Free access to tampons gains national political traction

Colorado Springs Gazette

A topic that for so long was rarely discussed above a whisper has recently been taken up by growing numbers of lawmakers.

Spurred by grass-roots activism aimed at lifting the stigma surrounding menstruation, the lawmakers are proposing measures to provide broad access to menstrual products for women. Their efforts include exempting tampons and pads from state and local taxes, compelling prisons to stop charging inmates for the supplies and making them available for free at public schools and workplaces.

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LaMalfa defends health care reform, president’s policies at ‘spirited’ town hall

Chico Enterprise-Record

Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, was met by a crowd often noisy with opposition at a town hall Monday morning, though he didn’t walk off the stage this time.

It was nearly a full house, with a representative for the Chico Elks Lodge estimating about 400 were in attendance. Some of the most intense moments of the morning included one man’s comment that he hoped the congressman would die — drawing mostly boos from the audience — and one woman being escorted out for continuous yelling.

However, the congressman said by the end the audience was “spirited” but “pretty good,” not as raucous as at Oroville’s town hall in April. The meeting went a little past the allotted time, from 8-9 a.m.

Some of the top questions residents wanted their representative to answer included why he supported cuts to health care coverage, backed tax breaks for the wealthy, and refuses to acknowledge impacts of climate change?

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Ending the EPA’s Billion Dollar Green Energy Rip-Off

Washington, D.C. - August 8, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- In recent years, the Environmental Protection Agency has created its own power of the purse independent of Congress by negotiating broad settlements with alleged violators of environmental statutes that require them to pay for the president’s—not Congress’s—political priorities. The Volkswagen settlement is the most recent example. In order to mitigate penalties paid to the U.S. Treasury for its “defeat device” scandal, the car company agreed to spend $1.2 billion on electric vehicles, despite the fact that Congress had rejected President Obama’s request for $300 million for this same purpose. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s latest report, Ending the EPA’s Billion Dollar Green Energy Rip-Off, provides the context and the solution for ending the agency’s political slush fund.

“While the Trump administration has taken the right steps to put an end to this attempt by the EPA to act with the power of the purse that it doesn’t have, more can be done both by the agency and Congress to ensure this political behavior doesn’t return,” said CEI Senior Fellow and report author William Yeatman.

See Yeatman’s report Ending the EPA’s Billion Dollar Green Energy Rip-Off.

New DHS Data Reveals 4 Million 'Half-Amnestied' Aliens

Washington, D.C. - August 8, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies finds a little-known foreign-born labor force of close to four million people. These workers are not included among the one to two million temporary workers or the estimated seven million illegal workers. These "half-amnestied" aliens have Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allowing them to work legally, but they do not have legal permanent status.

David North, a Center fellow and author of the analysis, bases his estimates on newly released DHS raw immigration data, which also reveals that most of this population receives temporary legal status for reasons unrelated to their skills. They are "as free to move around the labor market as citizens or permanent resident aliens," North writes, and "with a handful of exceptions, they are free of ties to a given employer."

"This is a huge, rarely discussed alien labor force that is all but hidden from the public," North said.

View the full analysis by clicking HERE

The U.S. immigration system has 58 sub-classifications of EAD holders. The largest categories are DACAs (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), asylum applicants, two subgroups of adjustees, plus workers in Optional Practical Training (i.e. foreign college alumni) and Temporary Protected Status.

The numbers recently made public are of annual issuances, and therefore misleadingly small because most EADs are good for 18 months or longer. That means the published numbers do not reflect the full impact of the EAD population on the labor force at any one time. The estimate of four million is thus a snapshot of the current total number of EAD workers rather than the annual flow of approved applications.

North writes, "The major policy point here is that there is a huge alien workforce that remains unrecognized because it is never seen as a group, the way it should be viewed."

National Security Advisor’s Serial Insubordination and Personnel Actions Undermine Trump Presidency, Requires His Termination

Washington, D.C. - August 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The Center for Security Policy has joined with others who are alarmed at the disloyal and subversive behavior of National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. They have joined together in calling on President Trump to dismiss McMaster from his office immediately. Such disloyal and subversive behavior from McMaster includes undermining the President’s policies on virtually every important foreign and defense policy issue and purging staff members who support these issues, while retaining or hiring others – including large numbers of Obama holdovers – who do not.

“No voter in this country – not one – elected H.R. McMaster to run U.S. foreign policy. Actually, the winner of the 2016 election was a man who opposed virtually every aspect of the McMaster agenda – and that of the president who made its architect a three-star general, Barack Obama,” said Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney in a nationally syndicated radio commentary today.

