President Biden on Tuesday urged Congress to enact meaningful gun reforms after the second mass shooting in under a week, plunging Washington back into a familiar debate where lawmakers have stalemated in recent years.
Eight people in the Atlanta area and 10 people in Boulder, Colo., were killed in the most recent shootings, but there was little sign it would move the needle in Congress — even as political leaders who back gun reforms noted the United States is the only country in the world that continually suffers from mass shooting events.
There had been no mass shooting in a year as much of the country stayed home from work and school during the pandemic, a fact noted ruefully by former President Obama. Continue reading.
The accolade comes after recent research showing Phillips as the MN delegations’ most productive member.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) thanked the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) for presenting him with the 2021 Legislative Action Award, in honor of Phillips’ leadership and demonstrated commitment to crossing the partisan divide.
The BPC established the Legislative Action Award to acknowledge creative and courageous members who foster bipartisanship when it is needed most. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Phillips worked tirelessly to break through partisan gridlock and deliver relief for small businesses and families. He authored a law to make PPP loans widely accessible to struggling businesses, and his leadership on the Problem Solvers Caucus was the inspiration for the bipartisan COVID-19 relief package passed last December. For these successes and more, Phillips was rated the most productive Representative in the Minnesota delegation by the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking.
“Throughout my 30-year career in business and philanthropy, I witnessed hundreds of organizations throughout the world—but none were so utterly dysfunctional as our Congress,” saidPhillips. “I recognize that the best policy ideas are the result of principled debate and thoughtful compromise and I am honored to receive the BPC’s Legislative Action Award. I will continue to pursue common sense ideas for the common good, inspire a new era of collaboration Congress, and restore Americans’ faith in government – especially as we emerge from a once-in-a-generation crisis.”
Congressman Phillips is the only member of the Minnesota delegation to win a Legislative Action Award from the Bipartisan Policy Center and a Jefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship from the Chamber of Commerce. According to the Lugar Center’s Bipartisan Index, Phillips is Minnesota’s most bipartisan member of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) came under withering criticism on Twitter late Monday for her tweets about the mass shooting at a Colorado grocery store, with many pointing out her avid support for more guns on the streets of the United States.
As reporting on the shooting was breaking, the gun-toting lawmaker was busy tweeting, “The White House just called a lid at 1:13pm today. Biden is back in the basement, figuratively at least. Meanwhile, the country is in chaos and the border is coming apart at the seams.”
An hour later she finally addressed the shooting, with a tweet offering the usual “prayers” for victims — a pro forma message usually delivered by conservative lawmakers every time there is a mass gun-related act of violence. Continue reading.
President Biden on Tuesday called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and to close loopholes in the background check system after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said in remarks at the White House following Monday’s shooting. “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. … We should do it again.”
Biden called on the Senate to “immediately pass” two House-passed bills that would expand background checks for firearm sales, noting that both passed the Democratic-controlled lower chamber with some Republican support. One of the bills would close the so-called Charleston loophole by extending the initial background check review period from three to 10 days. The bill is linked to the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., in which a white supremacist killed nine Black Americans at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. Continue reading.
I’m looking forward to talking with you tonight during my free and open-to-the-public vaccine briefing call at 6:45 PM CT with U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. We’ll get to as many of your questions about getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as possible, so I hope you’ll join the conversation by calling in at (855) 927-0897, streaming live on my website or on Facebook, or registering here to receive a call. Ahead of our call tonight, I wanted to give you a little more information about the important work my team and I did last week:
Immigration Close to Home
For decades, Liberian refugees have worked, owned homes, raised families, and paid taxes legally in Minnesota through the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program with no opportunity to become citizens. Our extraordinary Liberian community, along with Republicans and Democrats in Congress, worked so hard to finally secure a pathway to citizenship in 2019. We thought the hardest part of the journey was behind us, but it appears that unacceptable hurdles remain – in 2020, more than 2,300 newly-eligible Liberian DED recipients applied for citizenship, but only 91 were approved.
Last week, the House passed H.R. 6, the bipartisan Dream and Promise Act, to provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers and DED holders, but, until the Senate passes the bill as well, thousands of lives hang in the balance. In the meantime, I’m continuing to demand accountability and transparency for Minnesota’s Liberian community before time runs out again. Last week I sent a letter to the Biden Administration outlining steps we can take right now to improve the program and ensure that every eligible applicant receives fair treatment.
Meeting with Constituents
Representation begins with listening, and, this past week, I had the pleasure of hearing from constituents who are leading Minnesota towards better health care. My team and I spoke with Hennepin Healthcare leadership about the work they have been doing throughout the pandemic in COVID testing, treatment, and now vaccination. I also had the chance to meet with the Minnesota Hospital Association and health care leaders from across Minnesota to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 and the need to make high quality health care available to every Minnesotan. We discussed opportunities to make progress in the areas of telehealth and prescription drug pricing.
