Tag: Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Exclusive: Sen. Blackburn Releases Kids Online Safety Guide Ahead of New School Year

Peter D'Abrosca
Kid on tablet

After the resounding success of Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, she has exclusively released to The Tennessee Star a guide for parents to keep their children safe online as they head back to school. 

“When children are online, they are the product, and Big Tech is trying every method possible to keep them scrolling, clicking ads, and sharing every detail of their lives,” the guide says. “Social media platforms put children at risk of being exposed to eating disorders, suicidal ideation, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for illegal substances. Now is the perfect time to study up on how you can keep your kids safe online.”

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn Celebrates After Senate Passes Kids Online Safety Act with Bipartisan Support

Tom Pappert
Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) celebrated on Tuesday after the U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act with bipartisan support.

Blackburn wrote in a post to the social media platform X that the legislation passing the Senate is “a big step to protect” minor children from online harms, and noted Congress last passed legislation with that goal in 1998, when it passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

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Blackburn’s ‘Kids Online Safety Act’ Heading for Vote on Senate Floor

Peter D'Abrosca
Kids on Phone

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Tuesday announced that a bipartisan bill she cosponsored with Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the “Kids Online Safety Act” is headed to the Senate floor for a vote.

“It’s official: the Kids Online Safety Act is getting a vote on the Senate Floor. This progress is a testament to the incredible work of parents and young people whose personal experiences are the heart of this bill,” Blackburn said in a press release. “They came to DC over and over again, told their stories to lawmakers, wrote letters, and never gave up on demanding change. We are grateful to be in this fight with such brave and tenacious friends and allies.”

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Secret Service Ditched Law Enforcement Meeting on Day of Attempted Trump Assassination, Senator Claims

Tom Pappert
Secret Service Snipers on a rootop

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) claimed on Saturday that the U.S. Secret Service did not attend a law enforcement meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, the date former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at a campaign rally.

Johnson told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that his team learned the apparent lack of attendance by the Secret Service from local law enforcement.

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The Senate’s ‘No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act’ Would Exclude Artificial Intelligence Developers’ Liability Under Section 230

Admin

The Senate could soon take up a bipartisan bill defining the liability protections enjoyed by artificial intelligence-generated content, which could lead to considerable impacts on online speech and the development of AI technology.

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal in June introduced the No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act, which would clarify that liability protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act do not apply to text and visual content created by artificial intelligence. Hawley may attempt to hold a vote on the bill in the coming weeks, his office told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Commentary: The U.S. Senate’s ‘Spendthrift Seven’ Are the IRS’ Best Friends

Admin

August 7 was a big day for the Spendthrift Seven. In just 12 hours, these Senate Democrats — all facing re-election Tuesday — gave the middle finger to middle-class taxpayers, hugged illegal aliens, and high-fived the IRS.

Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan and Washington’s Patty Murray did these things while the Senate considered President Joe Biden’s deceptively titled, 273-page Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Their votes should appall every American.

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Election 2022: Connecticut Primary Elections Set for August 9

The Center Square

Connecticut’s primary election election day is eight days away.

Voters will turn out to the polls on Tuesday, August 9 to set the general election ballot in November for attorney general, and one U.S. Senate seat and five seats in the U.S. House.

The primary for the governor’s race has been canceled since only one candidate from each major party is running. Democratic incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont will face Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski in November’s general election.

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Robert Hyde, ‘America First’ Candidate, Seeks Republican Nomination to Defeat Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Marine Corps Operation Iraqi Freedom War Veteran Robert F. Hyde says he wants to unseat Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal in order to return America’s “core values” to its citizens and “secure the nation’s liberties and freedoms.”

In an interview with The Connecticut Star, Hyde said he is seeing Americans’ constitutional rights being “undermined” in both Washington, DC, and his own state of Connecticut.

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Blumenthal Falsely Claims Oil Companies to Blame for High Gas Prices

Peter D'Abrosca

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut is falsely scapegoating oil companies for skyrocketing gas prices nationwide. 

