Keeping America on the Move

Averting a Nationwide Rail Shutdown
This week, President Biden and the Democratic Congress enacted legislation to avert a disastrous nationwide rail shutdown and implement the Tentative Agreement secured through months of hard-fought negotiations. This decisive action was vital to safeguarding the financial security of America's families and protecting our economy's continued recovery: saving as many as 765,000 jobs, preventing painful price hikes and keeping essential goods on the shelf.

Railroad companies have long sold out to Wall Street, making obscene profits on the backs of their workers while slashing jobs, increasing hours, undermining safety and even forcing employees to choose between seeing a doctor or keeping their job. Outraged by this long-standing injustice, House Democrats voted to further strengthen the Tentative Agreement by adding seven days of paid sick leave. While this was blocked by Senate Republicans, our Caucus remains committed to securing universal paid sick leave – for railroad workers and for all Americans.

House Democrats were reluctant to bypass the standard ratification process — but this legislation secured important advances for our railroad workers, including a hard-earned 24 percent raise, a $5,000 bonus and some time off for medical care, while also protecting the two-man crew and preventing increases in copays, deductibles and coinsurance costs. We are deeply grateful for our rail union leaders' relentless advocacy on behalf of their members and for President Biden's tireless work to strike a fair deal – the latest step in his mission to forge a more just economy for working people.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi welcomes His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, to the Capitol ahead of a bilateral meeting.

World AIDS Day
Each year, World AIDS Day offers a solemn opportunity to reflect on the devastating toll that HIV/AIDS has wreaked on communities around the globe. Throughout the world, AIDS continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives every year – disproportionately harming our LGBTQ communities, communities of color and individuals experiencing poverty.

San Franciscans know all too well the rampant despair and pain inflicted on our city amid the darkest days of the AIDS crisis. Inspired by the powerful voices of activists and survivors, our city and nation have made remarkable progress over the last four decades. It is with great pride that the Congress has worked to drive groundbreaking research through the National Institutes of Health, bolster global care efforts through PEPFAR and the Global Fund, support life-saving treatments with the Ryan White CARE Act and tear down discriminatory barriers with the Affordable Care Act.

As we celebrate these vital strides forward, House Democrats recognize that our work is far from over. We remain committed to relentlessly advancing health equity, stamping out discrimination and bringing the scourge of HIV/AIDS to an end once and for all.

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