In the News
For more than a decade, the giants of Silicon Valley have been pumping out products and services that millions of people and companies now use every day: social networks, search engines, two-day shipping on toilet paper. Only recently, however, have Americans become aware of just how much of their privacy they surrendered—sometimes knowingly, sometimes not—by joining this ecosystem of app-centric convenience.
Reasonable citizens and sensible politicians acknowledge unforeseen global crises, regional security incidents, and clandestine military operations are unavoidable realities for any modern president. Such acknowledgment leads to the inevitable realization that our form of government, brilliantly constructed as it is, struggles to keep pace with geopolitical demands, especially when it comes to war making activities.
Time and again, Jerry Kromrey showed up at his congressman's town hall meetings in California, advocating for veterans like himself.
Kromrey, of Sunnyvale, Calif., wanted Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to understand that some veterans faced significant barriers to benefits and they needed Congress' help.
Stephon Clark lived and died in Sacramento. When the 22-year-old father of two was shot and killed by local cops after a foot chase in the spring of 2018, it provoked the largest national uproar over a police killing of an unarmed black man since the groundswell of protests that began with the death of Michael Brown and the Ferguson uprising five years ago this week. The Sacramento officers who took Clark's life were not charged with any crime.
Since he was first elected in 2016, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna has become one of the House's most recognizable progressive voices. Although the district he represents includes Silicon Valley, he's made a name for himself as an ardent critic of big tech companies, and is a co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign.
A migrant died earlier the same day Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) arrived at the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center, a migrant detention facility at the Southern border. The Silicon Valley congressman says he found out about the fatality through a supervising border agent who confided the tragic detail last week to Khanna and other members of a congressional delegation to the U.S.-Mexico divide.
The migrant's cause of death was unknown, but Khanna says it was most likely due to the strain of the treacherous journey that brought him there.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A bill introduced in Congress would expand health care options for Native American veterans.
New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall and California Rep. Ro Khanna announced the bill Friday. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has signed on as co-sponsors.
The measure would allow the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to reimburse about three dozen health care facilities in 20 states for services provided to Native veterans in urban areas. California leads in the number of urban Indian health centers.
"Congress has spoken," Congressman Ro Khanna announced last week. "Trump cannot declare war with any nation, especially Iran, without coming to us first."
Last week, mostly lost amid the deafening din of President Trump's serial outrages, the House of Representatives finally began asserting common sense and the congressional prerogative over war and peace. By passing a series of amendments to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, it has started to take action against the United States' increasingly unpopular endless wars.