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Key Committees 2021
Key Committees 2021 Senate Committee on Appropriations Visit: appropriations.senate.gov Majority Members Minority Members Patrick J. Leahy, VT, Chairman Richard C. Shelby, AL, Ranking Member* Patty Murray, WA* Mitch McConnell, KY Dianne Feinstein, CA Susan M. Collins, ME Richard J. Durbin, IL* Lisa Murkowski, AK Jack Reed, RI* Lindsey Graham, SC* Jon Tester, MT Roy Blunt, MO* Jeanne Shaheen, NH* Jerry Moran, KS* Jeff Merkley, OR* John Hoeven, ND Christopher Coons, DE John Boozman, AR Brian Schatz, HI* Shelley Moore Capito, WV* Tammy Baldwin, WI* John Kennedy, LA* Christopher Murphy, CT* Cindy Hyde-Smith, MS* Joe Manchin, WV* Mike Braun, IN Chris Van Hollen, MD Bill Hagerty, TN Martin Heinrich, NM Marco Rubio, FL* * Indicates member of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which funds IMLS - Final committee membership rosters may still be being set “Key Committees 2021” - continued: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Visit: help.senate.gov Majority Members Minority Members Patty Murray, WA, Chairman Richard Burr, NC, Ranking Member Bernie Sanders, VT Rand Paul, KY Robert P. Casey, Jr PA Susan Collins, ME Tammy Baldwin, WI Bill Cassidy, M.D. LA Christopher Murphy, CT Lisa Murkowski, AK Tim Kaine, VA Mike Braun, IN Margaret Wood Hassan, NH Roger Marshall, KS Tina Smith, MN Tim Scott, SC Jacky Rosen, NV Mitt Romney, UT Ben Ray Lujan, NM Tommy Tuberville, AL John Hickenlooper, CO Jerry Moran, KS “Key Committees 2021” - continued: Senate Committee on Finance Visit: finance.senate.gov Majority Members Minority Members Ron Wyden, OR, Chairman Mike Crapo, ID, Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, MI Chuck Grassley, IA Maria Cantwell, WA John Cornyn, TX Robert Menendez, NJ John Thune, SD Thomas R. -
Dear Colleague
November 13, 2018 Dear Colleague: We write today to share our support for Steny Hoyer to serve as Majority Leader in the 116th Congress. In the majority, we will have considerable opportunity to effect change and great responsibility to get things done on behalf of our constituents. We will need a steady, experienced leader over the next two years, who also works to empower our Members and prepare them for future leadership opportunities. We will need someone who will hold President Trump, his Administration, and Congressional Republicans accountable – while still being able to work effectively in a divided government to get legislation passed. It is for these reasons that we believe that Steny is the person we need as Majority Leader. Steny was out on the trail tirelessly campaigning this cycle, doing the hard work necessary to take back the House. He traveled to districts in every part of the country, campaigning with progressive and moderate Democratic candidates alike. He’s been there for us: traveling for us, raising money for us, and he’s often one of the first people to reach out and offer his support. He has been a mentor to many of us. We believe it is critical for our leaders to promote Members across our Caucus and give them real opportunities to lead. Steny has done this, and will continue to do so. Half of his Whip team is composed of Members who have served for three terms or less. He was a strong supporter of efforts in 2016 to expand the leadership team, and he is committed to making changes that empower Members further, including by strengthening the Committee process. -
May 11, 2020 the Honorable Elaine L. Chao Secretary of the Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 N
May 11, 2020 The Honorable Elaine L. Chao Secretary of the Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Dear Secretary Chao, We write to bring your attention to the Port of Virginia's application to the 2020 Port Infrastructure Development Discretionary Grants Program to increase on-terminal rail capacity at their Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) facility in Norfolk, Virginia. If awarded, the funds will help increase safety, improve efficiency, and increase the reliability of the movement of goods. We ask for your full and fair consideration. The Port of Virginia is one of the Commonwealth's most powerful economic engines. On an annual basis, the Port is responsible for nearly 400,000 jobs and $92 billion in spending across our Commonwealth and generates 7.5% of our Gross State Product. The Port of Virginia serves as a catalyst for commerce throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond. To expand its commercial impact, the Port seeks to use this funding to optimize its central rail yard at NIT. The Port's arrival and departure of cargo by rails is the largest of any port on the East Coast, and the proposed optimization will involve the construction of two new rail bundles containing four tracks each for a total of more than 10,000 additional feet of working track. This project will improve efficiency, allow more cargo to move through the facility, improve the safety of operation, remove more trucks from the highways, and generate additional economic development throughout the region. The Port of Virginia is the only U.S. -
August 10, 2021 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi the Honorable Steny
