Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump's Birth Control Rule

Washington, D.C. - December 16, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- A federal court issued a preliminary injunction on Friday effectively blocking interim final rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies that would have allowed employers and universities to deny their employees and students insurance coverage for contraception due to religious or moral objections. The decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was issued in a case brought by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the ACLU’s suit challenging these rules is currently pending in California.

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HOEVEN-THUNE AMENDMENT FIXES TAX PROVISION FOR COOPERATIVES

By: Senator John Hoeven (R - ND)



Washington, D.C. - December 16, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) announced that his amendment to maintain the fair tax treatment of cooperatives, which he authored with Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), has been included in the conference committee’s final tax relief package. The elimination of Section 199 in Congress’ draft tax bills presented a significant problem for cooperatives, threatening to increase their taxes and leading to higher costs for their members. The Hoeven-Thune language included in the final bill fixes this provision, ensuring cooperatives in North Dakota and across the nation will benefit from Congress’ tax relief legislation.

“We worked hard to ensure the final tax relief legislation provided certainty for cooperatives and treated them fairly,” Hoeven said. “Cooperatives provide vital services for our communities and agriculture producers and fill an important role in our economy. I appreciate Senator Thune, as well as our colleagues in the Senate and the House, for working with us to secure this important provision for our cooperatives. I look forward to advancing this and the rest of our tax relief legislation to help grow our economy and benefit middle-class Americans, workers, small businesses, farmers and ranchers.”

“Throughout the debate on tax reform, Senator John Hoeven has worked tirelessly to ensure that farmers and their co-ops were treated fairly. In particular, the Senator recognized early on that the elimination of the Section 199 deduction threatened to raise the tax burden of many producers and cooperatives. The provisions that he and Senator John Thune were able to secure in the bill will, we believe, keep money in the pockets of family farmers across the country at a time when low commodity prices mean that every penny counts. We strongly support this bill and thank Senator Hoeven for his leadership.”—Chuck Conner, President & CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives

Tom Astrup, President and CEO of American Crystal Sugar Company, applauds Senator Hoeven for his hard work on behalf of family farmers. Senator Hoeven fought effectively to craft a good alternative to Section 199, the Domestic Production Activity Deduction, which is eliminated under the tax bill. We think the alternative will continue to provide important job creating incentives to rural America, which is extremely important given this challenging period for the farm economy.

“Senator Hoeven’s leadership in the tax reform debate means that CHS members—both farmers and local co-ops—will continue to be engines of economic activity in North Dakota and across the territory we serve. The Section 199 deduction helped to create jobs and broaden the tax base in many rural communities and the loss of the deduction would have had impacts far beyond agriculture. Senator Hoeven has prevented that scenario through his efforts to make the new tax code work for co-ops and their members. On behalf of CHS and our farmer-owners, I would like to thank him for being a champion of agriculture.” – Jay Debertin, President & CEO of CHS Inc.

“Land O’Lakes and our members thank Senator Hoeven today for his dedication to making the tax reform package work for family farmers and the co-ops they own. Senator Hoeven led the effort to ensure that eliminating the Section 199 deduction does not have the unintended consequence of raising taxes on producers during hard times across the countryside. The provisions included in the final package will offset the loss of this deduction, we believe, and help encourage job creation and growth across rural America.”—Chris Policinski, President & CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc.

Congressman Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) worked to gather support for the Hoeven amendment in the House of Representatives, along with Congresswoman Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Mike Conaway (R-Texas). Other cosponsors of Hoeven’s amendment in the Senate included Senators Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Tom Cotton (R-Texas) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).
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Record Number of Circuit Judge Confirmations Under Trump

Washington, D.C. - December 16, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- The U.S. Senate has now confirmed more circuit court judge nominees under President Trump than any other President has had confirmed during their first year in office.

“I’m proud that the U.S. Senate voted to confirm yet another conservative judge, which brings us to a total of 19 confirmed judges this year, including Justice Neil Gorsuch. Today, we also set a new record; the U.S. Senate has now confirmed more circuit court judge nominees during the first year of President Trump’s Administration than any other president in modern history,” said Senator Dean Heller (R - NV). “Earlier this year, I called on Congress to pick up the pace and now we’ve done exactly that. I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to fill the numerous judicial vacancies and bring tax relief to hardworking Americans. We need to work around the clock until we get the job done.”

