{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sires.house.gov/media-center/washington-reviews/washington-review-december-15-2017", "Washington Review, December 15, 2017", "2017-12-15", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Albio Sires", "S001165", "sires.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "This week in Washington, I met with Dreamers to discuss the importance of passing the Dream Act, cosponsored a resolution calling for Congress to investigate sexual misconduct allegations against the President, and sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai asking him to remove the net neutrality vote from the agenda. I also sent two letters to leadership expressing my grave concerns about devastating provisions in the tax bill that will affect students.\nDreamers\nEarlier this week, I met with a group of Dreamers to discuss the urgent need for Congress to address the issue of DACA. As Congress continues to grapple with budget negotiations, I have been very clear that passing a clean DREAM Act should be a top priority for Congress. Thousands of young adults, who know no other country than America as their home, now risk deportation to foreign lands if we cannot work in a bipartisan manner to protect these young Dreamers. I hope that Congress will come together to pass the DREAM Act before the end of this session.\nH.Res.655\nSeveral women during the 2016 Presidential campaign have come forward to accuse President Trump of sexual misconduct and harassment since the release of the Access Hollywood tapes. I am concerned by these allegations, which should be taken very seriously, and believe there should be no tolerance for acts of sexual harassment, particularly in the highest office of the land. That is why I have cosponsored Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) resolution calling for Congress to investigate the sexual misconduct claims against the President, either through an existing Committee or the creation of a new one designated for this purpose. H. Res. 655 is currently pending before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.\nNet Neutrality\nThis week, I joined 118 of my colleagues in contacting FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to ask that he delay Thursdays vote on net neutrality and remove it from their agenda. The process leading up to this vote has been conducted in secret and in haste, preventing the FCC from getting accurate and comprehensive feedback as to the real consequences to the public of repealing net neutrality rules. However, on Thursday, the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality in a vote of 3 to 2. I am disappointed that the FCC proceeded with a vote despite such a flawed and hastily crafted process.\nTax Reform\nAs Congress works to reconcile the House and Senate versions of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, I joined my colleagues in sending two letters to leadership urging their strong consideration to remove harmful education provisions in the tax reform bill. First, we requested that House and Senate leadership maintain and protect investments in the K-12 public education system, which would be undermined by the proposed elimination of state and local tax deductions (SALT). We stressed the need to support educators through the maintenance of the educator expense deduction, and keep higher education affordable and accessible to everyone. Additionally, we asked that the Conferees reconsider the provision taxing graduate school tuition waivers, which would make graduate school unaffordable for many students. As Congress moves forward with this plan, it is essential that tax cuts for corporations are not given at the expense of education.\nThank you for reading the Washington Review. For regular updates, you may stay in touch by leaving comments on my Facebook, Twitter, and website.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sires.house.gov/media-center/washington-reviews/washington-review-december-15-2017"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.580744981765747, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}