MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and colleagues in introducing a resolution condemning the Biden administration’s decision to halt shipment of American-made ammunition and weapons to Israel.

“Israel is fighting to protect its people from Iran and its proxies, but the Biden administration seems to think now is a good time to get weak in the knees. America should stand strong in support of Israel and get them the military supplies they need,” said Kennedy.

The resolution:

• Recognizes that Hamas murdered more than 1,200 innocent men, women and children and took more than 240 innocent civilians hostage in an unprovoked attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

• Recognizes that the U.S. is the largest supplier of military aid that Israel uses to defend itself from Iran and its proxies.

• Recognizes that 99% of the projectiles Iran launched were intercepted by Israel and its allies, using supplies provided in part by the U.S.

• Recognizes that the Biden administration has publicly claimed that “[c]onditioning aid has not been our policy” and “our commitment to Israel’s security . . . is ironclad.” 

• Recognizes that the Biden administration has taken actions in May 2024 to stop the shipments of weapons and ammunition to the Israeli military, which could embolden Hamas and other Iranian proxies.

• Condemns any decision the Biden administration makes to halt shipments of ammunition and weapons to Israel and demands that the administration continue to fulfill Israeli military aid requests.

• Reaffirms the importance of the U.S.-Israel partnership and upholds America’s commitment to Israel’s security.

Background:

• In Dec. 2023, Kennedy urged the Biden administration to continue American support for Israel until it succeeds in destroying Hamas.

• In Feb. 2024, Kennedy supported the End Iranian Terrorism Act to require President Biden to enforce sanctions on Iranian oil.

• In May 2024, Kennedy and other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee authored a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) calling for a Judiciary Committee hearing on violations of Jewish students’ rights and growing domestic support for terrorist organizations.

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) cosponsored the resolution.

The full resolution is available here. 

Watch Kennedy question Su here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations and Banking Committees, today questioned acting Labor Secretary Julie Su about an independent report that found that “the FDIC has failed to provide a workplace safe from sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct.”

After confirming to Kennedy that she is “passionate” about protecting and supporting America’s employees and those at the FDIC, Su said that she had not seen the report outlining the years-long abuses at the agency, which has received extensive news coverage.

The new report documents “FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s reputation for having a temper, as well as at least one instance in 2008 of his having ‘castigated’ a senior FDIC executive.”

“This is just [as] egregious as I've ever seen and I suspect [as] you've ever seen. . . . I'm asking you what’s your plan? Are you going to call for Martin Gruenberg, who runs the place, to resign? He's been there since 2005. And one of two things are going on: If he says he didn't know about it, he's like a rock—only dumber. Or, he condoned this behavior. For the Biden administration, does ‘Me Too’ apply except at the FDIC? Is that what you're saying?” asked Kennedy. 

“Don’t you think you have a moral imperative to ask Mr. Gruenberg to resign, to quit?” he continued.

In response, Su did not call on FDIC Chair Martin Gruenbueg to resign. 

“I would say—I think you said—that a complaint had been made. . . . I'm happy to make sure that the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] is aware that there is a case like this,” she said. 

Later, Kennedy spoke with Su again and asked, “You’re kind of waffling on me, like, ‘Well, I don't know what I'm going to do.’ Let me ask you this question because I'm going to run out of time: Are you or are you not going to call for Martin Gruenberg . . . and the senior leadership over there to resign?”

Again, Su declined to call on Gruenberg to resign or offer any steps that the Department of Labor would take to protect workers from abuses documented at the FDIC.

The unwillingness of President Joe Biden’s acting Labor Secretary to call for Gruenberg’s resignation is seemingly at odds with the president’s 2021 vow to fire any staffer who treated another colleague with disrespect “on the spot.” 

Background:  

• In Nov. 2023, Kennedy questioned Gruenberg at a Senate Banking Committee Hearing about reports indicating that the chairman had failed to address sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior within the agency. He called on Gruenberg to resign in light of the reports. 

• The May 2024 independent report found that: 

• “for far too many employees and for far too long, the FDIC has failed to provide a workplace safe from sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct.”

• “a patriarchal, insular, and risk-averse culture has contributed to the conditions that allowed for this workplace misconduct to occur and persist.”

• “a widespread fear of retaliation, as well as a lack of clarity and credibility around internal reporting channels, has led to an under-reporting of workplace misconduct over the years.”

• “Management’s responses to allegations of misconduct, as well as the culture and conditions that gave rise to them, have been insufficient and ineffective.”

• “To fully and effectively address this conduct and these conditions, we believe cultural and structural change is necessary.”Ju

• “according to the FDIC’s own public reporting, of the ninety-two harassment complaints made through its Anti-Harassment Program in the nine year period from 2015 to 2023, not a single one resulted in removal, reductions in grade or pay, or any discipline more serious than a suspension.”

Watch Kennedy's comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today warned his colleagues that transgender activists are threatening the future of women’s sports in the United States. Kennedy called on Congress to protect women’s sports by ensuring that biological women and girls do not have to compete against biological men and boys.

 Key excerpts from Kennedy’s speech are below:

“Men and women don’t take the field against one another for the same reasons: It’s fundamentally unfair, and women could get hurt. Yet there are activists in our country today and—I wish I didn’t have to say this—there’s a president in our White House who think the laws of physics and biology don’t apply to transgender athletes. And these activists and President Biden are happy to destroy athletic opportunities for every woman in America to prove their point.”

. . .

“This is America. You're entitled to say what you want, and some say that a biological man doesn't have any advantage physically over a biological female. But that doesn't change the laws of nature. That doesn't change the law of science. It doesn't change the law of anatomy. The truth is that a woman's bone doesn't care that the person who snapped it identifies as a woman or man or whatever. They just know their bone's broken. 

