Senate

Last Week Schumer Requested The FTC Step Up Enforcement Actions Against Websites Peddling Fake H1N1 Cures and Prevention Methods

November 16, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is embarking on a major crackdown on companies selling phony H1N1 remedies. As the problem of fake remedies grows worse, and concerns about the H1N1 flu increase, the FTC announced that they would take further enforcement action against ten companies that are peddling fake H1N1 remedies on-line.    » read more »

Responding To Schumer's Call, DOJ's Head Of Antitrust Investigations Will Come To New York To Explore Anticompetitive Practices In The Dairy Industry

November 16, 2009 -- Today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that at his urging Christine A. Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, will come to New York to meet with dairy farmers and consumers to explore potential anticompetitive behavior on the part of dairy processors.    » read more »

Chemical Has Been Shown To Lead To Developmental Problems And Cancers

November 16, 2009 -- On the heels of a new Consumer Reports’ study showing that the toxic chemical bisphenol-A is now in a wider range of products used and consumed by children and in higher concentrations than previously thought, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today unveiled his legislation that bans BPA in food and beverage containers marketed to kids aged three and under.    » read more »

Schumer: Gaping Holes In Federal Gun Background Checks Allowed Fort Hood Shooter To Purchase Gun Unnoticed By Feds

November 16, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the Department of Justice to require that a red flag be raised when someone who has been the subject of a terrorist inquiry attempts to purchase a gun after reports emerged today that the Fort Hood shooting suspect was able to purchase a gun and pass the background check even though the Joint Terrorism Task Force had reviewed certain communications of the suspect related to a terrorist investigation.    » read more »

Pilot program that Murray pushed for in Wounded Warriors bill will mean single medical examinations and transparent rating system for returning service members disability claims

November 16, 2009 -- (Washington, D.C.) – Thousands of returning service members will have access to a streamlined disability claims system at Fort Lewis Army Medical Center because of a pilot program that U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) helped pass into law.    » read more »

Protects Families and Assists Farmers

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. –Today the Senate took another step closer to passing legislation that will give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the resources it needs to ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply. The Senate Agriculture Committee released the chairman’s draft of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which includes Senator Jeff Merkley’s provisions to improve traceability of contaminated processed foods and protect the organic farming and sustainable agriculture industries.    » read more »

Thousands of New Jersey residents affected; various counties to receive state aid

November 16, 2009 -- NEW JERSEY – Today, U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2) praised Governor Jon Corzine’s swift action in issuing an emergency declaration for the areas hit by last week's Nor'easter.

The Jersey Shore was hit hard, causing beach erosion, destroying beach replenishment projects, flooding homes and businesses and displacing huge mounds of sand that blanketed inland side streets, sidewalks and driveways.    » read more »

Arkansas Now Ranked as Having Third Highest Rate of Hunger in the U.S.

November 16, 2009 -- Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, issued the following statement today in response to the release of the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2008 Food Security Report.

The report showed that 14.6 percent of U.S. households struggled to provide enough food to feed their families during certain times of the year in 2008, a significant increase over the rate of 11.1 percent in 2007. This is an increase of nearly 13 million individuals over just a one year period, from 36.2 million in 2007 to 49.1 million in 2008.    » read more »

“Without Proper Coverage, These Women Will Be Forced to Return to Dangerous Back Alley Providers”

November 16, 2009 -- New York, NY - With the U.S. Senate set to begin debate on health care reform this week, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was joined today by dozens of women leaders to protest Michigan Democratic Representative Bart Stupak's amendment which passed the House of Representatives this month and would deny millions of women access to reproductive care.    » read more »

Amendment Based on Recommendations of a Government Study is Latest Addition to Feingold's Control Spending Now Act to Slash the Deficit

November 16, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold offered legislation today to enhance the security of our nuclear arsenal and more effectively use taxpayer dollars. The legislation is part of Feingold’s larger effort to slash the deficit by more than one half trillion dollars with the Control Spending Now Act, which he introduced last month.    » read more »

USDA report shows highest level of U.S. food insecurity since report initiated in 1995; UN conference held on combating international hunger; Casey launches statewide “Witnesses to Hunger” exhibit

November 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- As the USDA released new data showing that one in seven American households had difficulty in putting enough food on the table and the World Summit on Food Security convened in Rome, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) addressed the urgent need to address food insecurity at home and abroad. Senator Casey also launched a statewide Witnesses to Hunger exhibit to document hunger and poverty.    » read more »

At Columbus Couple’s First Home, Senator, CHP Underscore How Federal Credit Can Help Strengthen Columbus Real Estate Market

November 16, 2009 -- COLUMBUS, OH – At the soon-to-be new home of Mike Decker and Katie Arends, who used the first-time homebuyer federal tax credit to build their first house, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today discussed how the newly extended federal tax credit can help other Columbus community members purchase new homes. Brown fought in Congress to extend the tax credit through April, which the president signed into law earlier this month.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Mark Begich today issued the following statement regarding the resignation of Drue Pearce as the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Project Federal Coordinator:

"I commend and thank Drue for her many years of public service, both in the Alaska Legislature and as the first pipeline coordinator, and wish her the best in her next pursuits.    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes, on behalf of the AFL-CIO members, thanked Congressman Michael E. Capuano for his historic vote in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) in a letter dated November 10, 2009.

The letter states, "you and the other nine members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation who took a stand... are showing the rest of our nation how to lead on this important moral and economic issue." It goes on to say, "...working families will remember who fulfilled the promises they were elected to keep."    » read more »

November 13, 2009 -- Warwick, RI - As millions of American homeowners continue to struggle against the tide of home foreclosures, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) heard from Rhode Island homebuyers and realtors yesterday about the recession's impact on the local housing market. Whitehouse hosted a roundtable discussion at The Rhode Island Association of Realtors in Warwick.    » read more »