🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

After years of work to reestablish Scranton rail, today we've reached a milestone that puts us dramatically closer to restoring the Scranton to New York rail line.

Here's what happened 🧵 Today, @RepCartwright and I are announcing a critical step in bringing Amtrak passenger service back to Scranton, thanks to the infrastructure law. The New York - Scranton line will also make stops in NJ, East Stroudsburg, and Mount Pocono. 2/

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Today, I'm releasing my second greedflation a report, which exposes how big food and agriculture businesses are raising prices on your holiday meals.

🧵 Let's take a look. /1 While inflation has slowed, prices for many holiday staple foods have not. This is due to corporations raising prices above the rate of inflation. /2

🚨 BREAKING 🚨
 
Today, I'm releasing a report on greedflation that exposes how corporations are making record profits on the backs of American families.
 
🧵Let's talk about it. /1 While inflation has slowed recently, prices for everyday items have not. That’s because between 2020 and 2022, corporate profits rose by 75 percent—five times as fast as inflation. /2

I’m a U.S. senator who has done something rare in today’s politics: I’ve changed my position on our nation’s gun laws.

After doing so, I didn’t burst into flames or get run out of town.

That’s how I know others can choose to do the same.🧵 washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/… I came to Washington in 2007 with the firm belief that to support and honor Pennsylvania’s deep-rooted hunting culture meant that I should not support restrictions on guns.

Then Sandy Hook happened.

This morning, I held a roundtable with students in Philadelphia to discuss the impacts of gun violence on their lives and communities and what Congress must do to end this epidemic and save lives. As of 2020, the leading cause of death among children and teens in America is gun violence. It’s a staggering reminder of the breadth and impact of this uniquely American problem.

We cannot simply surrender to this problem.

URGENT: In its last months in office, the Trump Administration is seeking to deport vulnerable children and their parents from the Berks Family Residential Center and the South Texas Family Residential Center. (thread) These parents and children fled unspeakable violence in their home countries in Haiti, Central America and South America. For many of them, deportation is tantamount to a death sentence. /2

Our Nation has reached another painful milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred thousand Americans have lost their lives to this cruel virus. Every death represents a human life lost, a family shattered, a community forever changed. We have lost parents, sisters and brothers, grandparents, friends, colleagues, classmates, neighbors and heroes on the front lines.

The next Supreme Court justice is likely to be the deciding vote on whether the Affordable Care Act will be overturned, which will mean up to 5.5 million people in PA will lose their protections for pre-existing conditions, and 996,000 more will lose their insurance entirely. It is disturbing and hypocritical that Republican Senators would attempt to fill this vacancy now while Americans across the country have already begun casting their ballots in this presidential election…

Today’s vote was another bad faith effort by Republicans, who refused to engage in meaningful and bipartisan negotiations all summer. This proposal fails to meet the needs of workers and families who have been struggling for months. It has no support for food assistance, no relief for renters facing eviction, no funding for state and local governments which are laying off employees because the federal government isn’t helping them.

Proud to support the #CaseForClimateAction — the product of over a year’s worth of work by @SenDemsClimate uncovering how Americans are experiencing the climate crisis & charting a path toward big, bold solutions. Let me tell you why (THREAD) JOBS: We don't have to choose between good jobs and a clean environment. The @SenateDemsClimate plan makes clear that any climate action MUST also promote the right to organize, better wages and higher labor standards.

Mr. President, there’s nothing great about delaying medication delivery to our veterans & seniors. Or making it harder for small businesses to engage in e-commerce. Or cutting off a lifeline for rural America. Don’t take it from me though, my constituents can tell you:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1295396978482802691

Norman, U.S. Army Vietnam veteran from Erie County, wrote in a letter to me that "there are already delays in service. I receive several medications through the VA for a service related disability. I have prescriptions right now that are not being delivered."

