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A Democratic congressman made a comparison on Friday between the balloon being flown over the U.S. by the Chinese communist regime, and the move by the Department of Homeland Security to fly blimps over over the Arizona border to monitor smuggling and trafficking along the southern border. "People are outraged by a Chinese surveillance balloon, but when @DHSgov puts up a surveillance blimp in Arizona border communities without community consultation," Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., tweeted, followed by a silenced emoji and a "sssh" emoji. He later edited the tweet to clarify that people are "rightfully" outraged.

A group of House Democrats will propose a resolution urging the Biden administration to condemn Israel and support six Palestinian groups designated as terrorist organizations by the Jewish state. Rep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.) plans to introduce a resolution celebrating the designated Palestinian groups for the "value and importance" of their "courageous work," according to Haaretz. The resolution will be cosponsored by several House Democrats, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), and Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). Among the groups backed in the Democratic resolution are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated...

WASHINGTON — The election is still 18 days away but Democrats are already drawing battle lines over what a Biden administration ought to look like. Left-wing House members including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressley, Raúl Grijalva and candidate Jamaal Bowman along with 39 progressive groups signed a letter, obtained by POLITICO, arguing that no C-suite level corporate executives or corporate lobbyists ought to have Senate-confirmed positions in a Biden administration. “One of the most important lessons of the Trump administration is the need to stop putting corporate officers and lobbyists in charge of our government,” they wrote. “As...

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...

Link only due to copyright issues: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/08/dem-lawmaker-warns-whether-you-call-it-fence-or-wall-trump-winning-border

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday by an overwhelming margin to pass a resolution condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel and to endorse a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The non-binding resolution passed 398-17. Resolution sponsor Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois, told JTA that the measure’s resounding success shows that support for Israel is a bipartisan phenomenon. While the resolution also made clear that Americans had the right to petition the government in support or opposition to a particular foreign policy, some Democrats argued that the resolution, which has no force in law,...

So, who are the 17 members of Congress who voted against House Resolution 246 which condemns the anti-Israel, terrorist-funded BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement? JULY 25, 2019 BY BARENAKEDISLAM The US House of Representatives voted 398 – 17 Tuesday to pass a non-binding resolution that opposes the BDS movement against Israel. 16 of the 17 “NO” votes were Democrats, including 3 of 4 members of the ‘Jihad Squad’ – Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Andre Carson (D-IN), a Muslim, also voted “NO.” The Dems that voted against HR 246 Rep Betty McCullom-Minnesota Rep Raul Grijalva-Arizona Rep Mark Pocan-Wisconsin Rep...

Audio: Jonathan talked about how he was attacked for wearing a MAGA hat while walking on 4th Ave...by a 42-year-old man that was a legislative aide to Raúl Grijalva.

The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday voted to keep "so help you God" in the oath administered to witnesses testifying before the panel, a day after Republicans denounced an apparent effort to strike the language. A draft of a new committee rules package obtained exclusively by Fox News this week indicated the committee planned to omit the phrase from the oath "Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" But on Wednesday, the committee voted to keep...

**SNIP** Climate activists expressed disappointment. "Without a mandate to create a plan and a requirement that its members don't take fossil fuel money, we are deeply concerned that this committee will be just another of the many committees we've seen failing our generation our entire lives," said Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's spokeswoman. The push reflects the increasing power and visibility of liberals on Capitol Hill. Poised to be the largest of the values-based caucuses next year, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has already received a jolt of energy from members such as Ocasio-Cortez, whose political celebrity and regular posts to...

Elections count, will Zinke survive and Trump on fire Grimness under Grijalva Elections do make a difference. How would you like to have the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the former Chair of the Congressional Environment Task Force with a 100 percent voting record according to the Sierra Club, as the new Chairman of the House Resources Committee? That’s the Committee with jurisdiction over livestock grazing, wilderness, national monuments, endangered species and other land use activities of the Forest Service, BLM, USFWS and other entities of the Interior department. Well that’s what you are going to get with Raul...

