One of the benefits is making House staffers eligible for a public student-loan forgiveness program.
The House and Senate already offer loan-repayment options to staffers, but the benefits are capped.
Staffers who work for members of the House of Representatives are known for having low pay and high turnover rates, given that their jobs are reliant on their bosses being reelected. Three Democrats want to give those staffers more financial security, including through access to full student-loan forgiveness.
On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Chair of the Committee on House Administration Zoe Lofgren, and Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to the House s chief administrative officer, Catherine Szpindor, requesting a study on expanding benefits to House staffers. They cited the toll the January 6 insurrection took on staffers as a need to evaluate and improve the wellbeing of those who work on Capitol Hill.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is pictured.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
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UPDATED 8:37 AM PT – Thursday, May 20, 2021
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) added evidence to the notion that the Democrat Party is splitting apart over calls for a cease fire to be imposed between the Israeli military and Palestinians.
In an interview Wednesday, Hoyer said the only way to ease tensions is if Israel eliminates the threat of Hamas and that the Jewish State has a moral duty to protect its citizens He continued, saying the ceasefire is pointless as Hamas does not respond to requests. The Democrat added, they were the ones who initiated these indiscriminate attacks.
A group of 10 pro-Palestinian Democrats introduced legislation on Wednesday to block the arms sale after Gregory Meeks of New York, the House foreign affairs committee chairman, ultimately declined to ask the Biden administration to halt the sale.
The legislation was introduced by left-wing firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who defeated the House’s number three Democrat and staunch Israel defender Joseph Crowley in 2018.
“For decades, the US has sold billions of dollars in weaponry to Israel without ever requiring them to respect basic Palestinian rights,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said when introducing the bill.
“In so doing, we have directly contributed to the death, displacement and disenfranchisement of millions.”
Reuters
Cowardly Democratic leaders continue to ignore the underlying grievances of Palestinians – apartheid, ethnic cleansing, occupation – and focus instead solely on the immediate violence.
Worse, once the current fighting ends, this leadership can be expected to return to managing the conflict rather than insisting root causes be addressed.
Such weakness is repeatedly seen in the comments and tweets of Democratic leaders.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated on Monday: “I condemn the escalating and indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas against Israel.
She added that Israel has the “right to defend herself against this assault, which is designed to sow terror and undermine prospects for peace.”
The vote will take place Friday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tweeted Tuesday.
The House will vote on Friday on @POTUS’ #AmericanRescuePlan to end this pandemic and deliver urgently needed relief to America’s families and small businesses. The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law. Steny (Wear a Mask) Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) February 24, 2021
The House Budget Committee vote Monday was 19 to 16, with one Democrat, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, joining Republicans in voting against the relief package. However, Doggett s spokesman said in a statement the vote against the package was an accident and that Doggett supports the COVID-19 relief legislation.