President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.7 trillion government spending bill, averting a government shutdown. The bill includes more aid to Ukraine and funding for his domestic priorities.
The White House said Thursday that the bill “caps off a year of historic bipartisan progress for the American people.”
“The bill will advance cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases, make communities safer, deliver for our veterans, prioritize mental health care, improve access to high quality health care for Indian country, and strengthen worker protections for pregnant women,” the White House said. “It also provides the resources needed to support Ukraine, provides the highest funding level for the Violence Against Women Act in history, and takes long overdue action to shore up our democracy and preserve the will of the people by reforming the Electoral Count Act.”
Mr. Biden is vacationing in St. Croix after spending Christmas at the White House. The White House said Thursday that the bill was delivered to Mr. Biden for his signature on late Wednesday afternoon on a regularly scheduled commercial flight.
President Joe Biden arrives at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, late Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
The bill was approved last week by the Senate and House of Representatives after a flurry of negotiations — along with a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before Congress in a plea for funding to “guarantee the future of our common freedom.” The spending package will provide an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance for Ukraine
The spending plan includes $772.5 billion for domestic priorities, and $858 billion for defense. The bill also includes roughly $40 billion in disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, wildfires, drought and other natural disasters. It also includes reforms to the Electoral Count Act, and a ban of the use of TikTok on government phones, among a slew of other projects for lawmakers.
Sara Cook, Melissa Quinn and Ellis Kim contributed to this report.
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China has blasted an annual U.S. defense spending bill for hyping up the “China threat” while Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it shows U.S. support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule
BEIJING — China blasted an annual U.S. defense spending bill for hyping up the “China threat” while Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it demonstrated U.S. support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule.
“China deplores and firmly opposes this U.S. move,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted online Saturday, calling the new law a serious political provocation that blatantly interferes in China’s internal affairs.
President Joe Biden signed the $858 billion defense bill into law in Washington on Friday. It includes about $45 billion more than Biden had requested as lawmakers look to offset inflation and boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia.
The bill also repealed a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for U.S. troops.
In the Indo-Pacific region, the legislation authorizes increased security cooperation with Taiwan and requires expanded cooperation with India on emerging defense technologies, readiness and logistics.
A Taiwan Foreign Ministry statement thanked the U.S. Congress “for showing the great importance it attaches to Taiwan-U.S. relations and strengthening Taiwan’s security.”
China objects to U.S. support for Taiwan, an island of 23 million people off its east coast. The two split during the civil war that brought the communists to power in China in 1949.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said the U.S. defense bill “severely affects peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
China staged major military exercises around Taiwan in August after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island. The Chinese military sent 39 planes and three ships toward Taiwan earlier this week in a relatively large show of force.
Washington — The House on Friday passed the $1.7 trillion government spending bill a day after the Senate approved it, in their late scramble to clear the package and stave off a partial government shutdown just before the Christmas holiday.
The vote was 225 to 201, with one Democrat, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, voting present and one Democrat voting against it, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nine Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
Soon after the vote, President Joe Biden released a statement saying he’d sign it “as soon as it reaches my desk.” To allow time for the bill to be enrolled, that is, certified by the clerk of the House or the secretary of the Senate, Congress also passed a continuing resolution to extend funding of the government by a week to prevent a partial shutdown. Mr. Biden signed the short-term extension Friday afternoon.
Before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in what she said was likely her last floor speech as speaker, touted the bill’s spending for veterans, aid to Ukraine and its reforms to the Electoral Count Act.
“This is truly a package for the people,” Pelosi said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is running to be speaker when Republicans take control of the House in January, attacked the bill because it “spends too much” and predicted it would “[fuel] inflation.” He called it a “monstrosity” and said it “is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body.”
Pelosi, in her floor speech, fired back at McCarthy for this remark, saying, “I can’t help but wonder, had he forgotten Jan. 6?”
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) leaves the House floor amid work on passage of the omnibus spending bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2022.
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / REUTERS
The bill passed the Senate on Thursday, 68 to 29, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold with backing from 18 Republicans. If the omnibus bill had not passed, funding for federal agencies would have run out by midnight Friday.
Final passage in the Senate came hours after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced an agreement to complete work on the package in the coming hours. He urged senators not to stray far from the Senate chamber in order to hasten the process, since they voted first on a slew of amendments.
“It’s taken a while but it is worth it,” he said. “We know the storm is coming, we want to have people both get the bill done but then be able to go home once we have done our work.”
The breakthrough came after the sweeping plan to fund federal agencies through Sept. 30 was held up by an issue related to Title 42, the pandemic-era measure that allowed for the expulsion of migrants on public-health grounds. Republicans have sought to extend the measure, which was set to expire Wednesday, before Chief Justice John Roberts granted a temporary pause pending further legal action on ending Title 42. The Department of Justice countered by asking the court to quash the GOP bid to extend the measure.
The Senate’s consideration of the mammoth measure began hours after its text, spanning more than 4,100 pages, was unveiled by appropriations leaders in both chambers early Tuesday morning. The culmination of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations, the legislation funds federal agencies through fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30.
Antiwar protesters demonstrate outside the U.S. Capitol as President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is set to deliver an address before a joint meeting of Congress, on December 21, 2022 in Washington, D.C.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The spending plan includes $772.5 billion for domestic priorities, and $858 billion for defense. The bill also includes roughly $40 billion in disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, wildfires, drought and other natural disasters, reforms to the Electoral Count Act and a ban on TikTok on federal agencies’ devices, among a slew of other projects for lawmakers.
The Senate approved amendments to the spending bill that protect nursing mothers, allow the U.S. to transfer proceeds from seized Russian oligarch assets to Ukraine, and require employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant women in the workplace.
Crucially, and as Russia continues its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the package provides an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance for Ukraine in its continued fight against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday night at the U.S. Capitol, and urged Congress to pass the extra funding.
“It is in your power really to help us bring to justice everyone who started this unprovoked and criminal war,” Zelenskyy told Congress. “Let’s do it.”
Zelenskyy’s surprise visit, his first time outside of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February, was a daring one, given the multiple attempts on his life since the war began.
But his appearance also came in the waning days of the current Congress, which has been steadfast in the need for the U.S. to provide military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine. With Republicans poised to take control of the House next month, and some GOP lawmakers questioning the need for continued funding for Ukraine, it’s uncertain whether another emergency relief package would clear both chambers.
Ahead of Zelenskyy’s speech, Schumer said that when he met with the Ukrainian president, he “made clear that without this aid package, the Ukrainians will be in trouble and could even lose the war.”
