WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today joined Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in demanding answers from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administer Deanne Criswell regarding reports that an employee purposely avoided assisting Hurricane Milton disaster victims because of their political affiliation.  

“We are writing today to express our deep concern over recent reports that a U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee advised disaster assistance teams in Florida responding to Hurricane Milton to avoid homes that had yard signs supporting President-Elect Donald Trump,” the senators wrote.

“For a FEMA employee to withhold aid or support from a household due to political affiliation is unacceptable and frankly reprehensible. While there are many dedicated public servants who are working around the clock to help disaster survivors at their most vulnerable point, it is clear that FEMA has fallen well short of its core mission to provide disaster relief to all Americans impacted by a natural disaster,” they continued.

“The idea that citizens, whose tax dollars fund FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DFR) and pay FEMA officials’ salaries, may be purposely excluded from vitally needed aid is chilling and further erodes many people’s already tenuous trust in this administration. . . . We demand answers, accountability, and transparency to hold your agency accountable to the American people and ensure that FEMA employees are providing support to all victims,” the senators explained.

The senators are seeking answers from Criswell regarding:

• The number of houses that FEMA bypassed during the agency’s Hurricane Milton response,

• when FEMA became aware of the employee’s misconduct,

• what steps the agency will take to investigate the claim that FEMA officials told employees to avoid of households based on their political affiliation and

• what laws FEMA believes its employees may have violated.

Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also signed the letter.

The full letter is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and a bipartisan group of colleagues in urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to conduct oversight of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) use of facial recognition technology.

“We urge you to conduct thorough oversight of the Transportation Security Administration’s (“TSA”) use of facial recognition technology for passenger verification from both an authorities and privacy perspective. This technology will soon be in use at hundreds of major and mid-size airports without an independent evaluation of the technology’s precision or an audit of whether there are sufficient safeguards in place to protect passenger privacy,” the senators wrote.

“TSA reportedly plans to introduce next-generation credential authentication technology (CAT) equipped with facial recognition at over 430 airports nationwide. Yet the agency already deploys non-facial recognition devices, known as CAT-1 scanners, which are capable of determining if identification documents are fraudulent. TSA has not provided Congress with evidence that facial recognition technology is necessary to catch fraudulent documents, decrease wait times at security checkpoints, or stop terrorists from boarding airplanes,” they continued. 

“Additionally, despite promising lawmakers and the public that this technology is not mandatory, TSA has stated its intent to expand this technology beyond the security checkpoint and make it mandatory in the future. In April 2023, TSA Administrator Pekoske admitted at the South by Southwest Conference that ‘we will get to the point where we will require biometrics across the board.’ If that happens, this program could become one of the largest federal surveillance databases overnight without authorization from Congress,” the senators concluded.

The senators are also asking the DHS to provide Congress with an evaluation report of the facial recognition technology before it becomes the default form of passenger verification at security checkpoints.

Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) also signed the letter.

The full letter is available here.

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and colleagues in writing President Joe Biden to reject the United Nations (U.N.) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee’s global plastics pollution agreement, which would harm Louisiana and America’s manufacturing development. 

“We write to express great concern that just as talks at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) enter their final phase, the administration has changed the U.S. negotiating positions to address plastic pollution. It is unfortunate the administration appears to have succumbed to pressure from extremist environmental activists and now supports constraints on manufacturing and the development of target lists that identify chemicals and plastic products to be banned around the world in the potential treaty. We will not support a treaty that proposes global lists to restrict the production or use of chemicals, plastics, or plastic products or that requires new domestic authority,” the senators wrote.

“Throughout the negotiating process, the United States positioned itself to broker an agreement that not only seizes upon a historic opportunity to end plastic pollution in the environment, but one that also bolsters American manufacturing by supporting innovative new product designs and recycling technologies. Such an agreement could usher in a beneficial ‘circular economy’ for plastics. This last-minute change in U.S. policy could sabotage years of positive collaboration and progress in brokering a treaty that ends plastic pollution, unlocks innovation, and, importantly, that could be ratified by the U.S. Senate,” they continued. 

The senators also explained that the agreement would commit the U.S. to domestic policy changes that could affect federal and state laws, and, for that reason, should be submitted to the Senate for advice and consent under Article II of the Constitution.

“Any agreement that includes provisions harmful to American manufacturing and jobs, or that unnecessarily drives up the costs to American consumers of food, electronics, vehicles, and other critical products, will not receive Senate ratification . . . With the final round of negotiations taking place later this year, we recommend you focus on securing a treaty that the U.S. can actually join, one that will result in a lasting solution to end plastic pollution, and one that would strengthen our innovative economy,” they concluded. 

Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also signed the letter.

The full letter is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and colleagues in introducing the Stand with Israel Act to combat the United Nation’s (U.N.) persecution of Israel. The legislation would block any U.S. dollars from going to the U.N. if it downgrades Israel’s status in any way, such as preventing Israel from having certain voting powers, access to committees or other roles within the organization.

“The U.N. has failed to pass any resolution to condemn the October 7 terrorists, yet the Palestinian delegation has tried to delegitimize Israel by introducing radical resolutions. Even though the U.N.’s policies often run against American interests, we remain its biggest funder. We shouldn’t send American tax dollars to groups that demonize our strongest democratic ally in the Middle East while elevating terrorist-sympathizers and the Palestinian Authority,” said Kennedy.

In September, Kennedy criticized the Palestinian Authority for introducing a U.N. resolution that would reward terrorism. The resolution would have supported an end to Israel’s presence in the West Bank, sanction Israeli officials and block other countries’ arms transfers to Israel. The U.N. General Assembly adopted the one-sided resolution without U.S. support. 

“Any attempt to alter Israel’s status at the UN is clearly antisemitic. If UN member states allow the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to downgrade Israel’s status at the UN, the United States must stop supporting the UN system, as it would clearly be beyond repair. I am disgusted this outrageous idea has even been discussed, and will do all I can to ensure any changes to Israel’s status will come with consequences,” said Risch. 

The legislation is the companion to the House of Representative’s bipartisan H.R. 9394, which Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) introduced. 

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala. ), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)  also cosponsored the legislation.

Full text of the Stand with Israel Act is available here.