Pitt unconstitutionally assesses student club $5,500+ for Ben Shapiro event

Source: Alliance Defending Freedom

Pittsburgh, PA - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter Monday to the University of Pittsburgh on behalf of Young America’s Foundation and a student group assessed unconstitutional fees for a Nov. 14 YAF-sponsored event featuring New York Times bestselling author and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.

Just two days before the event, the university informed sponsoring student organization College Republicans that the event would be cancelled if they didn’t agree to pay more than $5,500 in security costs based on the possibility of “controversy” and “protests” in opposition to Shapiro. The letter asks the university to rescind the fee assessment and modify its policy.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear: Public universities can’t enact policies that stifle free speech simply because administrators fear protestors might show up or students might be offended,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Larcomb. “The reason for that is simple: Speech isn’t free if the speaker can be forced to pay money simply because somebody may object. The Supreme Court has specifically stated that security fees, such as the ones Pitt has assessed, aren’t constitutionally permissible.”

Students followed the university’s policies and procedures for scheduling the Shapiro event, notifying the university of their plans several months in advance. In addition, YAF previously signed a contract with the university on Oct. 18 on Shapiro’s behalf, stating unequivocally that the university would provide Pitt Police Security and “all house personnel necessary” for the event. Nonetheless, two days before the event, the university breached its contract with YAF and assessed an additional fee based on the anticipated content and views of Shapiro’s speech and the prediction that students would find offense and conduct protests.

As the ADF letter explains, “The Supreme Court made clear, ‘[s]peech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob.’ Imposing security fees based on the beliefs offered by YAF, College Republicans and their speaker—Ben Shapiro—is viewpoint discrimination.”

The letter continues: “Further, university guidelines allow for the assessment of fees based on the potential negative reactions of listeners. Per university guidelines, school administrators must consider ‘prior security concerns at speaker’s past presentations’ and ‘other events taking place on campus.’ Both of these factors are content-based because both require university officials to factor safety concerns created by protestors at the University of Pittsburgh and at other universities. ‘Listeners’ reaction to speech is not a content-neutral basis for regulation.’ As a result, Pitt’s own policy codifies an unconstitutional heckler’s veto that stifles minority viewpoints.”

“Today’s college students will be tomorrow’s legislators, judges, educators, and voters. That’s why it’s so important that public colleges and universities demonstrate the First Amendment values they are supposed to be teaching to students,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “Pitt should be modeling this for its students, and a good first step would be to end its unconstitutional policy that threatens to silence minority viewpoints.”

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi Calls For Emergency Hearing On Allegations Of Election Fraud In North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District

Schaumburg, IL - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL, 8th) of the Oversight Committee issued the following statement in response to the reports of election fraud in the race for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District:

“As credible reports of concerted election fraud emerge from North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, it is imperative that Chairman Gowdy call an emergency hearing of the Oversight Committee before the end of this term. The right to vote, and to have that vote fairly counted, is a fundamental, bedrock principle of our democracy. In North Carolina, we have witnessed substantial evidence of an effort to deny that right to seniors and voters of color in order to steal an election. The facts must come to light and if these allegations are proven, they must be answered for and prevented from happening again.”

Bill Johnson Statement on Meeting with Mary Barra

Washington, D.C. - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Bill Johnson (R-OH, 6th) released the following statement after the Ohio Congressional delegation, including Johnson, met with General Motors CEO Mary Barra:

I asked her directly how GM got into this overcapacity issue after the American taxpayers – the same taxpayers who are now losing their jobs - bailed them out. I also specifically asked Barra why GM can’t put a new product in Lordstown. I think it’s fair to say that over the years they’ve had to make previous plant and assembly line modifications to bring in other product lines - why can’t they do that now. After all, they haven’t been producing the Cruze alone in Lordstown since 1966.

The bottom line is that this isn’t about Mary Barra or a group of politicians. This is about the workers and the families affected by General Motors’ decision, and along with my colleagues, I will keep fighting until GM brings a new product to Lordstown or a new company comes in and takes advantage of the existing facility and highly-skilled workforce.

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Congressmen Hurd, Gonzalez and Senator Cornyn Introduce Legislation to Help Identify Remains of Missing Migrants

Washington, D.C. - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressmen Will Hurd (TX-23) and Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) joined Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to introduce the Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2018, a bill to help local jurisdictions improve the recording and reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains found in South Texas.