“It may be hard to square that reality with what has happened since McMaster became Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor. At every turn, the Army general has been insubordinate to his Commander-in-Chief. For example, he has openly opposed Mr. Trump on “radical Islamic terrorism,” Syria, Qatar, Iran, Russia and the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Of late, McMaster has taken to purging Mr. Trump’s most loyal staff members, including senior intelligence advisor Ezra Cohen-Watnik – a man the President had previously, personally insisted be retained. If such misconduct is tolerated, Trump voters will have unknowingly elected President McMaster.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates described the administration’s redoubled efforts to stop leaks that compromise national security. One place that must receive close scrutiny is McMaster’s own office in light of Thursday’s revelation by Sara Carter of Circa News that last April, the National Security Advisor personally granted one of his most notorious predecessors, Susan Rice, continued access to classified information and vouched for her trustworthiness with respect to safeguarding it. Given Ms. Rice’s record of playing fast-and-loose with sensitive information for partisan political purposes, this action speaks volumes about Gen. McMaster’s poor judgment and loyalties – and affirms the necessity of his termination forthwith.

CORTEZ MASTO COSPONSORS BILLS TO PROTECT IMMIGRANT VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS

Washington, D.C. - August 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored two bills intended to protect veterans and service members—men and women who have proven they are willing to lay down their lives to defend America—from being deported. The bills, sponsored by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq War veteran, would help keep our promises to these brave individuals by preventing the Administration from deporting veterans, giving legal permanent residents a path to citizenship through military service, and establishing naturalization offices at military training facilities.

“These bills will help us honor our commitment to veterans and service members seeking U.S. citizenship,” said Cortez Masto. “Unfortunately, the programs that exist to help eligible noncitizen military service members complete their naturalization process are often under-resourced and inconsistent. If passed, these bills would allocate resources to help ensure that qualified military members in Nevada and across the country receive the guidance and support they need on their pathway to citizenship. I am proud to have co-sponsored this legislation to support the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep our nation safe.”

A 2016 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) study identified 239 non-citizen veterans who have been deported from the United States in recent years – and some experts believe the actual number of deported veterans is significantly higher.

While most deported veterans would have been eligible for naturalization when they were in the military, the U.S. government in many cases failed to prioritize assisting non-citizen service members with completing the naturalization process. Because of this lack of follow-through, some veterans who thought they had become citizens found out later that they were vulnerable to deportation because their paperwork had never been processed.

Once a veteran is deported, they are usually unable to access the VA benefits they have earned and would receive if they were still living in the United States. Many have trouble accessing even basic medical care, which is particularly problematic because veterans struggle with higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and physical health problems like chronic pain than the general population. Many deported veterans have also been separated from their families and their children, who live in the United States. Veterans deported to Mexico or Central America also are vulnerable to threats from gangs and drug cartels because of their military experience.

The following bills were cosponsored this week by Senator Cortez Masto:

The Immigrant Veterans Eligibility Tracking System (I-VETS) Act of 2017 would identify non-citizens who are currently serving or who have served in the armed forces when they are applying for immigration benefits or when placed in immigration enforcement proceedings. The bill would also require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to annotate all immigration and naturalization records to reflect their service records. This information will enable DHS to “fast track” veterans and service members who are applying for naturalization, while also allowing officials to practice prosecutorial discretion, if appropriate, when adjudicating their cases.

The Naturalization at Training Sites (NATS) Act of 2017 would establish a naturalization office at each initial military training site to identify and conduct outreach to non-citizen service members to ensure the government follows through on its promise to help them become American citizens.

‘Kari’s Law’ Makes Dialing 911 Easier from Multiline Phones

Washington, D.C. - August 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) issued the following statement after the Senate passed the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act, which included Kari’s Law, a bill that amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require multiline telephone systems, common in hotels and offices, to have the ability to directly dial 911 without locating an outside line first:

“In an emergency situation, every moment counts. By ensuring all callers are able to directly dial 911, we can help save critical seconds that could mean the difference between life and death,” said Sen. Cornyn. “Following the example of the State of Texas, I’m glad my colleagues in the Senate have taken this commonsense step to help prevent tragedies across the nation.”

Sen. Cornyn is an original co-sponsor of Kari’s Law, named after Kari Hunt, who was tragically killed in her hotel room in 2013. Kari’s daughter was unable to reach emergency personnel because she failed to dial “9” to locate an outside line on the multiline phone in the hotel room before dialing 911. The Texas legislature passed a similar state law that went into effect in 2016. A similar bill passed the House of Representatives on January 23, 2017.

Kari Hunt was killed in her hotel room after her daughter was unable to reach emergency responders due to the hotel phone system's requirement of dialing an extra “9” to reach 911.

“I am grateful my colleagues in the Senate have come together to pass this bill that has the potential to save many lives,” Senator Ted Cruz said. “No family should have to endure the grief inflicted upon the Hunt family, when technology that was supposed to be there in Kari's time of need was not easily accessible. I am a proud supporter of this bipartisan bill that will make dialing 911 easier and I hope it quickly becomes law.”

Plan to Improve Generic Drug Competition, Ensure Patient Access to Affordable Medication Heads to President's Desk

Provisions authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to improve generic competition and lower the cost of prescription drugs cleared the Senate as part of the FDA Reauthorization Act. The provisions, which were unanimously adopted as an amendment during the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s consideration of the legislation in May, will help foster a competitive marketplace to improve the affordability and accessibility of prescription drugs for patients. The House passed bipartisan legislation mirroring Senators Collins and McCaskill’s plan last month, and the bill will now head to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

“Drug companies should not be able to increase their prices dramatically by thousands of percent overnight without any justification or development of the drug to improve its effectiveness, for example,” said Senator Collins in her remarks from the Senate floor. “Our legislation will help to foster a much healthier and more competitive marketplace as the best defense against such exploitation. I am pleased that our bipartisan plan will increase generic competition, which is so important to American families and particularly our seniors, who take a disproportionate number of the prescription drugs that are prescribed in this country.”

