WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Wednesday sent an urgent letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper demanding an immediate explanation why the Fiscal Year 2021 budget request funds only one Virginia Class submarine. "Given that fast attack submarines are critical in ensuring our nation's essential undersea superiority, we fail to understand the abrupt aband  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 14: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday to continue supporting the American floral and horticulture industry. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Murphy emphasized the importance of supporting the America's floricultural industry. Murphy urged USDA to feature American flowers at government events, launch pub  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: After spending several days reviewing the hundreds of pages and programmatic funding proposals in the President's Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-5) sharply condemned the malign document that seeks to inflict devastating cuts to consequential programs for all Americans. Just days after the President promised Americans robust Medicare and Medicaid programs, solutions to hig  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $5,169,707 in federal funding to the Eastern Connecticut Regional Education Service Center (EASTCONN) to support Head Start and Early Head Start programming in eastern Connecticut. The funds were dispersed through the HHS Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start. "With  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Feb. 13: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, issued the following statement after the Trump Administration announced their intention to reprogram $3.8 billion in Department of Defense funding from various procurement priorities to instead fund construction of President Trump's border wall through the counter-narcotics accou  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: President Trump's proposal to siphon resources from critical shipbuilding programs in his FY20201 Budget Request has already drawn bipartisan criticism from legislators in Congress, and from military and defense experts across the country. The President's FY20201 Budget Request would truncate the build-rate for Virginia-class submarines in the years to come, while U.S. combatant commanders are expressing  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 10: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, issued the following statement on the President's Fiscal Year 2021 shipbuilding budget request. "The President's shipbuilding budget is not a 355-ship Navy budget. As Chair of the Seapower Subcommittee, I can say with complete certainty that, like so much of the rest of the President's budget,  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 12: Yesterday, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) voted to pass the Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act (H.R. 1980), a bipartisan bill that would establish a comprehensive Women's History Museum within the Smithsonian Institution. Congressman Courtney is a co-sponsor of the Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act, which passed the House last evening by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 374-37  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) and his colleagues on the House Education & Labor Committee voted to approve the Ban Surprise Billing Act (H.R. 5800) during a legislative markup session. The Ban Surprise Billing Act is a bipartisan bill, supported by both the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Education & Labor Committee, that would protect patients from devastating surprise medical bills. H.R. 5800 wou  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT), the Chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper about the lack of the required 30-year shipbuilding plan in this week's budget submission. The letter was also signed by the subcommittee's Ranking Member, Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA). The letter requests the updated shipbuilding plan by Febru  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following transcript: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) condemned President Trump's Fiscal Year 2021 Budget at a House Budget Committee hearing with Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russell Vought. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I think it's been stunning this morning--and what we have been subjected to this morning is an Orwellian presentation that showcases doublespeak. What is doublespeak  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Feb. 13: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement after voting for a resolution to facilitate the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution. Last month, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA--the required support to ratify the amendment--but the arbitrary ratification deadline has passed. "For nearly 50 years, our country h  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released the following statement after President Trump diverted $3.83 billion dollars from the Department of Defense budget in order to build a southern border wall. Congress appropriated the money on a bipartisan basis last year for ships, F-35 fighter jets, the National Guard, and vehicles for the Army. "President Trump's move to take money away from the military to   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following transcript: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) pushed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General (IG) Phyllis Fong to investigate corrupt, Brazilian-owned and controlled meatpacker JBS during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture hearing. In November of last year, DeLauro called on USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to direct the USDA IG to open a suspension and debarment investigati  more

NORWALK, Connecticut, Feb. 15 -- Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Jim Himes will host a roundtable focused on reducing youth substance abuse and will also announce $1.875 million in federal grant funding for drug-free communities programs on Friday, February 21 at 11 a.m. at the Norwalk Community Health Center. Panelists for the roundtable will include representatives from the grant recipient organizations: Denique Weidema-Lewis, Director of Prevent  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: * * * - Emerging Technologies and National Security: Posturing the U.S. Intelligence Community for Success * * * On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 10:00 am, the Strategic Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), chaired by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), will convene an open hearing to discuss challenges facing the United States Governm  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Yesterday, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) voted to report the Consumer Protection Against Surprise Medical Bills Act (H.R. 5826), which includes transparency legislation Larson authored. "I am glad that this critical legislation to put patients first is advancing. Right now, patients can get surprise, exorbitant medical bills after receiving emergency care or having a procedure, if a hospital or a doctor  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) highlighted how the GOP Tax Law left the middle-class, millennials, women, and people of color behind during a Ways and Means Committee hearing. "Everyone likes tax cuts, but not when the majority of the Republican tax law benefitted the wealthiest one-percent and corporations. "Tax cuts for the wealthy shouldn't come at the expense of everyday working people. Republicans and  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01) released the following statement on President Trump's budget which includes a $71 billion in cuts to Social Security: "Last week President Trump said he was going to protect Social Security. This week, he released his budget which includes $71 billion in cuts to Social Security. This budget in a non-starter. "His proposed   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Feb. 12: Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) released the following statement after Attorney General Barr overruled career prosecutors in the sentencing of Roger Stone. Stone was found guilty by a jury in November of multiple felonies, including witness tampering and obstruction of Congress. "The crisis within the Department of Justice and the rule of law was underscored yesterday when four courageous prosecut  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) joined the Ways and Means Committee in introducing legislation, H.R. 5825, H.R. 5826, and H.R. 5821, to end surprise medical bills, that also includes transparency legislation authored by Larson. "For years, patients have been sent surprise medical bills for emergency room visits, often for thousands of dollars, when they receive care outside of their insurance network unbe  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01), Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin announced a $4,648,305 Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly award in the City of Hartford. This funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will go to the New Samaritan Corporation to support the production of 22 units of low-income elderly households.  