Senator Blumenthal Week In Review 02/25/2022—03/04/2022

LEGISLATION, LETTERS, & STATEMENTS

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address:

“I was struck and stirred by the soaring spirit and energy in this historic speech—at a moment of deep challenge and danger. The President’s promising, positive mood matched the hopes of Americans that we can surmount COVID, conquer inflation, and boldly build a truly better America.”

“I was energized by the emphasis on cutting costs of living and inflation, with skill training to enable more Americans to fulfill jobs open now and in the future. The President’s rallying cry to rely on American-made goods and American workers will strike a resounding chord.”

“In our hearts tonight were the brave people of Ukraine, like the family of my Ukrainian-American guest Myron Melnyk, attending virtually. I urge Congress to heed the President’s call for more support for Ukraine, including dramatically stronger sanctions on Russia, Putin, and his corrupt oligarchs and lethal arms to bolster the brave, bold heroes of Ukraine.”

Blumenthal, Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, and lead sponsor of the Kids Online Safety Act also issued the following statement on President Joe Biden’s remarks on the youth mental crisis and social media in the State of the Union address:

“President Biden is issuing a powerful call to action on the youth mental health crisis exacerbated by social media, addressed directly by my Kids Online Safety Act. I’m leading this measure with Senator Blackburn so kids and parents are empowered with tools and safeguards to protect against toxic online content like self-harm, eating disorders, and bullying—and to hold Big Tech accountable. This comprehensive bill culminates bipartisan hearings, and decades of work for me personally. I look forward to pushing for its swift passage to safeguard children online, putting them in better control of their online lives.”

Blumenthal’s Kids Online Safety Act would create a legal obligation on social media to protect children and teens, requiring safeguards against exploitation and other harms, and mandating independent audits of the steps social media platforms take to protect kids, among other provisions to enhance children’s safety online. Blumenthal introduced the legislation last month with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). The bill’s introduction follows reporting and a series of five subcommittee hearings spearheaded by Blumenthal and Blackburn with social media companies and advocates on the repeated failures by tech giants to protect kids on their platforms and about the dangers kids face online.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), author and lead Senate sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), spoke on the Senate Floor ahead of a key procedural vote to proceed with debate on the bill.

“Let’s not forget for one moment the reality on the ground. The reality is for millions of Americans, their futures, in some cases their lives, depend on accessible abortion care and the implications and ramifications affect men as well as women, families as well as moms,” Blumenthal said on the Senate Floor.

“We've had enough meddling by politicians and politically motivated judges getting between Americans and their personal health care decisions. We've had enough with the shameful assaults on people's freedoms and futures. We can't go back. And we need this action now.”

The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the first direct challenge to Roe v. Wade in decades. WHPA would guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere by overturning and halting medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship. The legislation passed the House of Representatives 218-211 but unanimous opposition from Senate Republicans prevented it from moving forward in the Senate.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), gun violence survivors, victims’ families, and advocates to demand action on America’s gun violence epidemic. The press conference was held following President Biden’s State of the Union Address, during which he discussed the violent epidemic that resulted in nearly 45,000 American deaths last year alone.

“The victims and survivors are tired of waiting. They’re tired of words. Waiting and words – not enough. Even in a presidential speech, not enough,” said Blumenthal. “There’s no secret about where the American people stand on this issue. The vast majority of the American people want sensible common sense measures to stop gun violence. Only Congress is failing to get the message.”

While the House of Representatives passed bipartisan measures last year expanding and strengthening background checks, the Senate has failed to take action. Blumenthal has led legislation that would improve background checks by closing the Charleston Loophole, ban ghost guns, require safe storage of firearms through Ethan’s Law, and repeal the gun industry’s sweeping immunity. He has also cosponsored legislation that would ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines and legislation that would invest in critical community-violence intervention programs.

“We’re going to hold legislators accountable, and make sure that they know these advocates and survivors are tired of waiting. And yes, the administration can and should do more,” Blumenthal said.

