Ringside Report Looks at the Last Week in D.C. – Column Is Full of Important Info & Links
By M. L. Warmath
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right … and a desire to know.”— John Adams, 1765
Last week was tragically marked by the mass shooting in Atlanta in which eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian-American women. President Biden strongly condemned these hate crimes in a statement issued on March 18th as well as one released on the 19th in which he also urged Congress to pass H.R. 6721, the COVID Hate Crimes Act, which was introduced in the House by Rep. Grace Meng on May 5, 2020. More on this here:
and here:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr6721
The President also called on the Senate to approve the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that was approved by the House on March 17th. On the same topic, President Biden issued a statement about Turkey’s withdrawal on March 20th from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the “Istanbul Convention”), in which he called this withdrawal “a disheartening step backward for the international movement to end violence against women globally.” On Sunday, the President issued a statement on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
These statements and other statements released and activities carried out by President Biden over the past week can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/.
The White House has also released a Fact Sheet on the Administration’s policies to combat systemic racism, which can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/21/fact-sheet-u-s-efforts-to-combat-systemic-racism/.
President Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Vice-President Harris and Second Gentleman Mr. Douglas Emhoff have begun a series of trips around the country to explain and promote the American Rescue Plan. You can learn more about the American Rescue Plan and how it can help you and your family or business at the links below:
https://www.akingump.com/en/news-insights/summary-of-american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021.html and at https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-rescue-plan/.
On March 18, President Biden announced that 100 million COVID shots had been administered – a goal that was reached in far less that the 100 days initially targeted. He explained how this was made possible in his remarks, which you can read here:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/03/18/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-100-million-shot-goal/
Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice convened the first Principles Committee Meeting on Advancing Equity on March 18, in accordance with President Biden’s January 20th Executive Order.
On March 17, the House of Representatives passed H.J. Resolution 17- Removing the Deadline for the Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and this joint resolution has been sent to the Senate. The House also passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 “to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for terms and conditions for nonimmigrant workers performing agricultural labor or services, and for other purposes.” The link below is an excellent tool to follow and learn more about these bills and other legislation:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/
Cabinet Confirmations: On March 16, Ms. Isabel Guzman was confirmed as Administrator of the Small Business Administration and on March 17, Rep. Debrah Haaland was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of the Interior and Ms. Katherine Tai was confirmed as U.S. Trade Representative. Mr. Xavier Becerra was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services on March 18. The vote is still pending on Mr. Marty Walsh for Secretary of Labor. The confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled for Dr. Eric Lander for Presidential Science Advisor/Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
More about the new administrators and pending confirmations here:
https://ballotpedia.org/Joe_Biden%27s_Cabinet
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2021/joe-biden-cabinet-members-confirmations-list/
In the Departments:
At the Department of State, Secretary Blinken traveled to Tokyo and Seoul to discuss bilateral support and economic matters. He was accompanied on these visits by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III. Secretary Blinken also met with Chinese officials last week to discuss US-Chinese relations including a number of issues brought up by both sides. The State Department has provided a full presentation of this trip, including readouts from press briefings and meetings, at: https://www.state.gov/secretary-travel/travel-to-tokyo-seoul-and-anchorage-march-15-19-2021/.
More on the Department’s activities here: https://www.state.gov/
The Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Department of Justice released an unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violence Extremism which can be accessed at https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/17/odni-doj-and-dhs-release-unclassified-summary-assessment-domestic-violent-extremism
DHS and DOJ also issued a joint statement assessing the impact of foreign interference in the 2020 elections. In this statement, DHS and DOJ pointed out that “[d]uring the 2020 election cycle, federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, non-governmental, and private sector partners nationwide worked together in unprecedented ways to combat foreign interference efforts and support election officials, political organizations, campaigns, and candidates in safeguarding their infrastructure”, and that “[t]he Departments remain committed to continuously strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, supply chain risk management, public-private partnerships, and public messaging to enhance the resiliency of our democratic institutions.”