“Oil companies are exploiting Russia’s war in Ukraine to drive up gas prices to obscene levels. It’s time to end this corporate profiteering,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Thursday. “We need a Big Oil Windfall Profits tax to take excess profits & deliver them to Americans getting stuck with the bill.”

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Connecticut AG Warns Against Price Gouging as Gas Prices Approach Record Highs

Peter D'Abrosca

As gas prices near record highs in Connecticut, the state’s Attorney General is warning gas distributors against price gouging. 

“Gas prices fluctuate constantly, and price changes and price increases are normal. But what we have seen this past week is not typical, and we can expect even more volatility due to the unprovoked and unconscionable Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Attorney General William Tong (D) said in a Monday statement. 

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Connecticut Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal’s Radical Abortion Bill Rejected by U.S. Senate

Susan Berry, PhD

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D) radical abortion legislation that would have overridden state pro-life laws was defeated in the U.S. Senate Monday evening.

The Senate voted, 46-48, to reject a bill Democrats called the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have embedded abortion on demand, at any time during pregnancy, into federal law, making invalid most individual state pro-life laws.

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Senators Reveal Bipartisan Bill Targeting Big Tech Companies for Harms to Children

Admin

Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal unveiled a bipartisan bill Wednesday aimed at curbing online harms to children.

The Kids Online Safety Act is the result of several hearings and a months-long investigation led by Blackburn and Blumenthal into how use of social media platforms affects teens and young children. If enacted, the bill would require social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable “addictive” product features and allow them to opt out of recommendation algorithms.

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Tennessee Senator Blackburn Grills Facebook Head of Safety on Teen Health and Safety Impacts

Bradley Vasoli

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) led a bipartisan grilling of Facebook’s Antigone Davis Thursday about apparent troubles the company’s photo-sharing platform causes for teenagers.

Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, testified before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, of which Blumenthal and Blackburn are respectively chair and ranking member. The meeting focused largely on the psychological hazards that Facebook has quietly acknowledged its photo-album application Instagram has posed to children and teens.

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Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal Sound Alarm Over Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei’s Role in National Defense Technology

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are expressing concerns about the inclusion of Huawei in the development of next-generation sharing technology in a band of spectrum critical to national defense. The senators wrote a letter on the topic Wednesday to Patrick Shanahan, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defense, and Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). “For years, alarm bells have been ringing over concerns about Huawei, especially in regards to national security and economic competitiveness,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Yet, as far back as 2016, and as recently as 2018, representatives from Huawei have been meeting with government officials regarding their work to develop next-generation spectrum sharing technologies between the United States Navy and the commercial sector. Spectrum sharing is a solution to spectrum management, but serious questions need to be answered regarding Huawei’s involvement.” Blackburn also tweeted her concerns, saying, “Alarm bells are ringing about Huawei – especially in regards to national security & economic competitiveness. That’s why @SenBlumenthal & I wrote a letter to @ActingSecDef…

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Rep. Cohen Spouts Conspiracy Theories on CNN, Saying President Trump is Using Attorney General Barr to Abruptly End Mueller Investigation

Jason M. Reynolds

Congressional Democrats are threatening to subpoena the report to be issued by special counsel Robert Mueller, and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) is spouting off conspiracy theories about the new attorney general as well. The threat comes with reports that the special counsel may issue the report on so-called Russian interference in the 2016 elections next week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on CNN’s “New Day,” which the network posted on Twitter. AG William Barr “has to make a decision — is he going to be the people’s lawyer or is he going to be the President’s lawyer?” @SenBlumenthal says as sources tell CNN that the Justice Department is preparing for Mueller report as early as next week. https://t.co/o1rWjoIe29 pic.twitter.com/ZR9AXMOTqa — CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) February 21, 2019 Attorney General William Barr was reticent recently about whether he would allow Mueller to testify before Congress, and whether he would resist a subpoena if it were issued for the report, Roll Call said. Meanwhile, Cohen, who is well known for providing colorful yet not always-appropriate soundbites, had a few things to say about Barr during an interview on CNN. The video is available here. Cohen, who serves on…

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