“Ultimately what will get us across the finish line on these proposals is the courage and perseverance of the survivors and victims. They have so inspired us with their courage and strength day after day, year after year. They live with the losses and the thousands of innocent people who have perished give us the kind of impetus we need.”

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security and lead sponsor of the Kids Online Safety Act, released the following statement in response to an investigation into TikTok’s impacts on young people announced by a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general:

“Along with Congressional scrutiny, this significant bipartisan probe will uncover TikTok’s actions that put profits over kids’ safety. This investigation underscores the urgent need for our Kids Online Safety Act, so these state attorneys general can hold platforms like TikTok legally and financially accountable for the harms they find. I will be fighting for passage of this bill to impose long-overdue accountability on Big Tech and to empower kids and parents online.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced legislation to close a loophole that has allowed natural gas pipeline companies to overcharge customers for decades. The bipartisan Making Pipelines Accountable to Consumers and Taxpayers (MPACT) Act could provide millions of dollars in refunds to consumers who have been overcharged for their energy costs and help reduce future excessive energy rates for consumers.

“This bill will fix a loophole that has unfairly forced consumers to pay too much for their energy costs,” said Blumenthal. “Consumers are routinely overcharged for natural gas, yet are unable to recoup their money due to a loophole in current law. Until this bill is law, consumers will continue to pay these excessive fees. As natural gas prices rise, we must do everything possible to ease the pain consumers are experiencing and passing this bipartisan legislation is an important step to get money back into consumers’ pockets.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates rates charged by natural gas pipeline companies, but does not have the ability to order rebates for the pipelines’ customers when they are overcharged. Interstate natural gas pipeline companies regularly overcharge their direct customers – ratepayers like shipping and utility companies – and those costs are passed along to consumers.

Under current law, there is no recourse that allows ratepayers to recoup overcharges, and the natural gas pipeline companies are simply able to keep the excess. This legislation would remedy this problem by granting FERC the authority to require that pipeline companies reimburse their customers for excessive charges and ensure excessive consumer rates are reduced on a timely basis.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reacted to the Ukrainian people’s ongoing efforts to defend their country against the Russian invasion.

“Ukraine’s courageous freedom fighters are inspiring the world—raising hopes & hearts with their fierce defense against Putin’s savage assault & atrocities. It is an inhumane nightmare, especially for innocent civilians. We need to make it a nightmare for Putin too.”

“Ukrainians’ resistance may only delay, not defeat, Russia’s mammoth military machine, but they’re showing the world that courage & conviction still count. Putin’s unspeakable cruelty will count too—ranking him in history as a craven killer.”

“The U.S. & our allies must rapidly ratchet up even stiffer sanctions against Russia, Putin & his cronies, & continue military aid wherever possible. Putin must feel the weight of world condemnation—in more than words.”

“When I traveled to Ukraine I met many innocent moms, dads, children, everyday people, now enduring unimaginable terror & trauma, physical injury or death, destruction of their homes. My thoughts are with them. Their brave resolve & resilience are with me.”

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) praised efforts to sanction and seize assets of Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin.

“Cracking down on Putin’s personal wealth hidden around the world must include his cronies—all their children, wives, & more. We can track down & crack down on these corrupt, illicit assets gained by Putin’s kleptocracy. We should seize, not freeze those assets.”

“SWIFT sanctions should target all Russian banks—all—not just second largest, VTB. Omitting the 1st & 3d biggest, & others, would greatly dilute their impact.”

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reacted to the news that Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family will pay $6 billion to victims, survivors, and states for their role in the opioid epidemic:

“No amount of money will bring back loved ones lost, but these funds will help states aid victims harmed by Purdue & Sackler wrongdoing.”

“This settlement is a significant step, but the Sacklers caused devastating real harm to real people, & then tried to use bankruptcy loopholes to avoid responsibility. I’ve introduced legislation to close these gaps & ensure victims & survivors get their day in court.”

