In the News
Trump Administration Eases Regulations on Gun Exports, Raising Concerns
WASHINGTON — American gun manufacturers and their allies have pressed the federal government for years to change the way it regulates small-arms exports in an effort to ease restrictions, boost gun sales abroad and lower costs at home. The Trump administration appears to be on the brink of delivering.Officials from the State and Commerce Departments — the two entities tasked with regulating arms sales internationally — privately told Congress this week that they intend to finalize rules next … Continue Reading
January 18, 2019
Three House members from Inland Empire get seats on powerful Appropriations Committee
The Inland Empire will have broad representation on the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for allocating the federal budget.Three representatives from San Bernardino and Riverside counties will sit on the committee during the 116th Congressional session, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona and Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona.On Thursday, Jan. 16, Aguilar, who represents the 31st Congressional District, announced his selection as the committee's Vice … Continue Reading
January 17, 2019
47 US Dems ask Trump to sanction Guatemala government
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of 47 Democratic members of Congress urged President Donald Trump on Thursday to impose sanctions on corrupt officials in the government of Guatemala and suspend assistance to the Central American nation.The legislators, led by Reps. Norma Torres and Jim McGovern of California, said the Trump administration has turned a blind eye while Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has sought to end a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission working in his country.The … Continue Reading
January 12, 2019
Guatemala in political crisis as Trump administration looks the other way
Reporting from Mexico City — The last time a Guatemalan president tried to cut off a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission that was investigating him, the United States quickly intervened.In 2015, Vice President Joe Biden flew to Guatemala to meet with then-President Otto Perez Molina, who was accused of being part of a customs corruption scheme. Biden threatened to withdraw U.S. aid from Guatemala if Perez refused to extend the two-year mandate of the commission, which the U.S. … Continue Reading
January 09, 2019
Guatemala Is on the Brink. Washington Should Take a Stand.
In 2015, I began my first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, as the first member of Congress from Guatemala. That year, I watched the "Guatemalan Spring" from afar. I read with shock the growing list of corruption allegations against President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice President Roxanna Baldetti. I watched hopefully as young people filled Guatemala City's plaza daily to demand a transparent and effective government. I could barely believe my eyes when I saw a Guatemalan President and … Continue Reading
January 07, 2019
Guatemala is expelling entire anti-corruption team investigating its president
Reporting from Mexico City — The Guatemalan government said Monday that it is expelling a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission that has investigated the president and other lawmakers — a decision that edges the Central American nation toward a constitutional crisis.The announcement comes after months of mounting tensions between government leaders and the commission, known as the CICIG, which has been celebrated by many as one of the most effective anti-crime efforts in Latin … Continue Reading
January 07, 2019
Guatemala Expels U.N.-Backed Anti-Corruption Panel, Claiming Overreach
MEXICO CITY — The Guatemalan government said Monday that it would expel a United Nations-backed anticorruption panel, giving its prosecutors a day to leave the country in the most decisive effort yet by President Jimmy Morales to remove the body that has been investigating him and other top politicians.At a news conference in Guatemala City, Mr. Morales, accompanied by members of his cabinet and several people accused in panel investigations or their relatives, defended his expulsion … Continue Reading
December 23, 2018
Our Government Is Shut Down Because All Trump Wanted for Christmas Was His Border Wall
While the rest of us are scouring Amazon and invading outlet malls to snatch up last minute Christmas gifts, our Commander-in-Tweet really wanted his U.S.-Mexico border wall so damn bad that he killed a bipartisan spending deal that would've avoided a government shutdown.As such, we now enter Day 2 of a partial shutdown in which nearly 400,000 federal workers will spend their Christmas (and possibly well beyond) unpaid and stressed the fuck out until a deal is reached. While funding for … Continue Reading
December 19, 2018
A Single GOP Congressman Is Stalling a Bill to Address Violence Against Native Women
On August 19, 2017, a pregnant 22-year-old named Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was reported missing in Fargo, North Dakota. Eight days later, her body was found in a nearby river. Two people who lived in the same building as LaFontaine-Greywind were charged with conspiracy to murder her and steal her baby; one has since pled guilty. Per the Forum News Service, her mother Norberta LaFontaine-Greywind felt that local police "just had no care" when she initially reported her daughter missing.In … Continue Reading
December 18, 2018
Ley propuesta por Norma Torres contempla ataques contra CICIG
En la propuesta de ley presentada por la congresista Norma Torres la semana pasada, "ley de rendición de cuentas", busca sancionar a quienes interfieran con el trabajo que hace, por ejemplo, la Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG), que podría encajar en lo ocurrido este martes con la revocatoria de visas e inmunidad a investigadores de la Comisión. De acuerdo con la propuesta de Torres, "a los guatemaltecos que desobedezcan los fallos de la Corte de … Continue Reading