“Until we address the root causes of mass migration flows from Central America, individuals will continue to make the perilous journey north,” said Hurd, who represents more of the U.S.-Mexico border than any other Member of Congress. “This bipartisan bill helps prevent tragic deaths along the border by expanding CBP’s rescue and apprehension capabilities. In addition, it mitigates the burdens placed on state and local governments to identify perished individuals with the dignity they deserve. I am proud to join my fellow Texans Rep. Gonzalez and Sen. Cornyn in providing a solution for this very real challenge faced by law enforcement agencies across my district.”

“Our nation has a chance to put more resources into helping identify the remains of missing persons, and to bring closure to families who know not whether to grieve, or continue the search,” Congressman Gonzalez said. “This piece of legislation would provide much-needed resources directed at finding answers for families across the U.S. Southwest Border. Passing this bill will help our ranchers and farmers, our counties, and our local sheriffs. I thank Congressman Hurd and Senator Cornyn for coming together to craft this bipartisan and bicameral piece of legislation.”

“Our border communities have experienced the very real consequences of the treacherous journey travelled by many seeking to come to this country,” said Sen. Cornyn. “My hope is that this bill will help local communities identify those who have gone missing, process unidentified remains, and invest in forensic equipment to provide closure to families in the United States and abroad.”

The Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2018:

expands eligibility to apply for grants under Jennifer’s Law to state and local governments, accredited government-funded CODIS forensic laboratories, medical examiners, accredited publicly-funded toxicology, crime, and university forensic anthropology center laboratories, and non-profit organizations that work with state and county forensic offices for entry of data into CODIS of NamUS
--authorizes use of grant funds to cover costs
--incurred since FY17 for transportation, processing, identification, and reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains
--of hiring additional DNA case analysts and technicians, fingerprint examiners, and forensic odontologists and anthropologists needed to support identification efforts

of purchasing state-of-the-art forensic and DNA-typing and analytical equipment

adds privacy protections for biological family reference samples uploaded into CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) by precluding disclosure of such information to Federal or state law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes

expands CBP’s legal authority to purchase and deployment of up to 170 self-powering 9-1-1 cellular relay rescue beacons to mitigate migrant deaths on the southern border

requires reporting to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and the National and Missing Unidentified Persons System (NamUS) regarding missing persons and deceased individuals found in each applicant’s jurisdiction

adds reporting requirements for the NamUS Program regarding the number of unidentified person cases, anthropology cases, suspected border crossing cases, and associations made

adds reporting requirements for CBP and GAO on unidentified remains and use of rescue beacons

Endorsements: National Criminal Justice Association; South Texans’ Property Rights Association; Texas Border Coalition; League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Church World Service; Colibri Center for Human Rights; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces; Franciscan Action Network; Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers); Hope Border Institute; Kino Border Initiative; La Frontera Ministries International, Inc.; Latin America Working Group (LAWG); Leadership Conference of Women Religious; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Institute Justice Team; South Texas Human Rights Center; Southern Border Communities Coalition; Washington Office on Latin America.

Hastings Leads Letter to USDA Secretary Purdue Urging Common Sense Reforms to Livestock Indemnity Program

Washington, D.C. - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL, 20th), along with Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (D-VA), and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) sent the following letter to the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Sonny Perdue III, urging common sense reforms which promote the humane treatment of farm animals and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars in the Farm Service Agency’s Livestock Indemnity Program.

A copy of the letter is below:

December 4, 2018

The Honorable Sonny Perdue III
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250

Dear Secretary Perdue:

We believe the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s Livestock Indemnity Program should implement common sense changes to the information collected from farmers prior to providing reimbursement for animals that have died as a result of adverse weather events.

The Humane Farming Association informed us that, from 2013 to 2017, USDA’s LIP issued payments of approximately $199 million to farmers and ranchers for animal deaths due primarily to adverse weather events. The total animal deaths included a staggering 277,471 livestock and 6,686,168 poultry. Despite the large amount of taxpayer dollars and animal loss involved, the LIP does not currently ask farmers applying for reimbursement to answer any questions regarding the shelter, care, or treatment provided to animals that died due to adverse weather events. Furthermore, since the cap was removed in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, there is now no limit on the amount of LIP compensation that a qualifying farmer can receive.

