Blog Post

Today, the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on the State Secret Protection Act of 2009 (HR 984). The bi-partisan legislation would ensure meaningful judicial determination of the state secrets privilege--curbing abuse of the privilege while providing protection for valid state secrets. Rep.

Recent outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella in foods such as spinach, peanuts, and peppers have shown major gaps in our antiquated food safety laws. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that every year 76 million Americans get sick due to unsafe food products, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food borne hazards.

As part of Speaker Pelosi's ongoing efforts to increase transparency and accountability in the House of Representatives, the Speaker's office and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) have been working on making the Statement of Disbursements - which documents all expenditures Congressional, Committee, Leadership, and administrative offices make - available online. Today, the Speaker sent the following letter to the CAO directing his office to begin posting the Statement of Disbursements online as soon as possible:

June 3, 2009

The Honorable Dan Beard

This morning, Speaker Pelosi asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the disclosure of information related to nuclear facilities saying:

The disclosure of information related to nuclear facilities suggests that the current system does not provide adequate review and safeguards. Accordingly, I have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate immediately what led to the disclosure of this information and to make recommendations to prevent a similar disclosure in the future.

Today, Speaker Pelosi met with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Today, the House passed H. Res. 489, a resolution recognizing the 20th anniversary of the brutal suppression of protesters and citizens in and around Tiananmen Square, expressing sympathy to the families of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned in connection with the protests, and calling for the Chinese government to allow a fair investigation and to release those imprisoned for participating in the 1989 demonstrations.

Today's horrific crime that took the life of Dr. George Tiller while he attended church services is a senseless act of violence that has no place in our society. No matter our different beliefs, we are a nation of laws and every American must repudiate such violent acts.

In their time of grief, I offer the Tiller family my prayers and deepest condolences.

Speaker Pelosi and the bipartisan congressional delegation met today with Martin Lee, a democracy leader who founded the Hong Kong Democratic Party, to discuss the status of democracy in Hong Kong: