Democratic News

Press Releases 06/18/2025
Ranking Member Cantwell Lays Out Rail Priorities for Surface Reauthorization – Freight Investments to Support the Economy, Improved Safety, and Support for Passenger Rail
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, spoke of the need for additional resources to support future economic growth, and also the need to enhance safety features at today’s Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety, hearing titled “On the Right Track: Modernizing America’s Rail.”
Press Releases 06/18/2025
State Attorneys General Tell Congress: AI Moratorium Will Leave Consumers, Citizens Vulnerable to AI Fraud, Theft & Other Harms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The State of Washington’s Democratic Attorney General Nick Brown and Tennessee’s Republican Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti underscored the harmful impacts to Americans across the country if Congress enacts a controversial provision in the House and Senate budget reconciliation bills imposing a sweeping 10-year moratorium on States’ enforcement of laws “limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating” artificial intelligence (AI). The attorneys generals spoke during a virtual press conference today with Sens. Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), a senior member of the Committee, who have worked together on federal AI and privacy protection legislation and vehemently oppose the moratorium.
Press Releases 06/17/2025
Cantwell Will Oppose Olivia Trusty for FCC Commissioner, Urges Colleagues to Join Her
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said today she will oppose the nomination of Olivia Trusty to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) citing Republicans’ breach of the longstanding practice to advance both Republican and Democratic nominees, and their plan to auction spectrum used for national security and aviation safety.
Press Releases 06/13/2025
Cantwell Condemns Impacts of IUU Fishing and Cuts to NOAA on America’s Fishing Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, condemned the impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries and the impacts of the Trump Administration’s unprecedented cuts to NOAA on America’s fishing families at a hearing of the Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime and Fisheries.
Press Releases 06/13/2025
Cantwell Sounds the Alarm About Dangers of Republican Plan to Auction Spectrum Essential to National Security, Aviation Safety and the Innovation Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, sounded the alarm about the dangers of the Republican plan to auction 800 megahertz of spectrum that is essential to national security, aviation safety and America’s innovation economy in a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Tom Karako, Director of the Missile Defense Project and Senior Fellow in Defense & Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Press Releases 06/12/2025
Cantwell Demands Answers from AT&T and Verizon on Chinese “Salt Typhoon” Hack
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, demanded answers from AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey and from Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg about ongoing vulnerabilities related to the successful Chinese state-sponsored “Salt Typhoon” hack discovered last year. Salt Typhoon deeply penetrated major U.S. telecommunications networks, including AT&T and Verizon, but in December 2024, both companies claimed that their networks were secure.
Press Releases 06/11/2025
Cantwell Grills FAA Nominee on Key Aviation Safety Measures
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, grilled Trump’s nominee to serve as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Bryan Bedford, on his failure to commit not to weaken the 1,500-hour pilot training rule if confirmed. Bedford spearheaded the lobbying effort against the safety rule enacted after the tragic 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash that killed 49 people, and as CEO of Republic Airways, petitioned the FAA for an exemption from it. Sen. Cantwell also pressed Bedford to confirm his concerns that Republicans’ spectrum auction plan would threaten aviation safety.
Press Releases 06/11/2025
Cantwell to Join Center for Strategic and International Studies for Conversation on Protecting Spectrum Critical to National, Aviation Security from Reckless Sell-Off Proposals
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, June 12 at 8:30 a.m. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will sit down at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) for a conversation on why Congress must guard spectrum resources critical to our national security and global competitiveness from being auctioned off as part of Republicans’ reconciliation bill. Sen. Cantwell will be joined by Dr. Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project and senior fellow in the Defense & Security Department at the CSIS. This event is online only.
Press Releases 06/11/2025
Ranking Member Cantwell Delivers Opening Statement at Nomination Hearing of Bryan Bedford to lead the FAA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, delivered the following opening remarks at today’s hearing on the nomination of Bryan Bedford to serve as the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):
Press Releases 06/11/2025
Cantwell, Commerce Committee Democrats Call for Regular Order on Dangerous and Damaging Commerce Title of Reconciliation Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, joined by fellow Democratic Committee Members Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján, (N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) urged Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz to follow regular order and schedule a markup for the budget reconciliation text he released last week. The Republican bill will impact every American, but not a single hearing on the legislation has been held on the most significant piece of legislation expected to be considered by the Senate this year.
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