be travel congress

Belgian Travel Congress | 18 - 21 april 2024

A changing mindset, portaventura world, spanje.

4 dagen gevuld met vergaderen, netwerken en ontspanning.

Ontdek wie jullie zullen inspireren tijdens de vergaderingen en workshops

We verblijven in volgend hotel.

Ons congres wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door...

Voorgaande edities

Lees hier wat de deelnemers van de voorgaande congressen vonden.

How a government shutdown could upend holiday travel

WASHINGTON — Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers across the country could be working without pay during the Thanksgiving travel rush as the U.S. heads toward a government shutdown days before a record number of air passengers are expected at U.S. airports.

The federal government will shut down and be unable to continue paying its workers starting Saturday unless Congress passes a new funding bill. While airport security and air traffic controllers will still be required to show up for work without pay, past shutdowns have led to increases in absenteeism, which could be a recipe for flight delays and extreme security lines for holiday travelers. 

The air travel workforce is already stretched thin, with TSA officers and air traffic controllers working mandatory overtime amid staffing shortages and a record number of air travelers. The financial uncertainty of not being paid could put even more strain on the system, making it difficult for some to afford the child care and transportation needed to get to work, while others could be forced to take on second jobs. 

“If we’re going to shut down, it’s going to be ugly. I’m very concerned about the mental state of the employees and how long they’re willing to endure this government shutdown,” said an official with the union representing TSA employees, Johnny Jones, a transportation security officer at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. “The No. 1 thing that they’re thinking about is that next paycheck.”

Follow live updates on the government shutdown bill vote

The TSA expects an increase in travelers over the Thanksgiving holiday period, with the busiest day being the Sunday after Thanksgiving, when a record 3 million people are expected to fly.

House Republicans will try again to pass a short-term budget this week, but with just five legislative days left until the deadline, there is little room for error. Over the weekend, House Republicans put forth an unusual approach to averting a shutdown by proposing several spending bills needed to keep the government open into January to bring together opposing Republican factions. 

During the last shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, 2018, travelers faced longer security screening lines after TSA officer call-outs increased as much as threefold at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the absentee rate among airport screeners peaked at 10%, compared to the average 3% absence rate, according to a report by the research firm Tourism Economics.

Biden administration officials have begun warning about the toll a shutdown could have on employees and the ripple effect it could have on travelers.

“The last government shutdown in 2019 was 35 days, and when you go 35 days without a source of income, that’s very, very hard,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in an interview on NBC’s "TODAY" show. “It’s hard to put gas in your car. It’s hard to pay for parking, hard to pay for child care. So the longer a shutdown goes, the bigger the impact on us.” 

During the last shutdown, airports across the Northeast experienced major delays after an increased number of air traffic controllers called out sick. Hours after the air travel disruptions, the White House announced a deal to reopen the government. 

This time, the impact on air travel could be felt much sooner and more acutely given how thinly stretched the air travel workforce already is, said Joe McCartin, the executive director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, who has studied past air travel labor disputes. 

“The understaffing at air traffic control facilities is significantly worse now than it was in 2019, so you already have air traffic controllers who are working under more pressure. A lot of them are working mandatory six-day weeks,” McCartin said. “They are already under stress, so if you were to add to that anything like what happened in 2019, where you have an extended shutdown where people are not being paid, and if that also coincides with the holiday season, I think it’s a very tenuous situation.”

Federal Aviation Administration and TSA employees are prohibited from going on strike or organizing sickouts under federal law, but McCartin said nothing prevents individual employees from calling out sick. 

Rail travel could also feel the effects of a shutdown. Amtrak employees will continue to be paid, but during past shutdowns, some Federal Railroad Administration personnel have been furloughed and employees with the Office of Railroad Safety worked without pay.

If the government shuts down, federal workers will receive the paychecks they are scheduled to receive through Saturday, an administration official said. After that, workers wouldn’t receive any additional pay until Congress passes a budget. In past shutdowns, Congress has appropriated back pay to reimburse federal employees for the period where they weren’t paid.  

TSA workers and union leaders held a rally outside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday calling on Congress to act and prevent a shutdown. 

