Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) is applying lessons learned from the pandemic as he leads efforts to modernize existing federal child nutrition programs. The Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act would increase flexibility for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program, which offers children free lunches and snacks in the summer, allowing more kids in need the ability to participate. 

The bill provides states additional options to reach hungry children in communities without a centralized feeding site during the summer, some of which mirror authorities Congress established to help the USDA carry out this mission while students were learning virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The flexibilities Congress granted during the pandemic offer a good recipe for how to successfully serve more children in need. We want to ensure that all options—from off-site, grab-and-go models, to home delivery, to electronic benefits transfer—remain on the table,” Boozman, lead Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said.

The Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act proposes two alternative options states can utilize through the program. The first would allow for meals to be consumed off-site through innovative means such as mobile feeding and backpack meal programs. The other option would authorize the summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program which would provide eligible families $30 per summer month per child to purchase eligible food items from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program approved retailers. In USDA pilot programs, summer EBT was shown to reduce child hunger by more than 30 percent.

This flexibility Congress approved during the pandemic has spurred innovation with public-private partnerships and provided access to nutritious meals for young Arkansans. Boozman’s bill would encourage this productive cooperation to continue.  

“Thanks to the Meals to You program that was coordinated by the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, more than 1.1 million meals were delivered directly to the doorstep of almost 9,000 children living in rural Arkansas,” Boozman said during a speech on the Senate floor. 

Boozman partnered with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to introduce the bill that also has the support of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Cornyn (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and John Thune (R-SD).

The Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act is backed by leading national advocacy groups including Feeding America, Share Our Strength, Tusk Philanthropies, Bread for the World, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, the Alliance to End Hunger, Save the Children as well as the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

“The Hunger-Free Summer for Kids Act is an important resource for Arkansas kids and families, particularly in areas that don’t have a lot of summer programs. We commend Senator Boozman on his steadfast efforts to get this passed into law, and his bipartisan work to address hunger. Families need a variety of options to help them combat food insecurity. This provides needed help and an opportunity for families to choose nutritious food their kids like,” Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Chief Executive Officer Kathy Webb said.

Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford

06.10.21

CLICK HERE to watch Lankford’s remarks on YouTube.

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today spoke on the Senate floor to give an update on what’s happening at the southern border and to provide his perspective on the recently reported apparent leak from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of sensitive taxpayer information. Lankford also discussed President Biden’s affinity for Russian pipelines over Canadian-American ones and Ukrainian President Zelensky’s outspoken requests to meet with President Biden that have gone unanswered. Additionally, Lankford discussed the hearing he attended this morning in the Senate Finance Committee to discuss the President’s Budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, during which Lankford highlighted that the request refers to moms as “birthing people.”

Excerpts

On the uptick in border crossings and the Biden Administration releasing individuals into the country

Days ago President Biden and his team released out what’s the current status of what they call the border challenge. This comes from the White House itself and their update. They stated this. ‘There’s improved processing of unaccompanied children.’ The second thing they list is the Administration has reduced the average amount of time children are in Customs and Border Protection facilities. The third thing they list is the Administration has reduced the number of unaccompanied children in the care of health and human services. Then they move and say they’ve removed barriers to unifying children with parents and sponsors in the United States. And they give the details on how much better they are at unifying parents and children in the United States. When you read through this and look at the language, you say, gosh, the numbers are going down. What they’re really saying in this report is, ‘We’re moving people across the border faster than they used to. They don’t spend as much time at the border as they used to. They’re now in the interior of the country…

On the mixed messages being sent to Central Americans because of Vice President Harris’s visit

For the Vice President to come to Guatemala and say, ‘Don’t come, don’t come,’ but then for the Administration to say, ‘But if you do come, we’re a lot faster at getting you into the country than we used to be.’ This is the mixed signal problem. And it’s why coyotes continue to be able to move record numbers of people through central America into the interior of the country, and it’s not just from central America. We’ve had this year a more than 400 percent increase in migration from nations outside of the northern triangle and Mexico because the coyotes are learning, we know how to move people and the world is seeing, if you want to be able to come to America illegally, now is the time to do it. So if you go back to March, we had all these individuals that were coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Now there is a 400 percent increase of people from outside those areas that are coming in those same trafficking networks moving into the United States.

On the Biden Administration’s decision to not enforce the law at our southern border

What are we doing? 3,000 people have been deported in our country in a month, and individuals literally selling heroin and attacking our police officers. ICE is not allowed to deport individuals in this country that are currently pending charges on sexual abuse of a child are not being deported, not even a detainer to be able to hold them. Is this what America wanted? It’s certainly not what the people of Oklahoma want. It certainly does not strengthen the morale of our ICE agents who currently cannot make an arrest or a Border Patrol, and our Customs and Border Patrol individuals that function more like hotel check-in staff than they are law enforcement. This is not creating a stable environment in America. It is unstable. This has got to stop. This is not a radical request of the administration. It is a simple statement. Follow the law.

On the recently reported apparent IRS information leak

There’s a new leaked document that came out, that was released by the press, of tax documents that have been leaked out of the IRS that somehow miraculously got to individuals in the press who ran the extensive story about tax documents. We can all have our different perspectives on how people pay taxes and how much taxes they pay, but one thing should be clear for every person in this body. It is against the law to release tax documents. It’s against the law to do that. But somehow mysteriously tax documents start getting released in the last couple of weeks. This reminds me so much of a few years ago when the IRS was weaponized for political purposes, and Lois Lerner was shutting down conservative nonprofits getting access to nonprofit status but left-leaning nonprofits were expedited through, and we all expressed our frustration that the IRS was being politicized. The IRS should not be politicized.

On the Biden Administration’s disdain for American-Canadian pipelines but support for Russian pipelines

We saw that during the Obama-Biden Administration as well and now we’re seeing it in the Biden-Harris administration that suddenly pipelines are bad news. When the Colonial Pipeline went down for a couple of days, the east coast panicked because they couldn’t get fuel, when one pipeline went down. We shouldn’t be talking about how to not build pipelines. We should be talking about how to build pipeline redundancy to make sure if a pipeline goes down we’re not trapped as Americans with no fuel, in the situation that we’re in right now. But in the middle of this to be able to please the environmental left, the President of the United States shut down the Keystone Pipeline, and the company finally gave up and said, ‘We’re not going to invest any more money in something we can’t finish.’ Will that change? America’s use of oil by one drop? No, it won’t. America will use the exact same amount of oil that it used before. But what it will do is make it more expensive to be able to move oil from the northern part of the United States to the southern part of the United States to raise prices on all consumers. We’ll still have a use of oil. It just raised prices…. I was fascinated this week to be able to see President Zelensky of Ukraine find out about this pipeline shift which, by the way, dramatically affects Ukraine, when he read about it in the press, because the State Department and the administration didn’t notify him that the pipeline that skips Ukraine and cuts them off, our administration, the Biden Administration, approved. President Zelensky stated to the press, he has reached out over and over to President Biden to get a meeting with him and can’t get a meeting with him. When I read that, I had to laugh. I sat in this seat during an impeachment proceeding on President Trump because he wouldn’t give a meeting to President Zelensky. President Zelensky is screaming in the media, ‘I’m trying to get a hold of President Biden, and he won’t meet with me, and he’s benefiting Russia and cutting off Ukraine,’ and everybody just yawns. It’s quite remarkable to see the difference in how our media and how individuals treat everyone.

On HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s strange avoidance of calling a mom a mom

Today I had the opportunity to be able to meet with our Secretary of HHS, Xavier Becerra. We were talking about the budget that he’s presented out for HHS, which Is enormous. In fact, the President’s budget is larger than any budget any president’s ever given, not even close, In the overspending. The deficit total In It Is epic, almost $2 trillion In deficit just from the budget, not Including everything else this year. But In my conversation with Xavier Becerra, I asked him a simple question, ‘I notice in your budget proposal you’ve changed a term that I’m not familiar with. You’ve added a term, and the term that you put In your budget is you refer to some people as a birthing person.’ I said, ‘I have to tell you, I don’t know that term birthing person. What does that mean?’ And he said, ‘Well, I think it describes itself,’ is what he said. I said ‘What Is that? Is that a mom?’ And he said, ‘Well, yeah, that describes itself. It describes the function.’ I thought the function? That’s a woman that’s a mom. That’s not a birthing person. My simple question was, ‘It sounds like you’re trying to be politically correct here to be able to appease someone, but do you think it might possibly be offensive to some women and some moms to not be referred to as a woman or as a mom, to be referred to as a birthing person Instead?’ And he just said, ‘I’ll look Into It.’ Just when I think it can’t get weirder around this town, and that terms can’t get stranger, that’s a new one on me.

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Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

To watch Senator Capito’s questioning, click here or the image above.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) budget request for FY2022. During the hearing, Senator Capito questioned U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on the United States’ strategy to prevent additional cybersecurity and ransomware attacks. Additionally, Senator Capito asked Attorney General Garland for an update on additional support for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) within the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON PREVENTION AND STRATEGY AGAINIST CYBERSECURITY AND RANSOMWARE ATTACKS ON THE U.S.: “I have followed closely on CISA’s (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) work to respond to mitigate cyber breaches and the ransomware attacks. FBI Director Wray recently compared current ransomware threat to the threats of 9/11 and there is some debate from both Congress and the White House as to whether or not to ban outright private companies from paying ransoms when they become victims of cyber-attacks. As you know, this is an issue that we not just face here in the United States, but globally. So I asked the same question yesterday wondering from the Secretary of State and I’d like to hear your perspective. Are you working with our allies diplomatically to try, you know, as chief law enforcement officer, in other countries to stop this, prevent it from happening again and where you see this going in the next near future?”

ON SUPPORTING NICS SYSTEM IN CLARKSBURG: “Since the passage of the Fix NICS Act, which I was a proud co-sponsor of, we’ve seen continuous increases in the number of background checks run through the NICS systems. In fact this year, we have seen record breaking numbers of checks run, with some months reaching over four million. Those background checks are done in Senator Manchin and I’s home state of West Virginia. We are very proud of the effort that were doing there and the way we are contributing. What steps will your department take to support the NICS system, and ensure that we are enforcing background check laws that are already on the books, and what are the funding needs? From time-to-time we’ve really upped the funding here is that, I looked through to see if there was something about that in your budget request. I would invite you to visit the facility in West Virginia, it is quite something to see.”

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Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito

To watch Senator Capito’s questioning, click here or the image above.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a hearing on the budget request for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for FY2022. During the hearing, Senator Capito questioned HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on the use of unspent COVID-19 relief funding, support to combat the addiction crisis, and increased efforts to detect and provide new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

HIGHLIGHTS: 

ON REPURPOSED COVID-19 FUNDING: “I am the Ranking Member on Homeland Security [Appropriations Subcommittee]…I can’t decide if I am frustrated or grateful, but you have overseen the transfer and reprogramming of almost $3 billion within your department from COVID-related purposes. I believe testing and PPE and strategic reserve is where those dollars came from to address the migrant crisis at the border…I appreciate that your action signals to your own administration something that we have been calling for months and that is that billions of unspent COVID funds can and should be used for a more pressing need.”

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY BASED SOLUTIONS TO THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC: “As a citizen and a representative from West Virginia, on the opioid and overdose issue…we certainly want to be a partner when you mention that the answers are local and it can be found locally. I think our state and many sections of our state…have come forth with some tremendous ideas to be solutions to the problem that are community based, that are widespread within the community and that lift those communities. Unfortunately, the pandemic, there’s a lot of backsliding as you know so we got to get this right back on the screen. We also have, along with that, an increase in my home county of HIV which is very concerning to me. And I am hoping that the CDC, while they are in our state right now on this issue, can be a bit more aggressive there.”

ON EXPANDING ACCESS TO ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT: “We saw most recently that a new treatment emerged and approved, tentatively I think, is targeted for people at early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and is the only drug on the market that aims to slow the brains deterioration instead of just treating the symptoms. Along with this comes with an effort that we’ve had bipartisan here in the Senate, which is the existing Welcome to Medicare initial exam, where we are empowering and trying to empower our medical professionals to begin asking questions early, to try to meet the challenges that not just that particular Medicare patient could have but also the family as you know caring for the folks with, afflicted with Alzheimer’s is very intense and very difficult for families and expensive. But in those visits we encourage screen detection, diagnosis, and other things of related dementia. I think what we have here is we have this progression of a possibility of a drug that can help.”

 

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Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today questioned witnesses about Chinese and Russian defense spending and the risks of underfunding the U.S. military at a hearing on the Department of Defense budget posture in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022.

Witnesses included: the Honorable Lloyd Austin III, Secretary of Defense, and General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

Click here to watch Inhofe’s Q&A.

 

Inhofe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Because of the interest we have here, I just have two brief questions. One: General Milley, in 2018, you testified that it’s hard to compare the U.S. and Chinese defense budgets because China’s budget is very different, and for a better comparison, we need to make some adjustments, and we have done that — little things like the cost of labor and all of that. Now, making those adjustments is not easy, and that is why we required in last year’s defense authorization bill that the Pentagon do a study to try to make this comparison. China and Russia combined probably spend more than we do; I made that point in an op-ed piece last May. So, I would ask you, General Milley, the Chinese and Russian economies and defense spending are unique, and given this, do you think their relative combined effort is similar to ours, and do you think that they understate the spending that they are doing? 

Milley: Senator, both of our analyses — DOD’s analysis and the intelligence community’s analysis — of budgets for both Russia and China are classified. At an unclassified level, I would tell you that combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceeds our budgets, if all the cards are put on the table. Both governments do not put all their cards on the table when it comes to their budget. It’s a very difficult thing to discern that which is what being spent on their defense versus other priorities. With respect to China, they have put significant levels of effort of their economy — and of course their economy is second only to ours — significant levels of resources into building the Chinese military. The Chinese military, as we’ve noted many times before, is on a significant increasing rise in capability over the last 20 or 30 years, and they continue to invest heavily in that.

Inhofe: That’s right, and Secretary Austin, during your confirmation hearing in January, you said, and this is a quote, “I see China, in particular, as a pacing challenge for our department,” and that you need our help to deter China. Now, I am worried that if we underfund our military, we will undermine our alliances and weaken deterrence. Well, let me just say this, we have felt for some time, and have said, that when we have countries that it happened that Sen. Rounds and I went to six different countries last week, and one of those was Romania. They reminded us that we talked to them about two percent, that they should get two percent for defense spending, and they did that, and they told us that they did that. Yet, they are looking at us actually reducing our funding, and I would just like to have you to comment on what kind of effect that might have to other countries too.

Austin: Thank you, Senator. I would say that when you look at our overall contributions to NATO, we contribute a substantial amount to the NATO effort and will continue to do so moving forward. I think the budget gives us the right mix of capabilities and flexibility to be very effective in our efforts to deter China going forward, and Russia, or anyone else that might want to take us on. So, I am confident that this budget will allow us to match our resources to our strategy and our strategy to our policy.

Inhofe: Yeah, my concern has been that our insistence in the previous administration, which I agreed with, that we reach the two percent in these other countries, and they see that it appears that our expectations are much less in this administration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  

Click here to watch Inhofe’s opening remarks.

Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman

Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman

June 10, 2021 | Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) along with Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Todd Young (R-IN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sent a letter to Secretaries of the Treasury, Commerce, and Labor requesting a status update regarding the review of Delphi pension plans requested by former President Trump on October 20, 2020.

“In 2009, the Delphi Salaried Pension Plan was unfairly terminated. This unfair action devastated the long-term financial security of the nearly 6,000 salaried employees at Delphi whose benefits were reduced by up to 70 percent. These employees deserve the benefits they have earned,” said the senators. “As of June 10, 2020, we have not seen this report or have been made aware of its completion. We understand this review was due on January 20, 2021 – before you assumed your current roles. We believe it is important that Congress still have the opportunity to review the recommendations provided by your agencies.”

Last October, executive action was signed by former President Trump to assist the Delphi salaried retirees. The Delphi Salaried Pension Plan (Plan) includes approximately 20,000 participants, including more than 5,000 Ohioans. The Plan was terminated in 2009 by the Obama administration as part of the auto bailouts, and salaried employees experienced benefit reductions of up to 70 percent. Former President Trump’s executive action directs the secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Treasury to review whether the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can restore their full pensions and provide more transparency on the decision to terminate their pensions.

The letter is available here and the text of the letter is available below.

Dear Secretary Yellen, Secretary Raimondo, and Secretary Walsh:

We write to inquire into the status of the report of the Delphi salaried retirees terminated pensions, and the recommendations from you and your respective agencies, as requested by the Memorandum from the President on Pensions of Delphi Corporation Retirees and Other Retirees Covered by Vulnerable Pension Plans, issued by President Donald J. Trump on October 22, 2020. Specifically, this presidential memorandum requests that the Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Labor review the Delphi pension matter and inform the President of any appropriate actions that may be taken to address the lost pension benefits, including potential legislation, and to bring additional transparency to the original decision to terminate the plan.

