WASHINGTON – U.S. House Republicans were stopped from bringing back a practice that once funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Connecticut – but the once reviled earmark, or special project, looks like it’s going to make a comeback anyway.
Paul Ryan
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House GOP grapples with how to punish Larson, other sit-in participants
WASHINGTON — Pressed by the conservative wing of their party, House GOP leaders discussed options this week to punish Rep. John Larson and other Democrats who staged a sit-in on the House floor to protest the lack of action on gun control measures, but they’ve yet to unveil a strategy.
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DeLauro visits Afghanistan after a stay in Italy
WASHINGTON – Pivoting from a taxpayer-funded trip to Italy this week with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Rosa DeLauro visited Afghanistan this week to talk to soldiers and the nation’s officials.
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Murphy starts new campaign fund to help gun control candidates
WASHINGTON – Since Congress won’t pass any new gun control legislation, Sen. Chris Murphy and two Senate colleagues are taking another tack – raising money for candidates who will support these bills in the next Congress.
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Larson, Lewis meet with Speaker Ryan, but no deal on gun bills vote
WASHINGTON – Democratic U.S. Reps. John Larson and John Lewis met with House Speaker Paul Ryan late Tuesday, and receiving no assurances that votes would be held on gun control legislation, said they will continue their campaign to pressure House GOP leaders.
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CT Dems joined national Democrats in gun-control fundraising pitch
WASHINGTON — Republicans vying to unseat Connecticut Democrats say they are outraged by the attempt to raise political cash from what they characterized as exploitation of the mass shooting in Orlando earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Democratic Party accused the GOP candidates of using their outrage to avoid taking a position on the gun control legislation at the center of the controversy.
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Larson plotted House revolt clandestinely with Lewis
WASHINGTON – Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis was the face of the unprecedented uprising by House Democrats seeking votes on gun control measures, but it was Rep. John Larson who was the behind-the-scenes planner of the insurrection and who kept it on course for more than 16 hours.
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Blumenthal says VA chief should apologize for Disney comments
Washington – Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined a growing number of lawmakers who slammed Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald for comparing wait times at VA hospitals with wait times at Disney theme parks.
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As Congress balks, Puerto Rico on brink of financial meltdown
WASHINGTON – As the hours tick down toward Puerto Rico’s default on a massive debt payment Sunday, Congress has so far rejected solutions offered by Connecticut lawmakers and some Republican leaders to save the commonwealth from economic ruin.
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Obama’s action on guns fulfills promise to Newtown families
WASHINGTON — Tearing up as he spoke of the slaying of 20 Newtown first-graders, President Obama made an emotional appeal to the nation for support of his gun-control initiatives on Tuesday, saying, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.”
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Himes, Courtney tell GOP to keep Syrian refugee policy out of budget bill
WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney and Jim Himes. Democrats who gave the Republican Party a veto-proof majority on a bill that would suspend Syrian and Iraqi refugee admissions, are now demanding the bill’s language be left out of a massive budget bill.
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Connecticut’s Week in Washington
Members of the Connecticut delegation weighed in this week on gun control, Medicare and Medicaid coverage for prostheses, and the looming sale of Plum Island in Long Island Sound. But the all-Democratic delegation just sat back and watched the GOP struggle over naming a new speaker of the House.
