WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Eighteen State Attorneys General and a county attorney submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture expressing strong opposition to the agency's Interim Final Rule which revises the department's regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The states contend that the USDA's new rule disrupts a long-standing framework intended to protect the environment by requiring federal agencies to assess the environmental consequence  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following news release: * * * After Republicans Passed The Largest Healthcare Cut In History And On The 60th Anniversary Of The Creation Of Medicaid And Medicare, Ranking Member Merkley, Leader Schumer, And Senate Democrats Introduce Legislation To Reverse Devastating Healthcare Cuts In Republicans' "Big, Ugly Betrayal" After Republicans passed legislation earlier this month that woul  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, issued the following news release: * * * Commerce Committee Advances Three Bills and Key Commerce and Transportation Nominees Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved three bills and important nominations within the Departments of Commerce and Transportation. The Committee also voted to promote twenty Coast Guardsmen. The approved legi  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release: * * * Lujan Statement on Major Public Broadcasting Shutdown Announcement Following GOP Funding Cuts * Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, issued the following statement in response to the announcement from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that it will begin shutting down operations after Congre  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -- Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, issued the following news release: * * * Lujan, Cornyn, Heinrich Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Support Development of Seedling Nurseries, Reforestation and Habitat Restoration Programs * Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Seedlings for Sus  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: * * * Murphy, Warren, Bipartisan Bicameral Colleagues Reintroduce College Transparency Act * WASHINGTON-- U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced the College Transparency Act (CTA), which ensures that students and families have better informati  more

WASHINGTON, July 30 -- Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, issued the following news release: * * * SST Committee Leaders Seek Answers Regarding the Biden Administration's Troubling DOE Lending History Today, leaders of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee sent letters to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Deputy Secretary James Danly and Acting Inspector General Sarah Nelson requesting a formal briefing with staff from DOE's L  more

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, issued the following news release: * * * Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Call for Restoration of Voting Rights Act * Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., said today they have joined Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation that would update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act of 1965 that federal court rulings have eroded in recent years. "Six decades after Congress passe  more