August 10, 2021 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Steny Hoyer Speaker Majority Leader U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer, As we advance legislation to rebuild and renew America’s infrastructure, we encourage you to continue your commitment to combating the climate crisis by including critical clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation tax incentives in the upcoming infrastructure package. These incentives will play a critical role in America’s economic recovery, alleviate some of the pollution impacts that have been borne by disadvantaged communities, and help the country build back better and cleaner. The clean energy sector was projected to add 175,000 jobs in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic upended the industry and roughly 300,000 clean energy workers were still out of work in the beginning of 2021.1 Clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation tax incentives are an important part of bringing these workers back. It is critical that these policies support strong labor standards and domestic manufacturing. The importance of clean energy tax policy is made even more apparent and urgent with record- high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest, unprecedented drought across the West, and the impacts of tropical storms felt up and down the East Coast. We ask that the infrastructure package prioritize inclusion of a stable, predictable, and long-term tax platform that: Provides long-term extensions and expansions to the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit to meet President Biden’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035; Extends and modernizes tax incentives for commercial and residential energy efficiency improvements and residential electrification; Extends and modifies incentives for clean transportation options and alternative fuel infrastructure; and Supports domestic clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation manufacturing. -
1 April 2, 2020 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker, U.S. House Of
April 2, 2020 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives H-232, United States Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Dear Speaker Pelosi: We are grateful for your tireless work to address the needs of all Americans struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for your understanding of the tremendous burdens that have been borne by localities as they work to respond to this crisis and keep their populations safe. However, we are concerned that the COVID-19 relief packages considered thus far have not provided direct funding to stabilize smaller counties, cities, and towns—specifically, those with populations under 500,000. As such, we urge you to include direct stabilization funding to such localities in the next COVID-19 response bill, or to lower the threshold for direct funding through the Coronavirus Relief Fund to localities with smaller populations. Many of us represent districts containing no or few localities with populations above 500,000. Like their larger neighbors, though, these smaller counties, cities, and towns have faced enormous costs while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. These costs include deploying timely public service announcements to keep Americans informed, rapidly activating emergency operations, readying employees for telework to keep services running, and more. This work is essential to keeping our constituents safe and mitigating the spread of the coronavirus as effectively as possible. We fear that, without targeted stabilization funding, smaller localities will be unable to continue providing these critical services to our constituents at the rate they are currently. We applaud you for including a $200 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund as part of H.R. -
April 23, 2020 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House H-232
April 23, 2020 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House Minority Leader H-232 The Capitol H-204 The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515 Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy: We appreciate the inclusion of $50 million in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for libraries to expand Internet access across the country. This funding was a vital first step, but we will need to do more to help Americans stay informed and connected during this crisis. We urge you to include at least $2 billion in dedicated fiscal stabilization funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in the next COVID-19 response bill. Libraries are vital institutions not just for the resources they provide the American people, but the economic value they bring to communities, rural, suburban and urban. According to IMLS, Americans make more than 1.3 billion visits to public libraries each year. Libraries employ nearly 370,000 American workers and generate billions of dollars in economic activity, including the purchase of $4 billion in books and other materials annually. With libraries across the nation taking necessary steps to safeguard their employees and communities by closing their doors to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we should do all we can to ensure library services continue, remotely for now and in-person in the future. Without an immediate robust infusion of federal support, libraries will be forced to make massive cuts, both in terms of staffing and purchases. These cuts would ripple throughout our communities, impacting support for education, workforce recovery, and access to computers and the Internet. -
