happening. We cannot look the other way while the entire moral foundation of our foreign policy is being shattered. Republicans can’t ignore this just because the president is their party’s leader. We have that independent obligation to protect the Constitution, which clearly says that these gifts are illegal, whether they’re going to a Democratic president or a Republican president. We have a responsibility to our taxpayers to stop a president from immorally enriching himself, using the power we give him to help himself instead of helping us. 
    “What makes this moment so dangerous is that both UAE and Qatar, but especially Qatar, are key partners of the United States. They aren’t our adversaries. They are our allies. They’re imperfect allies, but they are our allies. In fact, I’ve been down on this floor in the past arguing on behalf of Qatar and the U.S.-Qatar relationship, when other senators have tried to denigrate the Qataris’ contributions to regional peace. The Qataris have been a critical partner of ours on so many important issues. It’s worth saying that. There’s no way that we would have been able to evacuate 124,000 people from Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban takeover without Qatar’s help. The Qataris today host thousands of U.S. troops at Al Udeid Air Force Base. That’s the largest base in the region. The Qataris are critical mediators who helped us send back-channel messages to secure the release of American hostages or negotiate peace deals. There’s no question that Qatar is a country that helps stabilize the region and often is indispensable in protecting U.S. interests overseas. So, I want to cultivate and strengthen that important relationship. I honor the work that the United States and UAE does all around the region to try to track down and hold accountable terrorists. These are real partnerships. But our relationship with Qatar and the UAE, it can’t be a corrupt relationship. We can’t sell drones to Qatar, our friend, if our friend is willing to take part in Trump’s corruption. We cannot sell weapons to the UAE, our ally, if our ally is willing to take part in Trump’s corruption. 
    “We’ll have a chance this week to make this clear: that the United States Senate will not facilitate, will not grease the wheels of Trump’s corruption of our foreign policy. We can do that by voting to block these two arms sales to Qatar and the UAE. Not permanently, but until both countries commit to deny Trump’s requests for personal enrichment as part of the bilateral relationship. That’s why Senators Van Hollen, Kaine, Schatz, and Sanders have joined me in two resolutions of disapproval for those Reaper drone sales and the Chinook sale, and we’ll have a vote on these two resolutions as early as this week. 
    “President Trump has declared that U.S. foreign policy is for sale. And the opening bids, from two of the richest nations in the world, is a $2 billion investment in Trump’s crypto company, from the UAE, and a $400 million luxury plane, essentially for the president’s permanent personal use. At the exact same moment that Trump is trying to push a bill through this Congress that is going to ruin a lot of people’s lives, cutting off their health care or leaving kids without food at night, he’s making himself even richer by trading American national security policy for gifts. And, to make it worse, trading away U.S. national security secrets in exchange. The net result is an American public that is poorer, and weaker, and less secure. And a president who is richer. It’s corrupt. It’s corrupt. We’ve never, ever, in the history of this country, allowed for a president to do this. Never in the 250 years that our republic has been on the Earth has a president ever asked another nation to enrich himself in this way, in exchange for preferential treatment from the U.S. taxpayers. If you are a Republican or a Democratic senator, you have to see this as unprecedented, as terrible for our nation, as corruption. American foreign policy should not be for sale. If we let these arms sales go through, we are greasing the wheels of that corruption. If we vote for these resolutions of disapproval, at least we have a shot to stop it. 
    “I yield the floor.”
     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McMahon Admits to Warren That Education Secretary Lacks Legal Authority to Dismantle the Education Department

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts – Elizabeth Warren

    June 10, 2025

     Warren gains key concessions from Secretary McMahon in a private meeting.

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) met with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Senator Warren also delivered over 1,000 letters to McMahon that the senator had received from people in all 50 states who are worried about the Secretary’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED).

    “My job as a U.S. Senator is to conduct oversight and hold officials’ feet to the fire when they are actively harming the American people. I was able to secure important commitments from Education Secretary McMahon, which will make a real difference for people with student loans,” said Senator Warren. “But at a time when President Trump and Republicans in Congress are trying to make it more expensive for students from working-class families to get ahead, I will not stop fighting to ensure that every student has access to affordable, quality education in America.”

