Press Release

President Trump believes that sending militarized and heavily armed officers, unaccountable to local authorities, into American cities to undermine peaceful protests will distract from his abject failure to handle the COVID-19 crisis and his plummeting poll numbers.

Today, the House passed legislation, sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, to ensure that the principle of defendants’ access to counsel is protected in immigration proceedings.

he Trump Administration’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries continues to be not only a mark of shame on our country but also a threat to our national security.  A potent tool for those who would radicalize and recruit terrorists, the ban was implemented without regard to objections from our national security experts or those who defend the principles of freedom of religion and non-discrimination. 

In deploying federal law enforcement to patrol American cities like Portland and Chicago and silence those exercising their First Amendment rights, Donald Trump is drawing from the playbook of the worst dictators of the past century. 

This memorandum is reprehensible, ignoring the Constitution’s clear directive that ‘the whole number of persons in each state’ be counted. 

“There is a hole in the heart of America today. We, and the world, have lost a paragon of faith: in God, in his country, and in humankind – we were all his brothers and sisters. God is welcoming home one of his greatest disciples of love, and peace, and forgiveness, and reconciliation, and of hope, and of unlimited courage born of conviction and faith.
 

With COVID-19 infections continuing to surge in many states, it is critical that the House keep taking the steps necessary to engage in the people’s business safely and in a way that does not exacerbate this crisis.  That’s why we passed H. Res. 965, which provided for House committees to meet virtually using secure, remote technologies as well as for proxy voting through a system that is verifiable and safe. 

President Trump either fundamentally misunderstands our national infrastructure challenge or is cynically using it to justify his continued assault on clean air and clean water protections. Delays to major infrastructure investments are overwhelmingly caused by a lack of funding, not by rules designed to ensure that construction projects do not harm the health and environment of the communities they serve - particularly minority and lower-income communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of pollution and climate change.