Moreover, the Humane Farming Association informed us that many animals are provided little to no shelter and subjected to prolonged suffering and agonizing deaths that could be preventable if proper weather precautions and disaster management plans were encouraged by the FSA’s LIP. For example, in the summer of 2017 in California’s central valley, thousands of dairy cows died from heat stroke due to a lack of adequate protections from the heat such as sufficient shade, fans, and misters. In the aftermath, three counties in California declared states of emergency, because they were not able to render the dead fast enough.

When no adequate protection is put in place during adverse weather events, producers are reimbursed for dead livestock at 75 percent of the animals’ market value. We believe this represents a clear disincentive for farmers to take the necessary steps to have a disaster management plan and provide their animals with protections from adverse weather events. Without this compensation, we believe many producers would no doubt make an effort to provide for their animals. Instead, we believe massive numbers of neglected livestock are dying painfully and needlessly while taxpayers foot the bill.

For these reasons, we believe that producers applying for compensation under LIP be required to provide detailed information regarding the precautionary measures that the producer took to avoid the death of livestock during adverse weather events. We believe LIP applicants should be required to provide direct proof, including but not limited to photos, videos, or records, of preparations made to provide for the well-being of animals in their care during adverse weather events. In addition to the Livestock Death Loss Documentation required by LIP, which requires applicants to document the number and kind of livestock that died, we believe the FSA should require that applicants answer specific questions regarding the preparations that were made to protect animals from death from adverse weather events. These questions could include:

What was the producer’s disaster management plan in the case of an adverse weather event?

What steps were taken by the producer to keep animals from suffering from or dying as a result of exposure to heat, cold, or other elements?

What type of shelter did the producer provide to animals prior to the eligible adverse weather event?

What percentage of a producer’s animals did that shelter accommodate?

Were transport vehicles available to evacuate the animals out of harm’s way?

Were emergency food/water supplies available to accommodate animals that did not have access to normal food/water sources?Was veterinary assistance available to treat or humanely euthanize animals?

We believe all farm animals deserve to be given an adequate level of humane treatment and care including proper food, water, and shelter. Furthermore, we believe farmers should not be rewarded with taxpayer dollars for not providing these most basic levels of humane treatment. For these reasons, we respectfully request that, if LIP compensation is made available, the FSA should only provide it to those producers who not only put in place adverse weather protections for their livestock, but also document those protections.

Thank you for your attention to our request and we look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Alcee L. Hastings
Member of Congress

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Member of Congress

Brendan F. Boyle
Member of Congress

James P. McGovern
Member of Congress

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Donald S. Beyer Jr.
Member of Congress

Salud Carbajal
Member of Congress

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings serves as Senior Member of the House Rules Committee, Ranking Democratic Member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and Democratic Chairman of the Florida Delegation.

Gibbs Introduces Legislation to End Obama-Era WOTUS Rule Permanently

Washington, D.C. - November 29, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- On Thursday afternoon, Congressman Bob Gibbs co-sponsored the introduction of the Regulatory Certainty for Navigable Waters Act, which will fully repeal the Obama Administration’s Waters of the United States Rule issued in 2015. Gibbs has been at the forefront of stopping this bureaucratic overreach since its inception. Previously, he filed an amicus brief in support of states suing the EPA over WOTUS, led the passage of the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act in 2015 to stop the WOTUS rule process, and introduced a resolution urging the repeal of this rule.

After introduction of the Regulatory Certainty for Navigable Waters Act, Congressman Gibbs released the following statement:

“It’s time to put this issue to rest. The 2015 WOTUS Rule was clouded by an illegal promotion process during the public comment period, has been challenged by a wide range of stakeholders as well as a majority of states, and put on hold by multiple judicial jurisdictions. Since January 2017, Congress has been working with the Trump Administration to roll back the regulatory overreach of Obama-era bureaucrats and repealing WOTUS is a large part of that.

“Having fought the over- expansive WOTUS rule tooth and nail since it was first proposed, I am co-sponsoring this bill to fully repeal it and set in law the appropriate definition of a Waters of the United States. This definition does not expand federal jurisdiction beyond congressional intent, is in line with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rapanos decision, and will treat states and stakeholders as partners rather than adversaries. This legislation will provide the certainty the agriculture needs and the finality the American people deserve.”