    During the meeting, Secretary McMahon revealed four key pieces of information to Senator Warren:

    • Secretary McMahon conceded that she has no statutory authority to move the responsibilities of the Department of Education to other agencies without Congress passing legislation first. This comes as the Trump administration tries to abolish the Department by shifting its responsibilities to the Small Business Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies that are ill-equipped to take on the Department of Education’s responsibilities. “McMahon didn’t just say she didn’t have the intention to do it—she said that she is legally barred from doing it,” said Senator Warren. “I asked her about the legal authority she would have to transfer any part of the functions of the Department of Education somewhere else, for example, to the SBA, and she said, ‘I can’t do that. That is the job of Congress.’ There was no ambiguity in her answer.” 
    • Secretary McMahon confirmed that she does not intend to restart Social Security offsets for people with defaulted student loans. McMahon told Senator Warren that she personally decided to pause the seizure of Social Security benefits after the Trump administration had announced that it would start forced Social Security collections.“The Education Secretary has assured me that the pause that is currently in place will stay in place and if there is to be any change in that, she would get in touch with me directly before we go there,” said Senator Warren.
    • Secretary McMahon stated that she intends to soon restore the income-driven repayment (IDR) payment count tracker to studentaid.gov, allowing borrowers to track their progress towards receiving debt relief, after taking down the tracker earlier in the Trump administration.
    • Secretary McMahon admitted that she recommended cuts to the Pell Grant program because of the program’s budgetary shortfall, but that it was ultimately up to Congress to fund the Pell program. “McMahon purported to be a supporter of Pell and said that she thought these changes were necessary for fiscal responsibility,” said Senator Warren. “The idea that the Republicans want to cut Pell further, I can already say categorically, is a really bad idea and it’s going to mean that we’re going to lose some number of young people who want to get an education and who ultimately benefit this country when they get an education.”

    Secretary McMahon also committed to responding in writing to Senator Warren’s June 4, 2025 letter containing 66 questions regarding her policies as Education Secretary. Last month, Senator Warren invited Secretary McMahon to a public forum Warren held on May 14, 2025 on higher education affordability. Secretary McMahon refused the invitation in a May 12 letter and instead agreed to a meeting with Senator Warren. 

    Senator Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education:

    • On June 9, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in pushing the Acting Inspector General of ED to open an investigation into new information obtained by her office revealing that DOGE may have gained access to two FSA internal systems, in addition to sensitive borrower data.
    • On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid.
    • On May 20, 2025, Senator Warren and 27 other senators pushed for full funding to the Office of Federal Student Aid.
    • On May 14, 2025, Senator Warren led a Senate forum entitled “Stealing the American Dream: How Trump and Republicans Are Raising Education Costs for Families,” highlighting the consequences of Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) and President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for working- and middle-class students and borrowers.
    • On May 13, 2025, Senator Warren agreed to meet with Education Secretary Linda McMahon and promised to bring questions and stories from Americans across the country to highlight how the Trump administration’s attacks on education are hurting American families.
    • On May 6, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the consequences of President Trump and Secretary Linda McMahon’s reckless dismantling of the Department of Education for American families in a Senate forum.
    • On April 24, 2025, Senator Warren launched a new investigation into the harms of President Trump’s attacks on the Department of Education, seeking information on the impact of the Trump administration’s actions from the members of twelve leading organizations representing schools, parents, teachers, students, borrowers, and researchers.
    • On April 10, 2025, following a request led by Senator Warren, the Department of Education’s Acting Inspector General agreed to open an investigation into the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
    • On April 2, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mazie Hirono, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s proposed plan to replace the Department of Education’s federal student aid call centers with generative artificial intelligence chatbots.
    • On April 2, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren launched the Save Our Schools campaign to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED) and highlight the consequences for every student and public school in America.
    • On March 27, 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a letter to Acting Department of Education Inspector General (IG) René Rocque requesting that the IG conduct an investigation of the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
    • On March 20, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders led a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to slash the capacity of Federal Student Aid to handle student aid complaints.
    • On February 24, 2025, in a response to Senator Warren, Secretary McMahon gave her first public admission that she “wholeheartedly” agreed with Trump’s plans to abolish the Department of Education.
    • On February 11, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim sent Linda McMahon, Secretary-Designate for the U.S. Department of Education, a 12-page letter with 65 questions on McMahon’s policy views in advance of her nomination hearing.

    MIL OSI USA News –