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Taylor Materio 202-662-1530 x227;
taylor@nlihc.org
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) applauds the Senate for passing crucial amendments to S. 896, the "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act," that will protect the rights of renters living in properties that have gone into foreclosure, and help to prevent homelessness by strengthening existing programs.
S. 896 is intended to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability. It passed the Senate on May 6, 2009, by a vote of 94-5.
Senator John Kerry's (D-MA) renter protection amendment to the bill was accepted in the debate on the bill. The provision would allow tenants with leases to remain in their home for the term of their lease, unless the house is purchased by someone who wants to live in the house. In such cases, the tenant would receive 90 days' notice before being required to vacate. Tenants with a Section 8 housing choice voucher would be able to remain in the property with both their lease and rental assistance payments intact.
"The Senate has taken a critical step forward in protecting the rights of renters, who are the blameless victims of the foreclosure crisis," said NLIHC President Sheila Crowley. "Renters whose landlords are foreclosed upon are among those most at risk for homelessness, and we applaud the action to prevent these unjust and completely unnecessary displacements."
Also accepted as an amendment to S.896 was the HEARTH Act, a long sought reauthorization of the HUD McKinney-Vento programs, that will streamline the programs and increase their flexibility to meet the needs of communities.
The amendment, offered by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Christopher Bond (R-MO), would consolidate the separate McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs into a single Continuum of Care Program. The bill will also call for the development of a national plan to end homelessness and establish a nationwide goal of ensuring that individuals and families who become homeless return to permanent housing within 30 days.
"One in 10 people living below the federal poverty level will become homeless at some point over the course of a year, with a projection of at least 800,000 new homeless people, including children, seniors, and veterans this year," Crowley said. "This is a much-needed step in the right direction for housing policy in the United States."
"We thank Senators Kerry, Reed and Bond for seizing the moment presented by the consideration of S. 896 to move two major housing bills of enormous significance to the lowest income people in our country," Crowley added.
The House bill is likely to consider this week H.R. 1728, which would provide similar protections for renters. A similar provision to the McKinney-Vento amendment, H.R. 1877 has been introduced in the House. We are hopeful that the House will take up this legislation soon.
More information about S.896, including the bill's complete text, is available at: www.thomas.gov
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to ending America's affordable housing crisis. Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone. NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy and educates the public on housing needs and the strategies for solutions.
The Virginia Democrat said that two members of his team were hospitalized "with non-life-threatening injuries" after being attacked by a man looking for the congressman.
Two members of U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly's staff were hospitalized Monday after a man armed with a baseball bat attacked them in the Virginia Democrat's district office in Fairfax.
"This morning, an individual entered my district office armed with a baseball bat and asked for me before committing an act of violence against two members of my staff. The individual is in police custody and both members of my team were transferred to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries," Connolly said in a statement.
"Right now, our focus is on ensuring they are receiving the care they need," the congressman continued. "We are incredibly thankful to the City of Fairfax Police Department and emergency medical professionals for their quick response."
\u201cWow. A man in Fairfax, VA entered the district office of Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly with a baseball bat looking for the congressman. \n\nThe man attacked two of the staffers with the bat.\u201d— Sawyer Hackett (@Sawyer Hackett) 1684173028
"I have the best team in Congress. My district office staff make themselves available to constituents and members of the public every day," Connolly added. "The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff's accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating."
While the motive of Monday's assault is not yet clear, it came amid increasingly violent rhetoric and threats targeting Democratic members of Congress and people close to them. Last October, a far-right conspiracy theorist broke into the San Francisco home of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and brutally attacked her octagenarian husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer.
That came after an armed man threatened to kill Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) at her Seattle home last July. In a Washington Post story about that incident, the congresswoman also shared the racist, misogynistic, and violent messages she receives on social media.
"GOP leaders have sent a wildly exploitative ransom note to the public," said one watchdog. "The administration should not accept its terms."
With President Joe Biden set to meet congressional leaders again on Tuesday as the so-called X-date nears, progressive watchdogs and commentators are warning the White House against caving to any of the Republican Party's spending demands, arguing that concessions would reward the GOP's debt ceiling hostage-taking, further embolden far-right lawmakers, and harm vulnerable Americans.
"GOP leaders have sent a wildly exploitative ransom note to the public. The administration should not accept its terms," Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, said in a statement Monday, pointing to the " many executive branch pathways" Biden can explore if House Republicans refuse to accept a clean debt ceiling increase before June 1—the day the U.S. Treasury Department may no longer be able to meet the federal government's payment obligations.
"The White House should be clear about the specific and steep costs to the American people of cutting government services and expediting fossil fuel extraction while limiting democratic community dissent," Hauser continued, pointing to the safety net cuts and Big Oil giveaways in the House GOP's proposed solution to the debt ceiling impasse.
"Heading into the 2024 election, with democracy itself yet again on the ballot, it would be devastatingly foolish to show the world that the president of the United States can be bullied."
"This is President Biden's moment to prove that protecting America's wellbeing is more important to him than his self-image as a Senate wheel-and-dealer," added Hauser. "These are not good-faith negotiations. Heading into the 2024 election, with democracy itself yet again on the ballot, it would be devastatingly foolish to show the world that the president of the United States can be bullied."
Progressives' concerns over Biden's willingness to stand firm in the face of GOP brinkmanship and, if necessary, fully utilize his executive authority to avert a debt default have grown in recent days amid reports that White House officials are "privately aiming for a two-year deal that would lift the debt limit and impose new limits on discretionary spending," as Politicoput it last week.
Republicans are pushing for 10 years of spending caps, an extreme demand that harks back to the GOP's approach during the 2011 debt ceiling standoff. Biden was vice president and the Obama White House's lead negotiator during that fight, which ended with a law that badly hindered the U.S. economy's recovery from the Great Recession.
Analysts and federal officials have warned that the GOP's latest austerity push could have similarly destructive consequences, resulting in steep cuts to critical government agencies and programs—from rental assistance to food aid. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in March that the GOP's call for a federal spending freeze would make it "impossible to stave off mass evictions."
Ceding at all to the GOP on federal spending would be "a disastrous move," The American Prospect's Ryan Cooper argued Monday in the latest edition of the publication's "X-Date" newsletter.
"Politically, it reinforces the precedent that Republicans can extract concessions through legislative terrorism, and by signaling weakness and timidity in the Democratic leadership, it will further enable GOP extremism," Cooper wrote. "If Republicans control either chamber of Congress next time the ceiling is hit—a high likelihood given how bad the Senate map is in 2024—then they’re virtually certain to take the debt ceiling hostage again."
Moreover, Cooper noted the possibility that spending cuts "would suck hundreds of billions of dollars out of an economy that is already plainly softening, thanks to high interest rates and instability in the banking system."
"A ton of austerity might just be the thing that tips America into a recession during an election year," he continued, "with Biden, a willing negotiator in this process, on the ballot."
In addition to negotiating broad spending levels, Biden told reporters Sunday that he's prepared to examine Republican proposals on work requirements for recipients of federal aid. Analysts have warned that the GOP's work requirement plans would boot millions off of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
\u201cPretty striking: Biden says he\u2019s waiting to hear GOP proposal on work requirements, per pool report (h/t @TonyRomm).\u201d— Jeff Stein (@Jeff Stein) 1684116402
With June 1 rapidly approaching, there's little public evidence that an agreement between the Biden administration and Republicans is imminent.
While the White House said late last week that staff meetings "have been productive over the past few days," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)—who won his party leadership post by agreeing to use the debt ceiling as leverage to pursue far-right policy goals—declared Monday that he believes the two sides are "far apart" in the ongoing debt ceiling talks.
The Washington Postreported Monday that White House negotiators recently gave Republican leaders "a list of proposals to reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes."
"Republican negotiators rejected every item," according to the Post.
With House Republicans refusing to accept a condition-free debt limit increase or the White House's budget proposals, pressure has been mounting for the Biden administration to pursue unilateral solutions.