“This is the busiest airport in the world, and the [transportation security officers] here work around the clock to make sure that all of these travelers reach their destination safely,” Tatishka Thomas, a union leader with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA agents, said during the rally. “The fact that certain members of Congress are willing to play chicken with the pay of these unsung heroes is unconscionable.”

Shannon Pettypiece is senior policy reporter for NBC News digital.

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Ed Perkins on Travel: What might Congress do for you as an air traveler? Or do

F or reasons best left inside the Beltway, Congress decided to use the must-pass FAA Reauthorization Bill as a rack on which to hang a lot of divergent extras. Reauthorization is necessary to keep the FAA funded, an objective that even in today's fractured venue is truly bipartisan. Reauthorization has already been kicked down the road once to keep the FAA going, but it looks like Congress will act on the comprehensive bill fairly soon.

But which version of the bill? The Senate and House versions are quite different, in general and specifically on consumer issues. The Senate version includes some important consumer benefits; the House version adds little and takes away one important benefit consumers currently enjoy. Here's the picture.

Senate. The Senate bill's consumer coverage includes several provisions that would be beneficial for you. Among them are several provisions that consumer advocates have been pushing for years:

• Airlines must set the minimum time of delay before compensation requirements kick in at no more than three hours for a domestic flight, six hours for an international flight.
• Any vouchers or future credits issued by an airline as delay or cancellation compensation must remain valid for at least five years.
• Airlines and airports must clearly advertise passenger rights and Department of Transportation (DoT) complaint forms.
• The DoT should establish a position of Assistant Secretary for Aviation Consumer Protection.
• Airlines must give frequent flyers a 90-day notice of point devaluation and a 30-day notice of voucher expiration.

Of note is the first attempt at the federal government level to do anything about the rampant deceptions and unfair practices inherent in almost all frequent flyer programs. None of the other provisions goes as far as many consumer advocates propose, but at least they're steps in the right direction and do no harm.

Still unaddressed is the problem of ensuring a standard of care and compensation for travelers delayed or canceled for reasons nominally within an airlines' control but which it could reasonably be expected to anticipate. "Standard of care" means providing meals in long delays and hotel accommodations in overnight delays, and compensation means monetary payments. Both provisions are available to European travelers under EC 261 but missing from U.S. regulation. Consumer advocates also hoped for a voucher limitation that goes further than the Bill: A voucher must revert to cash at the end of its validity period rather than vanish.

Also unaddressed is the longstanding recommendation of consumer advocates that Congress clarify the language in the Deregulation Act that denies states the ability to enforce rules on airlines and denies easy access to court action by consumers. We generally believe that the writers of the Deregulation Act did not intend the extremely broad interpretation that courts have applied.

House. On the other side of the Capitol, the House version mainly ignores the key points on the Senate bill. On the delay issue it just requires airlines to submit documentation on what their policies are, not meet any minimum requirements. And it includes one provision that actually does harm to you: It eliminates the current DoT requirement for all-up full-fare price postings. This current requirement has been a great benefit for consumers, in that it puts airfares among the few consumer purchases that meet the gold standard of price advertising: "What you see is what you pay."

I'm not sure why consumer protection has become a partisan issue — after all, everybody from the hard-right to the ultra-woke left is a consumer. Unfortunately, it has.

Apology. Normally, I like to confine these columns to information you can actually use to improve your travel experience and avoid glitches, gouges, and gotchas. But this bill will have a big impact on your travel for years to come. So whatever your politics, this bill is important. If you agree, you can help protect your interests by contacting your congressional delegation to express your support.

(Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at [email protected] . Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com .)

©2024 Ed Perkins. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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FACT SHEET: President   Biden Announces New Actions to Secure the   Border

New actions will bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum Biden taking action as Congressional Republicans put partisan politics ahead of national security, twice voting against toughest reforms in decades

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. Over the past three years, while Congress has failed to act, the President has acted to secure our border. His Administration has deployed the most agents and officers ever to address the situation at the Southern border, seized record levels of illicit fentanyl at our ports of entry, and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing migration patterns that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere.  Earlier this year, the President and his team reached a historic bipartisan agreement with Senate Democrats and Republicans to deliver the most consequential reforms of America’s immigration laws in decades. This agreement would have added critical border and immigration personnel, invested in technology to catch illegal fentanyl, delivered sweeping reforms to the asylum system, and provided emergency authority for the President to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. But Republicans in Congress chose to put partisan politics ahead of our national security, twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades. President Biden believes we must secure our border. That is why today, he announced executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today. They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents. But we must be clear: this cannot achieve the same results as Congressional action, and it does not provide the critical personnel and funding needed to further secure our Southern border. Congress still must act. The Biden-Harris Administration’s executive actions will:   Bar Migrants Who Cross the Southern Border Unlawfully From Receiving Asylum

• President Biden issued a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) suspending entry of noncitizens who cross the Southern border into the United States unlawfully. This proclamation is accompanied by an interim final rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that restricts asylum for those noncitizens.
• These actions will be in effect when the Southern border is overwhelmed, and they will make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.
• These actions are not permanent. They will be discontinued when the number of migrants who cross the border between ports of entry is low enough for America’s system to safely and effectively manage border operations. These actions also include similar humanitarian exceptions to those included in the bipartisan border agreement announced in the Senate, including those for unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking.

Recent Actions to secure our border and address our broken immigration system: Strengthening the Asylum Screening Process

• The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to ensure that migrants who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention prior to removal. This proposed rule will enhance security and deliver more timely consequences for those who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.

Announced new actions to more quickly resolve immigration cases

• The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security launched a Recent Arrivals docket to more quickly resolve a portion of immigration cases for migrants who attempt to cross between ports of entry at the Southern border in violation of our immigration laws.
• Through this process, the Department of Justice will be able to hear these cases more quickly and the Department of Homeland Security will be able to more quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States and grant protection to those with valid claims.
• The bipartisan border agreement would have created and supported an even more efficient framework for issuing final decisions to all asylum seekers. This new process to reform our overwhelmed immigration system can only be created and funded by Congress.

Revoked visas of CEOs and government officials who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully

• The Department of State imposed visa restrictions on executives of several Colombian transportation companies who profit from smuggling migrants by sea. This action cracks down on companies that help facilitate unlawful entry into the United States, and sends a clear message that no one should profit from the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.
• The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, non-governmental actors, and their immediate family members for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime, which is selling transit visas to migrants from within and beyond the Western Hemisphere who ultimately make their way to the Southern border.
• Previously, the State Department revoked visas of executives of charter airlines for similar actions.

Expanded Efforts to Dismantle Human Smuggling and Support Immigration Prosecutions

• The Departments of State and Justice launched an “Anti-Smuggling Rewards” initiative designed to dismantle the leadership of human smuggling organizations that bring migrants through Central America and across the Southern U.S. border. The initiative will offer financial rewards for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, or conviction of those most responsible for significant human smuggling activities in the region.
• The Department of Justice will seek new and increased penalties against human smugglers to properly account for the severity of their criminal conduct and the human misery that it causes.
• The Department of Justice is also partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to direct additional prosecutors and support staff to increase immigration-related prosecutions in crucial border U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Efforts include deploying additional DHS Special Assistant United States Attorneys to different U.S. Attorneys’ offices, assigning support staff to critical U.S. Attorneys’ offices, including DOJ Attorneys to serve details in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in several border districts, and partnering with federal agencies to identify additional resources to target these crimes.

Enhancing Immigration Enforcement

• The Department of Homeland Security has surged agents to the Southern border and is referring a record number of people into expedited removal.
• The Department of Homeland Security is operating more repatriation flights per week than ever before. Over the past year, DHS has removed or returned more than 750,000 people, more than in every fiscal year since 2010.
• Working closely with partners throughout the region, the Biden-Harris Administration is identifying and collaborating on enforcement efforts designed to stop irregular migration before migrants reach our Southern border, expand investment and integration opportunities in the region to support those who may otherwise seek to migrate, and increase lawful pathways for migrants as an alternative to irregular migration.

