News Coverage
National Public Radio: Warren, Sanders Call For Expanding Food Aid To College Students
Democrats in the House and Senate are introducing legislation Tuesday that would make pandemic-related food benefits for college students permanent. The push is being led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent.In the December relief package, Congress increased the number of low-income college students eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the duration of the pandemic. That included students who are eligible for work … Continue Reading
May 11, 2021
Boston.com: Elizabeth Warren and Ayanna Pressley bring back the Andrew Kearse Act, four years after his death in police custody
Before the words “I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry in the wake of George Floyd’s death, there was Andrew Kearse.Kearse, a Black resident of New York City, died exactly four years ago — May 11, 2017 — from a heart attack in the back of a police cruiser, despite repeatedly pleading to officers for help. Dash camera footage showed the 36-year-old breathing heavily in the back of the car and repeatedly telling officers, “I can’t breathe.” In total, he asked for help 70 times over the course … Continue Reading
May 06, 2021
Boston.com: Warren, Markey urge Senate leadership to include long-term investments for schools in next funding package
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are among a group of lawmakers urging Senate leadership to ensure that long-term investments for schools recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic are included in the next major funding package. In a letter jointly addressed to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, the Massachusetts Democrats wrote that additional funding is needed for elementary and secondary schools to “accelerate students’ academic progress, address … Continue Reading
May 05, 2021
Forbes: Warren: Extend Student Loan Freeze Or Make It ‘Permanent’
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) suggested on Tuesday that the Biden administration should extend the current pause on federal student loan payments and interest, or implement a permanent freeze.Warren’s comments, made on Twitter, were made in response to a statement earlier this week by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that the administration isn’t ruling out extending the student loan moratorium beyond the current September expiration. The CARES Act, which Congress enacted last year, … Continue Reading
April 28, 2021
Business Insider: Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic senators demand to know how US pharmaceutical companies plan to share vaccine technology as COVID-19 devastates India
In the next few weeks, more than half of Americans will have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. In much of the developing world, if current trends hold, people will be lucky to get a shot by 2022 — all the more reason, a group of US senators say, that pharmaceutical companies should be sharing their know-how and hastening the end to this global health crisis.Sharing intellectual property, "such as vaccine recipes and manufacturing information... could drastically expand … Continue Reading
April 27, 2021
CNN: Elizabeth Warren: US taxes are rigged in favor of Amazon, Netflix and other big companies
New York (CNN Business) - Senator Elizabeth Warren is making her case for why America's tax system is rigged by calling out Amazon, Netflix and other companies that pay little or nothing in federal income taxes."Congress didn't wake up one morning and say, 'Let's punch enough holes in the tax code so that Amazon and Netflix can earn billions and pay nothing,'" Warren told CNN Business on Tuesday after chairing her first Senate finance subcommittee hearing."Those giant corporations have … Continue Reading
April 27, 2021
CBS: Progressive lawmakers push child care plans ahead of President Biden's proposal
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Tuesday unveiled a $700 billion plan to help families get affordable, quality child care in the United States. Her proposal comes as the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the persistent challenges families face finding and paying for care. Warren's Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act, which is being reintroduced in the House by Congressman Mondaire Jones of New York, is one of several child care proposals from lawmakers putting pressure … Continue Reading
April 25, 2021
Axios: Democratic senators call on Biden to expand Medicare in American Families Plan
Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 16 Democratic senators sent President Biden a letter on Sunday calling for his American Families Plan to significantly expand Medicare.Why it matters: The plan, expected to be announced ahead of Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday, is one of several massive proposals brought by the administration to ease mass economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The White House is expected to propose funding the plan by raising tax rates … Continue Reading
April 23, 2021
The 19th: Elizabeth Warren to reintroduce $700 billion universal child care proposal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren will reintroduce a proposal for universal child care early next week that would devote at least $700 billion over the next decade to revamping the nation’s decimated child care infrastructure.That level of investment has support from seven other senators, who signed onto a letter — first shared with The 19th — that calls on the Biden administration to include the historic child care commitment in its next big spending bill, the American Families Plan. “President Biden has … Continue Reading
April 22, 2021
Boston Globe: Warren joins push for more housing help from DC, seeking nearly $500 billion for 3 million new homes
Add Senator Elizabeth Warren to the growing list of Washington Democrats urging federal help to tackle a housing crunch that’s affecting Greater Boston and many other places across the United States.The Massachusetts Democrat on Thursday proposed a nearly $500 billion package of legislation that she said would help fund 3 million new homes nationwide, new supply that could help reduce rents for lower- and middle-class families by 10 percent.“The cost of housing is squeezing American families … Continue Reading
