Senator Blumenthal: Week in Review 3/7-3/14
Voting Against the Republican Spending Bill that Decimates Communities Across the Country
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement on the proposed Republican House spending bill.
“I will vote “no” on the Republican funding measure. The Republican House bill slashes billions from community budgets for police officers, firefighters, and teachers and critical federal investments in the NIH’s cancer and Alzheimer’s research. It cedes unwarranted, broad, unbridled discretion to President Trump, creating in effect a personal slush fund. Republicans decided to barrel forward with this reprehensible and reckless bill without making any effort at bipartisan legislating. The only opportunity I have to participate in this process is how I choose to vote, and I cannot support a measure that would devastate our state. Congress should pass a short-term clean CR and then negotiate a bipartisan, long-term spending bill that gives our communities what they really need.”
On Twitter/X, Blumenthal confirmed his commitment to voting against the spending bill that fails to address many of the country’s needs.
With an accompanying video, Blumenthal wrote “I will vote NO on the Republican funding measure,” on Twitter/X.
Advocating for Kids’ Online Safety
Blumenthal spoke at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing entitled “Ending the Scourge: The Need for the STOP CSAM Act.” During the hearing, Blumenthal discussed the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), legislation that he authored with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that will require platforms to enable the strongest privacy settings by default, force platforms to prevent and mitigate specific dangers to minors, provide parents and educators new controls to help protect children, and require independent audits and research into social media companies.
“My hope is that we will continue to work together, especially on the issues that are before us today—and most especially, the Kids Online Safety Act, which was approved by the United States Senate in a vote of 91-3. 91-3. Doesn’t happen very often these days in the Senate. It was last session, and unfortunately the House never gave it a vote, which in my view, is a tragedy because it helps protect kids against the toxic content and the algorithms, the black box methodology that social media uses,” said Blumenthal. “And of course, the tech companies who would be held accountable under this law say they are for it and then they worked behind the scenes against it, and they try to shift blame for this skyrocketing increase in online harms to others, avoiding the blame that they well deserve. But more important than the blame is reforms that they could well institute, providing tools and safeguards for parents and children and a duty of care so that they are required to mitigate harm if they know it is happening or have reason to know what is happening.”
During the hearing, Blumenthal asked two child safety experts about their support for a “duty of care” that would require online platforms to prevent and mitigate certain harms that they know their platforms and products are causing to young users.
“Mr. Pizzuro… Let me ask you, perhaps you and Ms. DeLaune, what you think about the duty of care as a means of providing some safeguards here,” questioned Blumenthal.
“There needs to be a duty of care because ultimately these children are on their platforms,” answered John Pizzuro, the CEO of Raven, an advocacy organization focused on focused on ending child exploitation. “So there's a burden on them to make sure that the children are safe.”
Michelle DeLaune, the CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), agreed: “We cannot prosecute our way out of the problem. The reports are coming in, law enforcement rightly is investigating. Really, we need to be looking upstream about preventing these crimes from happening in the first place.”
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks from the hearing can be found here.
On the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
In response to President Donald Trump’s mass terminations of federal veteran employees and egregious attempts to slash Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care and benefits, Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, unveiled his Putting Veterans First Act—comprehensive legislation to protect veterans, military spouses, and VA employees indiscriminately targeted in the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cuts at VA and across the federal government.
“My proposed bill is a call to action at a moment of crisis for veterans. VA’s system of health care and benefits has been disastrously and disgracefully put on the chopping block by Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Their heartless and heartbreaking cuts, freezes, firings, and other malign directives will destroy lives and livelihoods if unchecked. We must stop them. They are slashing and trashing the VA with their plans to further cut more than 80,000 VA employees and tens of thousands of veterans. The real life impacts of Trump and Musk’s harmful policies on our nation’s military and veteran community are undeniable and growing. These reckless actions are damaging the economic security and morale of our military and veteran families, the federal government’s ability to recruit and retain high-quality talent, and our national security. That’s why I am introducing comprehensive legislation to ensure our government reverses course and puts veterans first—not tax cuts for billionaires. Veterans and their families have willingly sacrificed everything for this country, and they deserve a government that treats them with the dignity and respect they deserve,” said Blumenthal.
At a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing to consider pending veterans’ legislation, Blumenthal grilled VA officials on VA Secretary Doug Collins’ disastrous plan to cut more than 80,000 VA employees, emphasizing their total lack of transparency and analyses to justify their decision. During the hearing, Blumenthal also highlighted his Putting Veterans First Act.
“The VA is in crisis. It is literally a five-alarm fire for the VA,” said Blumenthal in his opening. “This [legislative hearing today] constitutes rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. Literally…We are talking about rearranging chairs on the deck of a sinking ship, and it isn't an iceberg that's been hit. It is a torpedo from Secretary Collins, Donald Trump, and Elon Musk that has hit the VA and is sinking it, purposefully, relentlessly, dangerously for our veterans…Veterans have been shortchanged and systematically betrayed by these cruel cuts in staff and critical resources resulting from the Trump-Musk-Collins anti-vet policies. It’s intentional malevolence or benign neglect—either way, we need to stop it. And that should be the purpose of our hearing today. It is the purpose of the [Putting Veterans First Act] that I will introduce to stop the bleeding and sound the alarm and make sure that we preserve veterans’ benefits and care as they should be.”
Video of Blumenthal’s full remarks from the hearing can be found here.
Blumenthal spoke at a press conference with U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, to discuss the Putting Veterans First Act and highlight the importance of passing the legislation to bolster protections for the veteran and military community.
“We need to keep fighting for all of the dedicated veterans and the public servants who provide services to them by passing the Putting Veterans First Act. This measure is a comprehensive set of steps to put back to work veterans who have been illegally fired, make sure that the VA is properly staffed, provide protections in the future to veterans who may be in fear of illegal firings,” said Blumenthal. “The fact is that this bill is a call to action at a moment of crisis for all of our veterans. The VA’s system of health care and benefits has been disastrously and disgracefully put on the chopping block by the Trump Administration. Elon Musk’s heartless and heartbreaking cuts, freezes, and firings are not just bad for the people who have been immediately affected, but for all of the veterans suffering real life impacts. And we are seeing those impacts in real time—surgeries that have been denied or delayed; the veteran crisis line, whose lines have been unanswered; the social work that is not provided to veterans.”
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks at the press conference can be found here.
Blumenthal joined CNN host Kate Bolduan to discuss the Putting Veterans First Act.
Blumenthal also spoke on the Senate Floor slamming the Trump Administration’s actions limiting access to essential care and benefits for veterans through cuts decimating the VA.
“I am here with sadness, not for the first time, and tragically not for the last, I fear, because I am here to speak to the decimation and destruction of veterans services, ongoing in real time, right before our eyes, affecting real people in their daily lives. And it is a tragedy and a travesty, because the people affected are our nation's heroes, whom we all say we respect, but in practice right now, Elon Musk and Donald Trump have launched an assault to degrade and denigrate. Donald Trump has called veterans suckers. Elon Musk shows the same kind of disrespect in the cuts, in hiring freezes, and reductions in amounts of research—a panoply, a tsunami, of cuts in both resources and workers that are essential to the VA’s functions in providing health care as well as PACT Act benefits that veterans have earned. They deserve them without delay. And this assault on veterans is unprecedented in our nation's history. This Administration, very simply, is failing to put veterans first,” said Blumenthal.
A video of Blumenthal’s full remarks can be found here.
Introducing Consumer Protections for Online Sports Betting
With March Madness set to kick off this weekend, Blumenthal reintroduced the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet (SAFE Bet) Act, legislation that would create nationwide consumer protections and standards for the mobile sports gambling industry. Blumenthal was joined by U.S. Representative Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) in this effort.
“We're introducing this bill just before March Madness for a simple reason: to make sports betting safer and to stop the sports betting industry from abhorrently exploiting addiction. We have seen far too many – especially young people – driven into gambling abuse disorder, which is a disease. Like all addictions, we must take every step to prevent and treat it – not amplify or exploit it. The term March Madness is meant to imply an exuberance and joy as well as enthusiasm, but let's be very clear: sports betting has become a science for gambling entities. It is the science of exploitation and targeting and tracking individuals who are prone to addiction. The science of targeting and tracking gamblers who lose bets and enticing them to bet more and more until they are driven into ruin. That's the abuse that we are trying to stop through the SAFE Bet Act,” Blumenthal said.
The full text of the bill can be found here.
Blumenthal spoke at a press conference to highlight the pressing need for this legislation to address the public health impact caused by the widespread legalization of sports betting.
The full recording of the press conference can be found here.
On Twitter/X, Blumenthal called attention to the exploitation of the sports betting industry and the need for legislation like the SAFE Bet Act to better protect consumers.
“March Madness should be about the joy of the game, but these days sports betting addiction has taken over. This industry is exploiting gamblers who show signs of addiction & enticing them to bet more & more. @RepPaulTonko & I are trying to prevent this abuse w/the SAFE Bet Act,” wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.
Blumenthal Bulletin
Blumenthal led a group of 25 Senators in swinging back at VA Secretary Collins’ “blatantly dishonest” claims that cutting 83,000 VA employees will have no impact on veterans’ care and benefits.
Blumenthal called on the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner to reverse efforts to take affordable housing away from seniors, victims of natural disasters, and low-income tenants—efforts that deepen the housing crisis.
Blumenthal introduced legislation with U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) to eliminate barriers to justice for Camp Lejeune Victims.
Blumenthal joined U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure disaster aid reaches small farmers.
Blumenthal led 18 Democrats with U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in calling on the Trump Administration to halt and reverse efforts limiting care for veterans under the PACT Act.
Blumenthal slammed the Trump Administration’s actions weakening food safety months after the deadly listeria outbreak.
Blumenthal urged tariff transparency amid the Trump Administration’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
Blumenthal opened a preliminary inquiry into the Federal Communications Commission’s political targeting of newsrooms.
Blumenthal urged HUD to swiftly distribute $3.6 billion in federal funds for vital homelessness programs.
Blumenthal joined MSNBC Ana Cabrera Reports to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Blumenthal joined MSNBC Morning Joe to discuss the rule of law, the Republican spending bill, and his efforts to protect veterans.
Blumenthal attended a rally in West Hartford for International Women’s Day.
Blumenthal attended the Stand Up for Science rally in Hartford.
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