Media

The attempted assassination of President Trump at a campaign rally held north of Pittsburgh last weekend has shocked the nation. Thankfully and miraculously, this heinous act of violence failed to take the former president’s life. To the relief of millions of Americans across the country, Trump was escorted away from the event with no life-threatening injuries.

Securing our country’s borders and safeguarding the American people are fundamental responsibilities of the federal government. Ongoing human trafficking at the border is a humanitarian crisis, and the smuggling of fentanyl and other illicit substances poses a serious risk to Americans.

On July 4, 1851, the 75^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the federal government embarked on a project to add two major wings to the U.S. Capitol Building and enlarge its dome. In the ensuing decade, through Congress’ most contentious years then the first three years of the Civil War, construction carried on. In December 1863, the Statue of Freedom was installed on the now completed dome, signifying confidence the Union would be preserved at a fateful moment in American history.

The annual process to approve federal government spending requires Congress to pass and the president to sign 12 bills into law before the start of each fiscal year. Legislative consideration of these spending bills begins in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and, ideally, each bill moves through the legislative process individually until all 12 are enacted prior to September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year.