In 2009, the Delphi Salaried Pension Plan was unfairly terminated. This unfair action devastated the long-term financial security of the nearly 6,000 salaried employees at Delphi whose benefits were reduced by up to 70 percent. These employees deserve the benefits they have earned.

As of June 10, 2020, we have not seen this report or have been made aware of its completion. We understand this review was due on January 20, 2021 – before you assumed your current roles. We believe it is important that Congress still have the opportunity to review the recommendations provided by your agencies.

As such, we ask you to provide us with an update on the status of the report. Specifically, we ask you to inform us when work on this report commenced, when you expect this report to be completed, and when Congress can expect to receive a copy for review. Please know that we stand ready to work with you to ensure the Delphi retirees, and all American workers can be secure in the benefits they have earned.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Michael Sinacore and Chad Bolt on our staffs at Michael_Sinacore@portman.senate.gov and Chad_Bolt@brown.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

NOTE: Portman has worked for years to help Delphi retirees on both their pension and health care issues. Since 2011, Portman has helped shepherd through bipartisan legislation to extend the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), which helps Delphi retirees. Portman and Brown worked together to extend this tax credit in 2011 and again in 2015. Last Congress, Portman and Brown introduced a five-year extension of the HCTC to give these retirees stable, guaranteed health coverage. The HCTC reduces the cost of maintaining health insurance coverage for a number of individuals that are either receiving Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits or are over the age of 55 and under the age of 65 whose pensions were terminated and are being administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. 

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Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman

June 10, 2021 | Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced new bipartisan legislation aimed at closing the growing digital divide in communities across the country. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 would create new federal investments targeted toward a diverse array of projects at the state and local level that promote “digital equity” — a concept defined by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance as the “condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy and economy.”

“Too many Americans – especially in overlooked and underserved communities – lack access to broadband internet, negatively impacting the way they live and work,” said Portman. “This bill aims to address these access gaps by encouraging the creation and implementation of comprehensive digital equity plans in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico and supporting digital inclusion projects undertaken by groups, coalitions, and/or communities of interest. With this support, we can further our efforts to bridge the digital divide.”

“For so many of us, having a reliable broadband connection is a given — we use the internet to pay bills, do our taxes, keep in touch with family, do homework, and much more. That was true before the pandemic, but it’s even more true now. For far too many in Washington state and across the country getting online isn’t so easy to do. This can prevent people from applying for jobs, learning new skills, signing up for health care, accessing unemployment benefits, and more. That’s the digital divide,” said Murray. “While we’ve made some headway expanding internet access to more families by investing in critical infrastructure like rural broadband, that isn’t much help if they don’t have the tools and skills to actually use their broadband connection. The Digital Equity Act is an important bipartisan step Congress must take to help states, counties, Tribes, and others do more to close this digital divide. This bill is an investment in our families, our workforce, and our overall competitiveness in a 21^st century economy.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted just how essential the internet is to everyday American life,” said King. “In the 21st century, an affordable high-speed broadband connection is a prerequisite for a wide range of economic, educational, and business opportunities. Unfortunately, too many of our citizens cannot access a reliable internet connection or do not know how to use the technology – leaving them further and further behind in an increasingly-digital world. Our bipartisan bill will make critical investments in digital equity and digital inclusion, so we can ensure that Americans of all ages and backgrounds can not only access a broadband connection, but make the most of the opportunities it provides.”

According to 2019 U.S. Census data, 36 million households do not subscribe to a wireline broadband service — 26 million of these households are in urban areas, 10 million are in rural areas. The lower a household’s income, the less likely they are to consistently subscribe to a wireline broadband service.

To that end, the Digital Equity Act of 2021 strengthens federal support for efforts to help ensure students, families, and workers have the information technology capacity needed to fully participate in society by establishing two grant programs to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to promote digital equity nationwide:

• Building Capacity within States through Formula Grants: The legislation creates an annual $125 million formula grant program for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to fund the creation and implementation of comprehensive digital equity plans in each State.
• Spurring Targeted Action through Competitive Grants: The legislation also creates an annual $125 million competitive grant program to support digital equity projects undertaken by individual groups, coalitions, and/or communities of interest.
• Supporting Research and Evidence-Based Policymaking: The legislation tasks NTIA with evaluating digital inclusion projects and providing policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels with detailed information about which projects are most effective.

