Immigration

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly, Chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, released the following statement in advance of today’s House Oversight hearing “Reaching Hard-to-Count Communities in the 2020 Census:” Thank you, Chairwoman Maloney, for calling this important hearing. Census Day is less than three months away, and I am concerned that the Census Bureau is not prepared to conduct a complete and accurate count of our nation’s population, particularly among hard-to-count communi... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) joined Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), J. Luis Correa (D-CA), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), and more than 50 House Members in calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to open an investigation into recent reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are issuing fake court notices and barring refugees from entering the United States after being granted asylum. In a letter to the DHS OIG, the congressio... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) joined Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ), Norma J. Torres (D-CA), Bill Foster (D-IL), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and a group of 107 Members of Congress in demanding that the White House fire Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller. Their letter quoted from emails Miller wrote, which were recently published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They connected the white nationali... Read more

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, released the following statement on today’s Supreme Court census decision: “Shortly before the Administration announced its plan to add a citizenship question to the decennial census, I spoke personally with Secretary Wilbur Ross to share my deep concerns about the harm such a question would do to the integrity and accuracy of the Census. What was clear at the time of the phone call, and has now been con... Read more

Mike Lillis House Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to increase the number of refugees allowed into the United States, taking a direct shot at the Trump administration's move to cut the figure drastically. The legislation has little chance of passing through the Republican-controlled Senate, where GOP leaders have consistently backed President Trump's hardline positions on immigration, the central issue of his 2016 campaign and a major plank of his presidency. But it signals that Dem... Read more

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) reintroduced the bipartisan Global Health Security Act, which reaffirms the United States’ commitment to promoting global health security. The legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Rick Larsen (D-WA). The Global Health Security Act seeks to address two main issues – that U.S. glob... Read more

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, led House Democrats in sending a letter urging the House Committee on Appropriations to deny funds for the implementation of President Trump’s government reorganization plan and the proposed merger of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA). “We have grave concerns about the Admini... Read more

Today, Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced a House resolution marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace between Israel and Egypt and affirming the United States’ support for the treaty’s continued implementation. Signed on March 26, 1979 by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, the Treaty of Peace was the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab country. “In crafting the Camp David Accords, which led di... Read more

Today, Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea, and Ted Yoho (R-FL) introduced the Partner with Korea Act, bipartisan legislation that builds on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) and encourages greater ties between American and Korean businesses. The legislation would create an allotment of 15,000 E-4 highly skilled work visas for Korean nationals with specialized education and expertise, provided that potential employers can ensure the ... Read more

Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 596, the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) that would prohibit federal agencies from taking any action that recognizes Russian sovereignty over Crimea. The legislation was previously introduced in the 115th, 114th, and 113th Congresses and passed the House 427-1. “Russia’s forcible and illegal annexation of Crimea has sent shockwaves throughout t... Read more