Seizing Fentanyl at our Border

• Border officials have seized more fentanyl at ports of entry in the last two years than the past five years combined, and the President has added 40 drug detection machines across points of entry to disrupt the fentanyl smuggling into the Homeland. The bipartisan border agreement would fund the installation of 100 additional cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southern border ports of entry.
• In close partnership with the Government of Mexico, the Department of Justice has extradited Nestor Isidro Perez Salaz, known as “El Nini,” from Mexico to the United States to face prosecution for his role in illicit fentanyl trafficking and human rights abuses. This is one of many examples of joint efforts with Mexico to tackle the fentanyl and synthetic drug epidemic that is killing so many people in our countries and globally, and to hold the drug trafficking organizations to account.

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Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Foreign Travel by Members of Congress (Part I)

• Post author: Ryan Scoville
• Post published: December 10, 2012
• Post category: Constitutional Law / International Law & Diplomacy / Public
• Post comments: 4 Comments

The Constitution allocates power over the conduct of foreign relations primarily to the executive, but diplomacy by Congress is common. Members of the House and Senate frequently travel overseas as part of congressional delegations—or “CODELs”—to meet with foreign officials, and foreign officials often make stops on Capitol Hill to discuss legislation. In recent years, visiting heads of state such as Benjamin Netanyahu and Lee Myung-bak have even issued formal addresses to Congress. Moreover, these practices are nothing new; federal legislators and foreign officials have been communicating with each other ever since the First Congress convened in 1789.

I think these practices are fascinating for a couple of reasons. First, no one really has a sense for how frequently they occur, where legislators are traveling, or why they go there. News media rarely mention foreign lobbying of Congress. Some media outlets have called attention to expenses incurred by Nancy Pelosi and others during various trips abroad, but there are no complete reports on the nature and extent of contacts between federal legislators and foreign governments. Yet these contacts constitute a significant mode of engagement between the United States and the rest of the world, and have a real impact on the way in which other nations perceive U.S. policy.

Second, I think the diplomatic contacts are fascinating because they challenge the prevailing understanding that diplomacy is a prerogative of the executive branch. Most analyses don’t seem to acknowledge that legislative diplomacy occurs, much less address the extent of its constitutionality. One resulting problem is theoretical: the gap between theory and practice means either that Congress systematically violates the separation of powers, or that the prevailing understanding of executive power is at least incomplete, and possibly incorrect. A second problem is practical: lacking a theoretical foundation, legislative diplomacy occurs in a constitutional void that imposes no principled limits on the conduct of members of the House and Senate, and offers no guidance on the extent to which planned communications are permissible.

I’m currently writing an article—entitled “ Legislative Diplomacy ”—that addresses these issues. One purpose is empirical. I use evidence from Wikileaks and a variety of public reports on congressional travel to provide an extensive account of the nature and volume of contemporary diplomacy by Congress. This evidence shows that legislative diplomacy is surprisingly frequent, widespread, and longstanding. The other purpose of the article is to offer a constitutional analysis of the contemporary practice. In my next post, I’ll share some of the data I collected.

Cross-posted at PrawfsBlawg .

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22nd annual pils auction–an interview with nicole brandemuehl, aals pro bono honor roll for marquette university law school, spring and fall, this post has 4 comments.

Most of these trips are simply free vacations for members of Congress. They call them junkets. It is ironic that they would travel to foreign lands rather than visit their districts and find out what the constituents needs are. It would be interesting to see if any actual diplomacy occurs on these trips and if any actual legislation results. It is no coincidence that most junkets are to beautiful and desirable vacation locations.

Thanks for the comment, Nick. I agree that some portion of the trips have a junket-type aspect to them, but I think it’s a mistake to conclude that all or even most of the trips are junkets. I’ll explain why in my next post.

I look forward to it Ryan! It would be nice to hear that all these fact-finding trips are more than paid vacations for members of Congress!

Since the Constitution specifies that the President is solely responsible for foreign affairs, I’ve always thought that congressional members had to get permission from the State Dept. to travel to foreign countries to discuss affairs of State. Is this true or not?