“During the pandemic, we saw more and more neighborhoods, towns, counties, cities and states figuring out ways to cover the cost of internet service and purchase computers while also providing technical support and digital skills training. The solutions were local. Digital equity solutions in the U.S. have always been local. On the one hand this is fabulous because trusted community relationships are essential to effective digital inclusion work. On the other hand, financial support of local digital inclusion work has been sorely lacking. We celebrate the announcement of the Digital Equity Act because it invests in local solutions,” said Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

The Digital Equity Act of 2021 is endorsed by over 100 organizations, including: AARP, Alliance for Community Media, American Library Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Broadband Connects America, Center for Law and Social Policy, Center for Media Justice, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, Coalition on Adult Basic Education, Common Cause, Common Sense, Consortium for School Networking, Competitive Carriers Association, EdTech Center @ World Education, Free Press Action Fund, International Society for Technology in Education, Microsoft, National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, National Coalition for Literacy, National Collaborative for Digital Equity, National Congress of American Indians, National Consumer Law Center on behalf of their low-income clients, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National League of Cities, National Parent Teacher Association, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Next Century Cities, NTEN, Public Knowledge, Rural Telecommunications Congress, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, State Educational Technology Directors Association, and the Urban Libraries Council.

Read the bill text here.

Find a section-by-section breakdown of the Digital Equity Act here.

 

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Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman

June 10, 2021 | Portman Difference

In a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Senator Portman discusses his recent bipartisan congressional delegation (CODEL) to Eastern Europe, where he met with leaders from Lithuania, Ukraine, and Georgia and with Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is currently living in Lithuania. While there, Portman observed that Baltic and Eastern European countries are facing increasing pressure from Russia, including military threats on their borders, cyberattacks and political disinformation campaigns. In Ukraine and Georgia, Russia continues to occupy and militarize territory it annexed illegally.

Portman provides a thorough analysis on the situation and calls on President Biden to send a strong message against Russian aggression in the region when he meets with President Putin in the coming days.

Excerpts of the op-ed can be found below and the full op-ed can be found here.

How Biden Can Stand Up to Putin in Geneva

By U.S. Senator Rob Portman

Wall Street Journal

I traveled to Eastern Europe last week with a small, bipartisan group of senators to meet with the leaders of Ukraine, Lithuania and Georgia. These former Soviet republics have become reliable U.S. allies as their citizens have sought a democratic future with greater freedom and prosperity. But they need our help.

…

The U.S. must continue to stand with democracies under threat and opposed to Russia’s tyranny. When President Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva later this month, he must take a strong stand for freedom, democracy and human rights. The free world will be watching.

Specifically, Mr. Biden must raise the May 23 hijacking of a passenger airliner by Belarusian security forces. In a clear violation of international law, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an economic client of Mr. Putin’s, ordered his fighter jets to ground the plane forcibly so police could seize Roman Protasevich, a prominent Belarusian journalist and critic of the government, and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.

…

Mr. Putin has it in his power to denounce Mr. Lukashenko’s actions and remove all Russian troops from Belarus. Words from U.S. leaders are important but not enough. Mr. Biden should impose sanctions targeted at the Lukashenko regime. I called for this when I was in the region last week because it would send the signal that America means what it says.

At the coming summit the president must also confront Mr. Putin over Ukraine. Russia’s latest buildup of military forces in Crimea and Donbas is illegal, and despite Mr. Putin’s claims to the contrary, the great majority of Russian-aligned forces remain in the region. It is in Russia’s interest to see Ukraine struggle, so Mr. Putin will stay the course until America and its allies push back in Ukraine’s defense.

…

The best way for Mr. Biden to help Ukraine now is to reverse his decision to waive the congressionally mandated sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. The pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine. It would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas supplies and hurt Ukraine by depriving it of billions of dollars in transit fees. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that the administration believed the pipeline was “a bad idea.”

…

Finally, while in Georgia, I visited the administrative boundary line with South Ossetia and witnessed firsthand Russia’s occupation of Georgian territory and its continued “borderization” efforts to legitimize an illegal annexation. Georgia is one of America’s closest allies in the region, so Russia’s actions should be concerning.

…

Getting both countries on the path to NATO membership would help protect them against Russia’s aggression. There is bipartisan support in Congress for those in Eastern Europe fighting for a democratic future, but Russia will continue to place obstacles in their way. Mr. Biden should address this forcefully at the coming summit. Strong American leadership will unite the free world in pushing back against Russia’s malign behavior.

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