Biden himself said last week that he "has been considering" invoking the 14th Amendment, which states that "the validity of the public debt of the United States... shall not be questioned."
Some constitutional scholars—including Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe—have encouraged Biden to take that route if needed, though the president and members of his administration have expressed concerns over legal challenges that would be sure to follow.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday that "the 14th Amendment is not anyone's first choice."
"The first choice is that the Republicans raise the debt ceiling because the United States government never, ever, ever, ever defaults on its legal obligations," Warren added. "But if Kevin McCarthy is going to push the United States over a cliff, then it becomes the president's responsibility to find an alternative path."
"Carbon capture and storage is a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry and a dangerous distraction from the pressing need to move off oil and gas," said one advocate.
The national climate watchdog group Food & Water Watch on Monday unveiled a new interactive multimedia resource where users can learn more about "false narratives" regarding carbon capture and storage, an unproven technology pushed by fossil fuel companies eager to avoid what scientists and energy experts say is the actual solution to the climate emergency: Ending the burning of coal, gas, and oil to bring down carbon emissions.
Visitors to the group's new "resource hub" first encounter a title card reading, "The Carbon Capture Solution" before the last word is crossed out and replaced with "Scam."
The site, titled Carbon Capture Scam, includes video storytelling, expert testimonials, analysis, infographics, and other content that help explain to readers why carbon capture and storage (CCS) is simply "a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry" rather than a real solution that will reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere and planetary heating.
CCS refers to technologies that are designed to trap and remove carbon emissions from smokestacks and the atmosphere, such as a $1 billion project at Petra Nova coal plant in Texas and one at the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico, both of which were found to be unfeasible.
"What carbon capture and storage is, is a complex set of machines that is attached to a smokestack where carbon dioxide is being emitted, and it captures that CO2," said biologist Sandra Steingraber in a video featured on the site. "Problem one, it's going to increase the energy, just to run the machinery, by 20%."
Other emissions aside from carbon also increase with the use of CCS technology, added Steingraber, such as smog, formaldehyde, and benzene.
"These are chemicals that we know cause heart attack and stroke, that shorten lifeaspans, that are linked to childhood asthma, and are also linked to preterm birth—preterm birth being the number one cause of disability in the United States," said Steingraber.
The Carbon Capture Scam, Explained by Dr. Sandra Steingraberwww.youtube.com
Despite evidence that CCS is more expensive than its proponents admit as well as being energy-intensive and actually contributing to a net increase in emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency last week unveiled new power plant rules that rely heavily on the unproven technology and include plans to build thousands of miles of new pipelines to carry the emissions proponents say will be trapped and stored.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act also allocated billions of dollars to expand CCS.
"The fossil fuel industry has spent millions of dollars promoting carbon capture and policy makers at all levels have taken the bait, doling out billions of dollars to support its development. But CCS is a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry and a dangerous distraction from the pressing need to move off oil and gas," saidFood & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter on Monday.
"Our Carbon Capture Scam web hub exposes the industry lies behind CCS through detailed research, and gives people an opportunity to take action and fight back against CCS and for a truly clean, renewable energy future," she added.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have joined the fossil fuel industry in attempting "to lull consumers into thinking there's an easier fix than ending fossil fuel use," reads Carbon Capture Scam.
"Stop spreading false hope about direct carbon capture," said climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who is quoted on the site. "It won't help prevent catastrophic damage in the short term, it would require tremendous energy, and it may never scale up. Keep researching, but don't bet on it happening. [Definitely] don't bet the whole planet."
Instead of investing in CCS, Carbon Capture Scam says, Congress must stop peddling "dangerous carbon capture hype," end its industry-approved "delay tactics," and ramp up efforts to shift to a renewable energy system.
"Renewable energy and energy efficiency are reliable, cost-effective, and ready for widespread deployment," reads the website. "Given huge advances in production and storage, we could meet 100% of our energy needs with clean, renewable energy—today. All we need is the political will to make it happen."