In the News
Sonoma County congressmen slam Trump’s military transgender ban
Sonoma County’s Democratic congressmen voiced strong condemnation Wednesday of President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he would bar transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. Rep. Mike Thompson and Rep. Jared Huffman both said they were opposed to the new policy, announced by Trump in Wednesday morning Twitter posts, where he said the government would not “accept or allow” transgender people to perform military service “in any capacity.” Thompson, D-St. Helena, … Continue Reading
July 10, 2017
Huffman seeks more funding for civic service programs
Rep. Jared Huffman has introduced a bill that calls for increased funding for the Peace Corps and similar domestic service programs such as VISTA and AmeriCorps. The International and National Service Promotion to Ignite Renewed Engagement (INSPIRE) Act would provide a new education grant to Peace Corps volunteers and would increase an existing education grant for domestic service volunteers. The bill would also increase loan forgiveness for volunteer teachers and volunteers in the national … Continue Reading
June 30, 2017
Democrats ask Jim Mattis to move forward with plan for transgender enlistment
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers, led by Rep. Jared Huffman of California, have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis urging him to move forward with a policy that could start Saturday that allows transgender people to enlist. "We strongly encourage you to deny the request of a six-month delay in transgender policy implementation," the members wrote. "Throughout our nation's history, the Department of Defense has benefited from diversity and equal opportunity programs and … Continue Reading
June 22, 2017
Rep. Huffman, others introduce act to make it easier for refugees to go to college
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), along with 47 other members of Congress, introduced an act to make higher education opportunities more attainable for refugees, on Tuesday (World Refugee Day). Called the TORCH Act, an acronym for To Offer Refugees College Help, the bill would expand affordable access to college for refugees, those granted political asylum, and Special Immigrant Visa holders who have assisted U.S. armed forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a press release from … Continue Reading
June 20, 2017
Huffman, nearly 200 other Democrats sue Trump
WASHINGTON >> Democratic lawmakers, including North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman, are suing President Donald Trump over foreign money flowing into his global business empire. Almost 200 senators and representatives are plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Trump is violating the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution. “That is a real robust number,” Huffman (D-San Rafael) said Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed June 14 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the … Continue Reading
June 14, 2017
Reps. Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson recount congressman's ‘tragic’ shooting
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, was on third base at a baseball field in Washington, D.C. about 7 a.m. Wednesday in a final practice before today’s annual Congressional Baseball Game. In the middle of practice, Huffman’s coach urgently called the players in from the field. “I could see our coach (Rep.) Mike Doyle behind home plate. He got a text message that had him very upset,” Huffman said. “Within a couple seconds he urgently called us all in and read us a cryptic message about a … Continue Reading
May 24, 2017
Rep. Huffman’s new telecom act heard in committee
Rep. Huffman’s (D-San Rafael) new bill to help connect rural communities to high-speed internet through federal public lands, the Public Lands Telecommunications Act, was heard by the House Committee on Natural Resources on Tuesday. The bill would allow public land management agencies, like the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, to partner with private companies and nearby rural communities to expand broadband infrastructure and services. “With better broadband … Continue Reading
May 09, 2017
Huffman ties Comey firing to Russian probe
The announcement of FBI director James Comey’s firing came just hours before Rep. Jared Huffman, D- San Rafael, was about to convene a “holding the president accountable” town hall meeting in San Rafael. “This was an important and timely conversation before this afternoon, and here we are faced with another bombshell from President Donald Trump,” Huffman said. “He decided at this moment, just as investigations were beginning to get a little closer to his inner circle, that it was time to … Continue Reading
May 04, 2017
Rep. Huffman denounces GOP health care bill passage in House
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) spoke out Thursday against the House passage of the Republican-led heath care bill, calling it a massive tax break for the wealthy. After the original bill was pulled to prevent failure, today’s passage of the amended American Health Care Act is being touted as a victory by Republican House lawmakers in keeping a Trump campaign promise and a years-long effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But Huffman, who voted against the bill, said it is … Continue Reading
May 03, 2017
Bills seek to provide $140M to fishing fleets
After Congress chose not to include millions in disaster relief funds for West Coast fishing fleets in its newest spending bill this week, 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced he is contributing to two bills on Wednesday that would provide $140 million to struggling California fishermen. Huffman and California Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) also urged Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Wednesday to declare a new fisheries … Continue Reading