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 13: Reps. John B. Larson (CT-01) and Marc A. Veasey (TX-33) condemned the request by the Trump Administration to reprogram $373 million from F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program to fund the Border Wall. "In December, Congress passed a bipartisan package to fund our military's critical needs. National security experts have said time and time again the border wall is ineffective when it comes to add  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 12: Yesterday, Reps. John B. Larson (CT-01), Joe Courtney (CT-02), and Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden met to discuss the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2019. Larson and Courtney are cosponsors of the legislation. This bipartisan bill would require the U.S. Treasury Department to transfer all records and ownership of unclaimed, matured savings bonds to states to find the rightful owne  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, Feb. 11 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 10: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Monday that Accuturn Manufacturing Company of South Windsor is this week's "Murphy's Monday Manufacturer." Accuturn specializes in the manufacture of precision-machined components that serve a variety of industries, including aerospace and medical. The company subcontracts for manufacturers such as Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce,   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following joint statement: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), all members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday. The senators released the following statement ahead of their meeting: "The U.S.-Ukraine relationship is as important now as ever  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Feb. 11: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday released the following statement on the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection's hearing on NCAA athlete compensation: "Less than a year ago, I was a lonely voice in the Senate talking about the need to compensate college a  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement regarding President Trump's fiscal 2021 budget request: "Thankfully, President Trump's budget request to Congress is dead on arrival, and the only bright side is that the budget will serve a reminder of the administration's backwards priorities ahead of an election year". "This budget calls for deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare that would devastate seniors and families in Connecticut, cripples our in  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: * * * - Budget Comes Just After Pentagon Announced An Increase in Russian Activity in the Atlantic Ocean * * * U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on Monday made the following statement after the Pentagon reduced the number of Virginia-class submarines next year in order to increase nuclear weapons funding according to the Fiscal Year 2021 budg  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on feb. 13: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, on Thursday released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Defense notified Congress of the transfer of funds from U.S. National Guard Equipment and F-35 production to pay for the president's border wall. Specifically, the Trump administration is transferring $3.8 billion into the 'Drug  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, on Thursday made the following statement on the recent escalation of violence in Syria: "I'm incredibly worried about Assad's recent escalation of violence in Idlib. This offensive has Putin's fingerprints all over it, and has the potent  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 12: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday questioned U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker and Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Christopher Robinson during a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S.-Libya policy. During the hearing, Murphy pressed the administratio  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 12: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday urged the State Department to hold Khalifa Haftar accountable for his cooperation with malign Russian actors in Libya. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Murphy specifically asks whether ties between the Libya National Army and the Wagner Group could trigger mandat  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: * * * - Access to gun records will help local law enforcement solve gun crimes, crack down on traffickers, help Americans understand impact of gun violence on communities * * * U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), joined bicameral legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.-13) to greatly enhance the abili  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 12: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, delivered keynote remarks at the Century Foundation event titled, "After Trump: Defining a Progressive U.S. Policy for the Middle East" which debated and defined an alternative, progressive U.S. foreign policy approach toward  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, Feb. 11 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Representatives John Larson (CT-1), Rosa DeLauro (CT-2), Jim Himes (CT-3), Joe Courtney (CT-4) and Jahana Hayes (CT-5), and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont called on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to immediately remove undue restrictions and delays placed on $16.5 billion in  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), all members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, on Friday met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and held a media availability immediately after. "We just finished a very difficult moment in American politics. The three of us are [membe  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on Feb. 11: * * * - Preserve Cultural Landscape for Generations to Come * * * U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Tuesday introduced legislation to change the Weir Farm designation from Weir Farm National Historic Site to Weir Farm National Historical Park. Because National Historical Parks are generally considerably bigger than National Historic Sites, which   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 31 Senators in introducing legislation that would put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050. This net-zero legislation is supported collectively by major environmental groups, business groups and organized labor. The world's leading scientists have warned that huma  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Representatives John Larson (CT-1) and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin announced a $4,648,305 Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly award in the City of Hartford. This funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will go to the New Samaritan Corporation to support the production of 22   more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- 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, and Ranking Member of the Committee U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), led a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn to immediately ban the use of electrical stimulation devices (ESDs) on children and adults with disabilities. The FDA propose  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), on Monday joined a group of Democratic senators in a letter led by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew T. Albence, demanding to know whether ICE is taking the necessary steps to accommodate tran  more