Hennepin Healthcare has been a leader throughout the pandemic
Clean Cars for Minnesota
It’s time for Minnesota to be a leader for climate action and clean energy, both in our region and in our country. Last week, I joined a growing chorus of voices in advocating for the proposed Minnesota Clean Cars rule, which would reduce pollution and ensure that Minnesotans have access to zero-emissions vehicles. The Clean Car rule would tackle the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in our state—preserving public health and saving Minnesotan taxpayers billions of dollars in the process. If approved, the Clean Cars rule would go into effect in 2024.
Passing the Violence Against Women Act
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a landmark law that combats sexual assault and domestic violence. First passed in 1994, VAWA was reauthorized on a bipartisan basis in 200, 2005, and 2013 – until 2018, when it expired because the Senate failed to bring it forward for a vote. The House voted to reauthorize VAWAlast week, and I’m pleased to share that my amendment to ensure that women and children who face domestic violence can leave their abuser without losing their legal, non-immigrant status was included in the bill.
As your Congressman I always want to do my best to share information that relates to you, your family, and our community. From job opportunities in the district to contests in my office, I want to keep you in the loop.
Opportunity for student artists: The 2021 Congressional Art Competition has officially begun! High school students in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District are invited to create an original art piece and submit it by Saturday, April 17. The winning artwork will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol. Learn more at phillips.house.gov/art
Hiring in MN-03: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is planning to hire 6,000 full- and part-time Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) across all airports in the coming weeks and months, including Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). If you are interested in applying, you can find information here
Our vaccine briefing call tonight: Click here to learn how to join the conversation with me, Senator Tina Smith, Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm, and local health experts tonight. If you won’t be able to attend, or you’ll just want to listen to our discussion again, I promise to follow up next week with the recording of our conversation
New FEC filings reveal that several major corporations that pledged in January to stop financially supporting members of Congress who tried to overturn the presidential election results broke their pledge in February.
In early January, shortly after false claims of voter fraud inspired a violent attack on the United States Capitol, Intel announced that it would stop PAC contributions to members of Congress that voted against certifying the Electoral College results. Intel said that vote, which attempted to overturn the results of a fair election, was not consistent with “our company’s values.”
Intel’s Political Action Committee continuously reevaluates its contributions to candidates to ensure that they align with our values, policies and priorities. While Intel’s PAC will continue bipartisan contributions, we will not contribute to members of Congress who voted against certification of the Electoral College results as we feel that action was counter to our company’s values.
But on February 26, Intel sent a $15,000 PAC contribution to the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). Continue reading.
Rep. Devin Nunes of California is the leading Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. And MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow is wondering why the far-right congressman still has that position in light of his connection to Andrii Derkach, a Russian agent and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Maddow, during her March 18 broadcast, noted that Derkach is one of the Russian agents named in a National Intelligence Council report on Russian interference in the United States’ 2020 presidential election. The MSNBC host pointed out that according to the report, Derkach was “under the purview of Russian President Vladimir Putin” as part of Kremlin efforts to help former President Donald Trump win reelection and defeat now-President Joe Biden.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, Maddow explained, learned that “Derkach had mailed a stack of unknown materials to a Republican congressman named Devin Nunes, who is the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee to his day.” Continue reading.
Democrats are warning they won’t tolerate GOP stonewalling as they try to make good on their pledge to enact a “bold” agenda and avoid Obama-era missteps.
Fresh off a big win on coronavirus relief, Democrats are facing intense pressure not to water down their legislative priorities after years of a backed-up wish list during the Trump era and a decade since the party has had a unified government it could use to muscle through sweeping reforms considered anathema to the GOP.
“We will try to get them to work with us. But if not, we will put our heads together and figure out how to go,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) told reporters. Continue reading.
Former interim U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin, of Washington, reiterated Sunday that he thinks charges of seditious conspiracy could be brought against certain defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, a rarely invoked charge for those who use violence to hinder the execution of federal law.
In a “60 Minutes” interview aired on CBS two days after he stepped down from supervising the investigation, Sherwin said, “I personally believe the evidence is trending toward that, and probably meets those elements.”
“I believe the facts do support those charges. And I think that, as we go forward, more facts will support that,” he said. Continue reading.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday attempted to backpedal on his support of former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
McCarthy attempted to suggest that he did not support Trump’s efforts as he insisted Raju’s remarks were inaccurate. “You’re saying something that is not true,” the California Republican said. Continue reading.
