WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 21: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, announced that he will vote in favor of H.R. 335, a bill authorizing the statutory exception to appoint Lloyd J. Austin III as President Biden's Secretary of Defense, when it comes before the House of Representatives this afternoon. The vote comes following today's bipartisan   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 21: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced new legislation to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of American student loan borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic. Rep. Courtney's COVID-19 Student Loan Relief Extension Act would not only extend the COVID-19 student loan forbearance relief that was set to expire at the end of t  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: * * * Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement after Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, announced that Secretary-Designate General Lloyd Austin (U.S. Army, Ret.) will appear before the Armed Services Committee on Thursday to discuss his nomination to serve as the next Secretary of Defense under President Joseph R. Biden. On Friday, Chairman S  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement today after President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to extend the pause on interest and principal payments on student loans until September 30th, 2021. "Extending student loan relief until September 30th is one of the most straightforward steps the Biden Administration can take to extend temporary  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement after Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris were sworn in as the 46th President and Vice President of the United States of America. "Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris," said Congressman Courtney. "Today, in the 244th year of our democracy, we were reminded once again that nothing is going to stop our n  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Jan. 20: * * * House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement on President Biden's Day One executive actions: "With more than a dozen executive actions today, President Biden is living up to his commitment to Build Back Better with policies necessary to crush the coronavirus and provide financial relief to struggling families, meet the challenge of the clim  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 22: Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) released the following statement after President Biden issued Executive Orders bolstering domestic nutrition programs and fighting hunger amid converging global health and economic crises. President Biden's Executive Orders increase access to nutritious meals for kids by increasing P-EBT benefits by 15%, expand access to emergency SNAP benefit increases for l  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 20: Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) released the following statement after President Biden announced a number of executive actions on his first day in office, including several that would repeal the Muslim Ban, preserve and fortify DACA, rejoin the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accord, stop border wall construction, terminate the Keystone XL Pipeline, and rollback attacks on t  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 20: Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) released the following statement after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris: "The inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris presents a new opportunity for America to pursue an agenda for the people, repair our international reputation, address systemic inequality, and close the chasms of politica  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 -- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 21: Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) released the following statement after voting against H.R. 335, the legal exception necessary to appoint General Lloyd J. Austin III as President Biden's Secretary of Defense. A statutory exception to the limitation contained in Section 113(a) of Title 10, United States Code, is necessary to allow a person who served on active duty as a commissioned officer i  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 -- Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: * * * Moments ago, Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) released the following statement on the confirmation in the Senate of Avril Haines as the Director of National Intelligence: "I have spent much of my time on the Intelligence Committee synthesizing complex and vital information given to us by intelligence experts into effective oversight and policy. The Committee can only be effective in these efforts, however  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Jan. 20: * * * Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) attended the Inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of United States. "Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. "I was honored to attend their Inauguration today and look forward to working with the Biden-Harris Administration to tackle the COVID pandemic, provide relief to working families, strengthen  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 22: Representatives Joe Courtney (CT-02) and Brendan Boyle (PA-02) welcomed the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) decision to utilize Congressionally authorized funding to construct two additional National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV). The construction of new NSMV ships is supported by funding specifically authorized by Congress, and will support Chairman  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following news release on Jan. 20: House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), and House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth (D-KY-03) today wrote to Office of Management and Budget Director-designate Neera Tanden to urge the Biden Administration to prioritize several   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 20: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week asked Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken about the war in Yemen and the path forward for the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia at his confirmation hearing. Blinken reiterated the Biden administration's commitment to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen, which has been a top p  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following op-ed published in Foreign Policy: * * * U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday published an op-ed in Foreign Policy arguing that America must reclaim a global leadership role in the fight against climate change. In the piece, Murphy lays out five recommendations for how Congress can work with the incoming Biden administration to restore American  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, Jan. 19 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Monday the 15 winners of his fifth annual 'Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Essay Contest.' This year, Murphy received close to 2,800 entries from elementary, middle, and high school students from across Connecticut reflecting on Dr. King's dream and their own aspirations. "The events of the past ye  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday released the following statement on the National Rifle Association's declared bankruptcy: "This bankruptcy filing by the National Rifle Association (NRA) is yet another blatant attempt to shirk the legal consequences of their corruption and self-dealing. The NRA is an organization that exists to juice gun industry profits and line the pockets of their   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Thursday applauded President Joe Biden's Executive Order invoking the Defense Production Act to direct federal agencies and private industry to speed production and distribution of a vaccine and other medical supplies to combat COVID-19: "We are in the middle of a national emergenc  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense, General Lloyd Austin. "America is facing real internal and external security threats in the aftermath of President Trump's departure from office, and we cannot afford to delay having a capable hand at the helm of the Pentagon-  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 20: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday applauded the historic actions taken by President Joe Biden on his first day in office. President Biden issued Executive Orders to rejoin the Paris Agreement and World Health Organization, repeal the Trump administration's racist Muslim ban, and strengthen protections for DACA recipients, among several other actions. "On his first day in   more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) led a group of 24 of their Senate colleagues including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in sending a letter to President-elect Joe Biden, supporting his incoming administration's plan to quickly utilize all available authorities under the Defense Production Act (DPA) to rapidly increase the production and stockpiling of medical, te  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Jan. 22: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) were joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and supported by Chef Jose Andres and World Central Kitchen in announcing their intent to re-introduce the FEMA Empowering Essential Deli  more