The upper chamber voted Tuesday night to advance the legislation, with backing from a wide margin of Senate Republicans. Still, GOP senators have objected to the size of the package and speed with which it’s being moved through Congress, arguing they were given little time to read through a bill spanning more than 4,000 pages.
Support from at least 10 GOP senators was needed for it to clear the Senate before the plan is taken up by the House, and 21 Republicans voted to begin debate on the measure Tuesday.
In an 11th-hour attempt to deter Senate Republicans from voting in favor of the legislation, known as an omnibus bill, a group of 31 House Republicans sent a letter to their colleagues threatening to oppose the legislative priorities of any GOP senator who supported the package.
“Voting in favor of this bill is a dereliction of our duty on all counts,” they warned.
Still, Senate leaders praised the deal reached by Democratic and Republican appropriations leaders in both chambers, the last brokered by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama before they retire.
The omnibus spending package was the final bill taken up by the Democrat-controlled Congress, and lawmakers faced a Friday deadline to approve funding for federal agencies or suffer a partial government shutdown. President Biden signed into law last week a short-term extension of government funding, which allowed lawmakers to continue negotiating the details of the $1.7 trillion plan.
Adding to the urgency for Congress was the approaching winter storm that has begun to snarl holiday travel. Schumer on Wednesday pushed the Senate to move quickly and warned senators against slowing down the process.
“I urge my colleagues not to stand in the way of moving this process forward,” he said. “Nobody wants a shutdown. Nobody benefits from a shutdown, and so I hope nobody here will delay this process to fund government ASAP.”
While Republicans in the House and Senate balked at the package’s size and had been pushing for spending talks to be pushed to January, when the party takes control of the House and can demand spending cuts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for its approval.
“This is an impressive outcome for the Republican negotiators, and more importantly, it is the outcome that our country actually needs to keep helping Ukraine and our other friends, to keep out innovating and outcompeting Russia and China and to keep our brave men and women in uniform equipped with the best training, tools, and technologies the world has ever seen,” he said on the Senate floor Tuesday.
The White House, too, supports the package and said in a statement it includes investments that advance a range of national priorities and advocated its passage.
“This bipartisan legislation demonstrates once more that both parties can come together to deliver for the American people and make progress on critical priorities for the nation,” it said. “The bill advances cutting-edge research on cancer and other diseases, makes communities safer, delivers for America’s veterans, supports the Ukrainian people, helps communities recovering from devastating natural disasters, invests in child care and education, and more.”
New York Congressman-elect George Santos may be facing some legal obstacles soon, after a number of inconsistencies in his resume came to light this week. New York Attorney General Letitia James is looking into “a number of issues raised about Santos,” her office confirmed Thursday.
After days of burgeoning questions about his claims about his past, Santos broke his silence Thursday, tweeting that he’ll have answers next week.
“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” he tweeted. “I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more.”
Representative-elect George Santos, a Republican from New York, speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition
Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Father Jose Carlos da Silva, the pastor of Saint Rita’s Catholic Church, in Long Island City, Queens, says he knew Santos’ family, the Devolders, well. The Devolders came to the church once in a while, he told CBS News. They were Catholic — including George Santos — says da Silva.
Da Silva said that when Santos’ mother, Fatima Devolder, died in 2016, Santos approached him — the priest had ministered to the family during Devolder’s illness — and told him the family couldn’t afford a funeral. Da Silva said Santos asked for help from the church.
A memorial mass was held at the church, which held a collection for the family. Da Silva said he didn’t count the money collected, but recalled that the amount raised was significant, and he handed the collection directly to Santos. But da Silva’s portrayal of the family’s financial condition is at odds with the biography presented by Santos.
His campaign website paints a picture of success: “George’s work ethic comes from his mother, who came from nothing, but worked her way up to be the first female executive at a major financial institution. On September 11, 2001, George’s mother was in her office in the South Tower. She survived the horrific events of that day, but unfortunately passed away a few years later.”
CBS News has verified evidence of a brush with the law in Brazil by Santos, first reported by The New York Times. A 2013 public notice from a Rio de Janeiro court accuses Santos of embezzlement, though it did not elaborate on the charges. It identifies George Anthony Devolder Santos as a 25-year-old American teacher who was single. The citation states that Santos, at the time of the charges, was in “an uncertain and unknown location” and therefore could not be summoned. The document gave Santos 10 days to produce materials for his defense.
In November, Santos was elected to represent parts of Long Island and Queens in Congress. A Republican, he won in a district previously held by a Democrat. Then earlier this week, the New York Times first reported that the candidate was running on a resume filled with apparently fabricated claims about his schooling and work. CBS News followed up on The Times’ reporting. Statements on his website that he had worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that he had founded a tax-exempt pet rescue could not be verified by the two banks or by the IRS. All three mentions have been removed from his website, although it still says that he graduated from Baruch College, which also could not find a record of his matriculation there.
Multiple attempts by CBS News to reach Santos were unsuccessful.
FILE: New York Congressman-Elect George Santos speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Meeting at the Venetian Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 19, 2022.
David Becker for the Washington Post
It’s the case of the curious congressman-elect.
Voters elected Republican George Santos in November to represent parts of Long Island and Queens in Congress but did not know the candidate was running on a resume filled with apparently fabricated claims about his schooling and work — leaving more questions than answers about how he will now navigate a planned move to Washington.
And now even some Santos allies are calling on the politician to step forward and either verify or explain the misleading aspects of the biography he ran on.
“We have reached out to his office directly to ascertain whether they are true. These allegations, if true, are deeply troubling,” said Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has featured Santos at events and in videos alongside the party’s top leaders, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Brooks said in a statement to CBS News the organization is concerned about the allegations. “Given their seriousness, the Congressman-elect owes the public an explanation, and we look forward to hearing it.”
Repeated attempts by CBS News to reach Santos directly by phone were unsuccessful. His campaign manager referred CBS to a general email address for the campaign. In a statement, Santos’ attorney Joseph Murray accused the New York Times of “attempting to smear [Santos’] good name with defamatory allegations,” but provided no evidence or documents to refute any of the reporting.
The New York Times broke the news this week that Santos may have been making false claims about his past. CBS News has followed up on several of them, including his assertions that he had worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. A spokesperson from Goldman Sachs told CBS News that the firm has no record of his employment. And a representative from Citigroup told CBS News the company could not confirm Santos’ employment.
