Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 23, 2015 Hi, everybody.  This weekend is Memorial Day—a time to pay tribute to all our men and women in uniform who’ve ever given their lives so that we can live in freedom and security.  This year, the holiday is especially meaningful.  It’s the first Memorial Day since[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015 – 1:12 P.M. EDT MR. EARNEST:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Let me do a quick statement at the top, and then we’ll get going.  It’s my understanding that the United States House of Representatives has recessed for the Memorial Day break and is not expected to return[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015 – 11:40 A.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  It is a great pleasure to welcome back President Caid Essebsi to the Oval Office.  We had the opportunity to meet early in the aftermath of the political transition that had begun in Tunisia.  And it was very gratifying to[Read More…]

WASHINGTON, D.C. –-(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015.  Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee passed on a party-line vote a sprawling bill that would deregulate many key aspects of the financial industry: “Seven years ago, following a decade of predatory home-lending and risky derivative-trading practices[Read More…]

Sen. Wyden, Franken, Rep. Hank Johnson, More Than 50 Other Members of Congress Call on Top Consumer Agency to Eliminate Forced Arbitration Agreements in Financial Services Industry WASHINGTON, D.C.—(ENEWSPF)—May 21, 2015. Today, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) along with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and a broad[Read More…]

The interior of an old school bus, which, 14 people from two families in Nepal, have converted into temporary living quarters. Photo: UNDP Nepal/Laxmi Prasad Ngakhusi NEPAL–(ENEWSPF)–21 May 2015 – As Nepalese communities devastated by two major earthquakes struggle to restore and rebuild, United Nations humanitarian workers and their partners[Read More…]

Anti-smuggling Operation Bound by Human Rights Law On the dock in Port Augusta, Sicily, weary sub-Saharan migrants await an initial health screening after three days at sea. (September 2014) Brussels –(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015.  European Union military action against human smuggling networks should not put the lives and rights of migrants[Read More…]

WASHINGTON—(ENEWSPF)—May 21, 2015. U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today led a group of fourteen senators in calling on President Barack Obama to significantly increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed to resettle in the United States. The Syrian conflict has led to the world’s worst ongoing[Read More…]

WASHINGTON –(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015.  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after the Senate voted to advance a bill that would grant President Barack Obama  accelerated power to complete a massive trade accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations: “The Senate just put the interests of powerful multi-national[Read More…]

WASHINGTON –(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2015.  The American Civil Liberties Union today released a detailed set of recommended policies for the use of police body cameras. The proposed rules are in the form of a model bill that can be adopted by state legislatures, local governments, and police departments. At a Senate[Read More…]