“Civil accountability for escalating the opioid epidemic is welcome & important, but real justice means holding lawbreakers criminally accountable. DOJ must investigate if the Sacklers should also face criminal consequences for their roles in Purdue’s admitted criminal conduct.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) and U.S. Representatives Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Al Lawson (D-FL), and Norma J. Torres (D-CA) joined 17 of their colleagues in a letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack to issue guidance clarifying college students’ eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to address the growing food insecurity crisis among college students.

“College students represent the future of America. Not only is it critical that we don’t saddle students with debt, but the Administration should also use its executive authority to ensure low-income students have the information they need to access SNAP and other federal benefits to help them stay focused and successful in their studies,” the senators wrote. “USDA has the authority to change that.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Bob Casey (D-PA) joined 11 of their colleagues in a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Administration to include a tax credit to help American families pay for child care in its tax season outreach and awareness campaigns. In the American Rescue Plan, Democrats expanded the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), providing families with a fully refundable tax credit to help offset the costs of child care for the first time. Families can now claim up to $4,000 per child, up to $8,000 per family, to reimburse child care expenses from 2021.

“As families live under the burden of rising prices, they need to know about the solutions that their government is providing them,” the Senators wrote. “In this case, we have already passed a credit to alleviate one of the largest burdens families face—child care. Families just need to be equipped to take advantage of it.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Representatives Don Young (R-AK) and Gwen Moore (D-WI) joined 111 of their colleagues in a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to take swift action to issue the proposed rule, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children: Revisions in the WIC Food Packages.

The letter urged the Secretary to ensure that the proposed rule revise the WIC food packages to align with dietary recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) by allowing beneficiaries to purchase more fruits, vegetables, and lower-mercury seafood and imposing stronger standards for whole grains, sugar content, calcium, and protein.

“With food prices rising, many families are more reliant than ever on WIC and other federal nutrition programs to put healthy food on the table. More children are benefitting from WIC, with a 7.5 percent national increase in child participation since the beginning of the pandemic. The comprehensive 2017 NASEM report is a strong foundation for additional steps that USDA can take to enhance the nutritional value of WIC food packages by increasing regular access to healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and lower-mercury fish to promote diet patterns that are even further aligned with NASEM’s recommendations and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” the lawmakers wrote.

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) joined U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) in a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), urging them to investigate Amazon’s “Attendance Points Policy”, which punishes workers for taking legally-protected leave. An analysis of Amazon’s attendance policies from A Better Balance found that the company punishes workers for unplanned absences, including legally-protected leave, and fails to inform workers of their right to take time off without punishment.

“DOL should use its authority to investigate Amazon’s Attendance Points Policy and its compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act, and EEOC should investigate Amazon’s policy and its compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” the lawmakers wrote. “Amazon’s troubling attendance policy negatively impacts hundreds of thousands of Amazon workers and is also part of a larger corporate trend, making DOL and EEOC enforcement all the more important.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Bob Casey (D-PA) joined six of their colleagues in introducing the Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act. The legislation would require employers to continue providing health insurance to workers exercising their right to strike so working families aren’t forced off the health coverage they’ve earned and negotiated and aren’t forced to pay out-of-pocket for potentially lifesaving health care.

“This measure will protect workers from having to choose between standing up for what they believe in and their health care. Some employers reprehensibly use threats of taking away health care benefits from their workers to discourage strikes. Our Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act would hold those employers accountable while supporting workers in exercising their rights,” said Blumenthal.

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and John Barrasso (R-WY) joined seven of their colleagues in announcing the passage of their bipartisan Senate resolution designating February 28, 2022 as “Rare Disease Day.” The senators’ resolution recognizes the importance of raising awareness around and providing support for Americans living with rare diseases and disorders, while calling for a national and global commitment to improve access to and develop new treatments, diagnoses and cures for these diseases.