“Prescription drugs aren’t a luxury item—for many, they’re lifesavers, and Missouri families shouldn’t have to choose between their prescriptions and their groceries,” Senator McCaskill said. “We’ve got to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, and a fundamental way to do that is through generic competition. That’s why this plan by Senator Collins and me will make a difference—and why I’m thrilled it’s headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law.”

In December 2015, Senators Collins and McCaskill, the Chairman and former Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee, launched the first ever bipartisan investigation into the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to egregious price spikes for certain drugs. Their investigation included a series of hearings that strived to understand why companies can make these large price increases and to identify which policies should be considered to counter these disturbing practices. In December 2016, Senators Collins and McCaskill released a report on drug pricing that detailed the Committee’s findings.

Senators Collins and McCaskill’s bipartisan plan will take a number of steps to foster a competitive marketplace to help keep drug prices down and improve access to affordable prescription drugs for Americans. These measures will enhance regulatory certainty for generic drug companies, prevent shortages, increase competition to lower prices and avoid monopolies, and deter practices that can lead to unjustifiable exorbitant price hikes.

SENATE PASSES BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO PROMOTE WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACEBUILDING

Washington, D.C. - August 5, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The Senate has passed bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to ensure the United States promotes women’s meaningful inclusion and participation in mediation and negotiation processes undertaken in order to prevent, mitigate or resolve violent conflict. The Women, Peace and Security Act would further the commitments contained in the United States’ National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

“Women are effective problem-solvers and mediators, yet they are often excluded from peacekeeping and mediation efforts,” Senator Capito said. “As women continue to assume more leadership roles in international affairs, this legislation will help build on that momentum and promote their inclusion in peace processes.”

“Women and girls are disproportionally affected by violence and armed conflict around the world, yet far too often they are under-represented at the negotiation table,” Senator Shaheen said. “This bipartisan legislation makes ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic, development, and foreign assistance priority, empowering more women and allowing them to more effectively affect change in our world. I look forward to working with the House to move this legislation and put women at the forefront of American foreign policy and peacebuilding around the world.”

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, between 1992 and 2011, women represented fewer than 4 percent of signatories to peace agreements and 9 percent of negotiators. In 2015, only 3 percent of UN military peacekeepers and 10 percent of UN police personnel were women.

The National Action Plan released in December 2011 expresses the United States’ commitment to empower women as equal partners in preventing conflict and building peace around the globe. The Women, Peace and Security Act would ensure that the goals and objectives of the National Action Plan are integrated into future foreign policy decisions and that the United States continues to lead in promoting to women’s participation in peace and security efforts for years to come.

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017

Washington, D.C. - August 5, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The United States Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to modernize and strengthen education benefits for Washington state veterans, Reservists, and their families. The legislation is now headed to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 will break down barriers to education benefits by getting rid of the arbitrary 15-year window, allowing veterans to use their GI Bill education benefits for life. Cantwell has worked to remove the time limit placed on accessing GI Bill benefits since 2007 when she introduced the Montgomery GI Bill for Life Act.

"For more than 70 years, the GI Bill has opened the door to higher education for millions of service members and veterans who wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to pay for college. By removing the arbitrary time limits, our veterans can get the valuable skills training and education they need to succeed in life outside the military when it is the right time for them to do so,” said Cantwell.

Of particular importance to Cantwell, the bill makes critical investments in student veterans who pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering or math fields, as well as technical and vocational careers. The bill also allows Guardsmen and Reservists to count their training, deployments, and medical treatment related to their service towards accruing education benefits like their active duty counterparts.

“In Washington state, our tech industry is booming and creating new jobs every day,” said Cantwell. “By ensuring our veterans can access STEM education or use their on-the-job computer science training, they can fill these jobs and power the 21st century economy.”

Computing jobs are growing in every industry and in every state. There are currently more than 20,000 open computing jobs in Washington state, and more than 500,000 nationwide. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates there will be 4.4 million jobs in computer and information technology occupations by 2024. Despite the clear need for a workforce with coding and programming skills, many veterans have been unable to use their GI benefits to access coding and computer science training programs.

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act also does the following:

Extends the Yellow Ribbon Enhancement Program, which provides education benefits to survivors of those who died in the line of duty.

Transfers benefits to a dependent if the servicemember dies before being able to use them.

Restores benefits to student veterans who received credits or training from certain educational institutions that subsequently close.

Reinstates the Reserve Educational Assistance Program for Reservists.

Prorates licensing and certification benefits, rather than charging veterans a month’s worth of benefits.

Extends full education benefits to recipients of the Purple Heart.

Provides more on-campus educational and vocational counseling services for veterans.