Coronavirus

Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) today wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging it to use its authority under the FTC Act to launch an investigation into children’s data practices in the educational technology and digital advertising sectors. The Senators make their request following the Commission’s announcement that it will begin an ahead-of-schedule review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule and as kids’ technology use and media consumption has skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to open an antitrust investigation into the meatpacking industry. The industry is currently dominated by just a handful of large, multinational firms that have concentrated meat processing into fewer and fewer facilities, leaving America’s food supply chain vulnerable to disruptions.

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr requesting the Department of Justice (DOJ) open a criminal antitrust investigation of Amazon. Recent reporting has revealed that Amazon uses its position as an online platform to stifle competition by collecting detailed data on merchandise in order to create rival products under its own brand. “Abusing one’s position as a marketplace platform to create copycat products always is bad, but it is especially concerning now. Thousands of small businesses have been forced to suspend in-store retail and instead rely on Amazon because of shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon’s reported data practices are an existential threat that may prevent these businesses from ever recovering.”

“If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal. Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over. The public statements you make now can be enforced under federal and state consumer protection laws. Do not hide behind a corporate shield like so many privacy offenders have before. Stake your personal finances on the security of this project,” said Senator Josh Hawley.

Following reports of farmers destroying healthy produce due to cratering demand from restaurants and other large buyers, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue calling for immediate funding of a farm-to-food-bank program to get food to those in urgent need.

This week, Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt joined 13 of their Senate colleagues in urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to extend assistance to the dairy industry, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As large swaths of the U.S. economy have shuttered in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, so too have long-existing markets for U.S. dairy producers. This standstill has left dairy farmers with excess product that was originally...

Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) was appointed by President Donald Trump to the White House task force on reopening the economy. Hawley, who introduced a Phase 4 coronavirus relief plan this month to rehire American workers and keep them on payrolls for the duration of the crisis, will join a bipartisan group of lawmakers to determine a path forward for getting Americans back to work as quickly and safely as possible.

Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt joined a bipartisan letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to take immediate action to assist pork producers and maintain the pork food supply chain. “We hope this component of the supply chain is restored quickly,” the members of Congress wrote. “However, in the event that producers are unable to schedule harvest of their hogs, we request that you consider how to use your existing authorities and available funds to compensate producers for losses. Furthermore, we request that Natural Resource Conservation Service consider how to provide financial and technical assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program for affected producers, if needed.”

America is experiencing a moment of crisis, but it need not be a period of decline. From our great cities to our rural towns, Americans everywhere are making enormous sacrifices for the sake of their fellow citizens. It is clear from these selfless acts — nurses and physicians working long into the night; delivery workers bringing essential goods to their neighbors’ doors; church groups assembling care packages for the ill — that Americans’ love of country is undimmed and American courage is unshaken. In fact, Americans are ready for a comeback. And Congress must help to unleash it.

Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt joined a bipartisan group of senators in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting additional funds be allocated to the biofuel industry through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) during the unprecedented economic circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. "As the country follows the advice of local and state governments and remain at home, motor fuel use has rapidly decreased… The decrease in fuel consumption has...