Press Releases
Van Hollen, Warren, Sanders, Whitehouse Secure Ruling from IRS to Crack Down on Abuse of Trusts to Dodge Taxes, Urge Further Actions
Following a letter from U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a ruling to crack down on a loophole that helps the ultra-wealthy dodge taxes. Last month, the senators wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, raising concerns that the wealthiest millionaires and billionaires use increasingly complex tax planning to exploit trusts and avoid paying taxes, including … Continue Reading
April 06, 2023
Van Hollen Statement on Appointment of Dr. Makenzie Lystrup as Director of NASA Goddard
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement on the appointment of Dr. Makenzie B. Lystrup to serve as the new Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, located in Greenbelt, Md.: "Dr. Lystrup is a highly accomplished scientist and has been a key partner to NASA on many of its major missions over the years, including the groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope. Her unique experience makes her well … Continue Reading
April 06, 2023
Van Hollen Statement on Release of IRS Strategic Operating Plan, Detailing Implementation of Inflation Reduction Act
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement on the IRS' newly produced Strategic Operating Plan which details its implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act: "For too long the IRS has lacked the tools it needs to go after rich tax cheats and those billion-dollar corporations that have used various schemes to hide their wealth and fail to pay what they already owe. It's time that these corporations and individuals paid the taxes that are due rather than … Continue Reading
April 06, 2023
Van Hollen Statement on ProPublica Reporting on Justice Thomas
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement regarding ProPublica's reporting around Justice Clarence Thomas: "Americans' confidence in our highest court is tanking because of this kind of conduct. We need answers. And the Court needs a code of ethics." Senator Van Hollen - chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, with jurisdiction over the Court's appropriations - has previously expressed his interest in … Continue Reading
April 06, 2023
Bipartisan Maryland Delegation Urges Commerce Secretary to Declare State of Emergency for Chesapeake Bay Fisheries
The full Maryland congressional delegation, including U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Andy Harris, M.D., Jamie Raskin, David J. Trone and Glenn Ivey, are urging to make a disaster determination as requested by the State of Maryland to begin addressing damage to the local seafood industry by the invasive blue catfish, flathead catfish, and snakeheads. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to … Continue Reading
April 05, 2023
Van Hollen Joins Merkley, Colleagues on Bicameral Congressional Delegation to Vietnam, Indonesia
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has announced he is joining U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on a bicameral congressional delegation to Vietnam and Indonesia that will take place over this week and next. The delegation will work to advance both bilateral relations as well as multilateral relations with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Senators Van Hollen and Merkley are both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Van Hollen is the … Continue Reading
April 04, 2023
Maryland Congressional Delegation Urges Focus on Environmental Protection as State Negotiates New Conowingo Dam License
Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Andy Harris, M.D., Jamie Raskin, David Trone, and Glenn Ivey (all Md.) wrote to Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain urging the Department of the Environment to ensure environmental protection measures for the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay Watershed are central to the new licensing agreement that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission … Continue Reading
April 03, 2023
Van Hollen, Merkley Introduce Resolution Supporting ASEAN Centrality
Maryland's U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley introduced a resolution reaffirming the important role that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plays in the Indo-Pacific region. The resolution comes ahead of a Merkley-led Congressional Delegation to ASEAN member-countries Vietnam and Indonesia, which Senator Van Hollen will join. "The United States' close relationship with our ASEAN partners plays a key role in our foreign affairs, as well as … Continue Reading
March 31, 2023
Van Hollen, Brown, Colleagues Call For Action To Strengthen Financial Stability
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, urging the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and its member agencies to review how our financial system is serving consumers, small businesses, and small banks, and to recommend ways we can strengthen our financial system against threats. "Banking regulators are reviewing what went wrong at the failed institutions, but reflection must not stop … Continue Reading
March 30, 2023
Van Hollen, Brown, Colleagues Raise Flags Regarding Failed Bank Executives’ Stock Trades
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler highlighting concerns with large stock trades made by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) executives in the days and months before SVB's collapse. At the Banking and Housing Committee hearing on Tuesday about SVB's failure, several members of the Committee expressed concern over the size and timing of the executives' stock trades. "Our capital markets … Continue Reading
