In the News
Republican members of a special House committee investigating fetal-tissue transactions voted Wednesday to hold a biotechnology firm in contempt of Congress, moments after Democrats walked out of the Capitol Hill meeting in protest.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette called on Congress to better fund the fight against the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic in Colorado and throughout the nation on Friday, saying legislation to address the issue thus far needs to go further.
“It’s good to have the right policies in place,” the Denver Democrat said at the Stout Street Clinic downtown, “but you have to fund the programs or it doesn’t work.”
The Colorado Statesman
By Congresswoman Diana DeGette
Congress has returned to Washington, having failed throughout the spring and summer to take meaningful action on some of the nation’s most pressing problems. Thanks to Republican legislators’ intransigence, we are now confronted by an issue that grew substantially worse while we were away: the spread of the Zika virus on American soil.
Everyone agrees the Affordable Care Act exchanges need some fixes. Now a senior House Democrat says Republican leaders are telling her privately that after years of all-out opposition to the law, they are open to working with Democrats after the November elections on measures to improve the functioning of the exchanges.
Insurance giant Aetna’s decision to stop offering much of its individual coverage through the Affordable Care Act is exposing a problem in President Obama’s signature health-care law that could lead to another fraught political battle in Congress.
NEW YORK — The law that bans federal funding for Medicaid coverage of most abortions is now in the spotlight some 40 years after it was passed by Congress, emerging as an election issue in the national debate over the procedure.
First approved in 1976, and renewed annually ever since as part of the congressional appropriations process, the Hyde Amendment makes exceptions in cases of rape or incest, or when a pregnancy endangers a women’s life.
People throughout the country are demanding sensible gun safety reform.
The long-running fight to achieve it is not about ideology or a dispute over our Constitution — it has real, life-or-death consequences. That’s why we must do everything we can to prevent another mass shooting, drive-by shooting, or any type of incident involving firearms that destroys innocent lives.
After a day-long sit-in protest on the floor of the House of Representatives over gun control, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette brought the battle back home to Colorado for a rally on the steps of the Denver City and County Building on Sunday.
“Every time there’s a shooting, we have a moment of silence in Congress, and I pray for the victims and their families,” DeGette said. “But you know what? A moment of silence is not enough.”
All but a handful of House Democrats are calling on Speaker Paul D. Ryan to disband the special committee established last year to probe connections between abortion providers and medical researchers, accusing the panel of “continued abuses which jeopardize the integrity of the House and the safety of Americans.”
Washington — A Senate committee approved a legislative package Wednesday that lawmakers say will become part of its response to House legislation by Michigan Rep. Fred Upton that is designed to deliver cash and reforms that would expedite treatment and cures of chronic diseases like cancer.