Democratic News

In a speech from the Senate floor delivered just before “vote-a-rama” began, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, condemned Senate Republicans’ rescission bill that cuts all $1.1 billion in Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which funds 1,500 local public radio and television stations across the country. The rescissions will force many stations to shut down, especially in rural communities, leaving millions of Americans without life-saving emergency information. Sen. Cantwell’s full remarks are below:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, that oversees college sports, and Representative Michael Baumgartner (R-Wash.) called on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade to delay its July 15 markup of the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act, citing significant changes needed to strengthen the bill and meet its goal of improving the future of college athletics—for ALL colleges and ALL athletes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led several Democratic colleagues in a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) expressing their concern over a waiver requested by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) to dramatically reduce track safety inspections and loosen requirements to repair safety defects. Sen. Cantwell was joined by Senators Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, reiterated the critical role public broadcasters across the United States play in responding to weather emergencies. In rural areas, public broadcasters may be the sole source or one of only few sources of information during disasters, leaving them disproportionately impacted by federal funding cuts.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, questioned Dr. Neil Jacobs, President Trump’s nominee to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about his plans to preserve the agency’s crucial weather forecasting, research, fisheries management and other core functions in the face of an administration that continues to hack away at NOAA’s budget, workforce and programs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a speech this afternoon on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, slammed Republicans’ plan to rescind $1.1 billion in congressionally-approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) calling it a “reckless endangerment of 13 million Americans who depend on these stations for life-saving emergency information.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tonight, the U.S. Senate voted 99-1 in favor of an amendment co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R–Tenn.) to strip a ten-year moratorium on state AI regulations from the Republican budget reconciliation bill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a speech tonight on the Senate Floor, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, highlighted the damaging impact of provisions included by Committee-Chair Senator Cruz in the 940-page Republican reconciliation bill, including a 10-year moratorium on State regulation of AI and the auction of spectrum critical to national security and aviation safety. Highlights of her remarks: