Consumer Protection
On Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis issued an order that halts the Biden administration from disbursing any student loan relief funds until the court rules on an emergency request by six Republican-led states to block the policy. This order does not prevent borrowers from still applying for student debt relief at studentaid.gov. I encourage you to apply if you have not done so already. Nearly 22 million Americans have already applied for the program.
A fundamental building block of our democracy is the right of American citizens to vote and choose their representatives. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. If you need information on your polling place, or would like to locate a ballot drop box location, please go to Elections.IL.Gov. I encourage everyone to make their voice heard if you have not already.
After a fantastic district work period filled with constituent meetings and site visits, I am back in Washington, D.C. where we are working to pass federal funding bills by September 30th in order to avoid a government shutdown. But, right now, Congress is at a standstill. House Republicans have reneged on their budget agreement with the White House - the agreement they reached after holding our economy hostage and threatening to default on the debt. And now they want to further slash domestic spending levels and endanger critical services for the American people.
Right now, Congress has until the end of September to fund our government and avert a shutdown. It is my hope that we can quickly reach a bipartisan agreement to temporarily extend current spending levels. I will keep fighting to ensure that any continuing resolution we consider is free from poison pill policy provisions. Too much is at stake. This is not a game.
I am back in Washington this week, and tomorrow, the House of Representatives is poised to pass a clean continuing resolution to keep our government open and funded through the end of the year. I am glad Democrats and Republicans were able to reach a bipartisan agreement to put the needs of everyday Americans first. Too much was at stake. I will continue fighting to ensure that any future budget bill is free from poison pill policy provisions.
Here is my latest weekly update for constituents. This week I discuss Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Climate Change, online extremism, and several other topics.
Yesterday, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers proposed a new rule to protect the waters of the United States. The rule would make clear that the EPA and the Army Corps have the authority and responsibility to protect smaller bodies of water from harmful pollution – an authority which had come into question due to recent interpretations of Supreme Court rulings. U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Luis Gutiérrez (IL-04), and Brad Schneider (IL-10) released the following statement on the proposed rule:
In February, a 22-month old from Apple Valley, Minnesota was killed by a falling Malm dresser; his family was unaware of the danger the Malm dresser posed, including two deaths from Malm dresser tip-overs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) green-lighted a study by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reexamine the current metric used to determine acceptable aircraft noise pollution. Rep. Jan Schakowsky has been a leader in the effort to get the FAA to review the current 65 decibel Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL) metric.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Congressman.