Full statement and link to report here: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/16/joint-statement-departments-justice-and-homeland-security-assessing-impact-foreign
On March 19, DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas led a bipartisan Senate delegation to El Paso, Texas to inspect the situation there with regard to the southwest border. The delegation was composed of Senators Gary Peters, Rob Portman, Chris Murphy, and Shelley Moore. Secretary Mayorkas has also released a comprehensive presentation of the plans and policies set out by the Biden Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
You can read about the visit to El Paso at
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/19/readout-secretary-mayorkas-visit-el-paso-bipartisan-delegation-senators
and about the DHS policies with regard to adults, families, and unaccompanied children at
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/03/16/statement-homeland-security-secretary-alejandro-n-mayorkas-regarding-situation
The Department of Justice also recorded a number of actions to put an end to fraud, hate crimes and cybersecurity offenses. Details are available at https://www.justice.gov/news.
The Department of Education will be holding its National Safe School Reopening Summit on Wednesday, March 24th. The full summit program is available at https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-host-national-safe-school-reopening-summit-wednesday-march-24#:~:text=Following%20the%20passage%20of%20the,24%2C%202021%20at%2012pm%20EDT.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also announced that students who were defrauded by for-profit colleges will have their student loans eliminated. This is expected to affect some 72,000 students. More on this at
https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-education-announces-action-streamline-borrower-defense-relief-process
and at
https://www.axios.com/defrauded-students-loan-forgiveness-for-profit-colleges-707774cd-8f7e-4c06-9a92-1902dd170b97.html
With regard to the Treasury Department, Tax Day has been postponed to May 17th. The Treasury has also provided updated information on getting COVID-related financial relief. You can find this information here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/your-money-and-coronavirus-resources-for-financial-relief
The Department of the Interior will be holding a virtual public forum on March 25th from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the subject of the Federal Oil and Gas Program. Those interested in watching the livestream or participating in the Zoom event can find the appropriate links and agenda at
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-announces-details-public-forum-federal-oil-and-gas-program
More at: https://www.doi.gov/news
At the Department of Agriculture, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced, on March 18, that the US Forest Service will be investing “more than $218 million to fund Great American Outdoors Act projects to conserve critical forest and wetland habitat, support rural economic recovery, and increase public access to national forests and grasslands.”
Read more about it at: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/03/18/usda-announces-218-million-investment-land-and-water-conservation, and learn more about the other projects and policies at the DOA at: https://www.usda.gov/media/agency-news-releases.
At the Department of Commerce, Secretary Gina Raimundo took action under the ICTS (information and communications technologies and services) Supply Chain Executive Order with a view to reviewing ICTS transactions and further ensuring the secure provision of information and communications services. More about this at: https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2021/03/us-secretary-commerce-gina-raimondo-statement-actions-taken-under-icts
Secretary Raimundo also met with members of the Semiconductor Industry Association on March 18th, notably on the matter of domestic manufacturing. Her statement can be found at https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2021/03/us-secretary-commerce-gina-raimondo-statement-meeting-members.
More at: https://www.commerce.gov/
The Department of Energy has announced a $34.5 M grant to develop data science and computation tools for new scientific discoveries, including climate solutions. For more information on the apportionment of this grant to the various fields, see
https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-345-million-data-science-and-computation-tools-advance-climate-solutions.
More at: https://www.energy.gov/
On March 19, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released Part 1 of the 2020 Annual Homelessness Assessment to Congress. This report found that in 2020 there was a significant increase in chronic homelessness and that there was no decrease in veterans and family homelessness. It further confirmed that people of color are still significantly over-represented in the homeless population.
Full article and link to the report at https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_21_041
and more information at: https://www.hud.gov/
That’s the overview for last week. Once again, my goal is to help provide a summary of direct information resources on topics that may be of interest to you. Until next time, stay safe and enjoy the spring weather.
– M.L.W.