AROUND CONNECTICUT

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stood with members of Connecticut’s Ukrainian-American community at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Church in New Haven and the Ukrainian National Home of Hartford. Blumenthal traveled to Ukraine in January, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other national leaders to reiterate the United States support for the people of Ukraine.

“Ukrainian Americans coming together all over CT—including New Haven & Hartford—moving & eloquent in their stories of friends & family, heroism & terror, courage & casualties, determination & destruction. I was proud & honored to stand with them.”

“For a 2nd Sunday I was deeply inspired by an outpouring of support for Ukraine in its brave, bold resistance to Putin’s craven attack. Their wish for a “safe & sovereign” Ukraine should be all our wish, because national security is at stake in stopping this empire building bully.”

“At Yale, Ukrainian students led hundreds in urging stronger sanctions, more arms aid, steps targeting Putin & crony concealed assets, boycotts on Russian products, & more.  A powerful message.  I’ve advocated much of it for months.”

— U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Governor Ned Lamont announced that the University of Connecticut has been awarded a $662,400 federal grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to continue to investigate and model the risk for failure of a concrete foundation containing pyrrhotite. Working with Lamont, Blumenthal and Murphy led the Senate appropriation to NIST of $2 million for pyrrhotite research in response to the crumbling foundation crisis in Connecticut. 

“Crumbling foundations have devastated thousands of homeowners across Connecticut, and as a delegation we’ve fought hard to bring relief to impacted homeowners. The talented team at UConn has been doing great work to help our understanding of the risk pyrrhotite poses to concrete foundations. With this new federal grant funding to support their research, we can continue to work towards finding new, cost-effective methods to repair thousands of homes across our state,” said Blumenthal and Murphy.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined the Office of Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman to announce bipartisan legislation to close a loophole that has allowed natural gas pipeline companies to overcharge customers for decades. The Making Pipelines Accountable to Consumers and Taxpayers (MPACT) Act will provide millions of dollars in refunds to consumers who have been overcharged for their energy costs and help reduce future excessive energy rates for consumers. 

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes (D-CT) visited MidState Arc, Inc. in Meriden to announce the introduction of a bipartisan resolution to declare federal support of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and legislation requiring infrastructure constructed with public funds be made fully accessible to all. According to the CDC, 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. Thirty-two years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many federal buildings still remain inaccessible to disabled Americans.

“This resolution reaffirms every American’s right to equal opportunity and access. The Americans with Disabilities Act was a landmark effort to tear down barriers and obstacles, but our work is far from over,” said Blumenthal. “I’m proud to join my colleagues as we continue the fight to ensure all publicly funded services and accommodations remain open, inclusive, and accessible to all.”

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) visited Kinsmen Brewing in Southington to call for additional relief for Connecticut’s craft beer industry. Prior to the pandemic, Connecticut’s craft beer industry was booming, averaging almost 20 new breweries a year. Over the last year, Connecticut’s craft brewery business has slowed – with several breweries around the state recently announcing their closure, including four since the beginning of 2022 alone. Blumenthal pushed for the replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) to provide relief to breweries facing strains as a result of the pandemic.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) visited Minuteman Park in Hartford to urge the Biden administration to take swift action to lower oil prices by releasing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to immediately increase supplies and lower costs. Following last week’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, crude oil prices surged over 8 percent to over $100 a barrel. These spikes in oil prices come on top of already burdensome increases due to inflation, adding to the strain on Connecticut consumers. Blumenthal reiterated his call for Congress to pass the Gas Prices Relief Act to provide relief to Americans at the pump by suspending the 18.4 cents federal gasoline tax.

— U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) visited Planned Parenthood of Southern New England in New Haven to urge the Senate to approve the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), which would guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere by overturning and halting medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion care that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship. The measure passed the House of Representatives 218-211. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently reviewing a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade for the first time in decades.

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