Weekly Roundup
MAGA Makes Their Moves
The House didn’t lose any time getting started on their agenda:
H.R. 29, the Laken Riley Act
This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.
Under this bill, must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the United States or did not possess the necessary documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.
The bill also authorizes state governments to sue for injunctive relief over certain immigration-related decisions or alleged failures by the federal government if the decision or failure caused the state or its residents harm, including financial harm of more than $100. Specifically, the state government may sue the federal government over a
decision to release a non-U.S. national from custody;
failure to fulfill requirements relating to inspecting individuals seeking admission into the United States, including requirements related to asylum interviews;
failure to fulfill a requirement to stop issuing visas to nationals of a country that unreasonably denies or delays acceptance of nationals of that country;
violation of limitations on immigration parole, such as the requirement that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis; or
failure to detain an individual who has been ordered removed from the United States.
This passed the House with the assistance of 48 Democrats! It was a yea/nay vote which you can see who voted here. Now its on to the Senate. Here is an excellent video that lays out the hidden dangers with this bill:
HR.23, the Illigitimate Court Counteraction Act
This bill imposes sanctions against foreign persons (individuals and entities) who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals.
Who might these individuals be, you ask? Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, minister of defense of Israel, and anyone else the USA deems an ally. So our message to the world is we don’t care about law and order, and everyone (we like) is above the law.
Democrats who voted for this bill: Ansari (D) of Arizona, Cuellar (D) of Texas, Bell (D) of Missouri, Cherfilus-McCormick (D) of Florida, Cisneros (D) of California, Craig (D) of Minnisota, Davis (D) of North Carolina, Figures (D) of Alabama, Frankel (D) of Florida, Gillen (D) of New York, Golden (D) of Main, Goldman (D) of New York, Gonzales (D) of Texas, Gottheimer (D) of New Jersey, Gray (D) of California, Horsford (D) of Nevada, Landsman (D) of Ohio, Latimer (D) of New York, Lee (D) of Nevada, Levin (D) of California, McBath (D) of Georgia, McClain Delainy (D) of Maryland, Menendez (D) of New Jersey, Meng (D) of New York, Moscowitz (D) of Florida, Norcross (D) of New Jersey, Pallone (D) of New Jersey, Panetta (D) of California, Pappas (D) of New Hampshire, Perez (D) of Washington, Peters (D) of California, Riley (D) of New York, Ryan (D) of New York, Schneider (D) of New York, Schrier (D) of Washington, Soto (D) of Florida, Stevens (D) of Michigan, Subramanyam (D) of Virginia, Suozzi (D) of New York, Sykes (D) of Ohio, Thanedar (D) of Michigan, Torres (D) of New York, Vargas (D) of California, Veasey (D) of Texas, and Wasserman Schultz (D) of Florida.
If you are interested in justice at all, why would you vote for this bill? If you recognize your own representatives on that list, you might send them a message or give them a call and ask why?
Senate Resolution 19, Honoring the life and legacy of President Jimmy Carter and commending President Jimmy Carter for his life-long career of public service, humanitarian leadership, diplomacy, and courageous advocacy.
As you may know, former President Jimmy Carter passed away at 100 years old; the longest living former President ever. In addition to his work with Habitat for Humanity, he also graduated from the Naval Academy with distinction in the top 10% of his class, after 7 years of service in the elite nuclear submarine command, he resigned his commission to go home and run the family farm after his father’s passing. He went on to become governor of Georgia, and President of the United States where he brokered the Camp David Accords establishing lasting peace between Egypt and Israel, successfully negotiated Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALTII) with the Soviet Union to reduce strategic nuclear arms, and worked with Congress to create the Department of Education, and the Department of Energy.
After he left the Presidency, he continued his service: he served as a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and created the Carter Center to alleviate human suffering and advance human rights by strengthening democracy, resolving conflicts, fighting neglected tropical diseases, and improving access to mental health care worldwide. The Carter Center lived up to that charter, engaging in conflict mediation in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia, spearheaded efforts that have nearly eradicated the Guinea worm disease and eliminated several other tropical diseases in regions of Africa and the Americas, improved mental health care, faithfully observed more than 100 elections in 40 countries to strengthen global democracies, and promoted international human rights. President Carter was a dedicated volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and co-led the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project for over 30 years, working on approximately 4,400 homes in 14 countries to build affordable housing.
He voted in this, his last election, for Kamala Harris. And as sad as that may sound, his life is really a gift to us all, and a counterpoint to the Trump administration that is poised to take control, and destroy the Department of Education in a vain effort to create an evangelical and poor citizenry who will bow down to the oligarchy that really pulls the strings behind Trump.
If you are reading this, don’t lose hope. Look to President Carter’s legacy as an example to emulate, and a framework for our candidates of the future.
H. CON. RES. 1, Concurrent Resolution:
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That pursuant to clause 4, section 5, article I of the Constitution, during the One Hundred Nineteenth Congress the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate or their respective designees, acting jointly after consultation with the Minority Leader of the House and the Minority Leader of the Senate, may notify the Members of the House and the Senate, respectively, to assemble at a place outside the District of Columbia if, in their opinion, the public interest shall warrant it.
Appendicies:
There were a number of bills involving the assignment of members to comittees that were passed.
Finally there were well over 100 bills, resolutions, etc introduced on the 9th of January. You can view them all here. We’ll have to spend some time to break down what they are, and what their implications are for the people.