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'Don't wait:' Traveling Mainers urged to get REAL ID ahead of deadline

by Mal Meyer , WGME

PORTLAND (WGME) -- Travelers are being warned that it could be the last summer of easy flying if you don't have the right type of ID or driver's license.

You now have less than a year to get a so-called REAL ID or potentially risk being blocked from commercial air travel.

Starting in next May, you will have to have a REAL ID or be able to show your passport in order to get on a flight.

However, officials argue that one option is a whole lot simpler.

• Also read: Friday travel before holiday breaks the record: most airline travelers screened, TSA says

"For many Mainers, the one thing you always have in your wallet is your Maine driver's license," Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said.

Within the last few months, 59 percent of Maine travelers going through TSA at the Portland Jetport were not using a REAL ID, according to Bellows.

To get one, you'll need to go to the BMV in person.

Certain documents are required, including one that establishes your identity and lawful status in the U.S. like citizenship.

You'll also have to provide your Social Security Number and two documents that prove where you live, such as a utility bill or lease agreement.

"It's a process. It requires some planning. Just like a passport or passport card will require planning as well. So don't wait. These things take time," Bellows said.

• Also read: How long can you legally keep out-of-state plates after moving to Maine?

This is all because of a law Congress passed in 2005 in response to terrorism concerns.

The deadline had been extended in the past.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles says it is prepared for an influx of demand, but you may want to book an appointment.

As time goes on, they will be doing more to raise awareness.

"So soon, your Portland travel document checkers are going to be handing reminders to passengers who come up to the podium without a REAL ID," TSA New England Spokesperson Daniel Velez said.

This is only for domestic travel. You will still need a passport to get on an international flight.

Taxpayers fund a first-class congressional foreign travel boom

Most taxpayers will never pay $10,000 in flights for an overseas trip, but in the year prior to the 2016 election, taxpayers paid for 557 such trips that each cost more than $10,000 for a member of Congress or a staffer.

Those five-digit global itineraries made up 40% of all individual congressional trips for which travel costs were publicly reported. By comparison, less than 0.2% of tickets purchased by the general public through U.S. travel agencies in 2015 and 2016 were more than $10,000, according to the Airlines Reporting Corp.

The pricey flights were part of a surge in foreign travel. Congress spent at least $14.7 million on taxpayer-funded trips in fiscal year 2016, a 27% increase over the year before, according to Congress’ own accounting.

And that may be a low estimate. The Treasury Department reported that congressional travel cost nearly $20 million last year, the highest figure ever recorded, based on data provided by the State Department, which arranges official foreign travel for lawmakers. Neither Treasury nor State would explain the discrepancy, but both agencies stood by the higher figure.

None of these totals include hundreds of other trips for which the military provides transportation; the costs of using those military aircraft are never disclosed.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Lawmakers make official trips abroad to confer with foreign officials, to visit U.S. military operations and to oversee projects funded by the U.S. government, among other things.

Congress does not pay for its own flights. Under a Korean War-era statute that was updated in the 1970s, the Treasury Department is directed to pay for congressional trips overseas from whatever funds it has available. Congress does not have to approve spending for its foreign travel each year, and there is no set dollar limit.

When members of Congress decide to travel abroad, the State Department makes the arrangements and Treasury pays the bills. So there is little incentive for lawmakers to keep travel costs down. Congressional committees report the trips in error-riddled tables printed in the Congressional Record.

The Congressional Record reports include hundreds of trips with jaw-dropping expenses.

In May 2016, four GOP congressmen and three staff members spent $90,000 on a five-day trip to Albania for a NATO summit. Rep Mike Turner, R-Ohio, made the trip for $7,055, but Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., spent $15,222 for transportation.

“The expenses are due to a last-minute return flight,” said Sensenbrenner spokeswoman Nicole Tieman.

Turner was also the low spender on a February 2016 trip to Belgium. Turner’s transportation expenses are listed as $499 for that trip; Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, spent $6,694 and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., spent $11,396. Turner apparently transferred to another congressional delegation midway through, so the $499 does not reflect the full cost of his travels that week.

Sometime last summer (the Senate does not report travel dates), then-senator David Vitter, R-La., and one staff member from the Small Business Committee spent $37,000 to travel to the United Kingdom and back, according to the reports.

