WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a bill that has split the Connecticut delegation and would have required additional scrutiny for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, slowing their entry into the United States. “Our enemy is ISIL – not refugees,” Blumenthal said in a statement
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator, was first elected in 2011. Sen. Blumenthal has supported stricter gun legislation and support for veterans.
Posted inPolitics
For CT delegation, a flurry of successes in a blizzard of bills
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal sponsored and co-sponsored 377 bills and amendments in 2015, more than any other U.S. senator. But a Connecticut Mirror analysis found other Connecticut lawmakers were busy, too.
Posted inPolitics
A HUD secretary touts a new promise to a poor city
HARTFORD — President Obama’s secretary of housing and urban development, Julián Castro, dropped in Friday on 06120, one of the poorest zip codes in the United States, a place where the latest federal anti-poverty programs go to be road-tested. So it is with the North Hartford Promise Zone, a designation granted in April to about three square miles of unrealized promise.
Posted inPolitics
At Republican retreat, GOP senators press Kudlow to run against Blumenthal
BALTIMORE, MD. — Larry Kudlow continued to keep people guessing as to whether he’ll challenge Sen. Richard Blumenthal at the House and Senate Republican retreat in Baltimore Thursday, but the pressure was on. “I talked to quite a few senators,” Kudlow said. “They were very encouraging.”
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Obamas to put Malloy in spotlight at State of the Union
WASHINGTON — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will be one of the most notable guests at Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, sitting with Michelle Obama.
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White House rolls out new gun control measures
WASHINGTON — With support from Connecticut lawmakers, President Obama is taking executive actions that will broaden FBI background checks of gun buyers and anger Republican members of Congress who say the president has overstepped his authority.
Posted inNews
Decades later, compensation for Iranian hostages
Thirty-six years after Moorhead Kennedy spent 444 days as one of 53 U.S. Embassy personnel taken hostage in Iran on Nov. 4, 1979, he is close to getting compensation. He attributes the breakthrough to the work of a U.S. senator from Connecticut, several colleagues – and the Hollywood movie, “Argo.”
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Defense spending, permanent R&D tax break benefit CT firms
A hyper-busy Congress accomplished this week much of what it wasn’t able to do all year.
Posted inEducation
Senate saves Perkins student loan program
WASHINGTON– The nation’s oldest student loan program, which had expired in September, has been temporarily revived by the Senate. The Perkins loan program was available at most of Connecticut’s four-year colleges and has helped thousands of students in the state.
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North Stonington selectman helps GOP lawmakers push Indian recognition bill
WASHINGTON– Nicholas Mullane, a longtime Republican selectman for the town of North Stonington, on Wednesday helped bolster a GOP bill would strip the Obama administration of its authority to recognize Indian tribes.
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CT lawmakers at heart of new Dem gun control campaign
WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress, including those from Connecticut, ratcheted up the pressure on Republicans Wednesday to take up gun safety measures. The Democrats spent the day calling for gun control measures.
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Day after mass shooting, Senate rejects gun control measures
WASHINGTON — The day after California’s mass shooting, Richard Blumenthal Chris Murphy and other Senate Democrats pressed for largely symbolic votes on a couple of gun control measures. As most expected, they lost.
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
New federal transportation bill would boost funding to CT
WASHINGTON – In a long-awaited compromise, Congress unveiled a final, five-year transportation bill on Tuesday that would boost money to the states and change the way Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor routes are funded.
Posted inPolitics
With Congress deadlocked, CT senators press Obama on gun checks
WASHINGTON – Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy and other gun control advocates have switched their focus from Congress to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to try to close what they call loopholes in the FBI background checks of gun buyers.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy, federal lawmakers stand firm on helping Syrian refugees
WASHINGTON — A growing number of GOP governors are citing the Paris attacks as a reason not to accept Syrian refugees, but Connecticut politicians are rejecting that notion.