April 21, 2021
POLITICO Pro Q&A: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her IRS funding plan
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to dedicate a mandatory funding stream to enforcement activities at the IRS, specifically aimed at increasing its ability to examine more wealthy Americans and major corporations.A decade’s worth of funding cuts to the agency and a shrinking workforce led to a corresponding decline in audits across the board, with steep drop-offs in scrutiny of higher-income taxpayers. Warren (D-Mass.) offered some broad descriptions of her plan in a Finance Committee hearing … Continue Reading
April 19, 2021
Defense News: Democrats reintroduce ban on US using nuclear weapons first
WASHINGTON — Two key Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation Thursday that would make it U.S. policy not to use nuclear weapons first.Opponents, including top military leaders, argue the vague threat of nuclear escalation serves as a deterrent to conventional war as well as the use of chemical and biological weapons. But the sponsors ? House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Senate Armed Services Committee member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. ? argue a “no first use” … Continue Reading
April 14, 2021
Cheddar News: Biden Should Cancel Student Loans to Improve Racial Equity, Says Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and several of their Democratic colleagues are pressing President Joe Biden to forgive up to $50,000 for every American burdened by federal student debt. "If we canceled $50,000 of student loan debt right now, if Joe Biden would do that, two things would happen immediately: about 84 percent of all the people who have student loan debt would be completely debt-free and we would be able to close the Black/white wealth gap for … Continue Reading
April 14, 2021
Mother Jones: Elizabeth Warren Slams Student Loan Servicer as Democrats Call for Debt Cancellation
Senate Democrats made the case Tuesday for canceling some student debt, noting that debt forgiveness would stimulate the pandemic-battered economy, help close the racial wealth gap, and aid families who have put off homeownership, child-rearing, or retirement.But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the chair of the Senate subcommittee that held the hearing on student debt—Warren’s first as the panel’s head—focused her questioning less on cancellation and more on the corporations who process the … Continue Reading
April 13, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Senator Elizabeth Warren breaks down America's 'broken student loan system'
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) grilled two student loan servicers and hosted experts at a student loan hearing on Tuesday before sitting down with Yahoo Finance to describe her argument for President Biden to unilaterally cancel $50,000 in federally-backed student loans for tens of millions of Americans."Overall, in this hearing, it was perfectly clear [that] we have a broken student loan system," Warren, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy at the Senate Committee on Banking, … Continue Reading
April 08, 2021
Bay State Banner: Senator Warren confronts anti-Asian bias
Like many small-business owners, Lorraine Tse has been dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic on her Quincy-based travel agency and transportation service for over a year. But as a Chinese American, she is also nearing the anniversary of what she described as a racially charged verbal and physical assault at a Dunkin as she picked up coffees for her staff last May.Tse, who owns Sunshine Travel, broke down in tears as she recounted the alleged attack to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren … Continue Reading
April 07, 2021
Boston Globe: Massachusetts politicians push to shutter Weymouth gas compressor station after third unplanned release of gas
Ahead of a deadline Monday evening, gas companies and industry groups rushed to tell federal regulators that a controversial Weymouth gas compressor station should be allowed to continue operating despite its rocky history, arguing the site was safe and critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.Then, around 9:37 a.m. Tuesday morning, the site spewed at least 10,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas into the surrounding neighborhood, its third unplanned release in just eight months.That … Continue Reading
March 31, 2021
WJAR: Sen. Warren tours new vaccination site in New Bedford
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WJAR) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday visited New Bedford to tour a new city vaccination site.Mayor Jon Mitchell and others joined Warren at the Waterfront Vaccination Center on Hervey Tichon Avenue.The site will open next month to add capacity to New Bedford's coronavirus vaccination efforts and focus on essential workers in the seafood industry....Read the full article … Continue Reading
March 29, 2021
WHDH 7 News: Warren, Trahan call for more accessible vaccine sites
METHUEN, MASS. (WHDH) - Bay State U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Lori Trahan say vaccine centers should follow the lead of a health clinic in Methuen to make testing and vaccines more accessible.The Methuen Family Health Center recently received an $8.5 million grant from the American Rescue Plan.“They’re partnering with all their community partners, they’re also calling people up on the phone and making sure you are eligible for a vaccine,” Trahan said. “I think that those … Continue Reading
March 28, 2021
The Berkshire Eagle: Sen. Warren tours Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, hears pitch for more funding
HATFIELD — Expecting a continued rise in hunger through the pandemic-induced recession, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts made the plea Saturday to visiting lawmakers that public dollars go a long way in allowing people to eat.U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and Food Bank employees for a Saturday tour of the food bank’s headquarters in Hatfield.The nonprofit, which covers Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties, has served … Continue Reading