On the bright side, some of the most expensive trips are reporting errors. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., made a late 2016 trip to Georgia, Slovakia and the Ukraine with travel costs reported in the Congressional Record as $24,402.48. But his office says the actual airfare was around $13,000, and the senator had no role in choosing the flights.

Donnelly, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, made the trip “to review U.S.-supported efforts to counter the threat of Russian aggression and nuclear and biological terrorism on the ground in eastern Europe,” spokeswoman Sarah Rothschild said. “The Army, in coordination with the State Department, made all of the Senator’s travel arrangements, including selecting and booking his flights to Ukraine, Slovakia, and Georgia. ‎The State Department paid for the trip.”

Hundreds of congressional trips show no airfare at all because the lawmakers are flying on military aircraft, and the Pentagon simply absorbs the costs of the flights. But that does not mean the trips are without cost to the taxpayer. Beyond the military plane, there are on-the-ground costs generated for hotel rooms for security teams, State Department staff time, in-country transportation and the like.

In October 2015, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling and six other lawmakers accompanied by six staff members racked up $98,613 in expenses on a weeklong trip to Germany, Switzerland and England — with no airfare, according to the report in the Congressional Record.

The big jump in congressional travel costs in 2016 — from around $11 million in fiscal year 2015 to either the congressional estimate of $15 million or the Treasury estimate of more than $19 million — was partly intentional. Both the House and Senate Intelligence committees saw enormous increases in their foreign travel because new Republican committee chairmen wanted to get out in the field more.

Foreign travel costs reported by the House Intelligence Committee jumped from $1.1 million to $1.9 million after Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., took over the chairmanship in 2015.

“The increased spending results from a directive issued by Chairman Nunes for (committee) members to spend more time in the field,” said spokesman Jack Langer. “When dealing with intelligence issues, that’s really the crucial way to gain relevant information. Additionally, HPSCI travel costs tend to be relatively high because Members often travel to unusual, hard-to-reach locations.”

Likewise, the Senate Intelligence Committee spent $330,000 on foreign trips in fiscal year 2015 but just under $1 million in fiscal 2016. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., became chairman of the committee in 2015.

"All committee travel is jointly approved by the chairman and vice chairman,” said Senate Intelligence Committee spokeswoman Becca Glover Watkins. “It is a priority for the Senate Intelligence Committee to conduct oversight in the field, and that was an important commitment the Committee made over the last two years.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee topped all other committees with a $2.1 million reported travel tab in 2016, up from $1.6 million the year before.

“In 2016, the global threat posed by ISIL and other terrorist groups, Russia’s destabilizing behavior in Eastern Europe and military intervention in Syria, and China’s assertiveness in the East and South China Seas drove increasing demand for rigorous congressional oversight,” said committee spokesman Dustin Walker. “The American people expect their elected representatives to hold the executive branch accountable not by taking its word, but by seeking out the ground truth wherever American blood and treasure are at risk.”

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The Morning After: Congress’ clean energy bill passes with major focus on nuclear

The bill moves on to president biden..

The Senate has passed a sweeping bill that includes a lot of incentives for nuclear energy. The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act passed in a vote, 88 to 2 . The earlier version of the bill also garnered bipartisan support in the House of Representatives earlier this year.

Those incentives will include financial awards for the first companies to upcycle recycled nuclear waste. The bill will change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, streamlining the application and regulatory process for new reactors. Following the bill's passage, US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chairman Tom Carper said in a statement: "The ADVANCE Act will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the tools and workforce it needs to review new nuclear technologies efficiently while maintaining the NRC's critical safety mission and creating thousands of jobs."

Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey were the two opposing votes, with the latter arguing that the ADVANCE Act turns the NRC into a facilitator rather than a regulator. "This bill puts promotion over protection, and corporate profits over community clean-up," Markey stated.

Environmental groups have reacted strongly both for and against the bill. Dr. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said in a statement : “Make no mistake: This is not about making the reactor licensing process more efficient, but about weakening safety and security oversight across the board, a longstanding industry goal.”

