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Common Cause Applauds House Vote on Infrastructure Bill With Significant Investments for Broadband Connectivity
WASHINGTON
Friday night, the House voted to pass the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act which includes $65 billion in broadband investments. These investments will fund the deployment of high-speed networks in unserved and underserved areas, make broadband more affordable for low-income households, fund digital inclusion programs that ensure communities have the necessary tools and skills to effectively use broadband. The legislation also includes important protections that enhance broadband pricing transparency and takes steps that prevent providers from engaging in discriminatory deployment. The legislation passed the Senate in August, which now sits at the president's desk awaiting signature.
Statement of Yosef Getachew, Common Cause Media and Democracy Program Director
"We applaud Congress for passing an infrastructure bill that contains much-needed investments to address long-standing disparities in broadband connectivity. The legislation addresses all aspects of the digital divide including more than $40 billion to deploy broadband in unserved and underserved communities and $14.2 billion to extend the Emergency Broadband Benefit, a program launched last year that makes broadband more affordable for low-income households. The legislation also includes $2.75 billion to fund digital inclusion programs to meet the communications needs of our communities. The affordability and digital inclusion provisions are particularly noteworthy as Congress has acknowledged that deployment funding on its own is not enough to close the digital divide.
"By all accounts, the broadband investments in this legislation represent a significant step in ensuring marginalized communities that have been left behind in the digital age have access to affordable and robust connectivity necessary to participate in our democracy and economy. While there is still much work to do to close the digital divide, we thank Congress for passing this legislation and look forward to President Biden signing it into law."
To view this release online, click here.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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'Children Are Dying': UN Human Rights Chief Demands Trump End Economic Assault on Cuba
"The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," said Volker Türk.
Jun 09, 2026
The United Nations' top human rights official on Monday implored the Trump administration to immediately lift its oil embargo and economic sanctions on Cuba as the island faces a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency, with dire fuel shortages causing rolling blackouts, disrupting food supplies, and buckling hospitals.
“The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement. "Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable. These sanctions must be lifted immediately."
Türk noted that key medical services on the island—including oncology and maternal health—have been severely damaged by US economic warfare this year and over the past decade, causing infant mortality to surge and childhood cancer survival rates to fall, among other impacts. The UN rights chief's office noted that "essential medicines are in critical short supply, with supply levels down to about 30%."
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the shortages in an interview released Monday, saying that "we have very effective programs to care for children with cancer; today, these programs are limited by a shortage of medications and supplies, and as a result, the survival rates of these children with cancer are declining."
In his Monday statement, Türk also pointed to the sanctions' impact on the island's food supply, much of which is imported. Fuel shortages caused by US President Donald Trump's embargo—imposed in late January following his administration's abduction of Venezuela's president—have led to "a reported 60% decrease in food production and spikes in the costs of basic food items," according to the UN.
"Such severe sanctions packages that target entire sectors of an economy and produce broad, indiscriminate, and harsh effects on populations are incompatible with basic principles of international human rights law,” said Türk. "Cuba faces increasing isolation. Companies are leaving. Fewer airlines fly to the country. It is almost disconnected from international payment systems. Rising summer temperatures risk increasing the spread of vector-borne and waterborne diseases. The hurricane season further increases exposure."
"This creates a perfect storm for social and economic deterioration and suffering for the Cuban people," he warned.
The UN official's statement came amid fears that the Trump administration is preparing for a military assault on Cuba, which the US president has repeatedly threatened in the months following the illegal bombing and invasion of Venezuela.
"Cuba is next, by the way," Trump said in late March.
Politico reported in late May that the Pentagon is putting "building blocks in place" for an invasion of Cuba, "positioning the troops and weapons needed for the US to launch a military attack."
"All it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump," the outlet reported.
The US military buildup and escalating economic warfare have led Democratic lawmakers to call for swift passage of a war powers resolution to prevent Trump from launching yet another military operation without congressional approval.
"Trump's belligerent foreign policy is creating new wars and conflicts across the world. As our country is already embroiled in a new war with Iran, the president has now set his sights on regime change in Cuba,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), a lead sponsor of the resolution, said last month. "This administration is rushing toward another disastrous war, putting countless American and foreign lives at risk."
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GOP Blasted for 'Handout to the Superwealthy' Private Jet Owners Slipped Into Air Safety Bill
"Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes," said one Senate Democrat. "If only they worked that hard for consumers."
Jun 08, 2026
Nearly a year after congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump made private jets tax-deductible in last summer's budget package, they're again trying to push through legislation that would benefit people rich enough to own personal planes.
Members of Congress have been working on an air safety bill since a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane over the Potomac River last year, killing dozens of people. Early Monday, Politico reported on "a little-noticed" provision on private jets that was slipped into legislation passed by the House of Representatives in April, but not included in the Senate version.