April 27, 2017
Huffman hears concerns from large Cotton Auditorium crowd
Several hundred people gathered at Cotton Auditorium April 19 for a Town Hall meeting with Congressman Jared Huffman. Huffman, facing a nearly unanimous friendly audience, called citizen involvement the key to “The silver lining to all this is right here ... Everywhere I go, I’m seeing turnouts like we have here in Fort Bragg today,” he said. Huffman said he had recently held meetings with 200 people in Weaverville, 1,200 in Arcata and nearly 2,000 in Santa Rosa, showing, he said, the … Continue Reading
April 11, 2017
Huffman Speaks: Congressman addresses local issues, responds to residents’ questions
About 75 percent of the seats in Crescent Elk Auditorium were full for a town hall style meeting with Congressman Jared Huffman (D) Monday night. In his opening comments, Huffman touched on many local, state and federal issues of concern to residents. He said he is hopeful that Congress can soon work together on a bold U.S. infrastructure package. “If we do that, I know one piece of infrastructure that’s on everyone’s mind in Del Norte and here in Crescent City,” he said, … Continue Reading
March 29, 2017
Huffman reintroduces stop Artic Ocean Drilling Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) reintroduced the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act, a detailed bill that would make the Arctic Ocean off-limits to any future drilling proposals by banning any new or renewed leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas or any other minerals that are in the Arctic Ocean Planning Areas of the Outer Continental Shelf. This legislation's reintroduction comes a day after President Trump's Executive … Continue Reading
March 15, 2017
San Rafael, SMART address traffic concerns with help from Jared Huffman
A major transit hub in San Rafael will be reconfigured during construction of a commuter rail line extension to Larkspur to ease traffic concerns in Marin County’s largest city, Rep. Jared Huffman announced Wednesday. The new plan calls for buses that service some 9,000 passengers daily to remain on the grounds of the Bettini Transit Station, rather than circulating on city streets. San Rafael’s mayor and city manager in February had requested a last-minute delay of the Larkspur project … Continue Reading
March 13, 2017
Rep. Jared Huffman draws 2,000 in Marin to discuss health care at town hall.
The battle over the new healthcare plan has been a divisive issue across the country. People around the Bay Area are making sure their voices are heard. Now, the battle moves to full scale political war where a lot is at stake. At high noon, a crowd of almost 2,000 gathered at the Marin Civic Center for a Town Hall Meeting with North Bay Congressman Jared Huffman. Marin County is a well-to-do region of the Bay Area that leaders here say would still have a huge impact from the loss of … Continue Reading
March 04, 2017
Marin’s ‘Rosie the Riveter’ may get national recognition for ‘Rosies’
Ninety-five-year-old Phyllis Gould of Fairfax made history during World War II as one of the women who collectively became known as Rosie the Riveter. Now she’s determined to make history again, spearheading a campaign for a national Rosie the Riveter Day as part of Women’s History Month. From 1942 until the end of the war in 1945, Gould worked as a welder at the Kaiser-Richmond Shipyards, helping build Liberty and Victory ships to replace the ones torpedoed by Nazi submarines. One of the … Continue Reading
March 03, 2017
Huffman well received at Arcata High town hall
Moving to assuage North Coast deportation fears, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-2nd District) is pressing for rumor control, collaboration with local law enforcement and bipartisan moves in Congress to protect Dreamers (immigrant minors) from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Sorting out false alarms from the facts is essential because so many rumors are swirling around about immigration raids and sweeps, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents … Continue Reading
March 01, 2017
I watched the 2016 State of the Union address from prison in Iran. This year, I attended it as a free man.
I sat in the gallery above the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday night surrounded by a broad cross-section of American society that had gathered to witness the national institution known as the State of the Union, or the Address to a Joint Session of Congress as it is known during a new president’s first year in office. From my seat among the guests, I could glimpse at least eight women wearing the Islamic hijab, including Aneelah Afzali, a lawyer and the director of the … Continue Reading
February 28, 2017
Sonoma County’s congressmen say President Trump's speech long on promises, short on details
Sonoma County’s two members of Congress said President Donald Trump made expansive promises and talked about spending trillions of taxpayer dollars in a speech Tuesday night that was short on explaining how any of it will be done. “He made a lot of lofty promises that quite honestly I don’t see how they can be achieved,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, in a telephone interview shortly after the president’s first speech to a joint session of Congress. Thompson and his colleague, … Continue Reading
February 24, 2017
Huffman: 'I Know My Job is to Fight'
There were no shouting matches, angry jeers, seas of protest signs or calls for his ouster in 2018. Unlike the rancorous town halls some members of Congress are facing across the nation, North Coast Representative Jared Huffman’s meeting in Arcata was a rather friendly affair, often punctuated by bursts of applause, cheers and even laughter at his pithy jabs at the new administration. “I’m very clear-eyed about what is going on in our county and I know my job is to fight,” Huffman said to … Continue Reading