— Mat Smith

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Logitech Keys-To-Go 2 review

A super slim travel companion for almost any gadget..

For just $80, Logitech’s Keys-To-Go 2 is a surprisingly versatile universal travel keyboard. Its battery lasts a long time, it has a handy built-in cover, and it is easy to use between multiple devices. It’s also incredibly thin. Niche, yes. Good, yes.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to restrict phone use in schools

He’s seeking a statewide school phone ban..

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has issued a statement supporting efforts to restrict the use of smartphones in schools within the state. He did so mere hours before board members of Los Angeles’ school district voted to pass a proposal for a school phone ban. Newsom said he will work with lawmakers "to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day" this summer, because children and teens "should be focused on their studies — not their screens." While LA's board members ultimately passed the proposal for a phone ban, two members voted against it. One told The New York Times that he voted no because teachers are already having difficulties imposing existing restrictions. He added that parents need to be able to contact their children during emergencies, like school shootings. And that is bleak.

Tales of the Shire is a cozy village sim where you can’t run, but you can skip

Bilbo crossing..

The march of big-budget Tolkien fantasy has hit gaming yet again. While ignoring Gollum’s misadventures, another game, Tales of the Shire , offers a gentler, low-stakes way to play in the universe of Bagginses, lembas bread, and Gandalf. Don’t expect fighting of any kind, but if you’re looking for a gentle Animal Crossing / Stardew Valley experience, this might hit the spot.

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Amazon claims it's reduced the use of plastic air pillows by 95 percent and switched to crumbled paper filler instead.

New York Governor signs two new bills into law protecting kids from social media

New York’s new social media laws are the first in the nation to address how youths interact with algorithmic social media feeds.

The Webb Telescope’s dazzling nebula image supports a long-held theory

NASA’s new image of the Serpens Nebula, taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, not only looks mesmerizing but also captures a never-before-seen phenomenon.

The US will ban sales of Kaspersky antivirus software next month

The Biden administration has taken a sweeping action to ban Kaspersky Labs from selling its antivirus products to US customers.

One of our favorite webcams is on sale for only $48

If you’re in the market for a new webcam, you can save 20 percent on one of Engadget’s top picks for video calls. The Anker PowerConf C200, our top budget pick at its $60 standard price, is on sale for only $48.

Anthropic’s newest Claude chatbot beats OpenAI’s GPT-4o in some benchmarks

Anthropic rolled out its newest AI language model on Thursday, Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The updated chatbot outperforms the company’s previous top-tier model, Claude 3 Opus, but works at twice the speed.

Embracer Group plans to use AI in game development

Embracer plans to use AI in game development, a move that comes just months after a major round of layoffs.

How small claims court became Meta's customer service hotline

Frustrated Facebook and Instagram users are heading to small claims court in a last-ditch attempt to get help from Meta.

Amazon Prime Day 2024: Deals to shop ahead of Prime Day and everything we know about the summer sale

Here's everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2024, including when the shopping event will take place, the deals we expect and more.

You can now restrict Instagram Lives to Close Friends

Instagram has rolled out an option to limit the audience of a Live to Close Friends. You can also now add music to carousel posts that feature videos.

EU delays decision over scanning encrypted messages for CSAM

The EU has delayed a decision over a plan to scan encrypted messages for child sexual abuse material. Critics say this is a c" that could break encryption.

Instagram is reportedly recommending sexual Reels to teens as young as 13

Instagram is recommending Reels with sexual content to teenagers as young as 13 even if they aren't specifically looking for racy videos, according to separate tests conducted by The Wall Street Journal and Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson.

Snap will pay $15 million to settle California lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination

The California Civil Rights Department has revealed that Snap Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to settle the lawsuit it filed "over alleged discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against women at the company."

Proton can now back up photos and videos on your iPhone

Proton's latest new tool is an encrypted automatic backup for your iPhone's photos.

The best SSDs in 2024

Here are the best SSDs you can get right now, plus how to choose the right one for you.

Pornhub will block access to its site in five more states in the coming weeks.

Congress passes sweeping pro-nuclear energy bill

The ADVANCE Act prioritizes nuclear power as the green option for the future.

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