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Russia says ‘nyet’ to any more visits from hundreds of members of Congress
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 27, 2022
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of members of Congress are permanently banned from visiting Russia, in retaliation for passing economic sanctions on the country after it invaded Ukraine in late February. The list of nearly 1,000 Americans includes President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with celebrities such as actor Morgan Freeman, executives such as […]
U.S. Senate Republicans block bill requiring agencies monitor domestic terrorism
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 26, 2022
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bill that would require federal agencies to monitor domestic terrorism incidents, including those potentially related to white supremacy. The failure of the Senate procedural vote showed again how difficult it is for Congress to agree on any response to U.S. gun violence. It followed a racist […]
U.S. Senate Republicans block bill requiring agencies monitor domestic terrorism
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 26, 2022
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bill that would require federal agencies to monitor domestic terrorism incidents, including those potentially related to white supremacy. The failure of the Senate procedural vote showed again how difficult it is for Congress to agree on any response to U.S. gun violence. It followed a racist […]
Frustrated Democrats call for GOP help on federal gun laws after mass school shooting
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 25, 2022
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday implored Senate Republicans to work with Democrats to pass bipartisan gun control legislation, following a mass school shooting that took the lives of 19 children and two teachers in Texas. Tuesday’s massacre was the nation’s second-deadliest mass school shooting since another at Sandy Hook Elementary […]
Freedom of speech is under attack in public schools, U.S. House panel told
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 22, 2022
Students and teachers told U.S. House members during a Thursday hearing that their right to talk about race and LGBTQ+ issues in public schools is being silenced due to an onslaught of new state laws as well as pressure on school boards from right-wing advocates. “To be crystal clear, this is about disrupting and destroying […]
Congress explores creation of truth commission for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 15, 2022
WASHINGTON — Survivors of a U.S. policy that forced Indigenous children to attend boarding schools where they were abused, or went missing, detailed to members of a U.S. House Natural Resources panel during a Thursday hearing the need for Congress to establish a truth commission dedicated to unveiling the traumas Indigenous children experienced at the […]
Overturning Roe would hand power over abortion to states. Many would ban it.
By: Jacob Fischler and Ariana Figueroa - May 4, 2022
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a nearly 50-year-old right to abortion would lead to strict restrictions or bans by states across nearly half the country almost immediately. The court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, as well as a subsequent ruling on fetal viability, according to an initial […]
Biden on leaked draft opinion on abortion: The ‘right to choose is fundamental’
By: Ariana Figueroa - May 3, 2022
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration “will be ready when any ruling is issued” on abortion rights, after the nation was rocked by the leak of a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that confirmed the court is planning to overturn access to abortion. “I believe that a woman’s right […]
U.S. House panel looks into disinformation targeted at communities of color
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 30, 2022
WASHINGTON — Experts tracking disinformation efforts online detailed to lawmakers on a U.S. House Administration panel Thursday how communities of color are targets for those disinformation campaigns. Democrats on the Subcommittee on Elections expressed their concern about how communities of color are the subject of election and COVID-19 misinformation through various social media platforms such […]
EPA issues waiver for sales of 15 percent ethanol blend during summer driving season
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 29, 2022
WASHINGTON — The EPA issued a fuel waiver Friday afternoon to allow for a heightened ethanol gasoline blend to be sold at service stations this summer, an attempt by the Biden administration to lower soaring fuel prices. In a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, EPA administrator Michael S. Regan wrote that the waiver will […]
Democratic leaders in Congress want more power for regulators over high gasoline prices
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 29, 2022
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress critical of soaring gasoline prices say they will push legislation to allow the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to go after oil companies that engage in price gouging in times of crisis. “Big oil has profited in this (and) has exploited the market,” House Speaker Nancy […]
LGBTQ community, people of color in the crosshairs of banned book movement
By: Ariana Figueroa - April 18, 2022
Students in one Pennsylvania school district were not allowed to read a biography of the first Black president, Barack Obama. In some Tennessee classrooms, a nonfiction comic book about the atrocities of the Holocaust is banned. And one school district in Wisconsin banned from libraries a picture book about a gay rights activist who was […]