Cardin Urges President Obama, OMB to Right-Size Funding Requests for Water Infrastructure

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, has written to Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, urging a substantial increase in the President's FY17 Budget for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). The SRFs are the primary source of federal funding for all states to maintain, repair and replace their aging water infrastructure… Continue Reading

Cardin, Casey, Van Hollen, and Scott Urge Administration to Support Chesapeake Bay Conservation Programs

WASHINGTON - Today Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Bob Casey (D-PA) and Congressmen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) urged the Obama Administration to strongly support agricultural conservation programs to ensure a clean Chesapeake Bay in its FY 2017 budget. To increase the economic benefits from the lands and waters throughout the Bay's watershed, states are working to achieve the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint, but progress is in jeopardy if programs are not sufficiently fun… Continue Reading

Cardin, Bipartisan Team of Senators Introduce Legislation to Expand Telehealth Services, Improve Health Outcomes, and Reduce Costs

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, bipartisan legislation that would expand telehealth services through Medicare, improve care outcomes, make it easier for patients to connect with their health care providers, and help cut costs for patients and pr… Continue Reading

Cardin Welcomes the Latest Additions to Magnitsky List

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) issued the following statement after the Obama Administration submitted to Congress its third annual report of U.S. Government actions to implement the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, adding additional individuals for sanctions. "As the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the author of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability law, I welcome the Administration's decision to sanction five individuals … Continue Reading

Cardin, Schatz, Whitehouse, and Colleagues Urge EPA To Take Further Action On Climate Change And Cut Methane Emissions

WASHINGTON - In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and 18 other senators are urging the agency to expand its regulation of methane emissions. As a part of the president's Climate Action Plan, the EPA has begun to address industrial sources of methane, but not all sources of the gas are current… Continue Reading

Cardin Delivers Statement On Legislation To Help Obtain Observer Status For Taiwan In Interpol

Cardin Delivers Statement On The Nepal Recovery Act

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gave the following statement regarding S. 1882 the Nepal Recovery Act, which will work to support the sustainable recovery and rebuilding of Nepal following the recent, devastating earthquakes near Kathmandu. Senator Cardin introduced the bill with Senator Kirk as an original cosponsor on July 29, 2015. The legislation passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Janu… Continue Reading

Cardin Continues Focus on Retirement Security for All Americans, Lauds Presidential Spotlight

BALTIMORE - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee and a champion for retirement security in both the Senate and House of Representatives, lauded President Barack Obama's effort to spotlight the need to ensure that more Americans have the ability to save for retirement. Senator Cardin issued the following statement in response to the president's plans to include detailed plans on retirement security in his upcoming FY2017 budget. "Encouraging retirement sa… Continue Reading

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

"Thanks to the efforts of the international community and many Holocaust survivors, the world is a much different place than it was seventy years ago when the scourge of Nazism sought to wipe peoples from the earth. For survivors and their families, the crimes and horrors Holocaust is not simply part of history, it is a set of deeply personal experiences that require an immense amount of strength to overcome on a daily basis. "The United States and our allies have made great strides in chang… Continue Reading

Cardin Statement On Danish Parliament Approving Seizure Of Refugee Assets By Police

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement regarding a recently enacted Danish law that authorizes police to search asylum seekers entering the country and confiscate any non-essential items that do not have any sentimental value to the owner valued at more than 10, 000 kroner, which is equivalent to just under $1,500. "In the seven years leading up to World War II, Denmark took in nearly 7,500… Continue Reading

Cardin, Mikulski, Hoyer, Edwards, Baker Applaud Administration Plan To Fully Fund Construction Of New Consolidated FBI Headquarters In President’s Fy17 Budget Request

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski, Representatives Steny H. Hoyer and Donna F. Edwards together with Prince George's County Executive Rusher L. Baker, III (all D-Md.) today applauded the Administration's next steps for a new, fully consolidated headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). "This newly proposed appropriation toward a new, fully consolidated FBI headquarters is a significant development that underscores the administration's commitment … Continue Reading

Democratic Senators and Leading Researchers Push for Funding Gun Violence Research at CDC

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led a group of Democratic Senators and renowned national researchers in calling for immediate funding of a gun violence research agenda at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A 1996 Republican appropriations rider prohibits federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control, which some have misconstrued as a ban on funding scientific research into the causes of gun violence. The au… Continue Reading

Cardin: Embracing Politics of Fear is No Way to Increase National Security

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on Wednesday's procedural vote against "the SAFE Act" (H.R. 4038), which disguises a de facto ban on U.S. acceptance of refugees in a new screening process that is unrealistic and unworkable. "The safety of our country, our national security, is my top priority as a U.S. Senator. Congress has a knack for introducing legislation that falls well short of aspira… Continue Reading

American Safe Act, H.R. 4038

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time as a Senator from Maryland, as well as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to talk about the bill we voted on earlier today--on the motion to proceed to the so-called SAFE Act dealing with Syrian refugees. I like to call it the fear act because I think it really is an act that is misguided. I will start by saying that the world looks to the United States, and when there are tough problems, they look to our leadership. Th… Continue Reading

Cardin Applauds Obama Veto of Short-Sighted Attempt to Undercut Clean Water Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, today issued the following statement welcoming President Barack Obama's veto of an attempt by congressional Republicans to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water Rule, which clarifies Clean Water Act protections for small bodies of water and was shaped by historic levels of public input. "President Obama's veto of the effort to undercut the Clean Water Act is both… Continue Reading

Cardin Statement on Terrorist Attack in Pakistan

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the terrorist attack in Pakistan: "I want to express my condolences to the families of those lost in today's terrorist attack in Pakistan. The targeting of an educational institution brings back terrible memories of the tragic December 2014 school attack in Peshawar. The people of Pakistan remain a top target of terrorist groups and we remain committed to s… Continue Reading

Cardin Statement on JCPOA Implementation Day

BALTIMORE - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and author of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, issued the following statement on Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. "With Implementation Day of the Iran nuclear agreement now here, it is critical that all parties uphold their commitments agreed to in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. While Congress was not a party to the nuclear negotiations, we do have … Continue Reading

Cardin Statement on Taiwan’s Historic Election

BALTIMORE -U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued this statement following Taiwan's historic election. "Taiwan has once again demonstrated an unwavering commitment to democracy and freedom of expression following their now concluded historic campaign and election. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the people of Taiwan for once again exercising their democratic rights and serving as a shining example for the international commun… Continue Reading

Cardin Statement on Release of Americans from Iran

BALTIMORE - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement regarding the release of four detained Americans in Iran and a fifth American, a student, who was released as well. "The release of five innocent Americans from Iran is a day for all Americans to celebrate their long and overdue return home. Painstaking effort and the unwavering determination put forward by Secretary of State Kerry, former Under Secretary of State We… Continue Reading

Cardin Reflects on the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

BALTIMORE - U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), issued the following statement in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is commemorated on Monday, January 18, 2016: "As we celebrate what would have been the 87th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we reflect on his enduring legacy and the enormous impact his life has had on making America great. Dr. King was taken from this world far too soon, but he instilled in his followers an understanding that they would keep up the momentum… Continue Reading