An earlier version of Santos’ campaign website stated, “George Anthony began working at Citigroup as an associate and quickly advanced to become an associate asset manager in the real asset division of the firm,” and in the next paragraph mentioned that “George Anthony was then offered an exciting opportunity with Goldman Sachs but what he thought would be the pinnacle of his career was not as fulfilling as he had anticipated.” Neither bank is currently named on his website.
There are also questions about Santos’ educational history. His campaign website still says, “George graduated from Baruch College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance.” But a spokesperson from Baruch College told CBS News no record of his attendance could be found. And the Internal Revenue Service could find no public record of Friends of Pets United, a tax-exempt animal rescue charity Santos claimed to have founded. The animal rescue, too, appears on an older version of his website but has been removed.
Santos helped Republicans win a narrow majority in the midterm election by flipping a Democratic seat, a district that includes parts of Queens and Long Island. During the campaign. The North Shore Leader, a Long Island news site, raised questions about his finances.
Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who lost to Santos in November, told CBS News his campaign had raised some of the issues during the contest. “But it’s a very important reminder of the urgency to be vigilant about our public officials and to put partisanship aside and to make sure that we always put integrity first in choosing our public officials,” he said.
“Whether you’re Democrat or Republican is not the issue,” Zimmerman said. “We can certainly have our political differences, but we should all be able to feel confidence in respecting the integrity of our public officials. George Santos has violated that confidence. He’s demonstrated he’s not a public official with and not with any integrity and does not belong in public office.”
Local Democrats have called on Santos to resign. “If you’ve seen Inventing Anna on Netflix, this is Inventing George Santos,” said Joshua Lafazan, a Nassau County legislator at a protest on Tuesday.
The chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party has called the allegations “serious.”
Joseph Cairo Jr. said Santos “deserves an opportunity to address the claims detailed in the article, which have been repeated by other news sources. Every person deserves an opportunity to “clear” his/her name in the face of accusations. I am committed to this principle, and I look forward to the Congressman-Elect’s responses to the news reports.”
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have been silent. On Monday, Santos tweeted his support for McCarthy’s bid to be speaker, declaring, “We have the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver real results for the American people. We MUST give the gavel to @kevinomccarthy to ensure we stop the disastrous policies the Dems have pushed for the last 2 years.” But the link to that tweet now says the page “no longer exists.”
McCarthy is taking the helm of a narrow Republican majority and has little room for error in garnering support from his conference.
Ethics watchdogs are also monitoring developments. Susan Lerner, executive director for Common Cause New York, called on Santos to resign. Lerner told CBS News she had never seen an instance like this. “This is really, really breathtakingly shocking,” Lerner said. “There have been instances where candidates have exaggerated their background…haven’t seen anybody who’s made up an entirely false life story.”
It’s unclear whether House GOP leadership will urge any action. “There are always charlatans who will try and fool the system. And the question really is, can the system protect itself? And that’s what we’re going to see,” Lerner said. “Can Congress set standards for who is appropriately a member of the House of Representatives or not?”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received multiple standing ovations as he addressed a joint meeting of Congress and urged continued support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom. “Ukraine is alive and kicking,” he said. “Russian tyranny has lost control over us.” Watch his full address in this CBS News Special Report anchored by Major Garrett in Washington.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is expected visit Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
The White House said in a statement early Wednesday that President Biden invited his Ukrainian counterpart “to underscore the United States’ enduring commitment to Ukraine.”
According to the statement, the two president will meet at the White House, then Zelenskyy “will address a joint session of Congress, demonstrating the strong, bipartisan support for Ukraine.”
“Three hundred days ago,” the statement continued, “Russia launched a brutal assault against Ukraine. In response, President Biden rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“During the visit, President Biden will announce a significant new package of security assistance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. The visit will underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian, and military assistance.”
The visit has been in the works since November. An earlier plan to visit the U.S. in September during the U.N. General Assembly was called off due to the war.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the House Ukraine caucus, confirmed to CBS News there had been on-going, serious, behind-the-scenes efforts to bring Zelenskyy to Washington.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska attend a commemoration ceremony at a monument to the so-called “Heavenly Hundred” for the people killed during the Ukrainian pro-European Union (EU) mass demonstrations in 2014, to mark the ninth anniversary of the start of the uprising, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 21, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
“We’d be very honored to have him visit. I’m amazed he can make it in view of the situation,” Kaptur said. “It’d be a great gift to have him at the Capitol. We’re working with the leadership to be helpful. We personally understand if he cannot make it last minute.”
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her members to return to Washington and be “physically present” at the House’s session Wednesday. Punchbowl news was the first to report that Zelenskky’s visit was the reason for the sudden gathering.
“We are ending a very special session of the 117th Congress with legislation that makes progress for the American people as well as support for our Democracy,” she wrote. “Please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”
During an address to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy said this week is “extremely important” for Ukraine and suggested he had been asked to pass along a token of gratitude to the country’s allies.
“Our fighters gave me our flag today and asked to pass it on to those whose decisions are very important for Ukraine, for all our warriors,” he said. “We will definitely do it. We will definitely endure. We will definitely get the necessary support for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy’s speech comes as Congress is working to pass a sweeping $1.7 trillion government spending package that includes nearly $45 billion in military, humanitarian and economic assistance for Ukraine. The measure would be one of the final pieces of legislation passed by the current Congress, and lawmakers were moving with urgency to clear the omnibus measure before a Friday deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.
The roughly $45 billion included for Ukraine is higher than the $37.7 billion requested by the White House in November and, if approved by Congress, would be the latest tranche of emergency assistance provided to Ukraine as it continues to fight Russia.
Lawmakers have allocated more than $65 billion in aid to Ukraine since the invasion, though some House Republicans have expressed opposition to continuing to direct funding to the country. This new package will bring US assistance to over $100 billion.
The Defense Department has also committed extensive military equipment, as of the end of November, including 38 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and ammunition, eight National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, 45 T-72B tanks, more than 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and more than 8,500 Javelin anti-armor systems, as well as helicopters, armored vehicles and mine resistant vehicles.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Mr. Biden and lawmakers for funding and security assistance, but in March made an emotional plea for additional weapons, including air-defense systems. The Ukrainian president appeared virtually before both chambers of Congress then and invoked key events in U.S. history — the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2011, terror attacks — to further underscore the need for more help.
Zelenskyy’s expected visit would be part of his first visit outside Ukrainesince Russia invaded in late February, and a daring decision to leave the country amid the ongoing war and Russian attempts on his life. He met with Mr. Biden at the White House in early September 2021, and the two have spoken repeatedly by phone in the months since Russia’s invasion, during which the U.S. President has expressed continued support for Ukraine.
