January, 20 2012, 09:38am EDT
Senate Delays PROTECT IP Vote After Public Outcry
WASHINGTON
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would delay a vote on the PROTECT IP Act. A cloture vote on the controversial legislation had been scheduled for Tuesday.
Craig Aaron, president and CEO of the Free Press Action Fund, made the following statement:
"The public has spoken in no uncertain terms. And the clear message to Washington is that you can't let corporate lobbyists dictate Internet policy, you can't tamper with the open architecture of the Internet, and you can't craft any future legislation without giving the public a seat at the table.
"While the PROTECT IP Act and its House counterpart, the Stop Online Piracy Act, are still kicking around the corridors of Capitol Hill, our elected members of Congress would be wise to relegate these bad bills to the dustbin of history."
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
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GOP Shutdown Threat Raises Risk of 'Inhumane' Cuts to Food Aid
"House Republicans are listening to their most extreme members on steps that could slow the flow of relief and put us to the brink of a government shutdown," warned Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Sep 04, 2023
Republican threats to shut down the federal government if spending isn't drastically cut have put funding for a critical nutrition aid program at risk as hunger grows across the nation, with the recent lapse of pandemic-era assistance leaving many low-income families struggling to put food on the table.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC, is one of many federal programs that could face severe impacts if Congress fails to fund the government by September 30.
As The Washington Post's Tony Romm reported Sunday, "While USDA technically can operate WIC if federal funding lapses, states could only continue paying benefits for as long as they had leftover money."
"A shutdown at the end of 2018 into the following January, for example, brought some states within a month of having to cut benefits, institute waitlists, or take other drastic actions," Romm noted, citing a Washington state nutrition official. "Nearly a decade later, state leaders and nutrition experts fear the fight in the nation's capital once again could leave millions of women and children in a financial bind."
WIC, long a target of Republican lawmakers, gives states grants to provide nutrition aid and other assistance to pregnant and postpartum adults and children up to the age of five. House Republican appropriators have proposed sharp cuts to WIC for the coming fiscal year, even as policy experts say a significant funding increase is needed as participation in the program grows.
In a recent report, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) warned that up to 750,000 eligible toddlers, preschoolers, postpartum adults, and others eligible for WIC could be turned away from the program if the House GOP's proposed funding levels become law.
"Another 4.6 million toddlers and preschoolers and pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding participants would have their benefits cut significantly," the group estimated. "In total, the House bill would cut food assistance for, or take it away altogether from, roughly 5.3 million young children and pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding adults."
CBPP argued that the program will need roughly $7.3 billion in total funding for fiscal year 2024 to provide full benefits to WIC recipients. Republicans, who already secured more strict work requirements for SNAP recipients in a debt ceiling deal with the White House, want to approve just $5.5 billion for WIC.
In an effort to stave off disaster, the Biden White House last week urged the divided Congress to pass a short-term government funding measure that includes $1.4 billion in additional funding for WIC.
Romm emphasized Sunday that "the request hinges on House Republicans, who recently have tried to slash WIC funding in a move that could spell cuts to poor Americans' monthly nutritional support."
The White House estimates that the GOP's proposed WIC cuts "could reduce monthly fruit and vegetable benefits by 70% for pregnant women and 56% for children, while potentially forcing 1.9 million participants onto a waitlist for aid," Romm added.
The far-right House Freedom Caucus, which has dozens of members, has threatened to oppose any short-term funding agreement that does not impose steep cuts to federal spending and put an end to the "unprecedented weaponization" of the Justice Department, an apparent reference to the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The House, led by Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is set to return from August recess next week. As CNNreported Sunday, "GOP hardliners in the House are eager to play a game of chicken over the end-of-the-month deadline to fund federal agencies, seeking to force the White House and Senate to make a choice: Accept a slew of conservative priorities or risk a debilitating government shutdown."
Republican appropriators have called for major cuts to a range of federal programs related to education, environmental protection, and more.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote on social media over the weekend that "House Democrats are ready to move on funding for disaster relief and other crises."
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South Koreans have continued a weekend rally against Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuclear plant's contaminated radioactive wastewater into the ocean by holding a large demonstration on Saturday.
The protesters, including fishermen, activists and politicians, shouted slogans such as "Immediately stop the marine dumping of radioactive wastewater" and "Prohibit import of all Japanese aquatic products," as they urged the South Korean government to file a lawsuit with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea against the Japanese government.
On August 24th, Japan began dumping radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
The move resulted in a massive backlash across Asia and around the world.
While South Korea's opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung calls the Fukushima release an "act of terror," the country's government under President Yoon Suk Yeol has backed Japan's decision, Deutsche Welle explained. However, the release is unpopular with the public, with more than 80% opposing the release and more than 60% vowing not to eat Japanese seafood afterward, TheAssociated Press reported.
According to The Korea Herald:
Democratic Party of Korea head Rep. Lee Jae-myung, on the fourth day of a hunger strike, said he would call on the international community to join his party’s protests against the Japanese government over the water’s release, in a press conference on Sunday.
“The dumping of the wastewater contaminated with radioactive materials by Japan is in direct violation of the London Convention on marine pollution,” he said. “It is time for the international community to step in and call out this clear breach of the international law, stop Japan’s misbehavior and stand united to preserve marine safety.”
The main opposition leader said he penned a letter to the heads of states and governments of the 86 signatories of the London Convention to collectively rally against the release of the Fukushima wastewater.
Xinhua news reports:
"Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater has the nature of trash," Lee Seo-yoon, a mother of three children, said during the rally, adding that Japan regards the ocean as the largest and the cheapest trash bag.
Lee stressed that it would be absurd to hope that no one would be harmed after dumping the trash into the ocean, urging Tokyo to store the radioactive wastewater on its soil rather than dumping it in the sea.
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The munition can be fired from US Abrams tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.
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This follows an earlier decision by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.
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Common Dreams has reported:
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The resolution was approved by 147 nations. The U.S., U.K., France, and Israel voted against the proposal.
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