Capitol Hill: May Summary

Members of the House of Representatives worked only 13 days this month. That's 1/3 fewer days compared to what the average American worked this month. And they make nearly three times the median household income in America.

So what did your Congress do this month?

The Good:

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings about bipartisan legislative proposals to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which provides blanket immunity to social media networks for any criminal activities orchestrated through their resources.

Intended to shield internet providers (including email platforms) from abuse by users through their systems, the law was written before the advent of social media and has enabled criminal activity ranging from the coordination of an insurrection to harassment and stalking. 

The bad:

“Border crisis” sessions dominated the early half of May. The House made several attempts to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. And they held at least two dozen committee hearings about China. 

The Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on advancing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for “national security” purposes.  One of the witnesses called represented iProov, a company that contracts with governments for “biometric solutions” amounting to widespread surveillance. iProov is the world leader in biometric face verification, and both its staff and its operations have deep ties to Israel, where AI-generated kill lists resulted in the extrajudicial murders of thousands of innocent men, women and children.