Updates

During this time of introspection and atonement, I wish the Jewish community a meaningful fast. From my family to yours, G’mar Chatimah Tovah.

During a House Education and Labor Committee hearing today about the Trump Administration’s failure to administer the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) submitted a statement for the record, calling on the Trump Education Department and Secretary Devos to fix management errors and deliver student loan debt relief to America’s teachers, military members, community health care workers, public defenders, social workers and other public servants who rely on the PSLF program.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Chairwoman Nita Lowey, House Appropriations Committee; Chairperson Zoe Lofgren, House Administration Committee; and Democracy Reform Task Force Chair John Sarbanes released the following statement today after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) caved to Democratic pressure to support an appropriations amendment that would provide $250 million in election security grant funding to state and local governments, well below the $600 million in grant funding passed by the House and far less than the amount independent experts say we need:

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today joined U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, along with Representatives Steny Hoyer, Elijah E. Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md.), in urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to reconsider a recently proposed change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would hurt Maryland families.

Under the proposed Trump Administration rule, an estimated 50,000 Marylanders could lose their SNAP benefits.

Congressmen John Sarbanes, Elijah E. Cummings and Dutch Ruppersberger (all D-Md.) today sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Acting Director Matthew T. Albence, requesting that ICE immediately cease the predatory bait and switch tactics to arrest immigrants that are attending interviews as part of their lawful immigration process related to their marriage to a U.S. citizen at the Baltimore U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office.

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today joined U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, along with Congressmen Jamie Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md.), to announce a $50,000 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to Montgomery County’s Volunteer Center.

During a House Subcommittee on Environment hearing today, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) blasted wealthy and well-connected chemical companies for concealing the science linking PFAS chemicals to health risks, and for using campaign contributions and lobbyists to curry favor with lawmakers to avoid Congressional scrutiny.

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today joined U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.), along with Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D), to announce nearly $3.7 million in federal funding to fight youth homeless. The funding, which comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, will help the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services develop the best strategies to meet the needs of homeless youth in Baltimore City.

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) issued the following statement today after a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the Trump Education Department, under the leadership of Secretary Betsy DeVos, has denied 99 percent of Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) applicants from receiving student debt relief: