Media

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Jan Schakowsky released the following statement after President Barack Obama’s address Wednesday night regarding the United States response to the threat posed by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS):

“President Obama demonstrated clear leadership last night when he laid out a strong framework for eliminating the threat ISIS poses to security and stability throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Washington, D.C. – “Yesterday, Home Depot confirmed that its customers are the victims of what may be the largest data breach of a retailer in history. Reportedly, in an attack that went unnoticed by the company for five months, more than 60 million credit and debit card numbers and associated pieces of personal information were stolen from Home Depot stores by hackers – similar to the 2013 breaches of Target and other major retailers. Worse still, Home Depot did not notify its customers or make any public statement until contacted about the breach by a journalist.

CHICAGO– Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, released the following statement in response to renewed allegations of a supposed “stand down” order during the unfortunate Benghazi tragedy.

“As Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I was intimately involved in our committee’s extensive investigation into what went on during the tragedy on September 11, 2012 that cost Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans their lives.

CHICAGO – “This Labor Day, we will take time to recognize the enormous contributions that working men and women make to our nation. Our economic strength comes from their hard work, productivity and skills.

Yet American workers deserve more than recognition – they deserve a raise. Between 1979 and 2013, productivity grew by 64.9 percent but hourly wages rose just 8 percent. Wages have not kept pace with productivity and they have certainly not kept pace with increases in food, gasoline and other basic goods.

CHICAGO – “I applaud the Obama Administration for acting so that women will be able to receive cost-free preventive contraceptive services, in keeping with the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine. These regulations are required because of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

CHICAGO – Members of the Congressional Seniors Task Force, led by Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Congresswomen Doris Matsui (D-CA), sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, urging CMS to fully implement the provision of the Affordable Care Act which requires nursing home staffing information be obtained through a payroll data collection system. Currently, staffing information is self-reported annually, creating instances where consumers have inaccurate or misleading information when deciding which nursing homes to place their loved ones in.

CHICAGO – I am extremely angered and saddened to learn of the intentional murder of James Foley. This was a brutal, barbaric act – his murderers must be brought to justice and the reign of terror by ISIS must end.

Jim was a respected photojournalist and a proud alumnus of the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism graduate program, an acclaimed program based in my home district. We mourn him. His murder also reminds us that there are journalists around the world who face very real dangers and risk their lives on a daily basis in order to report on crucial stories that would otherwise never be heard.