Despite Comprehensive Study Showing Masks Ineffective Against COVID and Flu, CDC Director Tells Congress, ‘Our Masking Guidance Doesn’t Really Change with Time’

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky testified during a recent House committee hearing that, despite the recent release of an international research review that found masks are ineffective against COVID-19 and the flu, her agency’s masking guidance “doesn’t really change with time.”

During a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) asked Walensky to explain how the CDC uses evidence to update or change its guidance.

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GOP Reps Push Bill to Ban China from Buying U.S. Farmland

Two Republican members of Congress introduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit nonresident aliens, companies and other entities associated with the Chinese government from buying agricultural land in the U.S.

Washington Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse’s Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act would also ban those interests’ participation in U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) programs beyond food safety inspections, according to her press release. Chinese foreign investors held more than 191,000 acres of U.S. agricultural and non-agricultural land in 2019, the USDA indicated.

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Eastern Washington Legislators Urge Biden to Lift Vaccine Mandate for Border Travel

Two U.S. Representatives from Eastern Washington have signed onto a letter that urges the Biden Administration to drop all vaccine requirements for people entering the United States from Canada.

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, say the decision to send the letter follows Canada lifting vaccine mandates for international travelers entering the country despite Biden’s refusal to follow suit.

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Gas Prices Continue Decline, Still Much Higher Than Last Year

Gas prices have continued a steady decline in recent weeks, coming down from record-high gas prices this summer, but the Congressional Budget Office says natural gas prices may see an increase from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act.

According to AAA, the current national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.78, down from $4.08 a month ago and down significantly from earlier this summer when prices surpassed $5 per gallon. Prices have dropped about a nickel in the past week.

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House Passes ‘Right to Contraception’ Bill Republicans Say Violates Religious Freedom

The Democrat-led House passed a bill Thursday, with the support of eight Republicans, that would create a federal right to access contraception, a measure that most Republicans say violates religious freedom.

The legislation (HR 8373), dubbed the Right to Contraception Act and sponsored by Rep. Kathy Manning (D- NC), passed by a vote of 228-195. The measure would guarantee a right to all contraceptive drugs and devices, as well as sterilization procedures, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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