March 30, 2023
Maryland Congressional Delegation Members’ Statement on Diversion of East Palestine Waste from Baltimore
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie B. Raskin, David Trone, and Glenn Ivey (all D-Md.) released the following statement after receiving confirmation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Norfolk Southern that they no longer plan to transport waste from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment to Baltimore. The lawmakers have raised concerns about the transfer. "Protecting and … Continue Reading
March 30, 2023
Van Hollen, Clarke Introduce Bill to Safeguard Consumers, Require Companies to Shift from Opt-Out Requirements to Opt-In
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.-09) introduced the Consumer Online Payment Transparency and Integrity (Consumer OPT-IN) Act, bicameral legislation to protect consumers from online free trial scams and hard-to-cancel recurring-payment programs. The lawmakers' bill puts the onus on companies, not consumers, when it comes to extending subscriptions and memberships, including requiring a shift from "opt-out" conditions to "opt-in." This … Continue Reading
March 28, 2023
Van Hollen, Braun Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Remove Student Loan Tax
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen, Mike Braun, Kyrsten Sinema, Elizabeth Warren, Josh Hawley, Tim Kaine, and Chris Coons introduced their bipartisan Student Loan Tax Elimination Act to remove an antiquated tax that adds unnecessary debt to student borrowers and worsens our national debt posture. Representative Lloyd Smucker introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives. "Too many Americans are already struggling under the burden of student loans - they shouldn't also face … Continue Reading
March 28, 2023
Van Hollen, Markey, Blunt Rochester, Barragán Call for Stronger Air Quality Standards to Curb Deadly Soot Pollution
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Representatives Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) and Nanette Barragán (Calif.-44) in writing to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan urging EPA to strengthen the proposed air quality standards to reduce fine particulate matter pollution, also known as soot pollution, and protect communities from its related health issues, including cardiovascular and respiratory … Continue Reading
March 27, 2023
Van Hollen, Murkowski, Pascrell Introduce Bill to Fund Vital Firehouse Upgrades Across the Country
Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help construct and upgrade fire stations across the country. The FIRE STATION Act will create a $750 million grant program within the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to modify, upgrade, and construct fire and EMS department facilities to support our first responders and their work to keep our communities … Continue Reading
March 27, 2023
Van Hollen, Durbin Urge Against the Use of Family Detention
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in a letter to President Biden raising concerns over reports the Administration is considering a return to the ineffective and inhumane practice of detaining migrant families, after previously putting an end to family detention in December 2021. The Senators wrote, "Under both the Obama and Trump Administrations, family detention had disastrous effects on migrant families and children, without any … Continue Reading
March 24, 2023
Van Hollen, Cardin, Sarbanes Announce Over $1 Million in Federal Funding to Support Chesapeake Bay Restoration
Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman John Sarbanes (all D-Md.) announced $1,129,063 in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to restore wetlands and expand green infrastructure throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Trust will sub-award this federal funding for local governments and nonprofits to implement wetland restoration and capacity building projects through the Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns (G3) program, which will … Continue Reading
March 24, 2023
Van Hollen, Menendez, Barrasso Introduce Resolution Honoring Anniversary of Greek Independence
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in introducing a bipartisan resolution to commemorate the 202nd anniversary of Greek Independence Day (March 25). In addition to celebrating Greece's historic role as the birthplace of democracy and its immense contributions to global society, the bipartisan resolution also recognizes the strength of the United States' enduring partnership … Continue Reading
March 23, 2023
Van Hollen, Clarke Welcome FTC’s Proposed “Click to Cancel” Rule to Ease Cancellation of Recurring Subscriptions
Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) welcomed the Federal Trade Commission's proposed "click to cancel" rule to make it easier for consumers to get out of unwanted subscriptions, memberships, and other recurring-payment programs. The lawmakers have previously led an effort to improve consumer protections on subscriptions, including introducing the Consumer OPT-IN Act, legislation to require companies to communicate clearly about their … Continue Reading
March 23, 2023
Maryland Delegation Announces More Than $15 Million For Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, David Trone and Glenn Ivey (all D-Md.) announced $15,584,011 in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding for Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) Airport. The funding comes through the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Infrastructure Grant Program. The money will be used to reconstruct 1,800 feet of aging … Continue Reading