In Mitch McConnell’s Senate, 2 mos. have passed w/o action on COVID-19. No vote on the HEROES Act, no real relief. Republicans focused on corporate immunity while hardworking Americans continue to suffer the effects of this vicious virus. And now he’s sent everyone home. Here’s just a short list of who the Majority Leader has turned his back on:
✅ Those who desperately need additional unemployment benefits
✅ SNAP recipients struggling to put food on the table
✅ Americans teetering on the brink of eviction w/o rent assistance

President Trump and Congressional Republicans rejected Dems’ compromises and instead, President Trump has issued unworkable executive orders that fail to provide relief for workers and families. By failing to enact the HEROES Act, here is some of what POTUS has left behind: The President wants a $200-$300 weekly cut to a program that has been overwhelmingly successful, keeping millions of families out of poverty. Economic studies have shown there is no evidence that individuals who received the extra $600 benefit were less likely to return to work.

What we saw on the Senate floor this week was a disgrace to our democracy. It’s an insult to working families that Senator McConnell and his allies blocked the Senate from passing relief for those impacted by the virus when R's are sitting in the muck of their own complacency. /1 Democrats passed the HEROES Act in MAY. Republicans sat on their hands for TWO MONTHS blocking relief for working families, and what did they come up with? A demand for corporate immunity and a skinflint proposal which would be catastrophic for our economy. /2

From what I’ve seen from the Republican proposal released last night, one thing is clear – if enacted, it would be an economic catastrophe for America and a disaster for middle-class families and essential workers. Republicans want to offer struggling workers who have lost their job—through no fault of their own—2/3 less additional UI than @SenateDems. The economic crisis will continue until we get the public health crisis under control. In the meantime, people need real help.

Between meetings so let’s break down this cesspool of lies.

Claim #1: “defeating the virus is the Senate’s top priority.”

Republicans have spent the last month putting up right-wing judges. @SenateDems are the ones pushing for increased funding for testing & #COVID relief.

https://twitter.com/SenateGOP/status/1285708901850152961

Claim #2: “the Republican plan is focused on saving lives.”

The President wore a mask for the first time last week, over 144k American deaths into the pandemic. Have you seen Senate Republicans urging him to wear a mask? Or demanding a national testing strategy? Didn't think so.

Lt. Col. Vindman is an American hero who bravely spoke out in the face of President Trump’s abuse of power. Once again the President manipulated his office to exact political revenge against someone who dared hold him accountable. The President’s conduct is a national disgrace.

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1280882921793085440

As Vindman’s lawyer wrote after his dismissal: “In this country right matters, and so does truth. Truth is not partisan. If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, eventually there will be no one left to warn us.”

As we come together during these challenging times, I'm inspired by everyday Pennsylvanians whose incredible acts of kindness and service have been bright lights in their communities. Here are some of the folks I've had the pleasure of speaking with. #ThankYouPennsylvanians A serious car crash that put her out of work has never stopped Dawn Galia from seeking out opportunities to give back to SWPA. She's now hand sewn hundreds of masks for community members, health care workers and first responders. #ThankYouPennsylvanians triblive.com/local/valley-n…

It's unconscionable this Administration is making it HARDER to get health care during a pandemic. Congress should immediately take up my Coronavirus Medicaid Response Act, which will speed federal aid to states providing vital #Medicaid services to those hit hardest by #COVID19. Losing your job during a pandemic is scary enough—you should not have your health insurance ripped away too. My bill provides support to state Medicaid programs to keep people covered, and provides states with security when planning their budgets.

I have never known a child to be a threat to national security. The order issued last evening by Judge Dolly M. Gee to release migrant children held in U.S. custody is the right decision, but it shouldn’t have taken a pandemic to treat children with basic compassion. We have heard of the inhumane conditions asylum-seeking children and their families face in detainment, including troubling accounts of medical care not being provided until children are very ill.

George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, in full view of the American people, by a police officer who was aided and abetted by several other officers.

To not explicitly ban the blatant injustice we all saw in that video is a colossal defect in this watered-down GOP bill. The GOP "JUSTICE" bill isn't written in a way that would convey that they're serious about accountability. Police training and education are important but Republicans have a gaping hole in their bill on accountability and they’re not dealing with the heart of the problem.