The text of the Regulatory Certainty for Navigable Waters Act can be found here.

Foxx Cosponsors Bill to Fund the Wall

Washington, D.C. - November 29, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC, 5th) cosponsored H.R. 7059, the Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act. The bill appropriates the full amount of funding requested by President Trump to construct a wall along the Southern border, including technology and infrastructure improvements. Additionally, it affirms Congressional opposition to abolishing ICE, supports border patrol agents, penalizes sanctuary cities and combats transnational crimes including human and drug trafficking.

Rep. Foxx stated, “As a nation built upon the rule of law, it is crucial for our national security and integrity that we strengthen and secure our Southern border. Congress should fully cooperate with President Trump’s request for border wall funding because national security is the number one job of the federal government. To keep America safe, we must go further to prevent illegal immigration and other crimes carried out across our Southern border. I am proud to cosponsor the Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act because it gives priority to our national security, will make our country safer and ensure our immigration system is fairer for those who desire to come here lawfully.”

Landmark Bipartisan Carbon Fee Legislation Introduced

Washington, D.C. - November 29, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL-22), Congressman Francis Rooney (R-FL-19), Congressman John K. Delaney (D-MD-06), Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-08), and Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) introduced bipartisan legislation to price carbon and return 100% of the net revenue as a rebate to American families.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA) will help reduce U.S. carbon pollution by 40% in 12 years, with 91% reduction target by 2050 (vs. 2015 levels). This would be achieved by pricing carbon at $15 per metric ton of CO2e and increasing the price by $10 every year. The Treasury Department would return 100% of the net revenue back to the American people, a policy highlighted by a Treasury Department report as helping lower- and middle-income families.

A one-pager on the legislation can be found here, and the text of the legislation can be found here.

A wide range of groups support the legislation, including: Citizens Climate Lobby, Climate Leadership Council, The Nature Conservancy, Alliance for Market Solutions, RepublicEn, Conservation Hawks, National Wildlife Federation, National Audobon Society, Conserve America, World Resources Institute, and Applied Ecology for Tropical Resources Program Inc. - ECOTROPICS.

"This aggressive carbon pricing scheme introduced by members from both parties marks an important opportunity to begin to seriously address the immediate threat of climate change," said Congressman Deutch. "The status quo is unsustainable; the time to act is right now."

“To let the free market price out coal we should consider value pricing carbon," Congressman Rooney said. "A revenue-neutral carbon fee is an efficient, market- driven incentive to move toward natural gas and away from coal, and to support emerging alternate sources of energy.”

“If we’re ever going to really mitigate climate change and prevent this looming catastrophe, it’s going to be with legislation like this – a big solution with bipartisan support. Incentives really matter and a carbon tax creates powerful market incentives in the private sector to reduce emissions in the short term and develop alternative energy sources in the long term. This is why I’ve authored my own carbon tax legislation and am proud to cosponsor this bill. The stakes are too high for us not to act and too high for us to be afraid to implement the solutions we know we need. This legislation is a blueprint for how we can combat climate change and bring people together around innovative policy solutions,” said Congressman Delaney.

“Since my first day in Congress, I have committed to finding solutions that mitigate the effects of climate change," Congressman Fitzpatrick said. "We must take a bipartisan, market-driven approach to reduce carbon emissions, which are contributing to atmospheric change, rising sea levels, and more intense natural disasters. I am confident that bipartisan efforts to preserve our environment and protect our way of life for future generations will ultimately succeed.”

"Since organizing Florida's first national climate change summit more than 10 years ago, it’s clear that reducing our carbon dependency is the key to winning this fight. The devastating findings released in last week's report show that the clock is ticking and continued inaction would be catastrophic – for our environment, our economy, and peoples’ health," said Congressman Crist. "We are taking an historic step with introduction of this bipartisan legislation; Congress must act with the urgency this crisis demands."

"This policy has the enthusiastic support of Citizens’ Climate Lobby and our more than 100,000 supporters across the country," said Danny Richter, CCL's VP for Government Affairs. "Those supporters are everyday Americans who are concerned about climate change and want to see Congress work together on a bipartisan solution like this one. We will continue working in districts across America to build support for this policy in this Congress and the next."