The White House has explored having Mr. Biden visit Ukraine several times, but has tabled such plans amid security concerns. But other senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have made visits to Kyiv over the course of this year.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said Tuesday that Zelenskyy addressing Congress is “the perfect ending to two years where President Biden has had some landmark successes, and a year where his biggest success internationally has been rallying our NATO allies to support the Ukrainian close.”
Alan He, Melissa Quinn and Caroline Linton contributed to this report.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is expected to make a visit to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, multiple congressional sources and a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News.
Zelenskyy is expected to give an evening speech before a joint session of Congress, meet with Congressional leaders, and visit with President Joe Biden at the White House.
The visit has been in the works since November. An earlier plan to visit the U.S. in September during the UN General Assembly was called off due to the war.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the House Ukraine caucus, confirmed to CBS News there had been on-going, serious, behind-the-scenes efforts to bring Zelenskyy to Washington.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska attend a commemoration ceremony at a monument to the so-called “Heavenly Hundred” for the people killed during the Ukrainian pro-European Union (EU) mass demonstrations in 2014, to mark the ninth anniversary of the start of the uprising, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 21, 2022.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
“We’d be very honored to have him visit. I’m amazed he can make it in view of the situation,” Kaptur said. “It’d be a great gift to have him at the Capitol. We’re working with the leadership to be helpful. We personally understand if he cannot make it last minute.”
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her members to return to Washington and be “physically present” at the House’s session Wednesday. Punchbowl news was the first to report that Zelenskky’s visit was the reason for the sudden gathering.
“We are ending a very special session of the 117th Congress with legislation that makes progress for the American people as well as support for our Democracy,” she wrote. “Please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”
During an address to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy said this week is an “extremely important” one for Ukraine and suggested he had been asked to pass along a token of gratitude to the country’s allies.
“Our fighters gave me our flag today and asked to pass it on to those whose decisions are very important for Ukraine, for all our warriors,” he said. “We will definitely do it. We will definitely endure. We will definitely get the necessary support for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy’s speech comes as Congress is working to pass a sweeping $1.7 trillion government spending package that includes nearly $45 billion in military, humanitarian and economic assistance for Ukraine. The measure will be one of the final pieces of legislation passed by the current Congress, and lawmakers are moving with urgency to clear the omnibus measure before a Friday deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.
The roughly $45 billion included for Ukraine is higher than the $37.7 billion requested by the White House in November, and if approved by Congress, will be the latest tranche of emergency assistance provided to Ukraine as it continues to combat Russia’s aggression. Lawmakers have already allocated more than $65 billion in aid to Ukraine since the invasion, though some House Republicans have expressed opposition to continuing to direct funding to the country. This new package will bring US assistance to over $100 billion.
The Defense Department has also committed extensive military equipment, as of the end of November, including 38 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and ammunition, eight National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, 45 T-72B tanks, more than 1,600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and more than 8,500 Javelin anti-armor systems, as well as helicopters, armored vehicles and mine resistant vehicles.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Mr. Biden and lawmakers for funding and security assistance, but in March made an emotional plea for additional weapons, including air-defense systems. The Ukrainian president appeared virtually before both chambers of Congress then and invoked key events in U.S. history — the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2011, terror attacks — to further underscore the need for more help.
Zelenskyy’s expected visit would be part of his first visit outside Ukrainesince Russia invaded in late February, and a daring decision to leave the country amid the ongoing war and Russian attempts on his life. He met with Mr. Biden at the White House in early September 2021, and the two have spoken repeatedly by phone in the months since Russia’s invasion, during which the U.S. President has expressed continued support for Ukraine.
The White House has explored having Mr. Biden visit Ukraine several times, but has tabled such plans amid security concerns. But other senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have made visits to Kyiv over the course of this year.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said Tuesday that Zelenskyy addressing Congress is “the perfect ending to two years where President Biden has had some landmark successes, and a year where his biggest success internationally has been rallying our NATO allies to support the Ukrainian close.”
Alan He, Melissa Quinn Caroline Linton contributed to this report.
The House Jan.6 committee is expected to formally adopt its final report and vote on possible criminal referrals Monday at a public meeting. It’s the culmination of the committee’s nearly 18-month investigation into the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
CBS News will air the proceedings as a special report at 1 p.m. ET on CBS television stations and its streaming network.
Following the meeting, the committee is expected to release an executive summary of the report, details on expected criminal referrals and additional information about witnesses who have appeared before the group, a committee aide told CBS News. While the committee is expected to make criminal referrals, the members have not confirmed who they will refer to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland named Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s own probe into alleged efforts to interfere with the transfer of power in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, one of the members of the committee, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he believes, as a former prosecutor, that they have collected “sufficient” evidence to charge former President Donald Trump.
Another committee member, Rep. Jamie Raskin, told CBS “Sunday Morning” earlier this month that “people are hungering for justice and for accountability and consequences here.”
“I know that people feel that we need to make sure that accountability runs all the way to the top. Just because you’re elected president, or used to be president, does not give you the right to engage in crimes freely,” said Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland.
The House Jan. 6 select committee was formed in July 2021 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempts to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the attack, similar to the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, were thwarted by Senate Republicans.
The select committee was initially supposed to be made up of eight Democrats and five Republicans. But after Pelosi rejected two Republicans who had cast votes that could have overturned the 2020 election results, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all his picks from the committee. After refusing to participate, Republican leaders have objected to the committee’s hearings and called its work partisan.
The final makeup of the committee was seven Democrats and two Republicans who broke with McCarthy to join: Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
The committee began its investigative work with a public hearing held in July 2021 that featured several law enforcement officers. Over the next 11 months, the committee conducted more than 100 interviews, including with some in Trump’s inner circle and even in his family, and subpoenaed more than 1,000 documents.
The committee then held a series of high-profile public hearings beginning in June to present some of the evidence that had been gathered. In the hearings, the committee focused on different parts of what members have alleged was a multi-pronged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results, including pressure campaigns on then-Vice President Mike Pence and his staff and top members of the Justice Department as well as local and state elections officials.
The committee also shed light on an alleged scheme by Trump and his allies to replace electors in seven battleground states won by President Joe Biden, with a slate of Trump electors. Committee chair Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, said in July that the lawmakers were speaking with the Justice Department about the alleged scheme.
The hearings sought to tie Trump to the mobilization of his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The committee showed recorded testimony from witnesses, never-before-seen video from the day of the riot, in-person testimony from an injured Capitol police officer, and interviews with members of the Trump White House, his campaign, Pence’s office, a retired federal judge, state and local elections officials, a former spokesperson for the Oath Keepers and an Ohio man who pleaded guilty for his role in the Jan. 6 riot.
