In the News
Survivors of a U.S. policy that forced Indigenous children to attend boarding schools where they were abused, or went missing, detailed to members of a U.S. House Natural Resources panel during a Thursday hearing the need for Congress to establish a truth commission dedicated to unveiling the traumas Indigenous children experienced at the schools.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) sponsored the bill, H.R. 5444, which would establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids offered input Thursday into development of a compromise bill designed to improve domestic manufacturing and the nation's supply chain that were exposed as competitively deficient during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moran, a Republican, and Davids, a Democrat, were appointed to the Senate and House negotiating committee working on a combined version of the Bipartisan Innovation Act. An agreement resolving differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, if approved by both chambers, would be forwarded to President Joe Biden.
Two federal efforts — one in Congress and one at the U.S. Interior Department — could affect the search for marked and unmarked graves at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway and Haskell University in Lawrence.
Congressional testimony began Thursday on a bill that would create a federal commission to look into the impacts of Native American boarding schools such as those that once operated throughout Kansas and at two sites in Missouri.
Representative Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat representing a district in Kansas, faces a difficult reelection fight in November. The House Republicans' campaign arm has targeted her seat, and she represents one of Democrats' "frontline" districts.
U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (Kan.) along with U.S. Representatives Ron Estes (KS-04), Sharice Davids (KS-03), Tracey Mann (KS-01) and Jake LaTurner (KS-02) have requested President Biden declare a major disaster in Kansas following two back-to-back winter storms in March that produced heavy snow and high wind gusts.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D), co-chair of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, is prepared to introduce legislation Wednesday broadening mental health support for at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.
The "Pride in Mental Health Act" would amend existing child abuse law to include explicit protections for LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit youth and their families, according to a copy of the bill obtained by Changing America.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Women's Business Centers Improvement Act with bipartisan support.
Why it matters: Sponsored by Rep. Sharice Davids, the bill would increase funding to the 150 Women Business Centers across the country, including a Kansas City organization based in Overland Park.
The details: Two years ago, Congress passed the Women's Business Centers Improvement Act with unanimous bipartisan support.
Abortions may soon be banned in Missouri and across many other states if the Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade, as indicated by a draft decision leaked and published Monday night.
How did elected officials around Kansas City react to the potential of a Roe v. Wade reversal?
"I am sad and I am concerned. Americans have long had faith in the third branch. It has now been shaken by leaks and an even more troubling divorce from precedent and rights" Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted.
More than $13 billion went to businesses in Kansas and Missouri for COVID-19 assistance last year, according to the Small Business Administration.
On Tuesday, Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids met with small business owners like Jennifer Pugh in Mission, Kansas, to see how they're doing now.
"When you're seen, you're heard," Jennifer Pugh, owner of Lulu's Boutique said.
Pugh explained how federal money helped her during the pandemic and the challenges she now faces.
"It has been a little bit of a train wreck, but we are doing better," Pugh said.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., recently visited Stryten Energy, a manufacturer of advanced battery technology, as part of her Made in Kansas tour to promote domestic manufacturing and supply chain solutions.
The company has a location in the Fairfax area of Kansas City, Kansas.