Updates

During a House Subcommittee on Health hearing today, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) criticized the undue influence of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists and suggested that strong public demand for lower drug prices will eventually win the day.

Congressmen John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) today called on President Donald J. Trump to immediately nominate commissioners to fill vacancies at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and restore its ability to enforce campaign finance law. With only three commissioners out of a possible six commissioners, the FEC lacks a quorum and cannot complete its most basic regulatory and oversight responsibilities.

President Trump admitted that he illegally attempted to coerce a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election. This is a gross abuse of power — impeachable conduct.
My colleagues and I in the House of Representatives will vigorously investigate the White House and gather all relevant facts through an impeachment inquiry.

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:

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:

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.

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 voted to pass three bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would protect coastlines in Maryland and across the country, along with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, from oil and gas drilling.