Congresspeople Standing Up!
Again, the journalists are trying to cover the daily chaos. Who knew that Congresspeople are taking steps to create a Congressional Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation. Or that they are demanding access to their constituents who have been detained by ICE, taking steps to protect SNAP recipients, and opposing cuts to Medicaid to protect rural hospitals?
To keep this short, here are a few of the bright spots from this month:
Texas, June 18, 2025 — Congresswoman Crockett, Rep. Simon, and Sen. Booker Reintroduce Resolution to Create Congressional Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation
“For far too long, our country has ignored the historic, systematic racism that has plagued our nation that has led to the injustice we see within our communities today,” said Congresswoman Crockett (D-TX-30). “The recent efforts to erase Black history from our schools, overturn criminal justice and policing reforms, and eliminate policies that protect our constituents from discrimination precisely demonstrates why this legislation is vital. If we are to heal and build on progress towards equality, then we must acknowledge our past, and this bill helps ensure we do just that.”
Chicago, Ill., June 18, 2025 — Davis, García, Ramirez, Jackson Demand Noem, ICE Provide Access to Detained Constituents at ICE Center in IL
Congressmembers Danny K. Davis (D – Illinois 7th), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), and Jonathan Jackson (IL-01) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding access to constituents at the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Illinois, after masked, unidentified agents unlawfully denied their entry. The Members of Congress also blasted her policy to unlawfully prohibit Members of Congress from exercising their oversight authority, after receiving the excuse that an ICE agent could deny a tour of the site based on operational capacity.
Cleveland, Ohio, June 26, 2025 — Brown, Wied Introduce Legislation to Bar New SNAP Fees, Ensure Widespread Access to Nutrition Benefits
Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) has introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit new fees on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Balance Transfer (EBT) retail transactions. The Ensuring Fee-Free Benefits Transactions Act (EBT Act), co-led by Congressman Tony Wied (WI-08), protects small and independent retailers from being penalized for serving SNAP customers, encourages broader participation in the SNAP program, and keeps SNAP accessible in underserved and rural areas.
The EBT Act would make permanent a temporary protection from new transaction fees on retailers first established in the 2018 Farm Bill. This ensures that retailers are only responsible for their own costs as the federal government modernizes the EBT system with chip cards, mobile payments, and other upgrades.
“SNAP puts food on the table for my constituents and people across the country, and we shouldn’t put up barriers between families and their benefits. The last thing we should do is punish retailers for accepting SNAP or raise costs on consumers with new fees. This bill keeps EBT fee-free, protects corner stores and grocers, and makes sure people can use keep using their SNAP benefits,” said Congresswoman Brown.
“As a former small business owner in the convenience store industry, I know firsthand how burdensome EBT processing fees can be for both retailers and SNAP recipients,” said Congressman Wied. “That’s why I’m proud to join Congresswoman Brown in introducing the EBT Act, ensuring that the 2018 prohibition on these fees is permanent once and for all. This bipartisan legislation will make sure SNAP recipients continue to have access to healthy food, while also continuing to relieve small business owners of unnecessary costs. This is a win-win situation and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this bill passed.”
North Carolina, June 25, 2025 — LAWMAKERS CALL ON THE SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP TO ELIMINATE DRACONIAN CUTS TO MEDICAID
Representatives Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Alma Adams (NC-12), Deborah Ross (NC-02), and Don Davis (NC-01) sent a letter calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to strike Medicaid-related provisions from the Senate budget reconciliation bill, including cuts to Medicaid funding that would shutter nursing homes and rural hospitals in North Carolina. Under the Republican plan, more than 600,000 North Carolinians would be at-risk of losing their healthcare coverage.
In their letter, the lawmakers wrote, “[The bill’s] draconian cuts and destructive structural changes will inflict catastrophic harm on North Carolinians, particularly people in our rural communities. We feel compelled to highlight the existential threat that this legislation poses to our state’s health care infrastructure, especially our rural hospitals, and in the hope that significant revisions will be made before your chamber votes on final passage…”
The lawmakers specifically called out provisions in the bill that would devastate rural hospitals, explaining that a proposed phase-down of hospital payments would effectively eliminate North Carolina’s Hospital Access and Stabilization Program (HASP), which was implemented alongside Medicaid expansion. “For our rural hospitals, these provisions could strike a deadly blow…. Ultimately, this double blow – HASP elimination combined with Medicare-rate imposition – will bankrupt rural hospitals in our state.”
The lawmakers concluded their letter by emphasizing the impact that this bill would have on individuals and communities across the state. “Again, rural North Carolinians will bear the brunt of closed hospitals, lost jobs, and eroded community health…. In North Carolina, this means more mothers dying in childbirth, more working families bankrupted by health care costs, and more communities deprived of their largest employers. Both the viability of our state’s health care system and the long-term health of millions of North Carolinians hangs in the balance.”