The debated provision stems from the Federal Aviation Administration's 2020 requirement that aircraft adopt a satellite-based tracking technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out.
"Private aircraft owners go to great lengths to hide their aircraft from us," Jeff Prang, the assessor for California's Los Angeles County, told Politico. "This data helps us to identify where those aircraft are located."
Prang said that since the beginning of the year, the data has helped his office find an additional 1,000 aircraft in the county, with a total assessed value of $3.5 billion. Private jets in California are subject to sales tax and a 1% annual property tax, so "that's $35 million in local property taxes that aircraft owners had been avoiding," he explained.
The House provision states that the data "may not be used by any person, government agency, or other entity to identify aircraft for the purpose of obtaining revenue from the owner or operator of such aircraft" without permission.
If passed, billionaires will "get to fly private and pay NO taxes," Americans for Tax Fairness Americans warned on social media Monday. "This is a handout to the superwealthy—and we're going to pay for it."
Also responding to reporting, John Loftus, editor at large of the right-wing Daily Caller, suggested the policy could harm Republicans who are at risk of losing control of one or both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.
"It's annoying and wrong that private jet owners dodge taxes. This is a great political issue for Democrats because they like to portray those with money as responsible for all ills in American society—$35 million in tax revenue for California is a drop in the ocean (and would likely get wasted anyway)," Loftus wrote. "Republican lawmakers trying to carve out this loophole in a midterm election makes them look sneaky and unconcerned with the issue on 99% of the population's mind: inflation."
Although Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is not up for reelection this cycle, he, too, noted the reporting: "Oh look—Republicans helping private-jet billionaires avoid paying taxes. If only they worked that hard for consumers."
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Under Right to Record Act, People Could Sue Federal Agents for First Amendment Violations
“Without recordings, we wouldn’t know the truth of what happened to Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, Marimar Martinez, George Retes, and so, so many others,” said one of the bill's sponsors.
Jun 08, 2026
A pair of congressional Democrats on Monday introduced legislation that would protect the constitutional right to legally record federal agents and open the door to civil compensation for people whose rights have been violated.
Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced the Right to Record Act, which according to Frost's office, "establishes the right to sue individual law enforcement agents if they violate First Amendment rights, including the right to record, observe, or peacefully protest."
“The First Amendment defends the right to assemble, protest, and record government officials in public," Frost said in a statement.
No federal agent is above the Constitution. My bill, the Right to Record Act, with @blumenthal.senate.gov strengthens your First Amendment right to record, observe, and peacefully protest — and gives you the power to sue federal agents who violate those rights.
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— Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@frost.house.gov) June 8, 2026 at 2:24 PM
"That right has never been more important. In cases like the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, officials and their allies tried to paint the victims as threats despite evidence showing otherwise,” the congressman said, referring to two people shot and killed during the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Operation Metro Surge anti-immigrant blitz in Minneapolis.
"Without firsthand recordings, those false narratives might have become the official story, which is why the Right to Record Act is so important," Frost added. "It would protect the public’s ability to expose the truth without fear, giving individuals a legal path forward if an officer does violate their constitutional rights.”
In the same statement, Blumenthal said that “over the last year, I’ve investigated dozens of cases of Americans brutalized by agents of their own government, and across the board, video footage corroborated their testimony—showing the world what they experienced and making sure that justice was served."
"Without recordings, we wouldn’t know the truth of what happened to Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, Marimar Martinez, George Retes, and so, so many others," the senator continued.
Martinez, a US citizen, was shot five times by a US Customs and Border Protection agent last October in Chicago while going to donate clothing to her church. Officer body camera footage showed that DHS officials—who labeled Martinez a "domestic terrorist"—lied about events leading up to the shooting.
Retes, who is also a US citizen, is an Iraq War veteran who was violently arrested last July during an immigration raid on his job site and subsequently jailed for three days.
"The right to bear witness has never been more important," Blumenthal said in his statement Monday. "I’m proud to work with Congressman Frost on bicameral legislation that will strengthen the right to record, observe, and peacefully protest—creating real enforcement tools for the protections of the First Amendment that lay the foundation for our democracy.”
Recording federal law enforcement agents in public is protected First Amendment activity, as long as the recorder is not interfering with the officers' duties. Federal courts have repeatedly upheld this right.
"The right to observe and record law enforcement is fundamental to our democracy," Jenna Leventoff, senior policy counsel with the ACLU—which has endorsed the Right to Record Act—asserted Monday.
"We can't hold our government accountable if we can't see for ourselves what they're doing in our communities," she argued. "Observing and filming allows people to create an independent record, share information with their communities, and demand better from our government."
"Protesting for what we believe in is a core American value, and observing and filming government activity can drive the protest movements that spark change," Leventoff added. "All of these rights are squarely protected by the First Amendment, and we're hopeful that Congress will codify them into law by enacting the Right to Record Act."
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