Free Republic

On Thursday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) spoke on the House Floor in opposition to the proposed GOP funding to Israel.

Republican lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would ban funding of research labs controlled by North Korea, China, and other adversarial nations. Democrats say the move will put America’s national security at risk... To Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), these measures unravel "the hard-fought credibility and influence the United States has earned as a global leader," the lawmakers said in a press release Wednesday. "The bill threatens our national security and puts the American people and global health at risk," the Democrats added. DeLauro accused Republicans during a markup hearing Wednesday of...

Democrats and abortion activists are renewing the call to end the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion. Instead, they want tax dollars to go towards a woman’s “deeply personal life decisions.” But when American taxpayers are forced to pay for that decision, abortion – the ending of a human life – surfaces as a public matter in a very obvious way. On December 8, the House Appropriations Committee held a nearly three-hour hearing on “The Impact on Women Seeking an Abortion but are Denied Because of an Inability to Pay.” House Democrats and abortion activists centered their remarks...

WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Omar, along with U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Deb Haaland (NM-01) and a coalition of grassroots groups; labor unions; Black, Brown and Indigenous leaders from across the country to introduce a bold plan for economic renewal known as the Agenda to Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy, or THRIVE Agenda. In the Senate the resolution is led by Senator Markey, Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.), and...

Several House Republicans left a closed-door coronavirus briefing on Friday after Rep. Rosa DeLauro spoke critically of the Trump administration’s efforts to protect the American public from the global epidemic. According to a transcript, DeLauro, D-3rd District, said she supported the administration’s declaration of a public health emergency that allows states like Connecticut more flexibility in spending federal public health money. “That said, I have grave concerns about the lack of transparency and unwillingness to allow public health experts to speak freely about what is happening,” DeLauro said. There are reports that Vice President Mike Pence, appointed by President Donald...

House Democrats argued against diverting funding for the new coronavirus from preparing for the Ebola virus as they said that the $2.5 billion the White House wants for combating the new virus isn’t adequate. The White House submitted an emergency request to Congress on Feb. 24, asking for $2.5 billion to combat the new coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. The money was meant to help research vaccines, boost the surveillance network, and other efforts, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told a congressional committee in Washington on Wednesday. Part of the proposal featured moving $535 million from...

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claimed last month that “everything that we have proposed has been paid for, and we have proposed no tax increase on the middle class.” The South Bend, Ind., mayor is incorrect on both counts: He hasn’t said how he’d pay for all his proposed spending. He has endorsed one explicit tax increase on the middle class, and his recent retirement plan provides an outline for another. Add it up, and middle-class workers could face a trillion dollars in new taxes. To support family caregivers, Mr. Buttigieg’s retirement plan restated his prior commitment to enact “an...

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) called for a national ban on the use of tanning devices, which she described as “essentially carcinogen delivery systems,” by those under 18, on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.

If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door. If you’re a member who wants to read the text, you’ve got to go to a room in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Center and be handed it one section at a time, watched over as you read, and forced to hand over any notes you make before leaving. And no matter what, you...

Gun control advocates introduced a bill in April that only gun control supporters could love. Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro is so serious about getting so-called assault weapons off the street that she is offering $2,000 tax credits for each gun that people turning in limit one per year. According to her, assault weapons are not about hunting, or even self-defense. There is no reason on earth, other than to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, that anyone needs a gun designed for a battlefield. She believes that offering $2,000 a gun will...

If you or I lived rent free for five years in an apartment in pricey Washington, DC, we would have to pay income taxes on the value of the rent on the place. But apparently not Rahm Emanuel. The wonderful Andrew Malcolm of the LA Times writes: We already knew that BP and its folks were significant contributors to the record $750-million war chest of Barack Obama's 2007-08 campaign. Now, we learn the details of a connection of Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayoral wannabe, current Obama chief of staff, ex-representative, ex-Clinton money man and ex-Windy City political machine go-fer. Shortly...