Trump has maintained he did nothing wrong on Jan. 6, and that the investigation by what he’s called the “Unselect Committee of political hacks” is a “witch hunt.”
The committee has made several criminal referrals to the Justice Department for Trump associates who refused to comply with subpoenas to appear before the committee, including former adviser Steve Bannon, who was tried and convicted on two charges of contempt of Congress.
Thompson said last week that the committee had made more criminal referrals, although he did not elaborate on who they involved. Schiff told “Face the Nation” on Dec. 11 that he believes the Justice Department has “made use” of evidence presented in the committee’s hearings, and will do the same for the information included in its report.
The committee is sunsetting before the next Congress takes over in January. Four of its members are not returning to Congress — Cheney lost the Republican primary in Wyoming in August to a Trump-backed challenger; Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria lost in the general election in November; and Kinzinger and Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy opted not to run for reelection.
President Biden signed a short-term spending bill passed by Congress just before federal funding was due to run out. CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane has the latest from Capitol Hill.
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The U.S. is set to ban the buying and selling of shark fins, a lucrative ingredient prized in some cuisines but that is tied to a practice condemned by wildlife advocates as cruel and unethical.
The Senate on Thursday approved the provision, called the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, which was inserted into an annual military policy bill that is heading to President Joe Biden for his signature. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act represents a multiyear effort by lawmakers, under pressure from animal-rights and ecological organizations such as the Animal Welfare Institute and Oceana, to ban the trade of shark fins.
Shark fins are the main ingredient in shark fin soup, a delicacy in some Asian cultures because of its perception as a luxury food and status symbol. Because it is so prized, a pound of shark fins can sell for hundreds of dollars, which makes it one of the most expensive types of seafood by weight.
But gathering shark fins has long been criticized by animal-rights because fishers slice the fins off sharks, then dump the mutilated animals back into the ocean, where the they are unable to survive.
It’s unknown how many shark fins are gathered each year, but rights group Animal Wellness Action said it’s believed to impact as many as 70 million sharks each year. Several states already ban the sale of shark fins.
“Shark finning conjures up cruelty and wanton destruction of the medieval era,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, in a statement. “But it’s more of a modern evil, and the United States has determined this trade is no longer legal in our nation.”
However, some critics of the bill contend it won’t stop fishing crews from catching sharks. One commercial fisherman told The Washington Post that a New Jersey ban on shark fin sales meant that he simply cuts off fins and throws them away, while selling the rest of the shark.
The ban is the “poster child of people doing something to make themselves feel good and think that they’re going to save the species,” Kevin Wark, who catches shark and monkfish from his base in Barnegat Light, N.J., told the Post. “It just creates a system of waste.”
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The Senate on Thursday night passed a one-week continuing resolution to fund the government, averting a government shutdown.
The short-term funding bill will now fund the government through Dec. 23, giving Congress additional time to finish crafting a massive longer-term spending package.
The bill passed 71-19, and now goes to President Biden’s desk for his signature. A similar measure passed the House earlier this week.
The current continuing resolution to fund the government had been set to expire on Dec. 16.
“Negotiations keep trending in the right direction, but we still have a lot of work left to do and not enough time to do it, unless we extend government funding for another week,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in urging lawmakers to support the stopgap measure.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks at the beginning of a bill signing ceremony for the Respect for Marriage Act, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.
Patrick Semansky / AP
The roughly $1.7 trillion package being negotiated would finance the day-to-day operations of government agencies for the current fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Federal spending on programs such as Social Security and Medicare is not part of the annual appropriations process, and is not included in the package.
House Republicans overwhelmingly have called for a longer-term extension into early next year so they could have a bigger role in setting spending levels for the agencies. Democrats in the House were able to advance the bill with little GOP support earlier this week.
But Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, has made the case that passing a full-year spending bill this Congress is better than the alternatives, because it ensures a sizable increase in spending for defense.
“If a truly bipartisan full-year bill without poison pills is ready for final Senate passage by late next week, I’ll support it for our Armed Forces,” McConnell said Wednesday. “Otherwise, we’ll be passing a short-term continuing resolution into the new year.”
Some Senate Republicans disagreed with efforts to pass a spending bill before House Republicans could take charge. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said he supported providing a short-term extension into next year because that would mean “more Republican priorities” in the final package.
Sen. Richard Shelby, the lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said the two parties were about $25 billion apart on overall spending. But lawmakers announced Tuesday night that they had reached agreement on a “framework” that should allow negotiations to be completed by next week.
The final bill is also expected to include the Biden administration’s request for another $37 billion in aid to Ukraine as well as other bipartisan priorities, including an election measure designed to prevent another Jan. 6 insurrection. The bill would make it more difficult for lawmakers to object to a particular state’s electoral votes and make clear that the constitutional role of the vice president in the proceedings is solely ministerial.
House and Senate negotiators announced they have a framework to negotiate the final details on a spending bill for a full year of government funding.
House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, said in a statement that the framework would provide a path to passing what’s known as an omnibus spending bill next week. Now, she added the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will negotiate the details of the final 2023 spending bills “that can be supported by the House and Senate and receive President Biden’s signature.”
The House is preparing to pass a short-term extension of government funding, pushing the date from the current deadline of Dec. 16 to Dec. 23, which will give appropriators time to finish writing the final legislation.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, welcomed the deal, saying that Congress “cannot delay our work any further” because the “pain of inflation” is being felt by the government and by American families.
The Republican vice chairman of the committee, Sen. Richard Shelby also released a statement acknowledging a “bipartisan, bicameral framework” that will enable negotiators “to begin the difficult work of reaching agreement across twelve separate bills.” Shelby and Leahy both acknowledged each other and DeLauro in announcing the agreement, but neither mentioned the House Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, told reporters earlier Tuesday that Democratic and Republican negotiators were “very close” to reaching a deal on the omnibus spending plan that would be “broadly appealing” and would meet the $858 billion funding level in the defense policy bill. But he warned that Congress needs to pass the long-term measure by Dec. 22, and failure to do so would require lawmakers to pass another short-term funding bill that keeps federal agencies operating into early next year, when the GOP takes control of the House.
Scott MacFarlane, Jack Turman and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.
Maxwell Frost made history last month when he won election in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, becoming the first Gen Z member of Congress at just 25 years old. But that historic win didn’t come easy — and now, the financial toll of the campaign is making it difficult for him to secure a home near the House.
In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Frost said that he had just applied to rent an apartment in Washington, D.C. During that process, he told the person taking his application that his “credit was really bad.”
Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He said I’d be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee.
This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.
“He said I’d be fine,” Frost said. “Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee. This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money.”
He went on to say that he has bad credit because he “ran up a lot of debt running for Congress for a year and a half.”
During his campaign, Frost told Politico that he had quit his job to focus on campaigning. He drove for Uber to pay his bills, a “sacrifice” he said he made because “I can’t imagine myself not doing anything but fixing the problems we have right now.”
But that money didn’t go far enough, Frost said on Thursday, saying he “didn’t make enough money from Uber itself to pay for my living.”
“It isn’t magic that we won our very difficult race. For that primary, I quit my full time job cause I knew that to win at 25 yrs old, I’d need to be a full time candidate. 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. It’s not sustainable or right but it’s what we had to do,” he tweeted. “As a candidate, you can’t give yourself a stipend or anything till the very end of your campaign. So most of the run, you have no $ coming in unless you work a second job.”
Members of the House and Senate earn $174,000 a year, but that salary will not begin until Frost is sworn in on January 3. In the meantime, he needs to find a place to live in D.C.’s pricey housing market. According to Apartment List, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city is $1,786, well above the national average. Zillow shows an even higher cost of living, with a median rent of more than $2,300 for a one-bedroom apartment, slightly over $300 more than what the price was last year.
Frost noted that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced something similar when she was elected in 2018.
“I have three months without salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real,” she told The New York Times. “…I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to Janaury.”
Four years later, “it’s still a problem,” Frost said Thursday.
A former Florida tax collector whose arrest led to a federal probe into U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and other offenses.
Joel Greenberg, former tax collector for Seminole County, was accused of stalking a political opponent, public corruption, making fake licenses and scheming to submit false claims for a federal loan.
He pleaded guilty to six federal crimes, including identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official. Prosecutors said he paid at least one girl to have sex with him and other men.
Former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg talks to the Orlando Sentinel in September 2019, during an interview at his office in Lake Mary, Florida.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“Nothing justifies my actions. My conduct is so shameful. I feel remorse for what I’ve done,” Greenberg said Thursday before U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell sentenced him in an Orlando courtroom.
Greenberg also directly apologized to the residents of Seminole County, his family and a schoolteacher he smeared when the educator decided to run against him.
Presnell said that in his 22 years as a federal judge, he had never experienced a case like Greenberg’s and “a defendant who has committed so many different types of crimes in such a short period of time.”
Greenberg’s attorney had asked for leniency, saying that his client had assisted in investigations of 24 people, including eight for sex crimes. Defense attorney Fritz Scheller said that Greenberg’s cooperation has led to four federal indictments, and that he believed additional ones were expected in the coming month.
Greenberg’s cooperation could play a role in an investigation into his friend Gaetz over whether he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex. Gaetz has denied the allegations and previously said they were part of an extortion plot. No charges have been brought against the Republican congressman, who represents a large part of the Florida Panhandle.
Greenberg has been linked to other Florida politicians and their associates. So far, none has been implicated in the sex trafficking investigation.
After the hearing, Scheller called Greenberg’s sentence just.
Scheller said he was shocked that Greenberg’s cooperation hadn’t yet resulted in more prosecutions and that Greenberg has been in communication with federal investigators in the past three months. When asked whether he thought others would be charged with sex crimes, the defense attorney said, “I do.”
“There should be, and I think part of my frustration is that I have a pretty good insight into the evidence in this case,” Scheller said.
Federal prosecutors had asked for a significant reduction in Greenberg’s prison sentence, agreeing during a court hearing Wednesday to a reduced range of nine years and three months to 11 years.
U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg argued for the upper limit of the range, telling the judge Greenberg abused trust to commit crimes.
Scheller asked the judge to give Greenberg only a fraction of the range, arguing he was making amends and was no longer the same person who committed the crimes.
“Mr. Greenberg was using money and sex to get access to political circles,” Scheller said. “He came from a dark place, a lack of self-worth, and tried to ingratiate himself with a collection of people.”
The minor in the sex crimes case was almost an adult and had advertised as being over age 18 in her escort profile on the website “Seeking Arrangements,” which facilitates “sugar daddy” relationships, Scheller said.
Scheller also had asked the judge to take into consideration Greenberg’s struggles with mental illness, starting with an attention deficit disorder diagnosis at age 7 and panic attacks, depressive and anxiety disorders as an adult. At the time he committed the crimes, he had bipolar disorder with symptoms of mania, which affected his judgment and impulse control, Scheller said.
Some documents related to Greenberg’s cooperation were filed under seal and out of the public eye, with prosecutors and the defense attorney saying they were part of ongoing investigations being conducted by federal authorities in Florida and Washington, as well as state investigators.
Washington — Congress is moving swiftly to prevent a looming U.S. rail workers strike, reluctantly intervening in a labor dispute to stop what would surely be a devastating blow to the nation’s economy if the transportation of fuel, food and other critical goods were disrupted.
The House is voting on Wednesday after President Biden asked Congress to step in. The bill lawmakers are considering would impose a compromise labor agreement brokered by his administration that was ultimately voted down by four of the 12 unions representing more than 100,000 employees at large freight rail carriers. The unions have threatened to strike if an agreement can’t be reached before a Dec. 9 deadline. They are also considering a separate measure to provide workers with paid sick days.
Lawmakers from both parties expressed reservations, but the intervention was particularly difficult for some Democratic lawmakers who have traditionally sought to align themselves with the politically powerful labor unions.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, announced that he would object to fast-tracking the president’s proposal until he can get a roll-call vote on the amendment that would guarantee seven paid sick days for rail workers. Some of the more liberal lawmakers in the House such as Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri tweeted that they couldn’t support the measure.
And a handful of Senate Republicans have expressed their opposition to Congress intervening.
“I’m not going to vote to impose this on them against their will with the force of law,” said Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday.
Still, the bill is expected to receive a significant bipartisan vote. That show of support began when the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate met with Mr. Biden on Tuesday at the White House.
“We all agreed that we should try to avoid this rail shutdown as soon as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday as he returned to the Capitol.
A letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Democratic colleagues promised two votes, reflecting the consternation she was hearing from members. The first vote will be on adopting the tentative labor agreement. The second will be on a measure to add seven days of paid sick leave for railroaders to the agreement.