In October, Heller pushed his colleagues to work full-time, 24/7 for the remainder of the year to combat Democrat obstruction and get results for the American people. At the time, the Senate had confirmed only seven judges. Since Heller’s call to speed up the number of confirmations, the Senate has confirmed an additional 12 judges.

According to the Federal Judicial Center, the previous record holders for the most confirmed circuit court judges during their first year in office were Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The U.S. Senate confirmed 11 federal appeals court nominees during President Kennedy’s and Nixon’s respective first year in office.

China is Still Breaking WTO Trade Promises 16 Years Later

By Alliance for American Manufacturing



Washington, D.C. - December 15, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- China's years of broken promises, non-market economy, and predatory trade practices have decimated American factory jobs and still threaten to put U.S. manufacturers out of business 16 years after it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Over a decade later and the U.S.-China state-of-play hasn't changed much," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). "China is still making promises it doesn't intend to keep and demanding even more access to our markets. We're living in a 'China first' world, and if our leaders don't act, our domestic factory jobs will continue to disappear."

Beijing has done little regarding economic reform since 2001 when the country joined the WTO. For example, the Chinese government requires intellectual property transfers from foreign companies operating within its borders, subsidizes companies that flood global markets with cheap imports, and skirts international trade law.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jingping has demanded China be considered a "market economy," a designation that eases trade rules based on the principle that a country's economy is open rather than managed by the state. The United States has six criteria outlining a market economy, and China fails to meet a single requirement.

"China has shown its unwillingness to meet its commitments, and unless we insist it do so, the next generation of industry will not be made in America," Paul said. "The White House has voiced valid criticism of the WTO and should continue fighting for a fair dispute system. Concurrently, the administration should follow-through on open Section 232 steel and aluminum imports. American jobs are at stake, and workers deserve action now."

U.S.-China economic facts:

1. Chinese state firms contribute between 25-30 percent of China’s industrial output on average, although state-owned enterprises in some sectors exceed 90 percent as of 2016.
2. China’s share of the U.S. goods deficit set a new record in 2015, reaching 50 percent.
3. The cumulative U.S. trade deficit with China since it joined the WTO is over $3.5 trillion.
4. The growing U.S. trade deficit with China cost 3.2 million jobs between 2001 and 2013.
5. The ratio of Chinese imports to U.S. exports is about 4:1.
6. Seventy-five percent of new steel stock since 2000 has come from China.
7. As many as 15,000 U.S. steel and iron workers are facing layoff as a result of Chinese overcapacity, and nearly 33 percent of American steel jobs have vanished during the last two decades.
8. Over 1,000 antidumping cases have been initiated against China globally since 1995.
9. Despite promises to cut capacity, China accounted for over half the world's steel capacity from 2014-2016.
10. All 435 Congressional Districts have lost jobs to China due to Beijing’s unfair trade practices.

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Student group files suit against Arkansas State for limiting speech to 1% of campus

By Alliance Defending Freedom



Washington, D.C. - December 15, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Arkansas State University on behalf of the organizers of a student organization, Turning Point USA, to challenge the constitutionality of the ASU five-campus system’s restrictive speech policy. Among other things, the policy limits speech to roughly one percent of the Jonesboro campus.

“Public universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, but those marketplaces can’t function properly when university officials stifle the ability of students to engage in free speech,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer. “Arkansas State’s speech policies contain provisions that the courts have repeatedly struck down as unconstitutional at other schools. The university can demonstrate its dedication to the free exchange of ideas by modifying its policies to comport with the First Amendment.”

When ASU student Ashlyn Hoggard and another individual with Turning Point USA—a non-partisan organization that educates students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government—recently attempted to set up a table outside the student union to generate interest in forming a chapter on campus, an administrator immediately stopped them, citing the university’s speech policy.

That policy unconstitutionally restricts speech activities to small zones on campus that total about one percent of the campus, requires advance permission for students to use the speech zones, and gives university officials free reign to restrict the content and viewpoint of student speech.

“Instead of fostering a marketplace of ideas, Arkansas State is unconstitutionally limiting exposure to ideas,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “Today’s college students will be tomorrow’s judges, legislators, and voters, and with its current policies, Arkansas State is communicating to that generation that the First Amendment doesn’t matter.”

Ethan Nobles, one of more than 3,200 attorneys allied with ADF, is serving as local counsel in the lawsuit, Turning Point USA at Arkansas State University v. The Trustees of Arkansas State University, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.