September 25, 2020 the Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House
September 25, 2020 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives H-232, The Capitol H-204, The Capitol Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy, As Congress continues to work on additional legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask that you address the challenges faced by the scientific research community and work toward the enactment of $3 billion in emergency relief for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Thanks to your leadership, Congress appropriated $75 million in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the NSF to support new research addressing multiple aspects of the coronavirus through the Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant funding mechanism. The NSF has awarded more than 900 grants to researchers across the country to address a wide range of questions surrounding the pandemic. Bringing together diverse disciplines of science – from computer science to biology to behavioral science – the NSF has proven to be an effective frontline agency in our nation’s efforts to respond to and recover from the pandemic. While our nation’s scientists and research institutions have risen to the challenge of the pandemic, they are facing enormous strains to their operations and infrastructure. Federally funded scientists and engineers are experiencing significant negative impacts to their work during the pandemic, such as delays or cessation of their research projects, lab closures, and uncertainty about continuing to pay salaries, extend timelines, access needed lab equipment, and more. -
September 2, 2020 the Honorable Sonny Perdue Secretary U.S
September 2, 2020 The Honorable Sonny Perdue Secretary U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20250 Dear Secretary Perdue: We are writing to express our grave concerns about the USDA's plans for reopening its offices in the National Capital Region. To date, we have heard from employees, including the nearly 400 employees of USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) National Office, who are very concerned that the agency is pursuing a rushed and flawed plan that will require employees to return to their offices without sufficient safety protocols in place and without sufficient certainty being provided to the employees who will be impacted. In light of these concerns and the troubling information that we have received about the agency's reopening plans to date, we ask that the agency pause its current, dangerous reopening plans and work with employees to reach a clear and science-driven agreement that puts their safety first. First, based on information we have received, it appears that USDA's current plans are insufficient to ensure the safety of employees in the workplace, and deviate in key ways from public health protocols and common sense based on what we know about the transmission of the virus. As just one example, it appears that the agency does not plan to directly notify employees if there has been a positive COVID-19 test at their worksite − instead, promising to place information on an intranet site. Additionally, the agency has stated that it will not provide temperature checks at entry or on-demand COVID-19 tests for employees in the office. -
This Was an Historic Election. a Record Number of People Voted and Became Politically Active for the First Time
This was an historic election. A record number of people voted and became politically active for the first time. Thanks to your support, we elected Joe Biden and helped to re-elect many JAC candidates who will work side-by-side with the Biden administration towards our common goals. Although not all the election results were what we hoped for, together we took an important step to save our democracy. Despite the pandemic, JAC stayed very busy during this election season. Our members sent out more than 40,000 postcards, phoned and texted voters in key battleground races. JAC was able to offer you, via Zoom, meetings with candidates and leading policy experts. Through your generosity, JAC was involved in more than 110 races across the country. We are sending two new Senators to Washington. Hopefully, after the special runoff election in Georgia on January 5th, we will be sending two more members — Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock — to the Senate as well. These are must-win races if we ever hope to remove the gavel from Mitch McConnell’s hands and implement Joe Biden’s agenda. We hope we can count on you to step up one more time. These past four years have proven that elections have consequences. You can donate to Jon’s campaign or Rev. Warnock’s campaign. Click here to find out other ways to get involved and turn Georgia blue. Many races this year were decided by razor thin margins, proving clearly that every vote does count. As of press time, there were still several uncalled Congressional races. -
