In the News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas renewed Democrats' calls Monday for gun safety legislation, but their pleas fell on deaf ears in the Republican-controlled Congress. At the same time GOP legislation aimed at loosening gun rules stood in limbo, facing an uncertain future.

Before the shooting that killed at least 59 people — the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history — House GOP leaders had been moving forward with bills to ease regulations on gun silencers and allow people with concealed-carry permits to take their weapons to other states.

WASHINGTON — Over a year ago, the NCAA began asking member schools to get behind a pledge developing better hiring practices that promoted diversity and equality. Without an answer on any progress on that pledge in a year, Congress is now asking questions.

Led by Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, lawmakers have sent correspondence to Mark Emmert, the head of the NCAA, to demand answers on the organization's progress toward increased hiring diversity.

After a summer of planetary upheaval, nobody can say the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is ignoring the messages sent out by the quivering natural world.

After all, the committee scheduled a hearing on what we could learn from the solar eclipse.

It seems a fitting agenda for a committee that often seems to be operating in the dark.

PORTLAND, Ore. – An Oregon lawmaker says an Iranian baby once barred from entering the U.S. to receive heart surgery because of President Donald Trump's travel ban continues to do well since undergoing an operation in Portland in February.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici shared photos on social media of Fatemeh Reshad taken at her Beaverton office and wrote that the girl, now about a year old, is "thriving" since her surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital to correct a heart defect.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is taking entries in the third-annual Congressional App Challenge.

The challenge has students use coding and computer science to create and exhibit a software application for mobile, tablet or other computers on a platform of their choice.

"Participating in the Congressional App Challenge will require creative thinking and technology skills so students will be engaging both halves of the brain," Bonamici said in a release.

WASHINGTON, D.C., – On Tuesday, national leaders voiced their concerns about education in local schools.

A rally was held on Capitol Hill where lawmakers, community organizations and teachers said they have doubts about the Trump Administration's education policies.

Educators, students and lawmakers are demanding action from Washington, D.C.

Organizers of the rally have concerns about policies under the Trump administration.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, said efforts to shift funding hurts students.

Nine years ago, when the country plunged into an economic recession, nurseries in Washington County had little trouble finding the workers needed to power one of Oregon's most important exporters.

Around one-third of nurseries folded in that time, but for those who survived the recession, the business looks far different now. The economy is on the rise, nearing record-low unemployment levels in Washington County in the last year, and like the summer landscape, the nursery workforce is drying up.

YAMHILL — First District Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici would really like to meet Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Bonamici told participants in a Sept. 18 town hall audience in Yamhill that most secretaries of education pay frequent visits to the House education committee, on which she serves. But she said DeVos, confirmed by the Senate Feb. 7 on a 51-50 vote, requiring the vice president to cast a rare tiebreaker, has yet to make an appearance.