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Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in government, especially when it comes to Congress. There’s a lot going on, and it’s often tough to find a concise overview of what your representatives in Congress are going to be doing. GeekReply can help with that – here’s what the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are going to be discussing this week.

The Senate

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Monday, March 27, 2017:

After 6:30pm, there will be a vote on Treaty 114-12: Allowing Montenegro to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Tuesday – Friday:

TBA

The House of Representatives

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Monday, March 27, 2017 after 6:30pm:

  • H.R. 654: Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2017
  • H.R. 1117: To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit a report about plans to assist applicants and grantees while responding to an emergency.
  • H.R. 1214: Disaster SAVE Act

Tuesday, March 28, 2017 after 12:00pm:

  • S.J. Res. 34: The repealing of FCC limits on how ISPs can use sensitive data that they collect from users. We wrote about how the Senate approved this last week – you can read that here.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017 after 12:00pm or Thursday, March 30, 2017 after 9:00am:

  • H.R. 1430: Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act of 2017

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That’s what’s on the table this week in the United States congress. Keep in mind that these votes may not result in the passing of a policy into law – this doesn’t happen until both the House and the Senate have discussed the issue. For example, S.J. Res. 34 was already approved by the Senate, but it doesn’t have a future in the law unless the House also approves it.

Remember: If you care about these issues and are comfortable and able, contact your local representatives in Congress.

If/when something you need to know about happens, be sure to check back with GeekReply for coverage. In the meantime, sound off below on what you hope happens this week in Congress.

Industry and Service

Republican lawmakers and Apple CEO Tim Cook meet in Washington

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Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.

The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.

Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.

When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.

They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.

What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.

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Gadgets

EPA establishes a new office devoted to civil rights and environmental justice

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The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.

According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.

As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.

The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.

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Politics

Pewdiepie has Gotten into Trouble Yet Again

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Pewdiepie

The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.

So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.

At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:

However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.

Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.

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