Ferida Wolff Writes: We were out for the afternoon on a hot, late summer day, walking through the woods at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia. We came upon the lake where flowers were blooming and greens were flourishing. I assumed that there would be fish swimming around as there were signs saying No Fishing, but I didn’t see any. Was it too hot for them to peek out of the cool water? There were some logs among the plants in the water. And there, on top of the wood, were turtles!

"To fulfill the promise of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and to rebuild the nation’s economy from the middle out and the bottom up, we can’t afford to leave any talent untapped,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Today, we announced grants that will support organizations that are training women for good-paying jobs — including union jobs — while ensuring an equitable workforce development system that helps to provide a talent pipeline for employers in critical sectors." This is the department’s largest award of WANTO grants, a 47 percent increase from 2022.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: "Welcome to the State Department. First let me say how grateful I am to my friend and colleague of so many years, Lee Satterfield, our assistant secretary of state. (Applause.) Lee and the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs were the masterminds of this evening, and every single day are out there working to strengthen the bonds between Americans and people around the world. To our philanthropic and private sector partners – YouTube, Chevron, Boeing, the Wasserman Foundation, United Airlines – thank you. Thank you for making so many of our cultural diplomacy programs possible. We could not do what we’re doing without you. And to my friend and colleague, Chairman Mike McCaul, thank you for your support, your advocacy for international exchange. It makes a huge difference, and I’m proud to be your partner in this endeavor as well."      

"Because these reports are transmitted automatically to cancer registries, the findings suggest that the decline in new cancer diagnoses was not due to delays in reporting caused by pandemic disruptions but rather to missed screenings and delays in other cancer-related procedures. The authors also looked at declines in new cancer cases by cancer stage at diagnosis, sex, age, and population group. For each cancer type in the study, new cases of early-stage cancers fell more sharply than new cases of advanced cancers. The declines were greatest for the cancers typically diagnosed through screening (female breast, lung, and colorectal cancer). For example, 7,147 cases of early-stage colorectal cancer were expected to be diagnosed in 2020, but only 5,983 cases were diagnosed — meaning that potentially more than 16% of early-stage colorectal cancer cases weren’t caught."

A number of bills introduced: September 18-22, 2023: A bill to extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave; increasing access to short-term child care; a bill to provide access to an annually updated list of adoption agencies that are licensed and not-for-profit; extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave; a bill providing deferment of loans for borrowers who are survivors of sexual harassment, stalking, and assault; A bill to provide birth mothers and adoptive families with access to an annually updated list of adoption agencies that are licensed and not-for-profit in states across the United States; and a bill to recognize the Women-Owned Small Business program in the Department of Veterans Affairs procurement hierarchy of small business preferences.  

Jo Freeman Writes: "A coalition of national and local organizations brought approximately 15,000 people to NYC to demand that President Joe Biden end the use of fossil fuels. On Sunday, September 17 they marched from Columbus Circle across Manhattan to rally half a mile from the United Nations. This was the first day of Climate Week, which is held every year at the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. President Biden will address that Assembly on Tuesday. A UN Climate Ambition Summit will be held on Wednesday, September 20. Biden will be meeting with other Heads of State that day as well."

"Human Trafficking - On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations will hold a hearing, "Children are Not for Sale – Global Efforts to Address Child Trafficking". This week, the Senate is scheduled to consider a “minibus” spending package that will include S. 2131, the FY2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies spending bill; S. 2127, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

"The effort, building off work following last August's IRA funding, will center on adding more attention on wealthy, partnerships and other high earners that have seen sharp drops in audit rates for these taxpayer segments during the past decade. The changes will be driven with the help of improved technology as well as Artificial Intelligence that will help IRS compliance teams better detect tax cheating, identify emerging compliance threats and improve case selection tools to avoid burdening taxpayers with needless "no-change" audits."