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Senators Call for Additional Funding and Legislative Measures to Address Sexual Harassment on Capitol Hill

Washington, D.C. - December 15, 2017  (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), urging them to take additional steps to address sexual harassment and workplace misconduct in the United States Congress. 

“The reported accounts of misconduct on Capitol Hill necessitate a review of our workplace culture and processes to ensure that equality and justice prevail throughout,” Senators Collins and Murray wrote.

Senators Collins and Murray urged the Senate and Appropriations Committee leaders to provide additional funding to support updated and improved sexual harassment training for legislative branch employees.  They also urged the inclusion of legislative measures to improve the ways that congressional offices respond to both the causes and consequences of these incidents.

“On November 9, the Senate passed unanimously a resolution requiring Senators, staff, interns, fellows, and detailees to participate in workplace harassment training, including sexual harassment,” Senators Collins and Murray continued.  “This is a welcome first step to reforming the culture on Capitol Hill. It also invites an opportunity to invest in necessary improvements to training modules and to hire staff with expertise in workplace harassment and worker-advocate support. We request that you include sufficient funding to the Office of Compliance (OOC) and other appropriate Senate offices to improve these trainings and supports.”

Senators Collins and Murray also urged Leadership to take additional steps to fully address issues of harassment and misconduct, including implementing, at a minimum, the following common sense reforms that have support on both sides of the aisle:

Covering every member of the Congressional community (staff, fellows, interns, pages, and detailees) by the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) and fully informing them about what their rights, protections, and the available procedures are. 

Providing employees who experience harassment with access to independent confidential resources to advise and assist them through the complaint resolution process; and

Reforming the complaint resolution process so that arbitrary time limits and mandatory processes do not discourage reporting.
 

The complete text of the letter is available HERE

FCC Does Away With Net Neutrality

Washington, D.C. - December 15, 2017  (The Ponder News) -- The Federal Communications Commission voted to do away with the net neutrality rules of 2015. In response, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology, and 15 of her Senate colleagues joined together to announce their plan to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would undo the action and thus restore the 2015 net neutrality rules.

“Today’s decision threatens our booming innovation economy,” said Senator Cantwell. “It’s impossible to know where the next big companies will come from, which makes an open and free internet all the more important to innovators, entrepreneurs and job creators – especially in the tech-driven Pacific Northwest.”

CRA resolutions allow Congress to overturn regulatory actions at federal agencies with a simple majority vote in both chambers. In accordance with the Congressional Review Act, the Senators will formally introduce the resolution once the rule is submitted to both houses of Congress and published in the federal register. The CRA resolution of disapproval would rescind FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s action and fully restore the Open Internet Order. Congressman Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) plans to introduce a CRA resolution in the House of Representatives. 

Don't Let Grinch Bots Steal Christmas

By Senator Richard Blumenthal (D - CT)




Washington, D.C. - December 14, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action to protect kids and not let “Grinch Bots” steal Christmas toys. So-called Grinch Bots are algorithms and software deployed by online scammers to buy up popular toys and merchandise at lightning speed, and then re-sell those items at wildly inflated prices on websites like Ebay. After The New York Times reported that Grinch Bots have caused a shortage of Fingerlings, the Barbie Hello Dreamhouse and the Vampirina Scare B&B, among other toys, Blumenthal, Udall, and Schumer called on the FTC to convene a workshop to assess and address the damage these scammers have caused to kids and families this holiday season.

The senators also wrote that they plan to introduce legislation to combat Grinch Bots in the coming week.

“Millions of Americans are turning to online retailers in search of hard-to-find gifts for their family and friends this holiday season. Unfortunately, unscrupulous scammers are also taking note of the limited availability of popular items online, and are succeeding at gaming the system by aggressively deploying cyber bots that automatically spot and snap up the most popular products,” the senators wrote. “These bots are able to scoop up the season’s hottest toys before the typical consumer can even log on. They will then turn around and sell these limited availability items at large markups in the remaining shopping days of the holiday season. The profiteers behind these programs are becoming the Grinch bots of the 2017 holiday season."

“We respectfully request that the Federal Trade Commission convene a workshop on the use of bots that usurp technology and purchase large quantities of a particular product, including in-demand toys, with the intent to resell them. We request that you and your staff work with retailers, both online and traditional, to determine ways to protect consumers from high-speed purchases made by bots designed to game the system and take advantage and deprive consumers of online discounts,” the senators continued. "The commission should also collaborate with the nation’s 51 attorneys general to share information and best practices about how to protect consumers from these unfair practices. Such a workshop can help bring much needed attention to this issue, and help retailers and consumers assess the full extent of damage caused by these bad actors."