“America’s female athletes are not lab rats. They are not lab rats we can subject to a social experiment. They have goals and dreams, too. And they’ve worked hard, too, to develop their skills, to earn scholarships, to win championships.

“No girl, no woman, no female in America should end up on the bench with her arm in a sling because the Biden administration wanted a biological man wanted to feel included.”

. . .

“How discouraging it must be to dedicate your life to a goal, only to have these activists and President Biden rip them away because institutions are unwilling to accept the immutable facts of anatomy?

“I reject the proposition. I do. I reject the proposition that it’s okay that some young athlete in Louisiana who spends hours in the pool or in the gym each night has to have her college championship taken away by a biological boy because the Biden administration says so.”

. . .

“I do not think that we need to sacrifice the physical safety of women. I do not think that we need to or should sacrifice women’s athletic, educational or professional opportunities just because some activists and President Biden claim that injecting biological men into women’s sports is the only way to make transgender Americans feel included.”

. . .

“Louisiana has already put a stop to this. In 2022, the Louisiana state legislature passed a bill . . . called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. It prohibits biological boys from competing against girls in elementary or high school sports. . . . We need a whole lot more of Louisiana’s common sense in Washington, D.C.”

. . .

“Let me give you the bottom line: Activists and President Biden want to force young female athletes to change clothes in front of biological boys in their locker rooms. They [want girls] to accept a biological man’s slide tackle on the [soccer] field with a smile. That’s what they want women to do: Just grin and bear it. And President Biden and activists want young women to hide their tears when a biological male walks away with a trophy that those women have spent their whole lives working for, and it is wrong.”

Background:

• Transgender activists throughout the country have pushed athletic institutions to allow biological men and boys to compete against biological women and girls. Activists routinely deny that biological men have any athletic advantages over women. The ACLU, for example, says it is a “fact” that “trans girls are girls” and a “myth” that transgender female athletes have a physical advantage over biological girls. 

• In reality, the physical athletic advantages of biological men begin in the womb. Baby boys experience a surge of testosterone that improves their motor skills and increases their aggression.

• During puberty, boys develop larger hearts and lungs that allow them to take in more oxygen and pump blood more efficiently than girls. Girls develop a wider pelvis, which can decrease the force their legs can exert. Boys develop broader shoulders to carry additional upper-body muscle mass. The average man is five inches taller and has higher levels of bone density even when controlled for height.

• These developmental differences give biological men a significant athletic advantage that is even more prominent at the elite levels. High school boys, for example, routinely log faster sprint times than female Olympians, according to a study from Duke University. In many Olympic track or swimming events, the female world record holder wouldn’t qualify to compete against men. In strength-based sports such as weightlifting, men outperform elite women in the same weight class by as much as 30%.

• The use of cross-sex hormones by transgender athletes does not eliminate the athletic advantages of biological males. A study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine revealed that men who have been taking cross-sex hormone treatments for two years can still run 12% faster and complete 10% more push-ups than women.

• In March, several collegiate female athletes filed a lawsuit against the NCAA. They allege that the NCAA violated their 14^th Amendment right to bodily privacy by allowing biological males to share a locker room with them during competitions.

• The Louisiana State Legislature passed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act in 2022. The law forbids biological boys from competing against biological girls in most elementary or high school sports.

Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and colleagues in introducing two joint resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. The resolutions would block the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing its rules for light and medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Most Louisianians and Americans can’t afford Pres. Biden’s scheme to eliminate gas-powered cars. His administration’s unfair EV mandates benefit Chinese manufacturing by butchering America’s auto industry. Congress must move fast to stop these rules from punishing American workers and families,” said Kennedy.

The EPA’s two rules, “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium Duty Vehicles” and “Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles—Phase 3,” would require U.S. car manufacturers to make up to two-thirds of cars and 40% of trucks electric within eight years.

Nearly 4,000 automotive dealers report that their lots are full of electric vehicles that buyers do not want. They have asked President Biden for relief from his misguided sales mandate for electric vehicles.

“President Biden’s EV mandate is delusional. This rule will make it harder for low-income families to buy a car or rural families to get to their jobs. I promised Nebraskans I’d use every tool I have to fight this. Our bipartisan legislation will keep costs down, defend consumer choice, and protect us against becoming more dependent on the CCP,” Ricketts said.

“These regulations are not only disastrous for our economy, but Alaskans know well that EV technology just doesn’t work in rural states—especially those with extreme cold temperatures and communities separated by thousands of miles where reliable transportation is a matter of life and death. Make no mistake, this thinly-disguised attempt to get rid of the internal-combustion engine without congressional authority will only hurt hard-working families across the country, worsen the supply chain crisis, and deepen our reliance on Chinese Communist Party-controlled critical minerals. We’re urging every one of our colleagues to put the interests of American families above the demands of the radical environmentalists, and support our CRA resolutions overturning these ludicrous rules to ensure Americans and Alaskans continue to have access to the vehicles of their choice that actually work,” said Sullivan. 

Reps. John James (R-Mich.) and Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) each introduced one of the resolutions of disapproval in the House of Representatives.

Background: 

• In January, Kennedy called on the Biden administration to withdraw its Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. 

• Kennedy also called for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to block funding for the Biden administration’s EV mandates, which were included in recent appropriations bills. 

• In Oct. 2023, Kennedy helped introduce a bill to prevent the Biden administration from limiting the sale of gas-powered vehicles.

The senators’ joint resolution of disapproval for light and medium vehicles is available here. 

The joint resolution of disapproval for heavy-duty vehicles is available here.