"The introduction of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act provides a clear proof of concept that a conservative-inspired carbon dividends framework can attract bipartisan support," Climate Leadership Council Chairman and CEO Ted Halstead said. "It is no coincidence that the first bipartisan climate bill in nearly a decade is based on carbon dividends. A carbon dividends plan that returns all revenues to the American people is uniquely capable of appealing to all sides of the climate debate.”

“This is an ambitious, bipartisan proposal that will help kickstart an essential debate over America’s response to climate change – a debate made all the more urgent by the stark findings of the National Climate Assessment,” said C2ES President Bob Perciasepe. “We and many companies we work with believe strongly that a price on carbon is a critical element of any comprehensive effort to decarbonize the U.S. economy. C2ES applauds Reps. Deutch, Crist, Delaney, Fitzpatrick, and Rooney for their leadership on this vital issue.”

An independent report from Columbia University's Carbon Tax Research Initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy compared carbon fee proposals and found that the EICDA "would lead to larger emissions reductions, carbon tax revenues and impacts on energy markets by the late 2020s compared to the other carbon tax proposals," "would likely cause emissions to fall below the targets the plan lays out through at least 2030," "would rapidly decarbonize the US power sector," and "low- and middle-income households would receive more in rebates than they pay in taxes."

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION INCLUDES COLLINS’ PHAIR PRICING ACT IN NEW DRUG PRICING RULE

Washington, D.C. - November 29, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- This week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a proposed rule to lower prescription drug costs and increase transparency surrounding Medicare Parts C and D. Included in the proposal is the bulk of the Phair Pricing Act, which Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) introduced in May 2018 to lower drug costs to Medicare patients at the point of sale.

“Too often, prescription drug middlemen use abusive reimbursement schemes to inflate patient prices and unfairly cripple community health care providers. I’ve seen how much this ultimately leaves communities with higher costs and less access to quality care. President Trump’s administration is taking an incredibly tangible step to ensure that patients at the counter feel the savings that middlemen claim to negotiate on their behalves but have often kept in their own coffers,” said Collins.

Congressman Cleaver Calls For Federal Facial Recognition Technology Testing Standards

Washington, D.C. - November 29, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II sent a letter to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), encouraging NIST to endorse industry standards and ethical best practices for the independent testing of demographic-based biases in facial recognition technology. NIST is a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In the letter to Dr. Walter Copan, NIST Director and U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, Congressman Cleaver wrote:

“Facial recognition is a powerful tool that is permeating American life, and yet, the propensity of the technology to misidentify individuals, particularly in regard to variances in skin-type and gender, is well-documented,” said Congressman Cleaver. “The potential for illegal discrimination and/or unfair practices resulting from such bias continues to concern lawmakers.”

Congressman Cleaver has been a prominent voice in growing calls for diversity and regulatory reform in the rapidly-expanding tech industry:

• In August 2018, Congressman Cleaver called on the Department of Justice to investigate law enforcement’s use of facial recognition technologies.

• In August 2018, following a year-long investigation into FinTech small business lending practices, Congressman Cleaver announced his findings and called for the implementations of industry-wide practices to prevent discriminatory lending.

• In May 2018, Congressman Cleaver sent a letter to Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, inquiring about the company’s “Rekognition” technology.

• In May 2018, with the support of Congresswomen Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Congressman Cleaver wrote a letter to Amazon expressing frustration at the company’s refusal to institute a “Rooney Rule” that would improve the board’s racial diversity.

• In February 2018, Congressman Cleaver urged cryptocurrency companies to do more in efforts to prevent extremists from using cryptocurrency to fund campaigns of hate and violence.

• In November 2017, along with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, Congressman Cleaver demanded the Internet Association—a trade association representing tech behemoths like Amazon, Facebook, and Google—address gender and racial biases among its members.

• In October 2017, in conjunction with Congresswomen Bonnie Watson Coleman, Congressman Cleaver penned a letter to Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, encouraging them to take immediate action to combat the racially divisive content on their platforms.

“As technology and the tech industry as a whole continue to evolve, it is imperative that standards are created to ensure that technology is being used responsibly and without the potential for discrimination. I look forward to the opportunity to work with NIST on formulating these recommended guidelines,” said Congressman Cleaver.

Read the full letter here.