WASHINGTON, March 8 -- Rep. Mark Alford, R-Missouri, issued the following news release on March 7, 2025: * * * Alford, Thanedar Re-Introduce the "Loans In Our Neighborhoods (LIONs) Act" to Enhance Small Business Financing Today, Congressman Mark Alford (MO-4), alongside Congressman Shri Thanedar (MI-13), announced the re-introduction of the "Loans in our Neighborhoods (LIONs) Act," (H.R.1893) a bipartisan bill designed to amend the Small Business Act by increasing the maximum gross loan amoun  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 (TNSres) -- The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics issued the following document from Economics Daily: * * * Annual average unemployment rates increased in 21 states in 2024 March 07, 2025 In 2024, annual average unemployment rates increased in 21 states and were little changed in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Employment-population ratios decreased in 5 states and were little changed in 45 states and the District. The U.S. jobless rate increase  more

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued the following news release on March 7, 2025: * * * Chairman Smith Calls for Fair Treatment for U.S. Rice Producers After USITC Report Confirms Unlevel Playing Field WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released a report from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) examining the global competitiveness of U.S. rice producers.  more

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- Rep. Jason Smith, R-Missouri, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued the following news release: * * * Chairman Smith: Small Businesses Deserve Certainty of Tax Relief From One, Big, Beautiful Bill WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobs report, showing the economy created 151,000 new jobs: "Under Joe Biden, out-of-control government sp  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The U.S. Department of Defense issued the following news: * * * Contracts for March 6, 2025 ARMY Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi (W900KK-25-D-0021); Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida (W900KK-25-D-0022); Cubic Defense Applications Inc., San Diego, California (W900KK-25-D-0023); Ravenswood Solutions Inc.,* Fremont, California (W900KK-25-D-0024); Cole Engineering Services Inc., Orlando, Florida (W900KK-25-D-0025); Skiftech LLC,* Orlando, Florida (W900KK-  more

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following news release: * * * EPA Partnership with City of Springfield, Missouri, Provides Career Training, Job Readiness at Ozark Correctional Center Seventeen students are graduating from Springfield's Green for Greene program, made possible by an EPA Brownfields Grant LENEXA, KAN. (MARCH 7, 2025) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 Administrator Jim Macy visited the Ozark Correctional Center  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, issued the following news release: * * * Hawley Op-Ed: Chavez-DeRemer Is The Realization Of Trump's Pro-Worker Platform By U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) | March 6, 2024 | The Daily Caller For decades, both Democrats and Republicans put the interests of Wall Street over the interests of hardworking American families. [...] That all changed with Donald Trump. He offered a different vision -- redefining the GOP as the party of working  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release on March 6, 2025: * * * Hearing Highlights Needs & Challenges in the Coast Guard's Modernization Efforts Washington, DC - The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee held a hearing yesterday focused on the challenges facing the U.S. Coast Guard's efforts to recapitalize its ship and aircraft fleets, shoreside infrastructure, and   more

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, issued the following news on March 7, 2025: * * * JEC Establishes Committee Leadership for the 119th Congress WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last week, the Joint Economic Committee concluded its committee organizational vote to adopt the committee's leadership for the 119th Congress. Chairman David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) and Vice Chairman Eric Schmitt (R-MO) formally ratified the committee's membership,  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following weekly report entitled "Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims" for week ending March 1, 2025. * * * SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending March 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,250, an increase of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 224,000. The advance s  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- The Library of Congress issued the following news: * * * Library Announces Teaching with Primary Sources Regional Grant Awards The Library of Congress recently awarded six Teaching with Primary Sources regional grants. Recipients of these regional grants will make subgrants on behalf of the Library to organizations that wish to integrate Library resources and Teaching with Primary Sources methods into their educational programming. The recipients include Illinois Stat  more

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, March 8 -- Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the following news release on March 7, 2025: * * * Attorney General Andrew Bailey Secures Historic $24 Billion Judgment Against China for Unleashing the COVID-19 Pandemic JEFFERSON CITY Mo. - Today, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey secured a historic $24 billion judgment against the Chinese Communist Party for unleashing the COVID-19 pandemic -- six times more than the previous largest judgment in Misso  more

WASHINGTON, March 7 -- Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, issued the following news release: * * * Reps. Cleaver, Lawler Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Access to Rental Assistance Program for Affordable Housing (Washington, D.C.) - Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, and Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced their Choice in Affordable Housing Act to improve the federal government's largest rent  more

WASHINGTON, March 8 -- The Smithsonian Institution issued the following news release: * * * Nearly Half of Popular Tropical Plant Group Related to Birds-of-Paradise and Bananas Are Threatened With Extinction Dried Plant Specimens and Data Collected Over Decades of Field Work Allowed Scientists To Efficiently Assess Extinction Risks A new analysis from researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History reveals that nearly half of the genus Heliconia, a group of tropical plant  more