Republicans are targeting trans & gay students, & taking incredibly important & personal decisions away from parents & families.
Right now, it feels like far-right lawmakers are racing to pass the most extreme, most hateful bills they can think up at the expense of trans kids.
Trans kids deserve to just be kids. To play sports, to go to school, to see a doctor, to get health care.
They should be able to get the same opportunities as any other kids to learn, grow, play, and thrive—free from fear and discrimination.
Parents deserve to be able to make their own parenting decisions—with their medical providers—to do what’s best for their kids’ health.
They shouldn’t have to worry about what a right-wing politician thinks is best for their kids, or that a state legislature will intervene.
The hurt and fear the governor of Texas has caused by pushing transphobic policies aren't staying in Texas.
What Greg Abbott says about trans kids has an effect many states away—and I wish it didn’t.
Measures like those in Texas are not only really scary for trans people across the country, but they also embolden more hateful rhetoric, and even violence against trans people.
And it’s harming trans kids’ mental health—no matter where they live.
We’ve got to be louder than extreme GOPs. We’ve got to pass laws like the #EqualityAct & send a powerful message of support & fairness for trans & gay Americans.
We’ve got to demand a future without this awful hate, harm, & division. That’s not too much to ask for.
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My colleagues know I am someone whose focus is always on getting things done for WA state & our country. But outdated, misused procedure is getting in the way of debate & legislation. With all our country faces right now, we’ve absolutely got to fix it.
When a single Senator can block even a debate on legislation a majority of us support or hold up the otherwise uncomplicated, run-of-the-mill confirmation of very non-controversial administration officials—just by hitting send on an email—that’s absurd.
Millions of Americans wonder why bills that pass the House only ever come to the Senate to die. It’s because a single member of this institution can shut down even the opportunity to confirm a nominee or debate legislation that a majority of this chamber supports.
LIVE: I’m chairing a Senate HELP Committee hearing with our nation’s leading public health experts and COVID-19 response team on the pandemic and our efforts to address new variants like Omicron. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Nearly 2 years into this pandemic, people are exhausted after all we’ve been through. We’re all alarmed by how quickly Omicron has spread—& anxious about what’s next. I’ve heard from people back in WA state who are frustrated & worried about the course of this pandemic.
They’re worried about persistent challenges—like how hard it still is to get a test, the long lines to get tested, and the cost of tests.
People have also found the communications about the new isolation and quarantine guidance confusing and frustrating.
I’m speaking on the Senate floor to call for action here in this chamber to end the crisis of gun violence we’ve long seen in our schools, neighborhoods, and across our country.
Last week, we mourned the deaths of 4 high school students following the tragic school shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan.
My heart goes out to their families and friends, and to every student there who is now carrying the trauma of that experience.
And my heart breaks for every student in this country who grows up thinking something like this will eventually happen to them at their school—and for every parent who worries each time they send their kid off to school.
I come to the Capitol every day to fight for what I believe in. I often have issues I feel very strongly about—whether it’s a woman’s right to choose, or immigration, or health care, or the issue of the day.
I use my voice to tell people what I believe to be right, and I listen to the other side. We hear each other out, we vote, and whoever has the votes wins. And I accept that.
Do I always like the outcome? No, but I accept it, because that is what our democracy requires. People having a voice, being able to use it, and all of us accepting that no one person or group should get their way all the time.
Tonight Senate Republicans forced a vote on a bill they claimed would protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
But the truth is, this bill wasn't about protecting patients, it was about protecting Republicans from their record of undermining health care.
Republicans have tried *repeatedly* to overturn protections for pre-ex conditions—& right now, they're rushing to confirm a SCOTUS justice who could rule in a case that will be argued just days after the election to end those protections & upend health care entirely.
Senate Republicans were hoping the bill they offered tonight would distract people from the facts. But let me be perfectly blunt about what happened: Republicans, who are steering the Titanic toward an iceberg, tried to offer passengers an umbrella to stay dry.
A NEW REPORT outlines how the American health care system has failed communities of color due to entrenched bias, discrimination, & racism—and how the Trump Administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this crisis. help.senate.gov/ranking/newsro…
This report found that:
➡️Black people are 3.5x more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people.
➡️COVID-19 accounts for 1 in 5 deaths in the Latinx community.
➡️American Indian or Alaska Native patients are being hospitalized at more than 4x the rate of white people.
The impacts of COVID-19 have been particularly severe for people of color who have a disability, are older adults, have pre-ex conditions, are LGBTQIA+, or are workers who earn low incomes.