US Congressman Gerald E. Connolly vowed on Monday to champion NATO values at a critical moment in the Alliance’s history as he was named President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) for the next year. Connolly, head of the US delegation to the Assembly, was elected by electronic acclamation at the NATO PA’s 66th Annual Session; the first time the organiation has ever gathered virtually for an Annual Session due to coronavirus travel restrictions. Connolly’s tenure at the helm comes as ...
Read more
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), co-Chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), and SEEC Member Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to express grave concern regarding the looming environmental disaster posed by the sinking Venezuelan oil tanker Nabarima in the Gulf of Paria, and to urge the administration to grant the necessary exceptions to United States sanctions that would fa...
Read more
Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Saudi Dissidents Act, legislation authored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to hold the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia accountable for Jamal Khashoggi’s death and other attacks on critics of the Kingdom. “Two years ago, on October 2, 2018, my constituent and lawful U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was lured into a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was murdered in cold blood and dismembered by agents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, repor...
Read more
Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, requested that President Trump personally seek the release of U.S. citizen and northern Virginia resident Salah Al-Haidar, who has been detained on baseless grounds in Saudi Arabia since April 2019. Mr. Al-Haidar is the son of prominent women’s rights activist Aziza Al-Yousef, a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident and graduate of Vi...
Read more
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Global Health Security Act, legislation authored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) that reaffirms the United States’ commitment to promoting global health security. “Rep. Steve Chabot and I first introduced this legislation nearly two years ago, when we identified a dearth of leadership and strategy around U.S. planning for a global health security emergency,” said Rep. Connolly. “Tragically, the global COVID-1...
Read more
Today, Congressmen Gerry Connolly (VA-11) and Mark Pocan (WI-02) led a letter of 18 Democrats to House Democratic leadership demanding that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence be held accountable for their refusal to provide in-person intelligence briefings to Congress, by explicitly requiring Congressional briefings in any upcoming legislation that funds or authorizes ODNI. These briefings are constitutionally mandated and two months prior to a national election, the American pe...
Read more
Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), Chair of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, introduced legislation today that would better address domestic violence in the U.S. military. The provisions included in the legislation were also included in the House-passed version of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Specifically, the legislation would create a syste...
Read more
Today, the House of Representatives passed the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act, which included as an amendment the Global Health Security Act, legislation introduced by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH). The Global Health Security Act re-establishes the government-wide lead for pandemic response, establishes an Interagency Review Council charged with implementing U.S. commitments unde...
Read more
Today, the House of Representatives passed the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act, which included amendments offered by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee. Connolly’s provisions included the FedRamp Authorization Act, Global Health Security Act, Safe Homefront Act, and protections for whistleblowers and expansion of telework. “I thank the House Armed Services Committee, Chairman Smith, and Ranking Member Thornberry, for including thes...
Read more
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) joined Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and 115 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr, calling on the agencies to eliminate the ban on open transgender military service. This follows the June 15, 2020 Supreme Court ruling that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination. On April 12, 2019, the Trump administration banned transgender individ...
Read more
