WASHINGTON, March 23 -- 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, this week led 20 Senate Democrats in expressing their concern for children with disabilities amid the school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education Deputy Assistance Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services  more

NORWICH, Connecticut, March 27 -- 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 two federal grants totaling $129,195 to two eastern Connecticut health centers for the purpose of aiding the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal grants were awarded to Generations Family Health Center, Inc. in Willimantic, which will receive $65,444 in federal funding,   more

NORWICH, Connecticut, March 27 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on March 26: Last night, the United States Senate voted 96-0 to pass a third economic stabilization package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the Senate's bipartisan agreement is a provision first introduced by Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) that will ensure a future vaccine for COVID-19 is quickly accessible for all Americans covered by private health insurance plans. Last we  more

NORWICH, Connecticut, March 27 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Congressman Courtney, along with 40 of his colleagues, introduced the Coronavirus Emergency Student Loan Refinancing Act--legislation that allows student loan borrowers to take advantage of record-low yields on 10-year Treasury notes and refinance their loans down to lower rates, in turn lowering monthly payments. As homeowners take advantage of the markets and refinance their mortgages, stude  more

NORWICH, Connecticut, March 25 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: Last Friday, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) joined Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Peter King (R-NY), and Mike Bost (R-IL), the co-chairs of the bipartisan House Fire Services Caucus, in urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to ensure that adequate support for America's first responders is included in further legislation to   more

NORWICH, Connecticut, March 26 -- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on March 25 regarding the Senate's renegotiated coronavirus legislation: "The Emergency Coronavirus package unveiled last night is a much improved plan that now directs critical resources to America's health care workers and hospitals, state governments, unemployed workers and small employers, who are feeling the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak. "As soon as this revised agreement is drafted up   more

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, March 26 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement after two residents of the 3rd District - one in New Haven and one in West Haven - died from the coronavirus: "My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two individuals in our District who died from complications due to the coronavirus. This pandemic is on our doorstep, and we must do everything we can to stop it." "Congress needs to act urgently to continue addressing the health   more

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, March 24 -- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on Senate Republicans' coronavirus bill: "The Senate Republicans' latest proposal does far too little for working people and families. It is a muted response to a deadly and open-ended crisis. Congress must do better. Millions of families were already living paycheck-to-paycheck before the coronavirus pandemic reached our shores. We cannot let them fall through the cracks--be it now or in the  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, March 26 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on March 25: * * * - Calls for Others to Follow Their Lead * * * Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) applauded CVS's announcement that Aetna will be waiving cost-sharing and co-pays for inpatient hospital admissions related to COVID-19 treatment, as well as requirements in hard hit states for pre-authorization of hospital admissions. Larson called for others to do the same: "This a difficult tim  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, March 23 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on March 21: House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01), praised the proposal from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-0R), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to give an extra $200 a month to Social Security beneficiaries. "I am proud to see that Democratic Senate leadership is aggressively pursuing effo  more

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut, issued the following statement on March 26 regarding the CARES Act, the third coronavirus relief package: "The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all our lives. Congress needs to act, and it needs to act now. Most urgently, we need to treat this as a health crisis and infuse our healthcare system with resources to treat patients, increase testing, protect health care workers and develop treatments and a vaccine. Additionally, it is critical  more

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Wednesday called on the U.S. government to contribute at least $500 million toward the United Nation's interagency emergency appeal for $2 billion in humanitarian aid to fight COVID-19 around the world: "The coronavirus knows no borders a  more

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Thursday sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin calling on the United States to ease economic sanctions against countries where sanctions are hindering the humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic - specifically Iran and Venezuela. Se  more

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on March 26: In a letter to President Donald Trump, Connecticut's entire Congressional delegation urged support for Governor Ned Lamont's request for a major disaster declaration for the state of Connecticut in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representatives John Larson (CT-1), Joe Cou  more

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- 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 Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced nearly $1.2 million in federal grants to help Connecticut health centers in emergency planning and response to the coronavirus pandemic. The funding, made available through legislation recently approved by Congress, has been awarded to   more

WASHINGTON, March 24 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release: * * * - Legislation Would Force Implementation of the Defense Production Act - Put Federal Government in Charge of Manufacture and Distribution of Critical Medical Supplies to States in Need During COVID-19 National Emergency * * * U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Monday announced the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act, legislation to force Presid  more

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Connecticut, issued the following news release on March 24: * * * - New report indicates the Chamber has successfully lobbied against the President's use of the Defense Production Act to address the huge shortfall of medical equipment needed to treat COVID-19 patients * * * U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Edward   more