Letter to Council of Chief State School Officers, Re: Equitable Services (May 22, 2020)
MAJORITY MEMBERS: MINORITY MEMBERS: ROBERT C. “BOBBY” SCOTT, VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA FOXX, NORTH CAROLINA, Chairman Ranking Member SUSAN A. DAVIS, CALIFORNIA DAVID P. ROE, TENNESSEE RAÚL M. GRIJALVA, ARIZONA GLENN THOMPSON, PENNYSLVANIA JOE COURTNEY, CONNECTICUT TIM WALBERG, MICHIGAN MARCIA L. FUDGE, OHIO BRETT GUTHRIE, KENTUCKY GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, BRADLEY BYRNE, ALABAMA NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS GLENN GROTHMAN, WISCONSIN FREDERICA S. WILSON, FLORIDA ELISE M. STEFANIK, NEW YORK SUZANNE BONAMICI, OREGON COMMITTEE ON RICK W. ALLEN, GEORGIA MARK TAKANO, CALIFORNIA LLOYD K. SMUCKER, PENNSYLVANIA ALMA S. ADAMS, NORTH CAROLINA JIM BANKS, INDIANA MARK DESAULNIER, CALIFORNIA EDUCATION AND LABOR MARK WALKER, NORTH CAROLINA DONALD NORCROSS, NEW JERSEY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JAMES COMER, KENTUCKY PRAMILA JAYAPAL, WASHINGTON BEN CLINE, VIRGINIA JOSEPH D. MORELLE, NEW YORK 2176 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING RUSS FULCHER, IDAHO SUSAN WILD, PENNSYLVANIA STEVEN C. WATKINS, JR., KANSAS JOSH HARDER, CALIFORNIA WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6100 RON WRIGHT, TEXAS LUCY MCBATH, GEORGIA DAN MEUSER, PENNSYLVANIA KIM SCHRIER, WASHINGTON DUSTY JOHNSON, SOUTH DAKOTA LAUREN UNDERWOOD, ILLINOIS FRED KELLER, PENNSYLVANIA JAHANA HAYES, CONNECTICUT GREGORY F. MURPHY, NORTH CAROLINA DONNA E. SHALALA, FLORIDA JEFFERSON VAN DREW, NEW JERSEY ANDY LEVIN, MICHIGAN ILHAN OMAR, MINNESOTA DAVID TRONE, MARYLAND HALEY M. STEVENS, MICHIGAN SUSIE LEE, NEVADA LORI TRAHAN, MASSACHUSETTS JOAQUIN CASTRO, TEXAS June 12, 2020 The Honorable Betsy DeVos Secretary U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202 Dear Secretary DeVos: I write regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) issuance of iterative and unauthorized guidance to institutions of higher education (institutions) directing their use of Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds. -
Results: Women Candidates in 2018 Elections
Center for American Women and Politics www.cawp.rutgers.edu Rutgers University–New Brunswick [email protected] 191 Ryders Lane 848-932-9384 New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8557 Fax: 732-932-6778 November 29, 2018 Contact: Daniel De Simone For Immediate Release [email protected] 848-932-8693 Results: Women Candidates in the 2018 Elections NOTE: Following the elections, Martha McSally was appointed to fill the former Senate seat of John McCain beginning in 2019, so the full numbers of women serving the 116th Congress will be 127 (106D, 21R), 102 (89D, 13R) in the House and 25 (17D, 8R) in the Senate. Women will make up 23.7% of seats in the Congress, 23.4% in the House and 25% in the Senate. UPDATED 10:30am ET on 11.29.18. Updated information in BOLD. For the most up-to-date figures, see our 2018 election tally. A record number of women will serve in the U.S. Congress in January 2019, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers. In the 116th Congress, 126 (106D, 20R) women will serve overall, increasing the percentage of women in Congress from 20% to 23.6%. • 102 (89D, 13R) women will serve in the U.S. House (previous record: 85 set in 2016), including 43 (42D, 1R) women of color. Women will be 23.4% of all members of the U.S. House, up from 19.3% in 2018. • 24 (17D, 7R) women will serve in the U.S. -
Congress of the United States Washington D.C
Congress of the United States Washington D.C. 20515 April 29, 2020 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House Minority Leader United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives H-232, U.S. Capitol H-204, U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy: As Congress continues to work on economic relief legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask that you address the challenges faced by the U.S. scientific research workforce during this crisis. While COVID-19 related-research is now in overdrive, most other research has been slowed down or stopped due to pandemic-induced closures of campuses and laboratories. We are deeply concerned that the people who comprise the research workforce – graduate students, postdocs, principal investigators, and technical support staff – are at risk. While Federal rules have allowed researchers to continue to receive their salaries from federal grant funding, their work has been stopped due to shuttered laboratories and facilities and many researchers are currently unable to make progress on their grants. Additionally, researchers will need supplemental funding to support an additional four months’ salary, as many campuses will remain shuttered until the fall, at the earliest. Many core research facilities – typically funded by user fees – sit idle. Still, others have incurred significant costs for shutting down their labs, donating the personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline health care workers, and cancelling planned experiments. Congress must act to preserve our current scientific workforce and ensure that the U.S.