The open in-fighting ramped up after a breakthrough on the historic bill was announced. The most important trade bill in a decade has pitted Harry Reid against President Barack Obama. Liberal Democrat Rosa DeLauro against moderate Democrat Ron Kind. Labor unions against pro-business Democrats. And Elizabeth Warren against virtually everyone who supports a landmark piece of legislation that would allow the president to close what could be the biggest free-trade deal in history. The open warring among Democrats over fast-track trade legislation, and the party’s broader existential crisis on free trade, grew more pronounced Thursday as senior lawmakers announced a...

Gun owners would receive tax breaks for voluntarily turning in high-powered assault rifles under new legislation proposed Monday. The Support Assault Firearm Elimination and Education of our (SAFER) Streets Act expected to be reintroduced next week by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) would provide gun owners with an incentive to turn in their firearms to local police departments. “Assault weapons are not about hunting, or even self-defense,” DeLauro said . “There is no reason on earth, other than to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, that anyone needs a gun designed for a battlefield.”...

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has introduced legislation to tax caloric sweeteners in beverages as a means of reducing obesity and other health conditions among Americans. DeLauro's bill would impose a tax of one cent per teaspoon of sweeteners like sugars and high fructose corn syrup. Beverages made from 100 percent fruit juice, nutritional therapies and infant formula would be exempted from the tax. Milk, including rice and soy, would also not qualify. The revenue would go toward federal research on diabetes, obesity, tooth decay and other dietary health conditions. DeLauro, who serves as the top Democrat on the House Appropriations...

The Food and Drug Administration is going to try its hand at shaming consumers into making healthier choices when they go out to eat. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the FDA announced a controversial and expansive rule that will require certain establishments with 20 or more locations -- including chain restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and movie theaters -- to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards. A separate rule was also issued requiring operators of 20 or more vending machines to post calorie information. Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act, a provision included in the law...

A pair of congressional Democrats pressed the White House Friday to move forcefully on regulations requiring calorie counts on restaurant menus. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule mandates labels on restaurants, “similar retail food establishments” and vending machines to combat obesity by helping consumers make healthier choices. The regulations, a requirement of the Affordable Care Act, were first proposed in 2011 and drew hundreds of public comments. The proposal remains under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Meanwhile, dozens of lawmakers have argued that the FDA’s proposed rule goes beyond congressional intent, warning...

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced this week the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax (SWEET Act), which aims to institute a tax of one cent per teaspoon—4.2 grams—of sugar, high fructose corn syrup or caloric sweetener. The measure (HB 5279), introduced Wednesday says, “A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains about 16 teaspoons of sugars. Yet, the American Heart Association recommends that Americans consume no more than six to nine teaspoons of sugar per day.” Even though the manufacturers of the sweet drinks are targeted to pay the tax, the text of the bill itself notes that the goal is to reduce public consumption...

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been pulled into a lawsuit between two local chapters of the Service Employees International Union, which represent health care workers, and nursing homes. At issue is whether a campaign to pressure the management of the nursing homes during labor disputes crossed the line into extortion. ... both lawmakers are now in the uncomfortable situation of being deposed by lawyers representing the nursing homes and are forced to provide a wide array of documents relating to their interactions with the SEIU. The subpoenas, obtained by the Washington Examiner, require them...

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is worth millions of dollars according to her congressional financial disclosure statement, says Congress needs to tackle income inequality because it “poses an existential threat to our nation and our way of life.” […] According to her congressional financial disclosure statement for 2012, DeLauro is worth between $5 million and $25 million. …

Have you seen the reports about the Chinese army being behind hundreds of cyber attacks on U.S. targets? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s true. Just last night my own hard drive was infiltrated and as a result my copyrighted image of Lady M on the Aspen slopes maliciously showed up on the worldwide innertubes early this morning:              I know it was a hack job because I worked on it all afternoon after receiving a special request from SB to get Lady M to pose on the bunny hill in Rosa DeLauro’s capital steps outfit. I...