BOOM! As I’m writing this morning’s Update, Down Goes Lauer! Down Goes Lauer! Down Goes Lauer! More on this tomorrow. Melanie Sloan, a former top communications aide to 88 year-old Democrat Congressman John Conyers, told an interviewer on Tuesday of an instance in which Conyers called her to his office when he was in his underwear. “I was pretty taken aback to see my boss half-dressed,” she told The Washington Post. “I turned on my heel and I left.” Alrighty, then. Ms. Sloan has leveled sexual harassment allegations at Conyers that date back to 1997, 20 years ago. The unfortunately...

Thursday on MSNBC's "José Díaz-Balart," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) said President Barack Obama should use an executive order and grant amnesty to an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants already living in the United States because it will "quell some of the unrest" caused by "racial overtones" of anti immigration rhetoric. He said, "Latinos that are fourth, fifth generation -- they see this as a civil rights issue." Grijalva said Obama's amnesty, "Will quell some of the unrest that we are seeing in our communities and the racial overtones that continue to build around this issue." He explained, "The issue of...

Reps. Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva were elected co-chairmen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Wednesday night, according to liberal lawmakers. Rep. Donna Edwards finished third in the three-way race for two spots. Grijalva, who represents a district in southwestern Arizona, was already a co-chairman of the caucus. Ellison, a Minnesotan, succeeds California Rep. Lynn Woolsey. Grijalva became a bit of a progressive icon in the stretch run before the mid-term election. Angry about Arizona's stiff new immigration crackdown law, Grijalva made himself a target for defeat by calling for an econimic boycott of his own home state. Hispanic colleagues and...

WASHINGTON — A bill that would grant the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented access to federal lands near the border was sharply criticized Friday for giving the department unchecked authority. The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act would let DHS waive 36 environmental-protection laws for patrol activities within 100 miles of U.S. borders. -------------------------- 1505 may succeed in decreasing immigration, but only because the water, air and environments of border communities will be so degraded, no one will want to come here,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson.

Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) and CPC Whip Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) voted against the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013, H.R. 3102, a Republican bill to drastically cut nutrition programs. .... “Some of my Republican colleagues want to cut food assistance for needy families instead of closing business tax loopholes as a way to save money,” said Rep. Grijalva. “There's a basic question of fairness and who our country looks out for here. If you think more corporate tax cuts are the answer, go ahead and say so,...

A Democratic member of Congress is using the government shutdown to pressure the Department of the Interior to prohibit oil and gas exploration on federal land. Energy companies should not be able to use federal lands if those lands are closed to hikers and campers, according to Rep. Raul Grijalva (D., Ariz.), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Grijalva started an online petition to demand that Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack “stop mining [on] public lands while visitors are locked out.” “Fossil fuel and logging companies shouldn’t have special access to our federal lands while...

Three Democratic members of Congress have been arrested at a protest outside Trump Tower. U.S. Reps Raul Grijalva, of Arizona; Luis Gutierrez, of Illinois; and Adriano Espaillat, of New York, were among a small group of demonstrators who sat down in the street on Fifth Avenue Tuesday afternoon and refused to move. Protest organizers had said prior to the event that the lawmakers planned to get arrested.

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Three Democratic congressmen were arrested outside Trump Tower in New York City while protesting for immigrants' rights. Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois and Adriano Espaillat of New York were arrested on civil disobedience charges. Melissa Mark-Viverito, speaker of the New York City Council, and six other protesters were also arrested. "I stood in front of Trump Tower today with a whole lot of DREAMers, immigrants and Americans to say enough to Trump and his criminalization of our immigrant communities," Grijalva wrote on his official Facebook page. In a statement, Guttierez...

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva quietly arranged a “severance package” in 2015 for one of his top staffers who threatened a lawsuit claiming the Arizona Democrat was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment, revealing yet another way that lawmakers can use taxpayer dollars to hide their misbehavior on Capitol Hill