December 18, 2018
Anuncian ambiciosa iniciativa para prevenir el consumo de opioides en Los Ángeles
La Administración para el Control de Drogas (DEA) informó que la ciudad fue seleccionada para un programa piloto llamado 360 Strategy, el cual tiene un enfoque integral para atacar el ciclo de violencia y adicción. A la conferencia de prensa de este martes asistieron el fiscal general del Distrito Central de California, la congresista Norma Torres y representantes de la Oficina del Médico Forense del Condado de Los … Continue Reading
December 18, 2018
7-year-old who died in Border Patrol custody had not appeared ill
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. immigration officials on Friday defended their actions in the detention of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died two days after she and her father were taken into custody along a remote stretch of the U.S. border.The girl, identified by a Guatemalan official as Jackeline Caal, had gone days without food and water, a Department of Homeland Security statement said. Yet immigration officials said she did not appear to be ill when detained.A Border Patrol form completed … Continue Reading
December 17, 2018
Congresistas visitarán instalación fronteriza tras muerte de Jakelin Caal Maquin
Una delegación de congresistas que forman parte de la bancada hispana del Congreso Federal en Washington, se prepara para su viaje a Nuevo México. La delegación de 12 congresistas irá a la estación de la Patrulla Fronteriza donde murió la niña de 7 años, Jakelin Caal Maquin, el pasado 8 de diciembre. La congresista de California Norma Torres dijo que la delegación investigará el caso de la niña migrante guatemalteca. La demócrata Torres agregó que quiere saber por qué la Patrulla Fronteriza ha … Continue Reading
December 13, 2018
Legisladora demócrata propone ley para sancionar la corrupción en Guatemala
Washington — La congresista demócrata Norma Torres presentó hoy un proyecto de ley para combatir la corrupción y el lavado de dinero en Guatemala a través de sanciones como el bloqueo de bienes y la denegación de visados."Esta ley impondrá sanciones financieras y de viaje a las personas que han socavado el sistema de justicia de Guatemala y garantizará que cualquier equipo de uso militar que se transfiere a Guatemala en el futuro pueda ser reclamado por EE.UU. si se usa indebidamente", apuntó … Continue Reading
December 04, 2018
Here’s How Women Are Changing the Most Important Workspace in America
Many homeowners know the experience of moving into an outdated space and planning some much-needed renovations. For the 102 women elected to Congress during the 2018 midterm elections (a record, by the way), they may not be able to gut the place but they could influence some major building changes. Now that nearly one in five legislators on Capitol Hill will be a woman, the building needs to prepare for these leaders and their teams.For decades, Capitol Hill was a man's world and they … Continue Reading
November 27, 2018
Congresswoman takes up fight to classify 911 operators as first responders
U.S. Rep. Norma Torres, D-Ca., remembers the call that sent her down a path that would eventually lead to Washington. Torres, who worked as a 911 operator for 17 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, says it's a call she will never forget.While she was working the graveyard shift one night, a call came in that required a Spanish speaker. With so few bilingual operators available, the call was placed on hold for nearly 20 minutes before Torres was able to answer."All I could hear was … Continue Reading
November 26, 2018
The Trump Administration Wants to Make It Easier to Sell Guns Abroad
In a boon for the gun industry, the Trump administration is poised to issue new rules making it easier to sell firearms abroad. But opponents warn that the proposal may fuel weapons trafficking and weaken congressional oversight.Under the proposed rules, the Commerce Department would assume regulatory authority over firearms that are not "inherently military" or are not "widely available for commercial sale"—in practice, most nonautomatic and semiautomatic guns. Unlike the State Department, … Continue Reading
November 12, 2018
It's time to classify 9-1-1 operators as protective service professionals
The men and women who answer 9-1-1 calls are consummate professionals. When the unthinkable occurs, they are the first contact many of us have with first responders. Before a blue and red light flashes, a siren blares, or an ambulance races, they are the individuals organizing emergency response. However, Washington does not treat 9-1-1 operators with the respect they deserve because the Office of Management and Budget classifies them as clerical workers. This is wrong — and it's time to … Continue Reading
November 12, 2018
California politicians take Trump to task for threatening to withhold federal fire funds
SAN FRANCISCO - One might think President Donald Trump's latest slap at California - threatening to withhold federal funds because of alleged forest mismanagement - would have generated an avalanche of retorts from emboldened Democrats whose constituents are reeling from historic fires. But a review of media and social media accounts belonging to the state's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, and 53 congressmen and women (currently 39 Democrats and 14 Republicans), … Continue Reading
October 24, 2018
Congresista Torres resalta “momento crucial” que incluye tres reformas a CICIG
La congresista de origen guatemalteco en EEUU, Norma Torres, sostuvo este miércoles una reunión con personal de la Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (Cicig) con quienes dialogó sobre el trabajo para erradicar la corrupción en el país."El personal de la Cicig ha hecho contribuciones muy importantes a Guatemala, que han llevado a importantes reducciones de los delitos violentos y a la profesionalización de la policía y fiscales", dijo Torres en una declaración.Según Torres, … Continue Reading