The full text of Blumenthal, Udall and Schumer’s letter can be found here.


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U.S. SENATOR TAMMY BALDWIN’S BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION SUPPORTING MARITIME INDUSTRY BECOMES LAW

By Senator Tammy Baldwin (D - WI)




Washington, D.C. - December 14, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin’s Domestic Maritime Centers of Excellence Act was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. This bipartisan legislation helps address the critical need for trained workers in the maritime industry.

“It is an honor to represent a state with a long and proud maritime manufacturing tradition,” said Senator Baldwin. “I am proud to see this bipartisan legislation signed into law, in order to help ensure the future of our maritime workforce.”

The Domestic Maritime Centers of Excellence Act authorizes the Maritime Administration (MARAD) to designate community and technical colleges with maritime training program as centers of excellence and allow the Administration to provide technical assistance and other support to these institutions as they train the domestic maritime workforce.

“The legislation reinforces how important the marine manufacturing talent and skills of the Great Lakes Region are to the nation,” said Ann Franz, director of the North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance (NCMMA). “At the heart of the marine industry, there is a highly skilled workforce with an unwavering passion. We see this as an opportunity to showcase world class marine manufacturing in northeast Wisconsin and grow the shipbuilding and maritime careers in our area.”

“Passage of the Maritime Centers of Excellence legislation empowers Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to remain in the forefront of maritime and marine education and training,” said NWTC President Dr. Jeff Rafn. “The College will collaborate with other Centers of Excellence throughout the country to prepare workers for the maritime and marine manufacturing industry. Northeast Wisconsin is a premier shipbuilding center on the Great Lakes. Designating a Maritime Center of Excellence at NWTC will improve the opportunities for the Great Lakes marine manufacturing industry to innovate and grow. We are thankful for the support of our congressional delegation, who clearly understand the critical role technical and community colleges including NWTC play in sustaining and growing the maritime and marine workforce.”

The bipartisan legislation is supported by the North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance and the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) and was cosponsored by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).


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Early Intervention in Mental Health is Critical

By Senator Lamar Alexander (R - TN)




Washington, D.C. - December 14, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- At an oversight hearing on the mental health provisions in 21st Century Cures, Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that early intervention for patients with mental health disorders is critical.

“Sean Lester is, by all accounts, a typical, Nashville young adult with a full-time job who also attends college,” Alexander said. “However, just before his 25th birthday, he experienced his first schizophrenic experience and has spent ten weeks receiving psychiatric treatment since 2014. Sean wrote me, saying, “This may seem slightly depressing, but my story does not end there. The doctors and staff I encountered at the hospital and at the Centerstone clinic taught me to live productively again in society. I have been free of the hospital for a whole year now. During that time, I have taken medication, returned to work, and even paid off a car! I am currently enrolled at Tennessee State University as a Junior pursuing a degree in Psychology.’”

Alexander continued: “Sean is one person out of nearly 10 million in the United States with a serious mental health condition. Without treatment, his story could have had a very different outcome. Over the past few years, this Committee has worked in a bipartisan way to update parts of the federal mental health system – including programs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – for the first time in over a decade.”

Today’s hearing is the third oversight hearing on the 21st Century Cures Act, which included provisions from the Mental Health Reform Act that passed the committee on March 16, 2016 and updated programs at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) for the first time in a decade. Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, the first Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, a position created in Cures, has new authorities through Cures to work with states and federal agencies and to help more Americans receive the treatment they need.

“Most of the services, treatment, and care for people with mental health issues is provided by the private sector, like Vanderbilt, or through programs run by the states. The federal government plays a role through Medicaid and SAMHSA, which provided Tennessee with over $80 million grants last year.”

“Prior to our work on Cures, the coordination between federal agencies that provide mental health care was not as effective as it could have been. I hope today we will learn how implementation of these provisions is going. For example, how has coordination improved between federal agencies on the best ways to assist those with mental illness? We hoped that promising research into early intervention programs at the National Institutes of Health would translate into clinical applications for patients… I look forward to hearing about the progress being made to ensure more people can receive the help they need and have positive outcomes like Sean.”


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