“It is with great reluctance that we must now move to bypass the standard ratification process for the Tentative Agreement,” Pelosi wrote. “However, we must act to prevent a catastrophic strike that would touch the lives of nearly every family: erasing hundreds of thousands of jobs, including union jobs; keeping food and medicine off the shelves; and stopping small businesses from getting their goods to market.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer address the media after a meeting about avoiding a railroad worker strike with President Biden at the White House on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The compromise agreement that was supported by the railroads and a majority of the unions provides for 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses retroactive to 2020 along with one additional paid leave day. The raises would be the biggest rail workers have received in more than four decades. Workers would have to pay a larger share of their health insurance costs, but their premiums would be capped at 15% of the total cost of the insurance plan. But the agreement didn’t resolve workers’ concerns about demanding schedules that make it hard to take a day off and the lack of paid sick time.
Lawmakers from both parties grumbled about stepping into the dispute, but they also said they had little choice.
“The bottom line is we are now forced with this kind of terrible situation where we have to choose between an imperfect deal that has already been negotiated or an economic catastrophe,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
“This is about whether we shut down the railroads of America, which will have extreme negative effects on our economy,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House. “We should have a bipartisan vote.”
Republicans needled the Biden administration and Democrats for Congress being asked to step in now to avert an economic crisis. But many indicated they were ready to do so.
“This has got to be tough for Democrats in that they generally kowtow to unions,” said GOP Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana.
“At this late hour, it’s clear that there is little we can do other than to support the measure,” said Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma.
Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Farm Bureau Federation said earlier this week in a letter to congressional leaders they must be prepared to intervene and that a stoppage of rail service for any duration would represent a $2 billion per day hit to the economy.
On several past occasions, Congress has intervened in labor disputes by enacting legislation to delay or prohibit railway and airline strikes.
Railroad unions on Tuesday decried Mr. Biden’s call for Congress to intervene in their contract dispute, saying it undercuts their efforts to address workers’ quality-of-life concerns.
Conductor Gabe Christenson, who is co-chairman of the Railroad Workers United coalition that includes workers from all the rail unions, said Mr. Biden and the Democrats are siding with the railroads over workers.
“The ‘most labor-friendly president in history’ has proven that he and the Democratic Party are not the friends of labor they have touted themselves to be,” Christenson said.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are pushing the Library of Congress to boost the number of songs written and sung by Latinos in its national registry. And they have 33 nominations to make.
Each year, the National Recording Preservation Board picks 25 recordings to add to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. In a Monday letter to the Library of Congress, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus noted that the registry currently contains about 600 works, only 23 of which — 3.8% — were recorded by Latino musicians. CHC Chair Raul Ruiz, CHC Vice Chair Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Joaquin Castro, signed the letter and suggested 33 songs and albums for consideration.
“The National Recording Registry’s very existence speaks to the importance of music and broadcast in American culture and society,” Hispanic Caucus members wrote. “Music brings people from all different backgrounds together, and Latino music has had an indelible influence across the American music spectrum on every genre from jazz, rhythm and blues, country, pop, and hip-hop. Yet, Latino contributions in music have been insufficiently recognized. As an art, the diversity of the Latino sound can be heard in every measure and resonates with every beat.”
The members noted that the songs were “selected with feedback from the public,” and “reflect the diversity of Latino identities, histories and geographies.”
Their nominations include “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira, “El Rey” by Vicente Fernandez, “Rinconcito en el Cielo” by Raymon Ayala, and “I Know You Want Me” by Pitbull, among others.
Here are the songs and albums they nominated:
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights (song) by Freddy Fender (1974)
Flashdance… What a Feeling (song) by Irene Cara (1983)
Corridos Prohibidos (album) by Los Tigres Del Norte (2009)
Amor Eterno (song) by Juan Gabriel (1990)
Hips Don’t Lie (song) by Shakira (2005)
El Rey (song) by Vicente Fernandez (1972)
Romance (album) by Luis Miguel (1991)
The Power of the Moon (album) by Lumbre Del Sol (1999)
The Candy Man (song) by Sammy Davis Jr. (1972)
Paloma Negra (song) by Chavela Vargas (1961)
El Cantante (song) by Héctor Lavoe (1978)
Luna Llena (song) by Elida Reyna y Avante (1994)
¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños? (album) by Maná (1992)
Suavemente (song) by Elvis Crespo (1999)
Genie in a Bottle (song) by Christina Aguilera (1999)
I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) (song) by Pitbull (2009)
Lost in Emotion (song) by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam (Lisa Velez) (1987)
Fuiste Tú (song) by Ricardo Arjona featuring Gaby Moreno (2011)
Black Sunday (album) by Cypress Hill (1993)
J. Lo (album) by Jennifer Lopez (2001)
Gasolina (song) by Daddy Yankee (2004)
Sure Thing (song) by Miguel (2010)
(Hey Baby) Que Paso (song) by Texas Tornadoes (1990)
It Must Be Him (song) by Vikki Carr (1967)
Feliz Navidad (song) by José Feliciano (1970)
Dicen Que Soy (album) by La India (1994)
Rinconcito en el Cielo (song) by Ramon Ayala (1985)
Lean Back (song) by Terror Squad, Fat Joe, and Remy Ma (2004)
Rage Against the Machine (album) by Rage Against the Machine (1992)
I Need to Know (song) by Marc Anthony (1999)
Hoy Ya Me Voy (song) by Kany García (2007)
In the Heights (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (album) (2008)
El Costo de la Vida (song) by Juan Luis Guerra (1992)
Railroad unions on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden’s call for Congress to intervene in their contract dispute, saying the move undercuts their efforts to improve working conditions and Mr. Biden’s claim to be a pro-labor leader.
Mr. Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that lawmakers will be asked to vote this week to impose the terms of the deals the 12 unions agreed to before an original strike deadline in September — even though four of those unions, who represent more than half of the 115,000 rail workers, rejected them. Eight other unions ratified the five-year deals that include 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses.
Biden said he reluctantly agreed that it would be best to override the union votes because the potential damage to the economy would be too great.
“Economy’s at risk”
“Congress I think has to act to prevent it,” Biden said Tuesday. “It’s not an easy call but I think we have to do it. The economy’s at risk.”
Meanwhile, business groups stress that it is crucial to avoid a strike next week, claiming it would devastate the economy.
The law allows Congress to impose a compromise agreement that had been backed by business and labor leaders in September, and which leaves out provisions demanded by four rail unions to boost sick leave. But rail workers and union leaders say forcing the deal on workers — a majority of whom voted against it — is siding with businesses over workers
“It is not enough to ‘share workers’ concerns’,” the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union said in a statement. “A call to Congress to act immediately to pass legislation that adopts tentative agreements that exclude paid sick leave ignores the railroad workers’ concerns.” The union is one of the four that rejected their deal.
