US Senate // Current

Senate begins tackling health bill: Reid Committed to Public Option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV.) intends to introduce health care reform... more

current89
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4 days ago
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Republican senators approve of rape

Hold the rapists and their allies accountable.

patomalley
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1 month ago
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QuikSCAT satellite nearing failure; Congress poised to slash NOAA funding

One of the crucial sattelites used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric... more

edbr
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1 month ago
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5 comments

US Senate unanimously votes to triple non-military aid to Pakistan

The US Senate voted Thursday to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to roughly 1.5... more

bansheewail
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1 month ago
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Opinion: America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, death and taxes

The Senate Finance Committee released the proposed America’s Healthy Future Act of... more

JayDavidMurphy
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2 months ago
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Senator Curt Schilling?

As Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts is now open, former Sox pitcher Curt... more

bc_f
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2 months ago
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Who will succeed Kennedy?

With Congress is in the midst of a heated battle over health care reform, several... more

afitzgerald
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3 months ago
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ONLY TWO MORE DAYS TO SAVE HAWAIIAN LANDS

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS TO OPPOSE AKAKA BILL Send In Your Testimony To The US Senate By... more

FreeHawaiiTV
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4 months ago
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ALERT! - HELP STOP THE AKAKA BILL

HELP STOP THE AKAKA BILL Hearings To Be Held This Thursday In The US Senate We... more

FreeHawaiiTV
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4 months ago
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50 Palestinians Evicted From Their Jerusalem Homes

Israeli police evicted two Palestinian families in east Jerusalem on Sunday, then... more

jessilee23
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4 months ago
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US ARMY Suicide Rates out of Control

Russia Today

hunzedog
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4 months ago
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Good Morning! Iran, Wall St fraud and Groups

Hey everybody - two stories we're looking at today: protests have kicked back off in... more

afitzgerald
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4 months ago
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U.S. Senate combats web censorship in Iran by passing the VOICE Act

Last Thursday, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act, which authorizes up to $50 million for projects to help Iranians bypass government attempts to censor communication and expression via the Internet. It was drafted and put forth as part of the National Defense Authorization Act by a bipartisan team consisting of Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA), and is, in large part, a response to the Iranian government's violent crackdown on the widespread protests that erupted after a disputed presidential election held in Iran on June 12.

Since the election, many websites, including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, have been blocked in Iran at various times since the election. At YouTube, we've been experiencing only about 10% of our normal traffic from Iranian IP addresses. And reports indicate that the Iranian government has been using information about visitors to these and other websites to track and monitor protesters.

The VOICE Act is meant to help address some of these problems by doing a number of important things:

It forces an examination of non-Iranian (especially U.S.) corporations that have provided technology to the Iranian government that was subsequently used to censor voices of dissent and identify individuals who were speaking out against the government.
It makes $30 million available to the Broadcasting Board of Governors to do more Farsi language broadcasting in Iran and develop technologies that will help block Iranian government's attempts to block Internet access and data transfer over cellular phone networks.
An additional $20 million is set aside for an education program called the "Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund," which is designed to help Iranians learn how to circumvent blocked websites and share information more freely.
And finally, $5 million for Secretary of State Clinton to "document, collect, and disseminate information about human rights in Iran, including abuses of human rights that have taken place since the June 12 Iranian election."

This is a big win in the battle against Internet censorship, and will help ensure that Iranians continue to be able to speak their minds freely and share what's happening inside their country with the rest of the world as they've been doing with great bravery and diligence since June 12.Last Thursday, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt the Victims of Iranian Censorship... more