WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Van Taylor (R-TX) introduced the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act. The bipartisan legislation would allow judges to expunge the records of low-level drug offenders to provide them with a second chance. Thompson served as the District Attorney of Kings County, New York, from 2014 until his […]

Last week the House of Representatives passed and President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The $1.9 trillionlegislation will put shots in arms to crush the virus, deliver survival checks to you, get children back in schools, keep people in jobs and help our small businesses stay open. The American Rescue Plan will also deliver more than $12 billion to the New York State and $6 billion to the New York City governments so they can […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a Member of the Budget Committee, spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. WATCH Remarks as delivered: “The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-century crisis. It requires a once-in-a-century comprehensive, compassionate and […]

WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act. The bipartisan legislation would eliminate the federal crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity and retroactively apply it to those already convicted or sentenced. The sentencing disparity between […]

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a Member of the House Judiciary Committee, voted to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation will work to end racial profiling, criminalize the chokehold, demilitarize the police, end qualified immunity, create a national standard on excessive use of […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Following the passage of H.R.1 – the For the People Act of 2021, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement: “Today, House Democrats passed a once-in-a-generation democracy reform to clean up corruption in Washington and return our government to everyday Americans. Since our election to the majority in 2018, we […]

WASHINGTON, DC –Today, U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), the National Action Network and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, announced the reintroduction of the Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act, legislation to make the chokehold and other strangulation tactics illegal under federal civil rights law. The bill, originally introduced by Rep. Jeffries in 2015, is included […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in a vote of 414 to 11, the House of Representatives passed the Effective Assistance of Counsel in the Digital Era Act. Introduced by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the bipartisan legislation would bring prison policy into the 21st Century by applying attorney-client privilege to electronic communications sent or received through the Bureau of Prisons’ […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation that directs the Register of Copyrights to waive the copyright registration fee for winners of the Congressional Art Competition and the Congressional App Competition. Currently, the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, does […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in recognition of Black History Month, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) issued the following statement:  “African Americans have been here since before there was a country. We arrived on these shores in 1619 in shackles and as a result of our blood, our sweat, our tears, our intellect, our ingenuity, […]