The railroads that include BNSF, Union Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern have refused to consider adding sick time because they didn’t want to spend any more on the labor deals than they agreed to in September. They have also argued that rail unions have agreed over the decades to forego paid sick time in favor of higher wages and stronger short-term disability benefits.
Conductor Gabe Christenson, who is co-chairman of the Railroad Workers United coalition that includes workers from all the rail unions, said Biden’s move sides with employers over workers.
“The ‘most labor-friendly president in history’ has proven that he and the Democratic Party are not the friends of labor they have touted themselves to be,” said Christenson, whose group encouraged workers to reject these deals. “These wolves in sheep’s clothing have for decades been in bed with corporate America and have allowed them to continue chipping away at the American middle class and organized labor.”
Paul Lindsey, a longtime Union Pacific engineer based in Pocatello, Idaho, who is active with Railroad Workers United, said Congress and Biden seem to be sending the message that “your quality of life, your time off, your days, your standard of living doesn’t matter if you getting a pay increase is going to hurt business.”
Vote on paid sick leave?
Sen. Bernie Sanders said that he intends to hold up the rail deal until there is a vote on paid sick time for rail workers. “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days,” the Vermont independent said on Twitter.
At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days. It’s my intention to block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.
But business groups that have been pressuring Congress and Biden to intervene in the talks praised the president’s decision and emphasized the potential monetary losses from a strike.
“Truly, the only thing standing in the way of ensuring the American economy doesn’t take a major hit as a consequence of a catastrophic rail strike is the United States Congress,” said Mike Sommers, president and chief executive officer of the American Petroleum Institute. “We need to make sure that the United States Congress acts on this as quickly as possible.”
A rail strike would affect nearly every industry because so many businesses rely on railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products. The railroads have estimated that a strike would cost the economy $2 billion a day and could force many manufacturers to shut down and lay off workers. Plus, commuter railroads and Amtrak would be disrupted because many of them rely on tracks owned by the freight railroads.
Mike Seyfert, CEO of the National Grain and Feed Association, said the widespread severe impact that’s expected if there is a rail strike should inspire bipartisan agreement among lawmakers. The impact of a strike would begin to be felt up to a week before the deadline because railroads would begin halting shipments of hazardous chemicals and perishable products ahead of time to ensure they wouldn’t be stranded along the tracks.
“Last time I checked, every constituent of every member of the House and Senate has to eat,” Seyfert said. “And so I would think that when you look at potential impacts to the food and ag supply chain hopefully that would help to move this agreement along.”
Washington — President Biden met with top congressional leaders to discuss his legislative priorities for the rest of the year, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying the group “made some good progress” as lawmakers return to Washington for their lame-duck session ahead of the new Congress.
Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Vice President Kamala Harris attended Tuesday’s meeting in the Roosevelt Room for the group’s first such gathering since the midterm elections. With Republicans poised to take control of the House in January, there is much Democrats hope — and need — to accomplish with control of both chambers in the coming weeks.
A top priority for Mr. Biden and congressional leaders is averting a national railroad strike by passing a congressional resolution to enforce a contract deal brokered by the White House and union bosses but rejected by multiple unions’ workers. Experts warn a rail strike could wreak havoc on supply chains and worsen inflationary prices ahead of the holiday season. Mr. Biden urged Congress to intervene on Monday night, and on Tuesday, he told reporters he is “confident” they can prevent a crisis.
“I asked the four top leaders in Congress whether they’d be willing to come in and talk about what we’re going to do between now and Christmas in terms of legislation,” Mr. Biden said Tuesday. “And there is a lot to do, including resolving the train strike … And Congress I think has to act to prevent it. It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it.”
After the meeting, Pelosi said Democrats would bring the union agreement to the House floor on Wednesday morning, even though she wants rail workers to have paid sick leave, a key sticking point for workers rejecting the agreement. Upon her return to the Capitol, she said the meeting was “very positive” and that she hoped the House would pass the rail bill “with a strong bipartisan vote.”
“It is a compromise, and it is what we must do,” she said, adding that there were enough votes in the House for passage.
Schumer said he and McConnell will work to pass the bill “ASAP.”
President Biden meets with congressional leaders at the White House in Washington on Nov. 29, 2022.
KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS
The congressional leaders also discussed how to fund the government ahead of a Dec. 16 deadline. Schumer said leaders in the room hope to pass a long-term, omnibus funding bill instead of funding the government with a short-term, continuing resolution.
“There was good will in the room and a desire to come together and solve this problem,” Schumer said of government funding.
The White House said the president “told his Republican colleagues that whatever disagreements they may have, he is always interested in finding new common ground, and that he has an open door to hear their perspectives about doing so.”
Congress’ lengthy to-do list also includes a vote Tuesday on final passage of the the Respect for Marriage Act to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. Lawmakers also must pass an annual defense authorization bill, and Democrats hope to finalize a bipartisan bill to reform how Congress counts electoral votes.
On the rail front, some Republicans are beginning to voice their opposition to congressional intervention, saying the parties should return to the negotiating table and “strike a fair deal that workers can accept,” as Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio put it.
“Just because Congress has the authority to impose a heavy-handed solution does not mean we should,” Rubio said in a statement Tuesday. “It is wrong for the Biden administration, which has failed to fight for workers, to ask Congress to impose a deal the workers themselves have rejected.”
Next year’s leadership isn’t settled in the House. Pelosi announced after the midterm elections that she will not seek a role in leadership in the next Congress, although she’ll remain in office. Instead, she has rallied around several Democrats to take over the party leadership, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. McCarthy won the GOP nominee for speaker, but it remains to be seen whether he will attract the 218 votes he needs to take the gavel in January.
Gillian Morley and Zachary Hudak contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., died Monday after a battle with colorectal cancer, his office said. He was 61.
Tara Rountree, McEachin’s chief of staff, said in a statement late Monday: “Valiantly, for years now, we have watched him fight and triumph over the secondary effects of his colorectal cancer from 2013. Tonight, he lost that battle.”
McEachin represented Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which includes part of Richmond and extends south to the North Carolina border. He was reelected to a fourth term earlier this month.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., released a statement saying: “Up until the very end, Don was a fighter. Even though he battled cancer and faced other trials in recent years, he never lost his focus on social and environmental justice. Tonight, Virginia has lost a great leader and I have lost a great friend.”
Rep. Gerry Connelly, D-Va., called McEachin an “environmentalist, civil rights advocate, faithful public servant, and a man of consequence. There was no better ally to have.”
Richmond TV station WTVR said McEachin is survived by his wife, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin, and their three adult children.
