Updates

Yesterday, the corrupt jury that is the Republican-led Senate acquitted President Trump in a sham trial — a trial rushed along without witnesses, documents or impartial justice.

Despite their acknowledgement of President Trump’s reckless misconduct, all but one Republican Senator chose to put the President’s personal and political interests ahead of our country’s interests.

Lawmakers: The US cannot afford another 10 years of Citizens United
Tom Udall and John Sarbanes, CNN (Op-Ed)

Ten years ago, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission unleashed a torrent of outside spending by corporations and wealthy donors who seized the opportunity to buy unlimited influence in Washington. The decision exponentially increased the amount of money in our politics and emboldened foreign actors to corrupt our elections. Our democracy has paid a heavy price.

Since the Citizens United decision, just 10 individuals have injected more than $1.2 billion into our elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Secret money groups have poured $963 million into ads without telling voters who paid for them. And Americans have no way of knowing how much foreign money has infiltrated our elections.

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Today, Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) introduced The Residential Energy and Economic Savings (TREES) Act, a bill to help homeowners lower energy costs, reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate the effects of climate change by planting more trees.

The bill creates a new Department of Energy (DOE) grant program that offers homeowners free or reduced-cost tree planting services to help shade homes, reduce energy use and tackle the climate crisis.

At a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing today, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) highlighted the dangers of high-dose opioids and called for federal action to limit access to these addictive and powerful drugs.

Tree Planting Bill Dropped
Kelsey Tamborrino, POLITICO (‘Morning Energy’)

A bipartisan trio of Reps. Doris Matsui, John Sarbanes and Jeff Fortenberry is introducing legislation today creating an Energy Department grant program to enable residential consumers to get free or discounted tree-planting services. "By creating a competitive tree-planting grant program, we can empower communities to improve green space, reduce consumer costs, and help fight climate change — a win-win-win," Matsui said in a statement.

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Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today voted to pass the PFAS Action Act (H.R. 535), a bill to help protect drinking water, air and soil from highly toxic and long-lasting per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals.

LIVE: Maryland lawmakers call for more protection for places of worship
Tiffany Watson, WBFF-TV (Online)

On Monday at 10:30 am, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, Senator Ben Cardin and Congressman John Sarbanes will be joined by leaders of the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities in Baltimore to stand united against religious intolerance, hate, and antisemitism.

The Senators will announce their support for a new proposal to quadruple funding for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides security assistance to religious and community nonprofit institutions that are at high risk of terrorist attack.

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The House Subcommittee on Energy today passed the 21st Century Power Grid Act, a bill authored by Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) to modernize America’s electric grid, improve its resiliency to withstand cyberattacks and extreme weather events and enable it to integrate clean technologies.

During the markup, Congressman Sarbanes underscored the urgent need to upgrade and strengthen America’s electric grid.

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) released the following statement today after voting to pass H.Con.Res. 83, a War Powers Resolution to limit President Trump’s ability to engage in a military conflict with Iran:

“After nearly two decades of endless war, the American people are wary of additional military entanglements in the Middle East. In spite of this, the President’s impulse is to heighten brinkmanship with Iran, and to do so without appropriate Congressional authorization and in violation of established protocols for consulting Congressional leaders.